# Finally, I've own two ponies



## ElleHarries (10 September 2015)

Finally, after many year, I've own two ponies. 
Raising and training horse's been my dream since I was a child. To make dream come true, I and my hubby tried to save money to buy a wellow in countryside. We're successful.
However, I'm so worried because we have a few understanding about hourse. I need to know any method to raising them carefully.
Please give me advide!


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## Emsarr (10 September 2015)

Can I just ask why you've bought to ponies with no experience in caring for them, let alone training them?  It's all well and good having dreamt about it since you were a child but they are not easy animals, not are they cheap!

Find a local riding school and see if they have any stable management and horse care courses to do, it sounds like you need them with the comment "I'm so worried because we have a few understanding about hourse".

What type of ponies have you got? How old are they and how well handled? Do they let you pick out their feet etc?


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## ElleHarries (10 September 2015)

I bought them from my friend. They are Pipersville. One of them let you pick out their feet and another don't let me do that  She doesn't like. AS I see They're well handled.


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## Emsarr (10 September 2015)

Does your friend know how inexperienced you are? You'll have to work on getting them both used to getting their feet done etc. Have you got any photos of them?
What is Pipersville? I've tried googling it but nothing is coming up


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## Meowy Catkin (10 September 2015)

Is your friend able to give you some lessons on handling them? 
Could you pay an instructor/horse trainer to come out to your land and train you and the ponies?

You really need some help and training from someone experienced who can see both you and the ponies in real life.


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## sarcasm_queen (10 September 2015)

If you knew nothing about cars and couldn't drive, you wouldn't just buy one and decide to take it for a spin. 
Exactly the same thing with horses. Get some professional advice, otherwise it could be very dangerous for both you and the ponies. 
*tries to remain polite*


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## Enfys (10 September 2015)

Oh, quit with the "Why did you's" 

OP has the ponies now, yes, the suggestions above are sensible, but millions of women have babies without knowing how to look after them too, you learn as you go along, and I expect there are plenty of us on here who did that, I certainly did and I haven't maimed or killed anything in over 40 years. 
You ask questions, you read, you research, you ask more questions and you keep doing it until the day you no longer have horses.


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## sarahw123 (12 September 2015)

Enfys said:



			Oh, quit with the "Why did you's" 

OP has the ponies now, yes, the suggestions above are sensible, but millions of women have babies without knowing how to look after them too, you learn as you go along, and I expect there are plenty of us on here who did that, I certainly did and I haven't maimed or killed anything in over 40 years. 
You ask questions, you read, you research, you ask more questions and you keep doing it until the day you no longer have horses.
		
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Oh you can hardly compare becoming a mother and being responsible for a baby to buying a pony. That's ridiculous. 

OP, as mentioned previously, get and instructor out and learn about stable management, first aid, thing to look out for etc. Can you ask your friend for help?


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## Barnacle (12 September 2015)

OP where in the world are you?

Are the ponies little like this? http://originart.com/spsbs/images/Calvin-Klein-web.jpg

What are they eating at the moment?

Make sure they have clean water at all times.


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## twiggy2 (12 September 2015)

sarahw123 said:



			Oh you can hardly compare becoming a mother and being responsible for a baby to buying a pony. That's ridiculous. 

OP, as mentioned previously, get and instructor out and learn about stable management, first aid, thing to look out for etc. Can you ask your friend for help?
		
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your right being a mother is far more involved and a much bigger responsibility and far more difficult


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## Barnacle (12 September 2015)

twiggy2 said:



			your right being a mother is far more involved and a much bigger responsibility and far more difficult
		
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Since when do people sit back and think it's ok for someone to have a child on a whim anyway? I'm not ok with people who don't know how to care for babies having babies... I mean, I guess at least they have 9 months in which to learn and all the instincts they need to raise a child (unlike a pony). But no, I'm not ok with mothers not knowing what they are doing. And I'm pretty sure society at large isn't either. People in general look down on women who have kids on a whim/do not care for their children properly. A load of resources go into reducing the numbers of young people who have children without knowing what they are getting into... So I really don't see the point anyone is trying to make with that comparison at all. Having a child without knowing what you're getting into is even worse than buying a pony - but EVERYONE will tell you that. Whereas only people on this little forum will care about your impulse-buy pony.


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## Meowy Catkin (12 September 2015)

We mustn't forget that the OP recognises that they don't know enough and that have asked for advice on how to learn. This is far better than those who know nothing, but think that they know it all. I'm hoping that they have taken steps to get someone knowledgeable (maybe their horsey friend who sold the ponies will step up and help?) along to give them help/lessons.


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## SpringArising (12 September 2015)

Barnacle said:



			Since when do people sit back and think it's ok for someone to have a child on a whim anyway? I'm not ok with people who don't know how to care for babies having babies... I mean, I guess at least they have 9 months in which to learn and all the instincts they need to raise a child (unlike a pony). But no, I'm not ok with mothers not knowing what they are doing. And I'm pretty sure society at large isn't either.
		
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I'm pretty sure you'll find that 90% of mums and dads don't have a clue what they're doing when they first bring home their baby! You learn as you go, as you do with horses. And, I bet there are A LOT of unplanned babies born each year - that doesn't mean they'll have bad lives or parents. 

I thought I was prepared for pregnancy and everything that comes with it - definitely not true! It doesn't matter how much you prepare, sometimes you just need hands-on experience to get better.


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## sarahw123 (12 September 2015)

twiggy2 said:



			your right being a mother is far more involved and a much bigger responsibility and far more difficult
		
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Exactly. It's part of nature that will have even the most unmaternal amongst us (me!) ending up being astounded at how 'in tune' and 'natural' the whole thing is. Comparing being a mother to owning a pony is ludicrous! 
Sorry, slightly off topic OP, you've had some good advise so far.


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## Barnacle (12 September 2015)

SpringArising said:



			I'm pretty sure you'll find that 90% of mums and dads don't have a clue what they're doing when they first bring home their baby! You learn as you go, as you do with horses. And, I bet there are A LOT of unplanned babies born each year - that doesn't mean they'll have bad lives or parents. 

I thought I was prepared for pregnancy and everything that comes with it - definitely not true! It doesn't matter how much you prepare, sometimes you just need hands-on experience to get better.
		
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No I don't think they'll have bad lives and said nothing of the kind. I said I don't agree with people being clueless when they have children BUT that at least they have 9 months to read up and the instincts to go with it. Not to mention all the common knowledge and support systems that are in place. None of which is true of ponies. It's irrelevant how many people do it - many people do a lot of things that are less than ideal all the time. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be pointed out to them.

I agree with Faracat that the OP is asking for advice and recognises their lack of experience and that's why I didn't reply with any kind of criticism (I replied to the OP in a previous post). What I could not stand for was people pretending that because some parents are clueless about raising children and have them anyway, we should accept people being clueless about ponies they impulse buy too. That doesn't follow in any form.


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## ILuvCowparsely (12 September 2015)

The OP seems foreign by the terms they use, i hope the negative coments have not scared them off now as they have not returned. 

At least they came here to ask for help with these ponies. As for comparing babies to horses, i would not know as i choose not to have any kids as I prefer horses.



OP please return and we can advice you in any way you need.


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## Princess16 (12 September 2015)

ElleHarries said:



			Finally, after many year, I've own two ponies. 
Raising and training horse's been my dream since I was a child. To make dream come true, I and my hubby tried to save money to buy a wellow in countryside. We're successful.
However, I'm so worried because we have a few understanding about hourse. I need to know any method to raising them carefully.
Please give me
		
Click to expand...


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## twiggy2 (13 September 2015)

Princess16 said:





ElleHarries said:



			Finally, after many year, I've own two ponies. 
Raising and training horse's been my dream since I was a child. To make dream come true, I and my hubby tried to save money to buy a wellow in countryside. We're successful.
However, I'm so worried because we have a few understanding about hourse. I need to know any method to raising them carefully.
Please give me
		
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what does this mean?
		
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## Sugar_and_Spice (18 September 2015)

ElleHarries, the very basics are:  

Are they mares or geldings?  Both are fine but if you have a colt or stallion it will probably be best to get him gelded, as quickly as possible if one of them is a mare.  Speak to your vet about gelding.  You need a horse vet or at least a farm animal vet, not one who specializes in cats/dogs etc.

Is your fence any good?  Ponies are good at escaping from holes so regularly check there are none and mend the fence quickly if there is a gap.

Clean fresh water is needed at all times.  In the stable use buckets which should be emptied and refilled daily.  In the field an automatic water trough is best, you'll need to break the ice on it daily in freezing weather and clean it out occasionally.  If you don't have an automatic trough you'll need to fill dustbins or an old bath or similar with water, empty it, clean it and refill it regularly.

You should consider vaccinating against tetanus, you need to speak to a vet about that.  

The ponies will need a farrier to put shoes on or just to trim the hoofs aprox every 6 weeks, you'll need to contact a farrier yourself to arrange this.  Explain to the farrier in advance that one is not good with picking the feet up because he might need to book a longer appointment for you.  Ask him for tips on how to go about training the horse to be better about picking up the hoofs.  The hoofs should be picked out every day.  

I don't know where you keep the ponies but if there isn't enough grass and they are losing weight you will need to feed hay even if it's summer.  If there is too much grass and they are getting fat you'll need to use electric fencing to make the field smaller or use a grazing muzzle or increase their workload or keep them off the grass for a few hours a day or a combination of these things, to control their weight.  If you're not sure whether they're under weight or over weight or just right, ask the vet when they come to do the vaccinations.  You can also ask the vet for advice on what feed to give, if any, and how much hay to give.  You could ask to vet to do a basic health check too if you wanted.

The ponies will probably need to have their teeth rasped once a year or so, because ponies teeth develop sharp edges that need filing down so they don't cut the mouth.  Either the vet or a specialized horse dentist can do the tooth rasping.

If you brush the ponies with a rubber or plastic curry comb they will stay waterproof and can live outside even if it's raining.  If you brush them with a soft body brush to remove the grease in the coats or if you bath them, then you'll need rugs for them in winter when it rains a lot or to bring them into a stable over night.

There are some good books available on first aid for horses and you should buy first aid items plus a box to store them in.  The ponies should be inspected all over for cuts every day so you can clean them up before they get infected.  Check also for swellings or lameness and other signs of injury/illness.

Worm egg counts are useful to tell if your ponies need worming or not.  Some worms there aren't tests for so you'll need to give a wormer for these at appropriate times of the year.  You can buy wormers from your vet.

I echo others advice to find horse care courses.  Equine colleges or local riding schools are good places to ask.  Freelance riding instructors should also be able to help you.  Obviously you'll need to pay for this help/learning.  You need practical experience to learn things like how to lead them safely, how to tie up using a quick release knot, how to tack up and ride/drive (depending on what you plan to do with them), how to bandage a leg or apply a poultice to a hoof, the signs off illness, how to tell if a horse is lame.

Good luck with your new ponies :smile3:


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