Producing Ponies for Kids and Pony Club by Fiona Clark

07/11/2024

My philosophy exactly! 🙌

Wether I am starting a horses education from scratch or searching for a pony for a client . To know that the horse, (wether it be 5 years old or 15) has had a consistent and professional start. With good manners, ground-work, flat work and an understanding of what the human wants from them makes all the difference!

Fiona Clark Ponies, "Not setting horses and ponies up to fail since 1995." 🐴 💖

The most important thing in house building is a solid foundation.
Without that the house may be okay for a short while, but over time will become unstable and dangerous.
Same applies in our sport and teachings of it.
Without the solid basics, which most today want to avoid, you can maybe ‘survive’ for a while but the cracks in your riding ‘foundation’ will show up over time.
Consistency in riding and therefore results, come with work and discipline.

Training consistency, being trainable, LISTEN (to your horse and trainer) not making excuses, the blame game, horse management. (That should’ve come first!) also a huge SACRIFICE. (Not the ritualistic kind 🤦🏻‍♀️😂)

The ‘boring’ day to day stuff is the most important. Flat work (correct flatwork for jumping) studying the sport.
There’s so much on clip my horse and many other outlets to watch and learn.

Also;
“But they’re rich and can afford better horse” doesn’t cut it for us.
There’s always been rich and poor. You think the wealthy, successful riders don’t work at their sport?

We poor ones just had to possibly work harder. Some of the best in the world came from very normal backgrounds, BUT…….. they did all of the above.
Do you?

As Barney would say, “even a blind pig will find an acorn sometimes”

Aspire to be consistently better whatever level you ride. The rest will come.
If your trainer is hard on you, you’ve probably got a good one ❤️‍🩹

05/11/2024

⭐🐴VETTINGS!! 🐴⭐Credit to and written by...

https://www.facebook.com/southcoastequinevets

*** PRE PURCHASE EXAMINATIONS ***

I posted this back in December 2020, but thought it was time for a refresher on “vettings”!

More usually known as “vettings”, pre-purchase examinations (PPEs) can be the bane of the buyer, the seller, and the vet! So what are we looking for on the day, and should you have a PPE on a horse you are purchasing?

A few weeks ago, there was a post about PPEs on a social media page. One particularly nasty comment, prompted me to write this post. The person stated that “vets should keep their opinions to themselves.” Actually, a PPE is exactly that; our OPINION on whether the horse is suitable for its intended job, based on our findings on the day. So if this lovely lady didn’t want a vet’s opinion, there would be little point in her bothering with a vetting.

So what do we look for at a PPE?

There are two options for PPEs. A FIVE STAGE (not 5 star, as it is often incorrectly termed!) is the gold standard. This is my recommendation for ANY ridden horse being purchased. The lower standard two stage PPE, should really be reserved for unbacked youngsters.
The five stage means that we get to see the horse ridden, and normally lunged, and can therefore pick up low grade lamenesses that may not be apparent when the horse trots in a straight line. We can pick up lots of issues that may not be obvious until we see the horse ridden (head shaking, respiratory issues/noises, going disunited in canter, lameness on circles. The list goes on).

Buying your new horse is the inexpensive part, compared to what you will subsequently spend on him/her, so I really do advise paying that little bit extra for the full five stage vetting.

Following ridden exercise, we then put the horse away in the stable whilst we take bloods/write notes etc. This gives us a chance to observe behavioural issues such as weaving and box walking, and more importantly, gives the horses a chance to stiffen up if he has any orthopaedic issues that worsen following exercise and rest. We then bring the horse back out again and watch him trot up. I will then repeat any flexion tests that were borderline when I did them initially.

Love them or hate them, flexion tests are part of PPEs. They have always been a part of PPEs as long as I’ve been around horses, and at the moment, they are here to stay. I don’t attempt to flex legs so hard that they almost snap off, and I interpret flexion tests depending on what I’m vetting the horse for, the horse’s age, and whether any mildly positive flexions are equally positive on the other limb. If a 15 year old event horse, being bought for low level (BE 90/100) is mildly positive to both hindlimb flexions, for example, I wouldn’t be overly worried. I would of course discuss this with the potential purchaser, but I wouldn’t be too concerned. Likewise, if a 6 year old competition horse flexed positive on any limb, I’d be questioning the future soundness of that horse. It’s horses for courses.

When we vet a horse, we are there to pick up EVERY issue that we can find. We then have a discussion with the potential purchaser about whether these issues are likely to affect the intended use of the horse, the ability to insure the horses, and the viability to sell the horse on if he/she proves unsuitable for the new owner.

I also will take note of any undesirable behaviour throughout the PPE. I will talk to my client about this either during (ideally) the PPE, or afterwards, if they haven’t been able to attend. Yes, it is ultimately up to the client to decide on whether the horse’s temperament and behaviour is manageable for them, but it would be negligent of me not to mention it. And in my opinion, behaviour can render a horse or pony unsuitable for the job they are being vetted for. For example, if my client is looking for a pony club pony for a novice child, and that pony goes to kick me for any reason, I will highlight that with the client. Likewise, if a horse being vetted as a 1.30m jumper does the same, it would be mentioned, but would in no way render the horse unsuitable for purchase. If my client is inexperienced, and looking at an Advanced dressage horse to go straight out on, and the horse spent half of the ridden assessment spooking and evading the bit, I’d probably suggest that was not a suitable horse for an amateur young girl. The purchaser of course makes the final decision, but the vet should highlight any concerning behaviour.
I used to buy and sell horses a lot, from the age of 8 years old, so experienced many vettings. If I was buying a horse, I’d always try and get the incredible Jeremy Mantel to vet them for me. One occasion really sticks out, and I was probably only about 11 or 12. I rode the horse that I was hoping to buy, for the PPE. The horse stood bolt upright with me several times, when I asked him to walk from the lorry towards the arena. End of vetting.

So why bother getting a horse vetted? You’ve tried the horse 10 times, taken several “experts” with you to view the horse, and you’ve had horses all of your life. You don’t need some vet, half your age, telling you things you already know.
Granted, “horse people” are generally on the ball when it comes to lumps and bumps, and often soundness. But firstly it can be intimidating/tricky in front of the person selling the horse, if you start prodding and poking various parts. No vendor would be prepared to allow anyone other than a vet to perform flexion tests. You won’t be able to look at the eyes or listen to the heart. You may not have noticed that little sarcoid up by the sheath. You are very likely going to need a PPE certificate if you want to insure the horse. You can’t listen to the heart. You can’t take bloods. The cost of a PPE will be extremely insignificant compared to the cost of finding out the horse is blind in one eye/has sarcoids/has a heart murmur once you’ve bought him.
You should be working as a team with your vet. I will always ask my client whether they’ve picked up on anything so far, so that we can have an even more careful look at that on the day of the PPE. It’s really useful to know if the client already has any concerns, as that will help with the 2 hour window that we have to inspect the horse.

I always push for bloods to be taken at any PPE (2 or 5 stage), and it’s actually included in the price of my 5 stage, to make it compulsory. These bloods are sent off for storage, and can be tested for various medications if the horse subsequently goes lame/becomes unrideable, and you suspect that the vendor may have given them ‘Bute etc to mask a lameness. The bloods are stored for 6 months, so there is ample time to decide if you want to run them, should something go wrong. To some extent, this protects the vendor as much as it does the purchaser.

This is a huge topic to cover, and I think I’ve probably waffled on enough!
In summary, a horse is vetted to see if anything that the vet finds, may prevent him from doing the job that the purchaser wants him to do. We list our findings, and then decide if these findings may prejudice the horse’s use for the intended job, as written on the certificate itself, “in my opinion, on the balance of probabilities”.

Please feel free to share!

Equine Veterinary practice, covering Hampshire, and parts of Surrey and West Sussex

03/11/2024

Lesson with the superb Becky Cooper Equestrian . Wonderful facilities of Broadstone Equestrian ponies by Producing Ponies for Kids and Pony Club by Fiona Clark . Top child jockeys Kitty (aged 10), Scarlett Clark (aged 13), Millie Tantrum (aged 13). Keeping the ponies fit and strong 💪🏽 🐴💖

03/11/2024

How a horse is put together is called Conformation. This term comes from the word "conform". Many people confuse this word with "confirmation", but we are not looking to confirm anything here. We want a horse to conform to an ideal body type for the kind of horse we want for what the horse will do.

The left image is my idea of an ideal polo horse. The red line across the top of the back might be considered short for a jumper or saddle seat horse, but for polo a short back translates to increased agility for polo.

The purple line at the shoulder shows the slope of the shoulder, which in this horse is nicely sloped. This indicates greater ability to reach with the forehand and that means more speed. A steep slope of the shoulder like this might not be desirable for a draft horse that does not need speed, but rather needs more power to the ground with their forehand in order to pull a heavy load.

The two yellow lines indicate the length of the leg and when compared to the lower red line, the proportion of legs compared with the length of the barrel might be a little long for some people. But for polo this would be good because longer legs mean a longer stride and more speed.

The horse's conformation on the right is not ideal for polo. The shorter legs in relation to the longer back are not ideal for speed and agility. I would consider this horse's conformation ideal for an all-arounder horse with substantial versatility. Compared to the more specialized conformation of the polo horse, this black horse can potentially be good at many different equestrian pursuits.

This horse with versatile conformation at liberty in a pasture allows for its light movement. We see ample hind reach and forehand extension. The result is a nicely centered balance indicated by the yellow line. This whole picture of movement in this horse shows "self carriage", meaning the horse is carrying itself in centered balance, not heavy on the forehand or off balance in any way.

No matter what type of horse you are seeking for whatever purpose, I think a horse must have conformation that allows the horse to achieve this kind of light self carriage. There are horses with disproportionate ratios of the elements of conformation discussed here. These horses' legs might be too short, the back too long, the shoulders too straight and more so as to prevent or impede self carriage. This cannot be fixed, so these kinds of conformation flaws are to be avoided, which is why we study conformation.

How a horse is put together matters. The color of the coat, for example, does not matter in terms of movement and balance, yet for some riders, color is their most important criteria for selecting a horse. This makes no sense to me. Learning the variations of equine body form is the study of ratios and proportions and it is called conformation. learn it.

26/10/2024

18/10/2024

This is so true. I come across many skilled jockeys who have soured or lost their passion for horses especially when money is involved. Taking the time to really listen to our equine friends and giving time to bond is so important in creating good horsemanship. 🐴💖

Horse Management things that are now forgotten Part 3 - the huge gaping gap that exists between being a good rider and a good horsemaster (the modern equivalent would be stable manager).

They are not mutually exclusive, however, in my experience of the competition horse world, the overlap of the Venn diagram is surprisingly narrow.

How much do I love this book's black and white, say it like it is, honest text? It might ruffle some feathers...

BTW it's Modern Horse Management by Col. R. S. Tim's D.S.O 1949

How can we expect riders to train horses to high welfare, physiologically and psychologically sound principles if they aren't students of the horse's management the other 23hours of the day?

06/10/2024

👀🐴Looking for a smart 134cms whp or shp native or plaited. Child just coming off fyfr still a bit wobbly but confident. Needs to have been ridden and produced by kids for kids. Traceable history. Absolute 💯 5⭐️Pony Club home awaits. Min age 7 max 12. 🐴💖. Please pm

27/09/2024

*** STEP AWAY FROM THE EQUEST (at this time of year) ***

A repeat post, but people STILL don’t understand!

Just a little reminder that you should absolutely NOT be using Equest or Equest Pramox during the Spring, Summer and early Autumn months. It should be reserved for the main purpose of Moxidectin; targeting the ENCYSTED stages of Redworm. Redworm encyst into the gut wall when it is COLD.

The emergence of these encysted redworm as the temperatures warm up in March/April, can result in fatal cyathostominosis. We only have TWO drugs that can treat encysted redworm, and there is already widespread resistance to one of them (Fenbendazole), and rapidly developing resistance to the second one - MOXIDECTIN. It’s imperative that you DO NOT USE EQUEST or EQUEST PRAMOX during the warm months, unless specifically directed to do so by your vet.

Lots of people correctly use worm egg counts during the spring and summer months, but some are then very dangerously worming with Equest if they have high egg counts. This is both a waste of Moxidectin, and a danger, due to helping increase the resistance to this drug.

DO NOT WASTE MOXIDECTIN WHEN IT’S WARM! The whole point of the drug is that it treats ENCYSTED redworm. The redworm burrow into the gut wall to keep warm; it’s as simple as that to understand! They need eradicating AFTER they have burrowed, so AFTER it gets cold, and BEFORE it warms up in the Spring!

18/09/2024

🐴COMING AVAILABLE SOON🐴 Who was looking for genuine FYFR Pony Club Ponies? 🤔 Gold dust! I've 2 coming up. Seasoned, full history know. Doing the job and ridden and handled by children daily. Priority will go to clients on my books. These are ponies I've previously sourced for clients from known homes and who they wished to be re-homed by myself. 💯 % 💎

18/09/2024

It has been a real pleasure to work with so many wonderful clients this summer 🐴💖. My client was in a no comprimse situation and it took us a while but once we found "The One", we were in a position to move swiftly and with thorough due diligence we were lucky to take this boy off-shore to his new family.