# Bought my First Horse



## HunterbrooksFarm (Sep 3, 2012)

After years of being around Belgians with my Uncle, I've always wanted to have a team of my own. So with some coaxing me to my wife and some from the kids to mom. We bought a 12yr old Amish Broke Belgian Mare she rides and drives. She's our first horse and will be teaching us as well as we will be teaching her. We will be using her for farmwork around the farm pulling logs for firewood, and a scoot/stoneboat to give the kids rides, and some rides to the kids on her back. She so far has been an absolute baby and love attention and runs from the backside of the pasture up to you so she can get attention. She's even lowering her head to the kids level so that she can get her bangs brushed by our 5yr old. 
She's been out on pasture all summer, getting her fill of whatever she wants. She was delivered yesterday and so far she is making herself at home.


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## kayleeloveslaneandlana (Apr 10, 2011)

She's beautiful and sounds like a super sweet girl! Congrats!


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## Lins (Nov 8, 2011)

is she in foal? she looks very sweet, welcome to the forum and congrats on your new horse.


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## barrelbeginner (Jan 31, 2012)

she is very cute! and yes I was thinking the same thing? is she in foal? or just pasture belly lol


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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

Very sweet-looking horse & that belly is looking quite pointed. You might think abut having her checked for pregnancy. Good luck w/her!


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## HorseLovinLady (Jul 18, 2011)

She's pretty congrats!!


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## HunterbrooksFarm (Sep 3, 2012)

I've been assured by the previous owner she just has a pasture belly, if by some chance she was in foal then bonus. It'd be a belgian/qh or a belgian/sb, or a belgian/tb, or a belgian/Percheron as they all were allowed to roam the pasture together. I'm particullarly not looking to keep a Draft cross so if she does foal then the foal would be for sale to fund the purchase of a Stud Belgian.


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## barrelbeginner (Jan 31, 2012)

what??!??!?!?! im confused.. she was pastured with stallions??? there is a good chance she would be in foal then..


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## HunterbrooksFarm (Sep 3, 2012)

let me clarify myself. She was out in pasture with SB's, TB's, QH's, and a couple Percherons oh and a donkey named "zoey". I didn't ask; as to wether or not she was out there with stallions, One would assume that the male horses would be gelded or if there were stallions you would seperate them from the rest of the herd to keep unwanted breeding from being done. I wasn't really interested in the other Horses, I'm so used to seeing draft horses when I look at a SB, or a TB, or a QH they just look sickley and funny to me. Time will tell if she'll Foal, like I said if its a Draft cross I'll be finding the foal another home to fund the purchase of a Belgian stallion or another mare or Gelding to make a team.


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## barrelbeginner (Jan 31, 2012)

maybe you should get a vet out??? we had a mare that didnt look preggers until the day she foaled.. and the foal had to be on medicane for a while.. im not sure if not seeing a vet was part of the problem or not though:/


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## myhorsesonador (Jun 21, 2009)

HunterbrooksFarm said:


> let me clarify myself. She was out in pasture with SB's, TB's, QH's, and a couple Percherons oh and a donkey named "zoey". I didn't ask; as to wether or not she was out there with stallions, One would assume that the male horses would be gelded or if there were stallions you would seperate them from the rest of the herd to keep unwanted breeding from being done. I wasn't really interested in the other Horses, I'm so used to seeing draft horses when I look at a SB, or a TB, or a QH they just look sickley and funny to me. Time will tell if she'll Foal, like I said if its a Draft cross I'll be finding the foal another home to fund the purchase of a Belgian stallion or another mare or Gelding to make a team.


Ok I just want to say this realy quick, and I don't want to sour the post, but please do not buy a stud, as a new horse owner you could end up hurt.

On a nicer note, She is very cute, and very round :lol: You should probably have a vet come look at her to find out if she is in foal, if not, then I would talk to the vet about a good diet/ worming scedule.


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## Centaurheart (Jul 9, 2012)

That belly is looking really preggo to me too. I'm a belgian owner myself and when they get fat, they don't look like they are carrying a load like that. They look fat all over. Check and see how big her crest and topline are... she's got her head to us so its hard to see where all the reserves are stored... but man... she looks pregs to me.


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## barrelbeginner (Jan 31, 2012)

Looks like you got yourself a 2 in 1 deal


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

OP -- interesting situation - nice looking mare and a possibility of a foal as well - you'll have to keep us updated on this one.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Since she is new to you, you will want to have a vet come and check her out in any case, update her vaccinations and give her the once over. At that time you can hopefully verify if she is pregnant or not. If so, then the vet will help you go about giving her the best feed and preparing yourself for the new birth.

Just to give you a gentle warning. Many people here are really passionate about the care of horses, in particular the care of the pregnant mare and the foal. They really take it very seriously and responsibly and strongly encourage newbies such as yourself think similarly and to seek out a vet and get the facts. It's one of those things that isn't as simple as one might think.

However, that said, your mare is adorable and your kids must be in 7th heaven to have her. I know I would be.


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## Centaurheart (Jul 9, 2012)

One thing to remember too, OP, is that right now shes new to you. And you honestly NEED to find out if shes pregnant because otherwise your going to be in a sticky situation because I imagine you are now getting all her gear together and planning to work her. For example, her collar with her pregnant might not be the same fit she needs post foaling (if she is pregnant). And if she is carrying (and if she is its probably soon), you will want to treat her differently work wise than you would if she's not. 

My last foal out of my Belgian you couldn't even tell she was pregnant because she carried it so well and it was a quarterhorse cross. I'm suspecting if she is pregnant either she's got really poor muscle tone to carry it so low or she's in foal with another draft so you'll get what you want as in another harness partner for her.

So bottom line, before you work her and buy all her tack, make sure she's not going to drastically change shape suddenly... and even if its just pasture weight, you might want to gently work her into pulling shape and get her loosing weight before you put her to work to prevent her injury. Its just like any other athlete.


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## HunterbrooksFarm (Sep 3, 2012)

Thanks to all the well wishers out there. Vet and Farrier are sched to come out later this week. Her hooves need to be trimed up, she's got some chipping just from being barefoot and running around in pasture all summer. Once she gets her feet trimmed I'll see about getting her into a new set of shoes and hopefully I won't have any problems with that again. Vet will hopefully be able to say definetly as to whether or not she's in foal, and get her up to date on her shots, I'm gonna get her two tubes of wormer today, and hopefully by the end of the week her Coggins will be in.


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## texasgal (Jul 25, 2008)

Congrats on the new horse. It sounds like she is already part of your family.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Congrats on new horse! She's a cutie! 

My paint looked like she was preggo couple months after I got her. Since she was running in field with her daddy before I bought her, I was afraid she IS carrying indeed, but vet confirmed she's not (just hay belly because she got a free access nice hay first time in her life). As long as she realized noone taking food away and with some workout she lost that belly eventually.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

OP, with regards to worming her, wait until you get the vet to say is she IS or IS NOT pregnant. One thing I learned from the many people here who have experience with foaling (I have zero such experience) is that some types of wormers are not good for a pregnant mare and can hurt the baby. So, hold off on that until vet tells you which one is ok, . . . OK?


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## harmony624 (Oct 29, 2011)

Oh my, she's adorable! Congrats on your new addition to the family!!


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## kctop72 (Aug 25, 2011)

Congrats...she is beautiful! Hope all goes well with the vet and farrier this week


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## Centaurheart (Jul 9, 2012)

You'll have to let us know what the vet says. I love it when new people get horses on here, they have babies, then we watch them grow up on the forum. It always feels sort of like a community emotional investment.


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## Crescent (May 2, 2012)

subbing!!!


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## Tazzie (Nov 8, 2011)

Subbing as well!! Very interested to hear what the vet says since she really does look pregnant!


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## barrelbeginner (Jan 31, 2012)

bumping this up? any updates??


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## fkcb1988 (Aug 16, 2012)

Congrats on the new member! 

Ok off topic but what is "Subbing" mean?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## barrelbeginner (Jan 31, 2012)

subscribing to the thread. .to get notifications when someone posts something on here.. Some people put that. Since you posted something on here.. you HAVE ALREADY subscribed to this thread


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## fkcb1988 (Aug 16, 2012)

I see! Thanks


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## Snapple (Sep 4, 2012)

Subbing


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## Hailey1203 (Dec 12, 2010)

Definitely subbing to this!


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

Congrats on your new horse! great decision to have gone with an amish broke horse. Some of the best broke horses come from their farms. I know when you look at the horses in Disneyland, they have all come from Amish farms because they are the only ones that are broke well enough to handle anything.

Hoep to see more photos of her as you guys work with her


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## Toymanator (Jul 31, 2009)

I had a near identical horse a few years ago. Great mind on that horse! I once went hunting, shot an elk that was 3 miles away from any road. This horse pulled that entire elk out by itself. I miss that horse, we used it to pull a sleigh in the winter and it packed kids around in the summer. Congratulations on your first horse, you have quite a journey ahead of you.


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