Meet Merlin

Today Merlin has really started to settle and is following the other youngsters wherever they go.Now its a case of handling him as often as possible. he has not had a headcollar on before and is unused to being on the end of a lead rope so we should have plenty of fun with him! He needs our farrier to trim his feet, then we can see exactly what is going on with him.He has clearly not been seen by a farrier before so that is another obstacle he needs to overcome. The trouble with the type of person who bred him, is that no time is spent on the foals, no getting them used to human contact, just bred and turned out with the rest of the herd.This is the worst thing they can do, foals need to be handled well right from the start otherwise you end up with very troublesome and potentially dangerous animals through no fault of their own.Ponies like this are evrey farriers nightmare.can you imagine having to try to pick up a horses feet to trim and the animal has never had someone do that before so is scared and resistant.Sometimes we have had to call in a vet to sedate a pony in order that his feet can be trimmed.Even then they can rear on their hind legs which is no joke, even the smallest shetland can manage a very hefty kick and I speak as one who knows!
We are having one of the field shelters extended so more ponies can take shelter during the day if the weather turns nasty, it will only be a three sided affair joined on to the existing shelter but it will afford more protection against the elements