proper riding area- Rant warning

S

Shansberry

Guest
Ok so I have had my horse at my house for over a year now and I still dont have a proper riding area.

I used to ride in my horses padock, put it wasnt good to begin with the whole entire thing is uphill, and bumpy. and it gets worse by the day. Rocks and tree roots are sticking out from everywhere. And ontop of that when we ride inside the paddock Sally the donkey chases us around and ges in the way.

I tried my lane way, but the gravel is too hard on his hooves. The road is the same, and when rding on the road he acts dumb (balks, tries to turn around ect.) wich is both embarasing and dangous. I would get shoes for him but I dont have the money for it, and my parents wont provide it. And i havent heard good things about the hoof boots.

There is 1 small area at my house that is reasonobly flat, but it is about the size of a 20m circle, which is hard on a 16hh horse. When I tell my parents this they say I am being "unapreciative", and that I havent given it a chance.

The only other area that is kindof flat would also be small (width 50ft), and it is full of trees. And my parents are not willing to pay to get rid of the stumps.

So as you can see i only ride a few times a week. which makes my parents think "my heart isnt in it anymore", which they also use as an excuse to not find me a proper riding area. And boarding is too much of an expence, and not an option.
:mad::mad::mad:
sorry that was so long, had to get that of my chest. Any tips?! LOL
 
Lane way, and the small area that he doesnt like. Thats why I can only ride a few times a week. I can only walk and trot in the small area.
 
Unfortunetly I live on graval roads, and we only have 5.5 acers, so we dont really have trails either.
 
you said about the other place (50ft wide) with trees in..........that actually sounds like you could make it fun for yourself and your horse, use the trees to help you bend your horse around them and stuff. if poss can you get a pic of that bit of land you are talking about?

i can understand your frustrations but i can also understand why your parents are saying what they are, you have your own land which most people don't have but they dont' see that it's hard to school unless you have a good bit of area, you will have to make the best of it though!

old mac boots (and many other variations) are used quite often, you just have to find the one that's suitable for your horse and just use them when you are on the gravel.
a friend of mine has her horse barefoot and he manages to go on any surface without trouble, only on occassion will he feel a bit 'footy' when on some surfaces but is better straight after coming off it!
 
Shansberry said:
to begin with the whole entire thing is uphill,
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Some of it must be downhill :p

To be honest, if your parents won't pay for anything to do with your horse (won't pay for shoes, won't pay to help clear the land) you are either going to have to get a job and start paying for things yourself, depending on your age, of course, or make the best of your limitations.

What sort of "bad things" have you heard about hoofboots? If they'd mean that you can ride out whereas now you can't, then they are an improvement, aren't they?
 
My instructor knows of 2 people who have used the hoof boots, and the horses walk very awkwerdly (almost sliding there feet), because the hoof boots dont fit the horses hooves exactly, so they moove around when they walk. She said that they walk funny even when not in the boots. My parents dont want me to get a part time job during the school year because a) they want me to focus on school work, b) they dont want to drive me, c) they think if I ge a job it wont leave much time for the horse (wich is probably true). My house is surrounded by forest so Im not able to ride around the propertie either.
 
huskyfinn said:
you said about the other place (50ft wide) with trees in..........that actually sounds like you could make it fun for yourself and your horse, use the trees to help you bend your horse around them and stuff. if poss can you get a pic of that bit of land you are talking about?

i can understand your frustrations but i can also understand why your parents are saying what they are, you have your own land which most people don't have but they dont' see that it's hard to school unless you have a good bit of area, you will have to make the best of it though!

old mac boots (and many other variations) are used quite often, you just have to find the one that's suitable for your horse and just use them when you are on the gravel.
a friend of mine has her horse barefoot and he manages to go on any surface without trouble, only on occassion will he feel a bit 'footy' when on some surfaces but is better straight after coming off it!
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The area I am thinking of has too many trees to ride around. There is also a whole bunch of logs (too big to carry) in the area.
 
1 takes about 10 seconds to go through, and you end up at the lake. The second takes about 30 secounds and brings you to the small area where I am riding now, wich is right beside the road.
 
It does sound like an awkward place, someone must be paying for the horses hooves to be trimmed, so shoes wouldn't cost much more... and maybe the other people had problems with the hoof boots because they weren't fitting properly?
 
Ya it wasnt oringanaly a farm, first it was a cottage then we buitl a house here, and then we made a paddock for the horse. I have herd that no matter how hard you try to get the hoof boots to fit, they will never be the exact shape of the hoof. I pay for the ferrier and hay, so there isnt really much left for shoes.
 
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What brand of hoof boot do you recomend. i know the one of my instructors boarders that didnt like hers uses cavello.
 
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I'm probably gonna get jumped on for saying this but if you can't afford shoes for your horse then you should probably get a job or consider if you can really afford to keep him/her, maybe consider getting a sharer who could help you out with costs and the bill for shoes:D. To get my horses feet trimmed = £30 and shod = £65..can't imagine it would be too different around the uk. How could you afford to pay for vets bills if he got injured etc?:confused:

Otherwise, a couple of people use hoof boots at my yard and think they are really good:) Can't recommend any brands though, sorry:eek:
 
there's lots of boots on the market such as old mac boots. and i also saw somewhere that there's a company that will make your boot to fit your horse, you draw around your horses hoof just after it's been shod and send the template to them and they will then make the boot up for that individual horse, it's not cheap but it's an option. i'm sure if you google old mac boots or hoof boots you should come up with a lot of options. ;)
 
kitcat2 said:
I'm probably gonna get jumped on for saying this but if you can't afford shoes for your horse then you should probably get a job or consider if you can really afford to keep him/her, maybe consider getting a sharer who could help you out with costs and the bill for shoes:D. To get my horses feet trimmed = £30 and shod = £65..can't imagine it would be too different around the uk. How could you afford to pay for vets bills if he got injured etc?:confused:

Otherwise, a couple of people use hoof boots at my yard and think they are really good:) Can't recommend any brands though, sorry:eek:
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My parents are wiling to help me out on vet bills
 
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