Urghh, I'm stressing myself out here.
So this is my first ever horse, he's a full loan and is moving to my yard. He's a 14.2 and gorgeous, perfect for me. But I am slightly concerned. The day we were supposed to be riding him, he went footsore. Owner was pregnant and hadn't been riding regularly. He is also slightly overweight. No problem or worries for us there, we understood that he was a bit podgy and hadn't been ridden too often, so going footsore didn't set of any alarm bells. So he was shod, and we arranged another time. Went to ride him and fell in love and decided to get him.
He's arriving next Friday. So we looked over the contract, and he is to have his hay soaked for a minimum of 6 hours, he wears a muzzle to graze in the spring and summer and he eats happy hoof. He is only shod on his two front feet with regular shoes. The owner is very very kind and she seemed very genuine but you never know. Dad was doing insurance and he needed to ask her some questions. One of them was about any previous illnesses he may have had, and she said that he has never had any previous illnesses, the only time they've needed the vet out was when he was born (she had his mum and he is 9) and when he went footsore. My yard is lovely and everyone there is very experienced. But I'm worried. We can give him back but we wil be stuck with him for 60 days before hand as the owner is short on money after having another baby. We have her address and car reg so we can locate her if necessary. I'm just so worried, this is my first horse and I'm not super experienced. My dad knows a fair bit but again, we haven't grown up around horses. He wasn't at all reluctant to pick his feet up when I looked him over, he didn't seem lame, he is very very forward going, and wanted to canter but was always in one corner so I assume this is habit and not pain etc. Anyway, do you think he is a laminitic? I understand soaking hay and happy hoof are given to laminitics, but also used to control weight on podgy ponies. Any advice would be great thanks x
So this is my first ever horse, he's a full loan and is moving to my yard. He's a 14.2 and gorgeous, perfect for me. But I am slightly concerned. The day we were supposed to be riding him, he went footsore. Owner was pregnant and hadn't been riding regularly. He is also slightly overweight. No problem or worries for us there, we understood that he was a bit podgy and hadn't been ridden too often, so going footsore didn't set of any alarm bells. So he was shod, and we arranged another time. Went to ride him and fell in love and decided to get him.
He's arriving next Friday. So we looked over the contract, and he is to have his hay soaked for a minimum of 6 hours, he wears a muzzle to graze in the spring and summer and he eats happy hoof. He is only shod on his two front feet with regular shoes. The owner is very very kind and she seemed very genuine but you never know. Dad was doing insurance and he needed to ask her some questions. One of them was about any previous illnesses he may have had, and she said that he has never had any previous illnesses, the only time they've needed the vet out was when he was born (she had his mum and he is 9) and when he went footsore. My yard is lovely and everyone there is very experienced. But I'm worried. We can give him back but we wil be stuck with him for 60 days before hand as the owner is short on money after having another baby. We have her address and car reg so we can locate her if necessary. I'm just so worried, this is my first horse and I'm not super experienced. My dad knows a fair bit but again, we haven't grown up around horses. He wasn't at all reluctant to pick his feet up when I looked him over, he didn't seem lame, he is very very forward going, and wanted to canter but was always in one corner so I assume this is habit and not pain etc. Anyway, do you think he is a laminitic? I understand soaking hay and happy hoof are given to laminitics, but also used to control weight on podgy ponies. Any advice would be great thanks x