Jason's new friend.

It's time for Jason to finally do some work to start to build up his muscles! My Uncle's partners daughter, Sian, has wanted to learn to ride for a while, but up until now, hasn't had the opportunity. Jason needs exercising, but I am too big to ride him and my children are too small. So, it makes perfect sense for Sian to start riding Jason!

Sian's first ride went very well. She did very well, especially as she hasn't ridden much before. Jason was a super star, even though he hasn't done any work for at least 6 months!

Next ride will be a trip along the cliff top this Saturday. Weather permitting of course!!

Cheeky boy!!

Snow pony!!

I have been struggling with guilt during the cold weather. Jason lives out in the field 24/7. I had planned to convert our woodshed/outbuilding into a stable for him before the winter set in, but father-n-law has put the dampers on that idea. Unfortunately, we don't see eye to eye and as the farm belongs to the out-laws, I have to toe the line.

So, plan B came into effect. Make sure Jason is as warm and dry all the time as much as possible.

When we had our 'large' snowfall last week, I was dreading putting my hand inside Jason's rug to check he was warm. To my surprise, he was/is lovely and toasty!!

Jason is now wearing a thick stable rug (similar to a 20 togg duvet) and a heavy weight turnout rug with a neck attached. He is eating half a bale of hay a day, along with 4 times the amount of hard feed my thorough bred horse is eating!! His breeding also goes a long way towards him being used to the harsh weather. Welsh ponies are used to living out on the Welsh mountains with no rugs or hard feed!!

Horses and ponies who live out, do pretty well in the cold frosty/snowy days. It's the driving rain and winds which could cause a problem if the animal is not kept warm, dry and well fed. So, I really shouldn't feel guilty. Jason is warm, well fed, happy and cheeky!!

Pedicure!

Last month, my farrier - Billy Scott, popped over to trim Jason's hooves. Billy was very pleased with what he found! Jason has lovely sound and solid hooves!! This means there is a pretty good chance he will be able to be ridden 'barefoot' - which means he wont need shoes on when he starts to be ridden again. This is brilliant as a set of shoes costs £60 a time and need replacing every 8 - 10 weeks! Saving money with horses- almost un heard of!!!

Update.

Just a quick update, to let you know I haven't forgotten you!! Jason is doing very well. He is piling on the weight and looking less like a hat stand and more like a pony - all be it a skinny pony!!

I have discovered Jason has quite bad sweet itch, which is an allergy to a type of midge, causing him to scratch his mane and tail. I am a little concerned by this, as he is 'itchy' at the moment whilst it is cold, so I am doing research into what I can do come summertime. There are a lot of different products on the market, some to go in his feed, others for topical application. I'll keep you posted with what I find!

I have increased Jason's feed a little now the weather has turned chilly, so his energy goes into building body condition, not just keeping warm.

So, on the whole, Jason is doing fine!

A lovely sunny day!

It such a fabulous sunny day today that I have decided Jason would really benefit from feeling the sun on his back.

I can't get over how well he looks in such a short time! There is obviously a very long way to go yet, but we are well on the way.

His coat is lovely and shiny and he has a little tubby belly!

I left him resting a back foot, eyes half closed, sun bathing!

A lovely sunny day.

The coral.

Pony pals.

Up until yesterday, Jason was in the field with just one other pony - the other 2 had a portion of the field fenced off. Yesterday, the fence was taken down and now all 4 ponies are now grazing happily together.

To enable Jason to have his feeds without the others trying to get their share, I have spent a while (in the pouring rain) this morning making a coral next to the gate, so Jason can have his feed in peace. It will also be handy if any of the ponies need any attention, with out the others trying to get in on the act!!

So, my plan is, on the way to school in the morning, put Jason in the 'coral' with his feed and on the way home, let him back into the main field - Simple!! (Hopefully....)

Snuggly rug!

It may be raining and blowing a hoolie, but Jason's warm and dry in his lovely rug.

We're going on a rug hunt!!

Jason came to us with a 'wardrobe'! Unfortunately, the turnout rugs he came with were not so much rug, but more hole! I suppose you could even call them 'laced'!

As we live on the cliff top, Jason needs rugs which will keep him warm and dry, otherwise he will loose more weight and condition, as the energy he gains from his diet will be used by him to keep him warm rather than to lay down fat.

I have had a 'wanted' advert on the New Forest Equine Directory website for a 2nd hand 'combo' heavyweight turnout rug. The 'combo' means that the rug has a full neck - kind of like a hood, which will not only keep his neck warm and dry, but will also stop the wind and rain being blown down his rug onto his chest! Rugs come in light, medium and heavyweight, this is the grading/weight of the filling of the rug. Like the togg value on duvets.

A lovely lady in Burley contacted me with a rug which fits the bill (& Jason!) perfectly! It has also just been cleaned and re-proofed, so it will keep Jason nice and dry.

I have also just splashed out and ordered a brand new extra heavy weight turnout rug in preparation for the real winter!!

Now all I have to do is to rig up lines in my tack/feed room, where I can hang the wet rugs and put an old oil filled radiator in there to get the soggy rugs ready for the horses to wear again. Oh the joys of winter!!

Sunny day.

It has been a lovely sunny day today, after last nights torrential rain.

After taking the boys to school, I stopped off to give Jason his breakfast and thought it would be a lovely opportunity for him to get the sun on his back and a chance for me to dry his rug!

At lunchtime I walked to give Jason his lunch and found him flat out in the middle of the field - sunbathing! Bless him.

Worms!

This morning, i received the results of Jason's 'poo' sample!!

With both Albert and now Jason, insted of blindly worming every 3 months as we all used to, I now send poo samples off to a lab specializing in worm egg counts. The aim is to only worm when the horses need it, not only saving money, but more importantly, not filling the animal with unnessacery chemicals.

When I took Albert on in March this year, his worm count was >1400epm. A rule of thumb is after worming a sample will be <50epm and when the horse needs worming it will be around 250epm. So, as you can imagine, I had my work cut out sorting Albert so as to gently, but efficiently clear him of internal parasites.

When I received the email from the lab, I was expecting a result much the same as Albert's. To my surprise and great relief, Jason's count was <50epm! Thankfully he has been kept upto date with worming.

I once had a little NF filly who had been bred on the forest. She had such a bad infestation of worms, that sadly she died shortly after coming to me of peritonitis. The damage was already too bad for worming treatments to correct. This is why I am now very careful and cautious with regard to worms.

This is Jason when I first went to see him.

Bath time!

This is Jason's story. He is a 16 year old 14.2hh Welsh gelding. He has come to live with us as his previous owner could no longer afford to keep him and he had lost alot of weight due to the young lady being unable to buy him feed.

We collected Jason last Saturday afternoon. After much gentle persuasion, we finally loaded him into the trailer. He hadn't been in a trailer for over 18 months, so was really weary of going in. The lure of food finally got the better of his nerves though, and gingerly walked up the ramp where a bucket of pony nuts and a haynet waited for him!

We arrived back at the farm and decided to put Jason straight into the field - after taking his traveling boots off. Albert, my 15.2hh T.B. driving horse came trotting over to introduce himself to Jason, soon to be very disappointed, as Jason didn't even lift his head from the lovely grass!!

I have chosen Jason's food very carefully, taking into account his age, condition, plus the fact he hasn't had hard feed for over a year. Finally settled on Alfalfa, Senior conditioning mix, sugar beet, with soya oil, milk powder, biotin, natural live yogurt and lots of carrots and apples!! He is having 3 feeds a day, so not to put too much strain on his stomach, which could cause colic.

Sunday 26th October 2010

Gave Jason a bath this morning in insecticidal shampoo, incase he had lice. He was very 'itchy' and had very greasy coat. He loved his bath, standing in the sun with his eyes half closed!! After his bath, I brushed all of the tangles from his mane and tail. He is now very shiney!

I also washed all of Jason's rugs, to kill any bugs!!