Hiya

I would love your opinion my Welsh Ds condition.

She’s 14 and 14.3. Currently ridden around 4/5 times a week.

I’ve recently moved yards which is more hilly so she’s started a lot of hill work.

I just want the best for her so I would be open to hear how I can make her more comfortable

She’s now out 24/7 and fed daily which is chaff and a balancer

There is a rescue in Mississippi that took in a newborn foal at the beginning of March that was born with only three legs. They weren’t sure on his condition before they got him, but after receiving him and doing a vet exam, they determined the foal has a “strong will to live.” They said they’re going to let him live until he is no longer thriving, but now the rescue is thinking he’s going to defy all odds and live a full life.

He’s three weeks old at this point and they post pictures of him running and bucking.

The thing that bothers me is the rescue is now starting to block anyone who is questioning keeping him alive, asking how long they’re planning on keeping him around for, or legitimately asking if he can even have a full life. The rescue and all the foal’s fans are calling people who are advocating for his quality of life “haters.”

I don’t really know what I want this post to accomplish other than bring awareness to this foal and rescue, I guess. Like, is there even anything anyone can do or is it something I just have to let go? I’m just worried about this foal’s quality of life because people will be too sad on what he’s “missing out on” by letting him go too soon.

My mini Bently is an escape artist. He's been doing it off and on for years, but he's to the point he's getting out daily. We are on a busy road and I'm afraid he'll get hit. We have an electric fence and he doesn't care about getting zapped. Any suggestions? Pictured is the little turd.

My boy had a very exam for his rehab and got some ‘liquid courage’ to trot like a grownup and this was the after math 😂

Sweet boy just wanted to cuddle. He is not usually mouthy but he loves having his mussel tickles/ played with. He is a horse who needs a ton of stimulation haha

The goodest boy still let go when I told him to though

I’m really struggling with confidence after coming off my new pony a month back, I have been back on board and jumped/galloped/schooled etc and she is going really nicely and that is all fine but last night when I got on her she had a nasty spook before I’d got on and I was back to were we started where I have no confidence again. she can be rather spooky but nothing nasty under saddle, mainly spooking forward for a few strides (the fall was she spooked at something behind, reared up went forward and suddenly dropped a shoulder) She is only young and I have not had her long, she’s my dream horse and I really want to be able to get us both going nicely again

She’s a powerful little pony but not super strong, just loves her jumping 🙈

Any tips to help get my confidence back? Picture of said pony last night

I'm currently helping a person to school their horse (she's called Freyja) and the trainer that we have suggested that we change from a three-piece baucher to a straight snaffle because Freyja didn't seem to enjoy the baucher the best. So today we tried a straight snaffle and Freyja did like it in her mouth but it easily sled through her mouth which caused her discomfort. Obviously this is something we want to prevent but I don't exactly know how? I'm thinking that a full-cheek bit might help but I'd like to hear others opinions. The trainer also said that we can maybe add a noseband bcs we don't really use a full bridle but only like a headpiece as you can see in the pic, but idk how that will effect the bit bcs I feel like it'll only maybe stabilise the bridle?

Am I the only one who gets a bit upset when someone says “if your horse is just rotting in a pasture, you should just sell it”. Do people forget that the value of a horse isn’t just what they can do for humans? Plenty of horses are completely fine being pasture ornaments.

I’m not against selling horses if they don’t fit your lifestyle or if you feel that they’d be better off being worked. That’s not what this is about. It’s just about how some people can be super judgmental if you decide to do nothing with your horse.

You can give a horse the mental and physical enrichment they need to stay happy even if they’re just sitting in a pasture.

It’s the same thing when people say that “you’re wasting his potential letting him sit there”. Uhh… okay?? I paid for the horse? I can do whatever I want with it. I don’t value my horses like they’re just something to be ridden and thrown away. They’re living, sentient beings with feelings that I have grown attached to.

It’s so strange to me that people think riding a horse is some kind of necessity nowadays when it’s not. Maybe a hundred years ago it was, but nowadays most riding is just a hobby. Yes it can be expensive, but you don’t have to ride to have fun with horses!

Anyone feel the same?

My horse will need shoes if he doesn't stop pawing. He paws when it rains (he's scared), at feed time, and turnout. I think he's likely pawing other times as well due to the wear on his front feet, but I can't get a straight answer from my barn owner.

I discussed moving him to field board, but she was resistant to the idea. I believe her resistance is due to not having anyone lined up to take his stall/room to take on a new horse in the field setup.

Is there anything I can do to minimize stall pawing with his fear based and anxiety/anticipatory triggers? I think otherwise I'll have to look for a new barn. Thoughts?

I’ve been diagnosed with a terminal illness and I’m not sure I’m going to make it. I don’t want to go into the depths of that. What I’m asking is what I should do for my 2 horses. My parents have no idea of good care and horses and I worry if I leave them without a designated home they will go to a bad one. My dad believes in not keeping a horse if there useless (luckily he thinks I’m riding my 2 year old so he has stopped talking about selling her.) but know I’m at the point I’ve settled almost everything but my horses. No one in my family has dealt with horses except my grandma and she has dementia. I had a girl who wanted to take in my eldest horse but I don’t want to separate my horses. It feel like I’m stuck probably because I am.

I feel if I leave my parents to deal with it they will do whoever offers the highest money. Problem with that when I first bought my horse I found spur marks and whips and found her to be scared of any fast movements(raising hands etc). I bought her not knowing that. While I have gotten far with her and I can know lift my hands and she will trust me not to hit I don’t trust she will do that with just about everyone. For some reason my mom thinks she’s an angel of a horse but in reality I know she needs an experienced rider. Sorry about that rant but the reason I bring that up is when I first got her I was told she was safe than found out she’s not. She wasn’t crazy but she was definitely not trusting and wouldn’t stutter to get you off. I was told by these guys to sell her so she could be a brood mare my mom had agreed at first until I told her no. I knew she would not make it as a brood mare. She’s a small 15.1h horse and was never friendly to other horses. She was bred for reining they wanted to breed her to a Fresian that to me looked like a backyard bred horse. They seem to somehow be sexist to horses I don’t know how. All there stallions were always in work but the mares were deemed to be “wild” or left in the pasture to rot until they give birth. I don’t want that for my horse she’s about to be 16 I think she’s ready for retirement mentally (I barely ride her anymore because she just doesn’t enjoy it.)

I would want to give it to a shelter but then the question what if comes up? What if I do live and then I never see my horses again? Or literally any question of what if this happens.

I want to think about giving her to this teen girl I’ve met while riding. But my problem comes back to what if one day they can’t afford 2 horses. And then they sell them.

This whole thing sucks. I also have a 2 year old who turns 3 on my birthday (in 2 weeks). I have not broken her in to ride. I have found out a few times people have went behind my back to attempt to ride her and then came back to complain. That’s my biggest worry I think I can find my oldest horse a home if I really look. But with my youngest I feel people will rush into things she’s not ready. She will kick at times she feels stressed and I do 100% believe that when I start her under saddle she will buck. I live in Indiana there’s not much choice for me to sell as I’m surrounded by people who don’t try to understand the horses. I’m not saying this like there’s no one but with everything I’ve seen I’m lost.

I’ve thought about reaching out to this one girl she has 3 kids though. She trains horses and I loved her technique and she’s taught me valuable lessons on training. My problem is she’s didn’t always have the best financial situation and yes she cared for her 2 horses but I don’t see her being able to care for 2 more. So I’m thinking she will say no but I’m going to ask.

This is probably a rant but I am asking is there something I can do to like give them a good home if I die? I don’t know legally how this works. I’m a minor so technically my mom owns my horses but I paid for them. I feel if I give them away and I live I won’t be able to live on mentally. But I can’t imagine if I die and they’re in a bad home because I didn’t plan for them. I’m sorry I’ve gone in circles I got advice on my old post to give reading breaks.

We are ALL shocked he is sound. He jumps around the paddock, galloping doing flying bucks having the time of his life and is fine after. I'm happy to answer other questions. His a 8-9yo quarter horse who's been sound most of the time and has had lameness on and off for the year I've had him, we thought let's just finally get to the bottom of this and see If he needed anything special. When I tell you EVERYONE in the room was SHOCKED. They called vets, techs, students from other departments to come have a look. Because I his lameness exam he was "mildly lame at a trot" and a 2/5 on the lameness scale, so constantly lame and slightly obvious. Sound at a walk and trouble turning at a trot on the right lead. They might do a case study because it's truly shocking. I'm happy to explain a little more to people but in short on his right fore all 3 bones that make up his digit have fully fused, there's some indications of bone loss and previous infection most likely when it all happened. How it happened and when we don't know. But he is happy, healthy, it doesn't limit him. He is also now a pasture puff living his best little (spoilt) life with hand walks out on trails. His quality of life is still there and yes. When the time comes and he is in pain all the time he will be put down or when his quality of life decreases, I'm his forever home and will keep him comfortable for however long that is I can only hope it's for another 8-9 years because his my special little guy and one of the sweetest souls you would EVER meet.

As the title says, I'm sick of it. I've been doing barn jobs since I was 14 and finally hit my limit. I'm lucky enough to have one boss who runs her barn and does the 'shitty' jobs, so she's fantastic in that regard, and I've gotten lucky with her, but otherwise I'm SICK of it.

I was a working student for an eventing trainer, and just today, I got a text telling me to leave the barn permanently. I had spoken to her before, saying I could no longer work for her due to finances and that I would need to cut down on my time working there. I work three jobs now, her barn being one of them. She told me she understood and said I could work when I could and would only need 4 days per week to cover the board on my horse (aka part-time). NOTHING has changed. She still expected me to come in from 7 am to 10 pm daily with one day off a week and be fine. I worked a 15 hr shift at one point with no break, and she claimed I was sitting around half the time doing nothing, despite the fact SHE WASN'T EVEN OUT THERE. She accused me of making up hours, starting drama, being negligent, and never getting anything done despite the fact I'm the only reason the horses have clean bedding, full hay nets, clean and full troughs, and get all the care they need. She also refuses to 'count' me riding one of her horses for her because she sees it as a reward as opposed to me doing a job and working her horse(s) for her, oftentimes at the expense of my own horse's training.

I'm sick of being told I'm lazy, ungrateful, a liar, and a bad worker because these barn owners expect me to bend over backward for minimum wage (or no pay at all!) and just being berated and told I'm never going to make it. I always think to myself that I should just sell my horse and give up because I'm an awful worker and I'm never going to make it in the horse world. I'm also in school for pre-vet (large animal) and I've truly thought about just dropping out, because what the hell is the point if I'm a shit worker who won't make it anyways?

My third job that sparked all this is a serving job, and I've had the BEST time, it's been so easy compared to what I do, and I actually get paid well and have mandatory breaks. I've tried over and over again in the horse world to find a way to make money and do what I thought I loved while attempting to better myself as a rider and equestrian, but I'm tired of getting shit all over. I have no idea if I am just an awful worker, but I work from 5 am to 11 pm most days with no days off in the week (3 jobs, a student, a dog with mental issues, two cats, and a horse to take care of) so I feel like that alone keeps me from being 'lazy'.

I guess I'm just tired of being the scapegoat and giving up on what I love because someone else says so. Please let me know if y'all relate... I'm losing my mind going between holding barn owners accountable and thinking that I'm an awful person. :(

Update; I told her I will no longer be working her horses for her and will only being doing AM/PM chores and feeding. Which is cleaning out 9-10 nasty stalls, filling waters, hay and grain to all horses, prepping stalls for the next day, cleaning tack, tidying barn, sweeping, and any other general horse care. She is expecting me to work for 25$ for ALL of this.

My response

My recent bag of treats had 1.5 pounds of… dust? lol. The company refunded me and said I can keep it, any way to reform the dust into treats? Also, just wanted to share bc it was like literally receiving a bag of sand. Really cool to feel. Really bummed on my treat shortage.

My 4 year old pony, is nonstop itching all over. We don’t know what is wrong with her, i feel terrible for her. We’ve checked her for parasites. She gets ten times worse as shows.

Any1 has this problem and any solution?

TLDR: opinions on a <3’ career for this horse? Approximately six and diagnosed with arthritis.

Always love hearing people’s experiences. My vet aged six year old was recently diagnosed with severe arthritis in the right hock. We just bought him in Aug ‘24 so obviously he had this condition before we bought him and his history is a bit of a mystery so no clue what caused it.

Long story short we’ve been suspicious about his right hind for a while, but two different vets said he was okay and we just needed to give him time to gain weight and get stronger. Fast forward a few months and the vets were right. He got stronger, gained weight, was a lot more balanced, was sound from all appearances, and was doing super well. Overall certified good boy. Then we got into the winter and he started acting a little off. It slowly got worse, but it was mainly stuff we attributed to him being a super green and nervous horse. Cue him bolting a couple weeks ago and we immediately called the vet to do a full work up.

So here we are. He is getting scoped for ulcers, and hopefully injections shortly after we start ulcer treatment (assuming he has them). He has arthritis and the current plan is to inject his hyper mobile joint with Noltrex and the lower joints with steroids. I am looking into supplements for him and already have the BOT hock boots ordered. Assuming he has ulcers as well we are thinking of keeping him on Equine Elixers new Slime for his stomach lining. I have to ask our vet but was thinking an adequan regime twice a year may be a good option as well in addition to his injections.

So thoughts on continuing his training to eventually do the 2’6 hunters and maybe some fun 3’ stuff at home on a rare occasion? He’s just started on crossrails so it’s still a little ways off.

On a post about twins that were only born because they were missed on multiple ultrasounds. They got lucky, and they're doing well.

This commenter just boggled my mind, but then I wondered if this is just different elsewhere. I am not a breeder, but I'd consider it super irresponsible not to US a pregnant mare to check for twins, placentitis, etc.

The whole "nature doesn't need us" or "in the wild" argument doesn't make sense to me either. We ARE responsible for our own domesticated animals, and if we have to ability to potentially save lives or improve quality of life... shouldn't we do it?? Her comments made me wonder what else is irresponsible about her breeding, but maybe practice is just different elsewhere.

Is this attitude normal/accepted where you are?

I need some tips and advice!

I have a BIG,playful 12yo ottb that comes from a bad background, he was neglected and passed around many times before I finally found him. I’ve owned him since 2017.

He’s in perfect health other than some sticky hocks that gets treated and he’s on a supplement for.

When I first got him, he had horrible stable manners. He was aggressive and dominant, loved to bite and kick at any chance he got. We worked tirelessly at it and he has turned into a beautiful, bomb proof, relaxed guy.. however he still likes to nip, whether it’s playfully or not.

He’s very good with understanding voice so I prefer to use a good and sharp “No!” but sometimes he gets a smack if it’s aggressive. I’m not a bunny hugger and definitely believe horses need to be corrected but I’m also not going to abuse my horse, if that needs clarifying.

I’ve kind of come to the conclusion that nipping is his favorite way to communicate but sometimes, it gets annoying fast. It only happens in his stable.

Does anyone have any tips on how to eliminate the nipping? I’m willing to try anything as I’ve tried everything I can think of already.

My pony is on mainly forage -based diet, and he just needs a supplement of vitamins and minerals that forage doesn't cover (we test our hay and I use a supplement as recommend). But he doesn't like vitamin supplements and he's really, really good at picking out the supplement from other feed. He leaves behind both granulate and pelleted supplements, I have tried several kinds. I have tried to mix it in both dry and soaked with different feeds and snacks, even if I mix it very well or make a soup, the (expensive!) vitamins are left behind.

I'm sure I'm not the only one with a fussy eater. So, I am looking for your best tips on how to hide supplements in feed!

Because he is a native pony breed and a senior, there is always the fear of laminitis, so I don't want to give something too sugary or starchy on a regular basis.

Thanks in advance!

This is Duke. I’ve had him for several years now and he’s my buddy. He’s a 16hh gaited tennessee walker who was his old owners main trail horse.

Duke and I have learned a lot together over the years and he has calmed down quite a bit. he used to want to rush everywhere but now he walks calmly (mostly). I thought I was a good rider until I started watching other riders and I realized I really just… sit there.

I never got real lessons, I just grew up basically being ponied on trail rides. I stopped riding as a kid when I got a scare and just never got back on until college. I’m afraid i’m a bad rider and I send mixed signals. I don’t have horse friends to ride with or anywhere other than the tiny round pen or tree covered pasture to go. (if anyone knows of anywhere to ride in Poetry, TX please let me know DX)

I dont really know what i’m asking lol I need riding tips, bonding tips, fixing dumb anxious behavior tips. getting over heart horse loss tips. Last pic is of Hobie, my heart horse. I don’t know where he is or how he is. he was sold probably in 2013? I miss him dearly. I had no say. I hoped duke would help lessen that sadness but no. I love duke but if I had the option to trade him for hobie… How do you get over that guilt?

Currently this is a preview of a study that has been submitted and approved for publication as of yesterday. Pretty cool to see that there's some research teams out there willing to find answers for horse welfare questions.

Not sure if this is the right flair, but with a spotlight now shining on the welfare of horses both in competition and at home, I encourage all horse owners and enthusiasts to research your state’s animal welfare and cruelty laws.

For example, animal cruelty in South Carolina is a felony.

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t47c001.php#:~:text=(A)%20A%20person%20who%20knowingly,fine%20of%20five%20thousand%20dollars.

We can ride, train, compete, and enjoy horses in many ways without reinventing the wheel. Meeting their intrinsic needs will make them far more cooperative than most traditional methods.

The use of force, whether by striking an animal or by restricting its ability to escape discomfort or acute stress, is cruel. There are better ways.

In the meantime, the bystander effect is real. The best way to fight inadvertently becoming a silent bystander is to arm yourself with facts. Research. Fact check. Cross-reference. Confirm.

Education + compassion = change. ❤️

My recent bag of treats had 1.5 pounds of… dust? lol. The company refunded me and said I can keep it, any way to reform the dust into treats? Also, just wanted to share bc it was like literally receiving a bag of sand. Really cool to feel. Really bummed on my treat shortage.

hello equestrians, i have a gelding (5yo welsh pard bred) who we believe is suffering with PSSM, i had a big scare with him today which made me think of other things that have been happening recently that i never really seen as problematic (small muscle spasms/twitching that i’ve written off as him being cold or sensitive to touch due to his past, sensitive and unhappy under saddle even though tack, teeth, back and everything else had been checked and fine) today after a ride he started having full body spasms. tried to get him out to the arena to walk as i and others on the yard thought it may be colic and he was extremely stiff and could barely walk even though 30-45 minutes earlier he was perfectly fine under saddle. a lady on my yard had said he looked very similar to a horse she had previously owned who suffered with PSSM. so i will be ringing the vet to get some bloods to to test for PSSM i was just wondering if any fellow PSSM pony owners could give me a rough estimate on how much these tests cost. no matter how much i will get them done i just want to prepare for how much they will break the bank!!

This is his first clip of the year and first ever full body clip.

He is a 3 year old warmblood cross who does have somewhat sensitive skin. I’ve only had him since last September so in terms of figuring out what’s going on, we haven’t gotten to many sources.

NONE OF THESE MARKINGS ARE FROM THE CLIPPERS! Trust me, the ones on his bay side are smooth as if they are apart of his coat, then on the grey/white area these do seem to be like sensitive areas.. I noticed them start of January but it was -40 so couldn’t clip and also couldn’t see unless I went digging into his coat.

I’m just wondering if anyone’s seen any of these before. I’ve clipped loads of horses before and this is the first time I’ve seen this.