Idle Curiosity - How Many Horses?
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sjr725
Well-known member
msscamp - we've had quite a bit of rain up here and the pasture is looking good - I can irrigate if I need to - My husb always argues about the hay in the winter - but we raise our own so it's not too bad. I keep telling him, we raise it - I don't have to buy it; he says every bale they eat is one less he can't sell! We've got cattle so we don't sell much hay anyway!
buckwheat_87
Well-known member
4 = 1 seven year old gelding green broke
1 thirtyfour year old gelding never broke
1 eleven year old mare Ranch horse
1 two month old filly beutiful lineback dun
1 thirtyfour year old gelding never broke
1 eleven year old mare Ranch horse
1 two month old filly beutiful lineback dun
ArrowHBrand
Well-known member
Shetland ponies...all of the rumors are true. She is a hard headed little brat! It doesn't help that she wasn't ever really weaned and now she is three! When she came her she had all sorts of bad manners as you could imagine, biting being the worst. The owners never trimmed her feet because they said, "at home she just wears them down." That was a bunch of bull, they never trimmed her feet because she didn't like them picked up. We took care of that and the biting problem. My wife is doing a good job with her. The pony was a gift to our nieces and I certainly would have politely refused. My sister in law said when her daughters out grow "Spirit" that we could buy her from them. I DON'T THINK SO! We'll get our son a real pony, like the retired 13.2 hand QH pony we have now. Something he won't outgrow in a couple of years and that has a little bit of cognitive ability.
sjr725
Well-known member
I'll 2nd the Shetland pony stories - I still have scars on my leg from my pony rubbing me off against the barbed wire fence! When our boy was little he had one of my dad's old ranch horses - biscuit - he was about a 20 yr old grade quarter gelding - been everywhere, done everything kinda guy. My son started riding him by himself when he was about 3 and he would just follow along, as the kid got better the horse would do more - he rode him until he was about 6 and then graduated to a slightly younger model and so on and by the time he was ready for high school rodeo, we were able to buy him a real nice 5 yr old calf horse that he took all through college, and now his 3 yr old daughter is riding him!
DrumRunner728
Well-known member
Okay, here's my FAVORITE Shetland Pony story. It was published in the local paper a few years ago. I laughed until I cried, literally. This man KNOWS what he's talking about! 
SO YOU THINK YOU WANT TO PONY UP, HUH?
Mark Hinson, DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
The other day, as I sat outside a restaurant along scenic, 60-lane Capital Circle Northeast in Tallahassee, I noticed a pony ride that'd been set up in a lonely, dusty, strip-mall parking lot across the highway. The ponies looked sullen and cranky.
"I hate ponies," my friend Austin said. "The only people who like ponies never had one."I'd never considered this, but he was absolutely correct.
Austin grew up next door to a now-defunct pony farm in patriotic, slightly psychotic Jackson County. As a child, he cleaned stalls to earn money to waste on video games.
Occasionally, he and some neighborhood kids would chase down ponies and ride them bareback without aid of bridles.
"We'd grab hold of their manes and ride them until they threw us off," Austin said. "It was fun, but the hard part was catching the mean little (expletive that rhymes with plastered). It took a group effort, like Neanderthals hunting a mammoth. You had to tag team them. There was an art to it."
One day, during a guerrilla-raid pony ride, the pygmy equines exacted revenge.
"There was this kid, Fuzzy, who grew up to be a convicted arsonist," Austin said as he eyeballed the pony ride.
"Fuzzy made the tactical error of getting in between two of the ponies we were holding. One of the ponies spotted Fuzzy out of the corner of his eye and kicked him hard. Then the other pony kicked him right back. They just kept kickin' him back and forth. It was like pony badminton. I watched for as long as I could, and then I had to turn away."
After hearing Austin's tale of the unfortunate future arsonist, I suddenly remembered that I once had a Shetland pony. It was a Christmas gift. Nonreturnable.
Despite my faulty, NutraSweet-soaked memory, I can still remember the names of all the dogs, snakes, turtles, tarantulas, cats, skinks and frogs that I've owned since I was in kindergarten, but I cannot recall that rump-biting pony's name. I've blocked it out. It's a horse with no name. Let's just refer to him as Evil Blowfish Beast, or EBB.
EBB was smart and mean, a bad combo. Assuming you could trick the pony with snacks and cram the bridle bit in his mouth without losing fingertips, when you were fastening the saddle on his back, EBB would extend his belly like a puffer fish.
Later, during the ride, he would suck in his tummy, thus causing the saddle to become loose and slide. He would pick up the trot as the saddle slowly began rotating from the top of the horse to the transmission. Saddle horns should come equipped with eject buttons.
Attempted decapitation was EBB's other speciality. The newly built shed that EBB called home had sharp, low-slung, tin edges. EBB's favorite bedtime story was "The Headless Horseman." The-mad-dash-to-the-shed-of-death move was especially terrifying when EBB was trotted out for rides during birthday parties.
"Everyone has been to that birthday party where a pony runs off with some yowling, terrified reveler," Austin said. "The poor kid is always traumatized. Then his mom has to come pick him up early from the party."
As we sat in the restaurant staring at the ponies, we watched as a young family challenged death, leap-frogging across the eight lanes of traffic, trying to get to the pony ride. After a few near-misses by speeding semis, the family arrived, panting and shaken, and paid for the pony ride.
"Now is when the dangerous part begins," Austin said.
Copyright (c) 2000 Tallahassee Democrat
SO YOU THINK YOU WANT TO PONY UP, HUH?
Mark Hinson, DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
The other day, as I sat outside a restaurant along scenic, 60-lane Capital Circle Northeast in Tallahassee, I noticed a pony ride that'd been set up in a lonely, dusty, strip-mall parking lot across the highway. The ponies looked sullen and cranky.
"I hate ponies," my friend Austin said. "The only people who like ponies never had one."I'd never considered this, but he was absolutely correct.
Austin grew up next door to a now-defunct pony farm in patriotic, slightly psychotic Jackson County. As a child, he cleaned stalls to earn money to waste on video games.
Occasionally, he and some neighborhood kids would chase down ponies and ride them bareback without aid of bridles.
"We'd grab hold of their manes and ride them until they threw us off," Austin said. "It was fun, but the hard part was catching the mean little (expletive that rhymes with plastered). It took a group effort, like Neanderthals hunting a mammoth. You had to tag team them. There was an art to it."
One day, during a guerrilla-raid pony ride, the pygmy equines exacted revenge.
"There was this kid, Fuzzy, who grew up to be a convicted arsonist," Austin said as he eyeballed the pony ride.
"Fuzzy made the tactical error of getting in between two of the ponies we were holding. One of the ponies spotted Fuzzy out of the corner of his eye and kicked him hard. Then the other pony kicked him right back. They just kept kickin' him back and forth. It was like pony badminton. I watched for as long as I could, and then I had to turn away."
After hearing Austin's tale of the unfortunate future arsonist, I suddenly remembered that I once had a Shetland pony. It was a Christmas gift. Nonreturnable.
Despite my faulty, NutraSweet-soaked memory, I can still remember the names of all the dogs, snakes, turtles, tarantulas, cats, skinks and frogs that I've owned since I was in kindergarten, but I cannot recall that rump-biting pony's name. I've blocked it out. It's a horse with no name. Let's just refer to him as Evil Blowfish Beast, or EBB.
EBB was smart and mean, a bad combo. Assuming you could trick the pony with snacks and cram the bridle bit in his mouth without losing fingertips, when you were fastening the saddle on his back, EBB would extend his belly like a puffer fish.
Later, during the ride, he would suck in his tummy, thus causing the saddle to become loose and slide. He would pick up the trot as the saddle slowly began rotating from the top of the horse to the transmission. Saddle horns should come equipped with eject buttons.
Attempted decapitation was EBB's other speciality. The newly built shed that EBB called home had sharp, low-slung, tin edges. EBB's favorite bedtime story was "The Headless Horseman." The-mad-dash-to-the-shed-of-death move was especially terrifying when EBB was trotted out for rides during birthday parties.
"Everyone has been to that birthday party where a pony runs off with some yowling, terrified reveler," Austin said. "The poor kid is always traumatized. Then his mom has to come pick him up early from the party."
As we sat in the restaurant staring at the ponies, we watched as a young family challenged death, leap-frogging across the eight lanes of traffic, trying to get to the pony ride. After a few near-misses by speeding semis, the family arrived, panting and shaken, and paid for the pony ride.
"Now is when the dangerous part begins," Austin said.
Copyright (c) 2000 Tallahassee Democrat
sjr725
Well-known member
Ya gotta love it!
It's so true - the scar on my leg hurts just reading it!!
It's so true - the scar on my leg hurts just reading it!!
smart_slider
Well-known member
10 Registered QH, and one half QH mare.= 11 horses
I was down to 4 in June but now I am back up to 7. One new one is a daughter of Shining Spark due to foal in April and the other new one is a Peppy San Badger grand daughter due to foal in February. The other is a Lil Ruff Peppy daughter. And also my West Coasts Kitty mare , my POA & a mini pony. Out of the 7 I have here now, only 1 of them was here last February so we have done quite a bit of adding to the herd this year.
codymccue
Well-known member
well lets see...
2 big grade gelding saddle horses
1 big draft cross mare(ride&drive)
1 buckskin soon to be gelding
3 QH brood mares
1 appendix brood mare
1 grade kids mare
1 yearling QH colt
1 QH stallion
------------>2 QH foals on the way.
gonna haveta sell some cows to free up some pasture... :cowboy:
2 big grade gelding saddle horses
1 big draft cross mare(ride&drive)
1 buckskin soon to be gelding
3 QH brood mares
1 appendix brood mare
1 grade kids mare
1 yearling QH colt
1 QH stallion
------------>2 QH foals on the way.
gonna haveta sell some cows to free up some pasture... :cowboy:
codymccue
Well-known member
added a sorrel stud colt on the 23rd...1 more to go.
Katie
Well-known member
We have 11
4 belgians, 3 Quarter horses, 2 paints, 1 Quarter appaloosa cross and a shetland pony.
This shetland is a great pony. I think most ponies are mean because of the mean kids that have tortured them in most cases. I am sure there are some that are just naturally mean like in any animal or people you are going to have some that are just horrible.
4 belgians, 3 Quarter horses, 2 paints, 1 Quarter appaloosa cross and a shetland pony.
This shetland is a great pony. I think most ponies are mean because of the mean kids that have tortured them in most cases. I am sure there are some that are just naturally mean like in any animal or people you are going to have some that are just horrible.
codymccue
Well-known member
added a pretty little buckskin filly on the 26th.Straight as an an arrow and the spittin image of her ma...
WagaAgeyv
Well-known member
Had 2-Palamino/Walker Mare and her red Palamino/Walker/Paint filly, a yearling never weened tried to ween her the easy way, cut her off from mom so they could still communicate and NOPE! She jumped a 6 foot paddock, strand of electric fence and a 4 gauge wire panel all together, and destroyed them but unhurt in a 5 minute period. So we loaded her and she was given away to someone who had the time and patience to have her boarded and trained. Down to 1.
Then we added two. Geldings - Black Walker/Paint and a Paint Great dispositions all. The Palamino though has become a high headed pain at times. But EASY keepers on grass alone. Worm, vaccines slim to no feed for two, one no feed (founders easy). Great to watch and look good with our longhorns.
Then we added two. Geldings - Black Walker/Paint and a Paint Great dispositions all. The Palamino though has become a high headed pain at times. But EASY keepers on grass alone. Worm, vaccines slim to no feed for two, one no feed (founders easy). Great to watch and look good with our longhorns.
Jim62
Well-known member
Got 5 as we speak. Two mares about 12 years old, 2 geldings about 18, and one gelding who is 7, all grade QH.
Pretty disgusted with the whole bunch right now. If someone had come along yestiddy who would take the others, we'd now be down to one 18 yo gelding.
I guess it's actually me, as I seem to run into the same problems with any one I try to ride. I'm just getting too old, and I'm tired of fighting them every step of the way to get them to go where I want to go and do what I want to do.
As a last ditch effort, I'm going to spend a couple days (me and the hoss) with a very well-respected trainer that lives nearby, and see if he can tell what's going on, and what to do about it. :???:
If that don't work, we'll be down to 0 just as fast as we can. :tiphat:
Pretty disgusted with the whole bunch right now. If someone had come along yestiddy who would take the others, we'd now be down to one 18 yo gelding.
I guess it's actually me, as I seem to run into the same problems with any one I try to ride. I'm just getting too old, and I'm tired of fighting them every step of the way to get them to go where I want to go and do what I want to do.
As a last ditch effort, I'm going to spend a couple days (me and the hoss) with a very well-respected trainer that lives nearby, and see if he can tell what's going on, and what to do about it. :???:
If that don't work, we'll be down to 0 just as fast as we can. :tiphat:
I'm curious too. How many acres per horse and how many acres per 1 head of cattle? I get conflicting info so would be happy to hear your ideas.
Also, horses and cattle can be pastured together, right? In my family that is how it was done...
This info will help me as I look for my "Last Chance Ranch!" Thanks, Katherine
Also, horses and cattle can be pastured together, right? In my family that is how it was done...
This info will help me as I look for my "Last Chance Ranch!" Thanks, Katherine
hayray
Well-known member
I almost said 3 but now I have 2. My 30 year old Appaloosa died this winter out on pasture with my momma cows, took us 3 weeks to locate him because of the deep snow.
hayray
Well-known member
In Michigan where I am I would say 2 acres per cow for about a 6 month growing period and I would double that acreage for a horse. When you look up research data on nutritional requirements of a horse and cow on a pound for pound basis are pretty much the same, especially as far as dry matter intake is concearned. However, that does not factor in the behavior differences between the two. Cows graze/eat for an average of 8 hours per day and horses I think I read studies saying 16-18 hours per day and this causes horses to over-graze and eat beyond their necessities. Another factor is that horses are more selective in grazing habits and will over-utilize small amounts of pasture leaving virtually large areas untouched. The over-utilization of pasture areas destroys the productivity by damaging growth tillers of grasses. For this reason I would really not try to manage too much pasture area for horses. Winter stock piling tends to get more useage as far as horses go.kpotter":1inm26hd said:
