Riding

Horsin´ Around has now started a pony club on Sunday mornings.  Children between the ages of ten to fourteen can now come and have lessons which are not only educational about caring for the horse, learning how to tack up but also how to ride safely and confidently, whilst having fun.  We have groups of no more than six which is the maximum. As the pony club is becoming popular we could even have an afternoon club as well!

Currently on Saturday mornings we have a smaller group of three children from the ages of six to nine years of age. 

As these are held on a regular basis we do offer a discount.  Please contact us for information.

Horsin’ Around goes shopping

Horsin’ Around was in dire need of a horse that we would call a weight carrier, one that could carry novice riders that weigh about 16-17 stone. So   Claire went shopping.

Sidiki
Firstly we went to a yard in Almayate a town near Torre de Mar about twenty minutes drive from Nerja. They bought out a beautiful horse that was how the Spanish would describe as muey noble (Noble) I tried him out and he was lovely but not what I would call a weight carrier, although the man did assure me he could carry whatever I wanted (for the Spanish) this is not unusual to put more weight on a horse than is fair.  Anyway I fell in love with him and bought him.

Not practical but when you love horses practicality does not come into it.  We called him Sidiki. (my friend in Arabic)

Paco
So off I went again in search of our weight carrier this time to a place above Competa a town in the hills way above Torrox. Now this is where it becomes interesting as  they firstly bought out a horse that was obviously in his latter years, and so underweight  that you could see his ribs, dehydrated and so lethargic he did not care about anything. His eyes were dull and his ears stationary a definite sign that he was  not interested at all.  Even at full fitness he would only be good to carry around 13 stone, again the man said 17 stone as he stood.  That was it old sick horse.. sold to horsin around there was no way I could leave him there.  He is now called  Paco.

Milo
They then bought out another horse, completely different and  beautiful looking but so nervous, scared as anything and by the way they threw the Spanish saddle on him and tacked him up you could understand why.  This man just did not care what the horse felt.  Again this horse could only carry around 14-15 stone (getting there) but I just felt that this lovely young animal would end up the same way as Paco. Sold once again to horsin’ around.  He is now called Milo.
They then said they had more horses for me to look at but enough was enough.

I had bought three horses, none of which were what Horsin’ Around had been looking for in the first place. I left quickly and with no money left!

Milo is now a lot less nervous with everybody apart from the blacksmith – who has made great headway with him taking his time to keep Milo calm and teach him that we would not hurt him but we still have problems with the back legs. Milo is now a perfect gentlemen to ride.

Paco however had a few problems. Our equine vet checked him over when he came into the yard and due to his malnourished state his teeth were awful.  Aida our vet had an idea, a friend of hers had just become a dentist (for humans) why not give him a filling? Paco is now the proud owner of white enamel filling on his front tooth.

We also had another problem with him, this time more serious, an infection in his right eye.  We treated him for two weeks but nothing was working so we called out an equine eye specialist who after examining Paco decided the best thing to do was to operate and remove his eye. 
As Paco is quite old I was worried that he many not pull through the general anaesthetic. The operation was carried out at the yard and was a bit like a scene from the TV series Mash. A field hospital in Nerja. The risky part was when the anaesthetic started to wear off, horses try to stand fairly quickly and the danger was that he would be disorientated and stumble and fall. All hands (five of us) were there to steady  and reassure him.

 He is now right as rain and nicknamed Cyclops.

Sombra the Stallion – my fault again.  In Nerja there are  horse and carriages that take the tourists around the town, one of the owner drivers said that he had a horse to sell –NO I said, but after a bit of nagging I agreed that  I would go and have a look and see if it would be suitable for one of my friends. He wasn’t  suitable for my friends as he was much too big.  He was gorgeous, a black sixteen hand two inch six year old black stallion.  Very friendly although  I did not understand why he was this way as he had not been out of the stable in 8 months and then only twice a day to drink water – OK sold to the blonde from Horsin' around.

So to sum up I went shopping for ONE weight carrier and brought four horses, the only one that could carry any weight would be Sombra  but with his height and the fact he is a stallion most novices would be to nervous to ride him – it is a long way up!

Therefore Claire from Horsin’ Around is now banned from shopping for horses.