Bethie

That property was purchased with a hefty bequest in a will to them, a one off chance, they don't regularly have that sort of money coming in.

If there is any grass in the field then the horse has some food . Whether the grass is enough food by itself without any supplemental feeding (hay or concentrate feed that goes in a bucket) depends on the individual horse. It may be that there is hay left out somewhere in the field you can't see from the road/path or that hay is being put out one or more times a day but has been eaten when you go past, or similarly that the horse is getting a bucket feed at a time that you don't see. In horse terms, carrots are a high sugar feed and feeding lots of them can cause illness, some horses with a predisposition to being ill can't take them at all. It isn't really a good idea to feed a horse anything without its owner's knowledge. If there is any hedging, trees or walls then there is sufficient shelter. Many horses will choose to stand outside being soaked, its more hot sun that makes them seek shelter a lot of the time. Next time you go past have a look at the horse and see if through the mud you can actually see the individual ribs, if its spine is prominent rather than rounded, if the neck looks very thin and weak, and if the hindquarters are hollow and angular rather than rounded. All these would be pointers that the horse is too thin. Most horses have problems with being too fat though, much like people , and naturally should drop the weight that they put on in the summer over the winter - this keeps their metabolism functioning and prevents problems similar to diabetes in humans from occuring. Most types of horse will also grow a coat designed to deal with winter conditions without human intervention being necessary.

Hi, In your shoes I'd try and keep her content with patting a pony/donkey rides now and again, and see if she's still keen in a few years when she can start lessons at a riding school. Part loaning a pony for very small children generally, in my experience, only works well when the parent comes from a horsey background and knows how to do things and how much of a commitment it is, as the child's own involvement will be minimal until they get older. Basically it is Mummy's hobby while the child is very little, not the child's. For a very small child, regularly spending a couple of hours standing about in the freezing cold while Mummy does the horse chores is boring and cold, not fun. Even the riding part will be very short (20 mins perhaps, until child has had enough), and cold as child is sat still. If you don't have the experience, as it seems, to properly be able to supervise child and pony while riding then you might need to pay someone else to do that, even though child isn't able to yet take in instruction in a formal lesson situation. Small ponies know every trick in the book and will size you up in seconds as not being in charge, so they are likely to do everything they can to not do any work. This will be stressful. Supervising child desperate to run around on a yard full of ponies that potentially bite and kick, or might even land on child if she runs underneath, or break off/out from where they are if child inadvertently upsets them, is stressful for everyone around, not just the parent, and could be fatal. Add in pony that's not co-operating and you can't keep eyes everywhere at once. There is also likely to be heavy machinery (tractors and attachments) about that child must be kept away from, deep water in troughs, yards are not particularly safe places! Lots of small kids end up staying sat in the car until its time to get on the pony, or even having to stay at home while Mummy sees to the pony as its difficult to do everything. Small ponies are relatively cheap to keep generally, but prone to illnesses and issues caused particularly by being overweight and underexercised, both difficult points to address when they are too small for anyone old enough/big enough to be competent to ride enough to tire the pony out. Trying to manage a little pony often means at least 2 visits a day to the yard as they may need to be kept stabled for part of the day all year round in an attempt at weight control and illness prevention. They may still become ill despite good care and need emergency vet treatment. So, it will be a bind for you and not necessarily that entertaining for your child for a lot of the time. People looking to part loan their pony want someone who will commit and generally don't want someone they will have to supervise intensively, or teach how to ride, or that will get bored after a few weeks and drop out, or decide its too cold/wet/there's something else going on to come up that day dropping it on the owner at the last minute to sort the pony out on the loaner's days. So, there are some of the downs! I'd want to get your child riding at a school first, who will probably have a minimum age limit of 5/6 partly for insurance reasons and partly as before this the child can't sit still and take in being taught for any length of time so wouldn't benefit from lessons. If she likes it (there's no guarantee she will and if you've committed to having a pony say 3 days a week then that's a bugger), and still after a couple of years is desperate to go and ride every week no matter what the weather/time of year/more exciting trips are on offer, and also want to do the boring jobs, and you/partner are willing to take on the time and financial sacrifice to commit to a part loan, then consider looking for a suitable safe pony. Then be prepared to be skint until child reaches financial independence as horses take over your life!

Riding stables aren't able to take on young helpers like they used to any more, best you're likely to get are "pony days" or pony club centres for learning stable management. The question isn't really is your daughter ready or not, or will she enjoy it or not, it is whether you want to take on the commitment of a pony as the responsible adult here. Whether you take on a full or part loan, the owner will expect you to put in the time "supervising" (read "doing" a lot of the time!) your daughter in the daily stable tasks. Will you resent going out in the wet and cold during the winter, will you want to go off and do other things rather than see to the pony, will you be able to commit to going up daily, twice daily if necessary. Can you cope with standing around getting cold and bored yourself supervising her riding. Can you take on the unforeseen expenses as well as the regular stuff, first ponies can be kept pretty cheaply still, but even on loan you will most likely be responsible for vet fees. Then if she does get keen there will be shows and pony club to go to . If you are willing to take on the pony, with eyes open as to what it will involve and not thinking that you can just drop her off and leave her to it, then go for it.

That looks great Strix, will be good if more places get added on to it. To answer your question I'd turn it around and say we would actually go more places if we knew the dog was welcome as we pretty much only go out with the dog anyway!

So whose name is the tenancy in - just hers or joint (or his!)? There is an out of hours number for emergency repairs should a window or door somehow break. If his name is on the tenancy she can't simply deny him access, you can't "break and enter" your own home for example. Emergency locksmith would still be easiest option to me if he is a tenant.

Is it rented or privately owned? Does he have any interest (ownership) in the property? If rented can he get hold of the landlord? Basically looking for a way he can call in a locksmith and gain entry.

Dan Hudson at Springvale Carriages might be able to help http://www.springvalecarriages.co.uk/contact.html

Hulse & Co http://www.hulse-sheffield.co.uk/

Do you mean he's insulin resistant? Fast Fibre is really good and safe for most horses (there is the odd one that doesn't get on with it). If he needs drugs then metaformin has good results, but bringing the insulin levels down with exercise is better where possible. If he's actually cushingoid then again there are lots of horses with good results on pergolide. Jackie Taylor runs the Yahoo group The Metabolic Horse and has tons of information to share, plus all the other users of the group are going through the same thing. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/TheMetabolicHorse/ and http://www.metabolichorse.co.uk/index.htm.

Give Dan Hudson a ring - 07721 534984 or 0114 2621249

Can I repost this on another forum?

To be honest I'd just keep them separate anyway and not make it an issue, unless your pony is kept at home. Lots of dogs are injured and killed each year by getting in the way of a horse's hoof, whether aimed at the dog or not, and lots of accidents are also caused by horses getting upset by dogs. I only have my dog around if I have another adult with me to be in control of the dog while I see to the horses as I can't divide my attention sufficiently between the two.

Yet again you are failing to take into account any views other than your own and those who completely agree with you. I was at that meeting too. It was overtaken by people with their own agendas and there was little to no discussion of the actual proposal being made. One woman near me was simply screaming over everybody else. People asked to pass the microphone to those trying to ask questions kept hold of it and used it to speak themselves preventing others from having any participation. There were numerous attempts to stop the presentation from even being given with people interrupting the speaker and refusing to let her explain what the current proposal is. Other people were trying to get the main speaker to comment on past proposals that she, being from a private company, had not had any involvement in. I eventually left feeling physically ill from the 90 minutes of screaming I had endured from the lady near me and none the wiser as to the FACTUAL objections people may have. If you want to persuade me that the current scheme is indeed hazardous to health you will do a lot better job if you quit the hyperbole and start giving me facts and scientific data that I can read and judge for myself.

As someone who lives very close to the proposed development, I am getting really fed up with some overbearing loud mouth types claiming that they speak for me. Nobody has formed a residents group to represent the locals, or if they have, nobody has made such a group well known or publicised. All that is happening is that those who shout loudest think that they know best. You do not know my views and you cannot assume that I agree with the comments made in your last sentence above. You may say "some" residents as I agree, some residents do hold those views, but others do not and this is not as clear cut as you are trying to make out.