Oh my what have I done.... bought Zara a pony that's what....It has been long overdue though. I have been looking for a while, sometimes seriously sometimes not.
Its very hard to find the right pony. When you buy a horse for yourself you can take certain risks because you know your limits and capabilities. But my daughter is still learning and I am so protective of her when she rides, as a mum I think of all the bad things that could go wrong. I know I have to let those strings loosen a bit but its hard. I mean she is turning in to a very good little rider!
If i cast my mind back to when I was 11yrs old and the things I used to do then (oh to be fearless and silly ay), well its just as well my mum wasn't horsey and had no interest in them. She would certainly have either banned me from riding altogether or had multiple kittens..over and over again... lol!
I delayed the inevitable a bit, by telling my daughter that we wont get a pony until I have a horse float. This was quoted back to me however, straight after I bought my float home...oh dear...she didn't forget!
But now we have a lovely chestnut 14.2hh pony in the paddock, I haven't yet regretted it. She is a sweet thing and Im certain my daughter will have many years of fun with her. Actually a dream of mine when my daughter was born, was to go riding with her and now it will be a reality. I can see lots of days where we take the horses off to the beach, forest, wherever and ride together. That does mean a lot to me. The fact that the pony seems so far, a safe and sensible thing, means i can concentrate on my boy Holden, rather than worrying about what my daughter is doing.
So the collection grows..... I do have to many 4 legged friends but I feel this dynamic will change in the near distance future.
PAT: My lovely old 16.1 retired gentleman, 26ish. He is on a day to day watch as he has arthritis in his back and spine, but he seems to be coping really well at the moment.
SMURF: My daughters 1st pony, must be about 24ish , 11.2hh welsh mare. Lovely wee pony but was retired a number of years back due to her knee starting to collapse. At the moment it has calcified and a bit bow legged but is causing no pain. So we keep a close eye on her and walk her around. As with Pat, she is on a day by day watch.
SOPHIE: Timor Cross ornament and is Smurfs best friend, forever home here as well. She must be about 18 yrs old now..
HOLDEN: My beautiful big softie, a forever home with me is assured. Lots of years of fun with my boy.
JOCK: 14.2 standardbred. Was hoping this would have been my daughters pony but he is a little to advanced for her. We don't own Jock so he may go back to his owners.
HARRY: 16.1 gelding. He is not doing much at the moment and I think I will have to sell him. He is a great horse for someone who has lacked confidence or getting back to riding. Will never be a top show horse but knows all the basics and great to trek around the place.
So we have 6, no..make that 7.. pony/horses on the place, which may be reduced to 3 in the near future. But hey we have 30 acres here so its not like we don't have the space.
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