wasn’t expecting this but “introducing”..

CharliesAngel

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2010
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so i wasn’t expecting to be dong an ‘introducing’ thread. I sold my black mare briea back in october as i just didnt have the time to keep 2 in work. Brook is rising only 5 and Briea was rising 6 and green. Briea when I bought her was meant to be great to hack but i found she wasn’t great with heavier traffic either although a lovely, quiet pony but she needed so much bringing on and nothing ever came easily with her. Since then Brook and I have been getting on great but I’m not managing to get her more confident in traffic either, which limits how far we can go from home to just along our quiet farm road and back. There is some lovely hacking here but I have to be able to cross a main road and ride a section of it through the village and it can be busy.

So, just after i sold briea last year i saw a mare advertised 5 mins away from me ( in to sell with someone who sells and produces) and her advert caught my eye in as much as I thought - wow why dont horses like that (if its genuine) ever come up when I’m looking!! 13 years old, does a nice prelim test, pops a jump, forward enough to go when you say go and stops when you say stop but mostly , the most absolutely safe, bombproof solo hacker you could ever wish for. I did nothing about it as I didnt need another horse ;) A lot of people locally were talking about the advert and the pony and it turns out she was very well known to a friend of mine who told me she really is just as the advert says. Fast forward and the advert popped up again a couple of weeks ago, reduced in price. Now I should explain, although I have all our fields to ride in here and short hacks I can do on Brook; long hacking and exploring, thats what fuels me, makes me smile. It’s my therapy of sorts! So I have found it so frustrating not being able to get further afield. Anyway, one night after a few wines I found myself messaging about this mare :oops: A few days later I found myself hacking her along the main road while all manner of vehicles passed, in the pouring rain and a few days after that I found myself back riding her again, this time in an indoor school where I popped her over a little jump (its been a while) and MiniCA had a ride on her too before we took her out for another short hack. I have to be completely honest though , we didn’t do very much with her as she felt really footy and I actually questioned her soundness :( . She was barefoot and didnt seem to have much hoof left but the seller said she was fine.

Now there have been times when I have been horse hunting in the past and Ive passed up on 2 occasions, something that I felt was right for me and that ultimately made me feel so safe. Ive passed them up as friends have put me off because of conformation issues or vetting issues that came up. One highland I tried i had hacked out and just felt so instantly safe - i really wanted him but faffed about due to what others were saying and i lost out on him. So, having this feeling again I didn’t want to miss out but having done some digging with a previous owner I found out she has sweet itch, mild arthritis in her hocks which has now fused and settled and has had a previous soft tissue injury on a front leg. I also found out she had always been shod and has never managed at all without shoes, this previous owner was very sad indeed she had been passed about and landed up as a trade in to be sold on again. So knowing all this I decided to take a gamble and make a low offer and risk buying her without a vetting. I doubt she would have passed one anyway.

Fast forward a bit and here she is:) This is Skye, she is 14 and now she has her shoes on again is 100% sound! I have my hacking buddy and Brook has a big sister to help teach her the ropes! We’ve been out on the roads and past all sorts, we were even chased by a dog at the weekend and she just doesn't bat an eyelid at anything. She is no speedy speedster but she is quite forward.
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it’s also nice to have something my little family can pop along road with me on too - i cant with brook in case she shoots sideways and splats them lol
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i now truly have something i can put anyone on so hopefully that will open up possibilities in summer for having someone come to ride with me :D
 
She's really nice! Hacking is what makes me tick too so I understand how you missed it. You've got her just in time to enjoy the Summer.
 
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thank you guys. It really does look like I’m a highland pony lady now hehe. I am desperate to do the hack down through the village and into the woods but Ive got flu - arrrggghh, ill again! I even put my jodhs on yesterday morning when i got up, it was a beautiful day. However once I had dropped MiniCA off at Nursery I felt ready for a lie down again so decided to be sensible and not push myself :( Making a big pot of super healthy soup this morn !
 
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