Yes dreams do come true (Horses in General)

Member Name: Sugardooyoo

Product:	Horses in General
Date:	03/12/08 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unconditional love, exiting gallops, fresh air!

Disadvantages: cold, wet, muddy winter, numb fingers and toes!

I was a pony mad (ok obsessed) girl from as far back as I could remember who grew up into a horse mad woman!

My family were complexly non horsey barring donkey rides on the beach in the summer so I spent my whole life when not in school (and sometimes when in it lol) drawing, reading and dreaming about horses.

At twelve my grandad booked me in for my first ever proper riding lesson at the riding school in the village where he and my grandmother lived. After that I stayed at their house every weekend I could wrangle so that I could be at the stables to help out, mucking out, grooming, cleaning tack, leading beginners in the rain and eating my sarnies with mucky hands with the other girls in one of the stables - I was in heaven!

This was in the late 70's and early 80's my father and most of our town was redundant and there was no chance of me ever getting a pony of my own......

Fast forward twenty odd years and I am now the proud co-owner (with my daughter) of a 16hh (horses are measured in hands, 4" = 1hh) thoroughbred mare and a 13.2hh welsh section c pony, very different both in type and personality.

We don't have huge sums of money to play with so we rent a 3.5 acre field with field shelter and stables on a farm, this costs £50 per calendar month per horse and includes running water. We have to do everything ourselves (called DIY livery), grooming, feeding, mucking out, poo picking the field (no fun in the middle of winter!) and all this before you even get the chance to ride. Feeding is once per day in the summer months and twice in winter, some horses may need their feeds splitting into three or even four feeds per day.

To be a horse owner takes total dedication and most of your spare time. You cannot just take a day off (unless you are loaded and in full livery!) due to sickness, you just have to wrap up warm and grin and bare it. I have not been able to ride for the last two years due to a back injury but the time I spend with my horses is the most precious and rewarding, they make me laugh and smile and when my thoroughbred races round the field she takes my breath away with her grace.

The thoroughbred takes a lot of feeding (and cash) in the winter months to keep her weight on, she has expensive heavy weight rugs so that she can live out 24/7 but stay warm and dry, our welshie on the other hand gets fat just on thin air and is the most economical equine to keep that I have ever known. Saying that they both need their feet trimmed (barefoot so no shoes) EVERY six weeks, this costs £20 each, they need worming several times per year (intervals vary with different products) and they have to have their flu and tetnus jabs once a year, I can't remember the cost of the actual jabs offhand but the vet's call out fee alone is £55 for us.

Then there was my mare's mystery illness last new year's day, that lasted for three weeks, and after several vet visits, blood works and other tests and a £250-ish bill went away on it's own accord!

I'd never be without horses again despite the hardships that we have been through for them, it has also been great and a privilege as a mother to get to spend so much quality time with my daughter doing what we both love together, how many mother's of today's teenage girls can say that :)

Summary: my kingdom IS a horse....