What's new this week?
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The winner of this week's quiz with 5 correct answers is starponyzcrazy! Congratulations! Starponyzcrazy was the only entry to get all answers correct
Look out for a new quiz soon and see if you can get 100% to have your username published on this page!!
The correct answers are highlighted below!
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Favourite Horse Names: Letter C
A new series- our favourite horse names starting with each letter of the alphabet!!
Our favourites for 'C' are:
Cameo
Chico
Cosmo
Does your horse or pony have a name beginning with 'C'?? Or would your dream horse? Let admin know and have your pony or horse made famous for everyone on StarPonyz!!
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What's new this week?
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Answers to the Quiz!!!!
What is the life expectancy of a horse?
15-19 years
20-24 years
25-30 years
31-35 years
What is a colt?
A female horse under the age of 4 years
A male horse under the age of 4 years
A horse between one and two years old
A female horse four years and older
What does the abbreviation ‘hh’ stand for?
Horse hands
Hands high
High horse
Horse height
Horses sleep…
Standing up
Lying down
Standing up and lying down
They don’t sleep
How many horse breeds exist in the world today?
0-100
100-200
200-300
300+
Look out for a new quiz soon!
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Favourite Horse Names: Letter B
Our favourites for 'B' were:
Beauty
Benny
Buzz
Hannahrawrx has a horse called BUBBLES
Ponycrazyella knows a horse called BEN
Mufasa2010n likes the names BLISS and BABE
What are your favourites?
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Keep sending in your stories and poems to feature on this page and earn yourself activity points. Reach 100 points to become a gold member
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QUIZ: TRUE OR FALSE
The answers are below for the True or False quiz!
Q A horse can produce 9 tonnes of manure each year
A A horse produces about 45lbs of waste a day which is 7.5 tonnes a year. Including soiled bedding this can increase to 9 tonnes!
Q A pony is officially any horse under 14.2 hands (58 inches/145cm) high.
A An animal 14.2 hands or over is usually considered to be a horse and one less than 14.2 hands a pony. However, there are many exceptions to the general rule. Some breeds which typically produce individuals both under and over 14.2 h consider all animals of that breed to be horses regardless of their height. Conversely, some pony breeds may have features in common with horses, and individual animals may occasionally mature at over 14.2 h, but are still considered to be ponies
Q The oldest ever pony was called Sugar Puff, who died aged 56
A Sugar Puff entered the Guiness Book of Records as the oldest living pony. She was a Shetland-Exmoor gelding measuring 10hh and lived in West Sussex where she died in 2007 aged 56
Q Pony foals are born much larger than horse foals, even though horses eventually grow to a larger size
A Pony foals are smaller than horse foals but both have long legs and small bodies
Q A horseshoe hung pointing upwards is considered to be good luck.
A The luck is held inside the horse shoe so tipping it upside down will cause the luck to run out! There is a myth amongst the English in which the horse is considered a luck-bringer and horse-worship was common practice for early Europeans
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CUTE SHETLAND PONY VIDEO!
Meet Rory, the cute Shetland pony who is best friends with a dog!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw9RiYrORYw
Message Admin with links to any pictures or videos of horses or ponys and the best will be featured on this page, along with your username!!
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Below are some examples of old stories and poems that have made it on to the site! We hope they inspire you to send yours to Admin for a chance to feature.
- Mystical's Dream
- By StarPonyz member jennifer10
Once in a land of magical animals there lived a little Pegasus named Mystical. This was a very special Pegasus because she was the princess of the land. One day Mystical decided to take a stroll along a path she had never been on.
Mystical's dream was always to meet some human being.That is why she took this unknown path.She was hoping that she would meet a human along this path.Nobody ever takes this path!thought Mystical.Mystical also wondered if she would meet a regular horse.About a mile down the path Mystical said, I am beginning to wonder if anything even lives here!Then, to Mystical's great surprise, a voice said to her,of course something lives here!sounding very much so offended.Mystical,to afraid to speak thought,could this be a human?Could this be a regular horse?Soon Mystical got an answer to her questions.The creature sort of fell out of a strange looking tree.Much to Mystical's disappointment it was only a small creature,too small to be a horse or human.Yet,Mystical could not make out what the creature was.It seemed to have the body of a horse, but yet had bumps on it's back.Seeing Mystical's puzzled look the creature soon said I'm a Pegasus,I live up there,said the creature pointing to the tree.YOU are a Pegasus?But you have no wings!Yes I do!said the creature pointing to bumps on it's back.But those are bumps said Mystical.They are not bumps!insisted the little creature.Then it asked,what are you?I am a Pegasus and you are not a Pegasus.Well,where are you going?Travelers don't use this path anymore.Well,I can agree with you on that said Mystical.I am going to go meet regular horses and human beings.Why do you live in that strange tree?asked Mystical.Well because I don't have another safe place to live replied the pegasus.What do you mean by "safe place"?I don't think you need to know.replied the little pegasus.I have to go now said Mystical.Could I pretty please come with you?asked the pegasus.Okay replied Mystical.Great!said the pegasus.I won't be any trouble!Along the way Mystical found out the little so-called Pegasus' name,it's name was Majestic.Finally they became tired and Mystical noticed that she had spent the day on path with her little friend.About 3 days later Mystical and Majestic came upon a human.The human was friendly so the two travelers were very relieved.The human's name was Heidi.Heidi joined the other two travelers and soon they were well on their way.Finally the trio came to a small town.Finally Mystic's dream had come true.She could see tons of regular horses everywhere!Mystic soon returned home-with a new sister and a human friend!
The End!
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Poetry Competition Winner
- The winning StarPonyz author: Accela
- The winning poem: Shadow and Sun
Soft wind blowing
Across the sunny plain
Tangled mane flowing
Impossible to tame
Hooves gallop onward
Over water and the ground
Listen to the music
Of the freedom found
Watch as they move
Under the starry sky
Through shadow, rain, and wind,
They keeping passing by
See the price they pay
For their life running free
Danger, ever danger
To break up family
Obstacles of every shape
Freezing cold, snowy rivers
Oppressive heat, deadly days
Grind strength down to slivers
Ever onward they now run
They will weather the fear
Their fate is now their own
The wild they hold dear
Remember that as you live
Remember when you weep
Within the peril of the land
The mustangs gallop free
Congratulations to Accela, all of us at StarPonyz thought this was a great poem and worthy of our very exclusive StarPonyz T-shirt! You are the first member to own one, well done.
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Wild Horses of the North
There once lived a famous herd of wild horses. This wasn’t just any ordinary herd. This herd was famous because not one horse from this herd had ever been caught. They were the fastest horses, not even the fastest race horses could catch them. There were ten horses in the herd but another member was coming into the world.
All the horses in the herd were named. The leader horse’s name was Cobalt and his mare’s name was Sundown. Cobalt was as black as night. He had four white stockings, and a white stripe going down his face. Sundown was a shiny chestnut color. She had four white socks and a stripe on her face. Two horses in the herd were a deep brown, five were white, one was grey, and the last two were, buckskin.
On a Tuesday morning, on December 19th, the 11th member of the herd was born. It was a filly. She was chestnut like her mother. Like her dam and her sire, she had a stripe on her face. She also had three white socks. Everyone around the world were talking about her and wondering what to name her. Two weeks later, the name was chosen, Pride.
The next year came and on March 3rd another filly, from the same mare, was born. From toddlers to elders, people were talking about how beautiful she was. She was named Freedom. Freedom was a beautiful shiny black. Everybody around the world were talking about Pride and Freedom. Soon, Freedom and Pride were the most famous horses in the herd.
Out of the herd, Pride was the fastest and Freedom was the strong one. Every year, people from all over the world said that they could catch one of the two horses or even both the horses. If they caught either Freedom or Pride, the governor promised them $20,000,000. Both horses were worth that much. If they caught both Pride and Freedom, the person who caught them would receive $40,000,000 plus an extra $100,000 for their effort. But the truth was, no one in the world could catch them.
They almost caught Freedom but she was too strong for them to handle. She just rose up and the rope was just too short to compare with how high Freedom raised. They also almost caught Pride too. As soon as she saw them gaining speed and twirling their ropes, she bolted and went too far ahead. What she didn’t know was that there was a rider in front of her. He got ready and threw the rope. But it missed because right when Pride saw the rope coming towards her, she gained speed.
On that same year, another filly, also a sister of the other two was born. It was so hard to find a name for the beautiful filly but, they ended up naming her Justice. Justice was buckskin. She had a black mane and had black legs. She was the most beautiful buckskin there ever was.
Justice would come up with plans to help her or her sisters when people came and tried to capture them. When Pride and Freedom were both caught one day, Justice got them free by gathering up the herd and chasing the people out of the valley. All together, they all had their own talents to get out of trouble. Pride was the fast one, Freedom was the strong one, and Justice was the smart one that could outsmart anyone that tries to get in her way.
Pride, Freedom, & Justice would never be caught.
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A Christmas Gift
My family woke to an early morning Christmas surprise. Our usually quiet farm was, well it wasn’t so quiet. Our old mare was out in the barn whining and kicking around. We all hurried out to make sure she was ok. My mother, she made it out there first, and screamed so loud she probably woke up the whole town. This only made my dad and me run faster. When we got there, my mom was ready to pass out, there was a little reddish ball back in the corner of the stall. I knew right away what it was, a foal. I had no clue how our old mare had become pregnant, but I knew that she had somehow given us a special christmas gift.
After much argument, we appropriately named the little filly Holly, because she was born on Christmas. I wanted so badly for her to be my very own, so I started begging. I cried, I whined, and I moaned. But it all paid off, I would get to keep her, if I did all the barn chores. The rest of Christmas day I didn’t even ask once when we were going to open presents.
Our adventures began two weeks after Christmas day. She was easily moving around, and I was beginning to see that she was going to be a handful. She was already driving her mother crazy; she would try all day long to get her mother to play. But her mother never did, so she turned to me. I would play with her; we would run and jump all over the place. But when our energy began to drain, we would cuddle and sleep in the shade together. But then Christmas break was over, and it was time to go back to school. We had grown very close, me and Holly, and we were hard to separate. So before leaving for school, I locked her tight in a stall. Making sure to bolt the doors tightly. I went down the road and got on the bus, the bus driver waited a moment, to make sure there were no kids left to get on. I sat there, looking through my books, when I heard a clunk. Then tap tap tap tap tap, and then there she was Holly on the bus. I jumped out of my seat, and dragged her down the stairs. The bus driver looked stunned, all he could say was, "I didn’t even see her coming." So I started back for home, Holly trotting behind me. The bus left and I had to get a ride to school. Holly had simply unlocked the bolt and taken off, so I had to put her in the pasture to keep her from escaping again.
Holly to this day id my best friend. I love her to the end of the world. We also still have to lock her stall door on the top, and the bottom, to keep her from following me to school.
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The Grass isn’t always Greener on The Other Side.
By DressageDiva_x
We all have a curious side to us but I bet you have never met a foal that is more curious than this one! This story is based on a real foal. His name is Alfie and he is very cute and very mischievous!
I was living in a really tasty field with lots of grass and my best friend Rosie. My owner came and filled up our water everyday and came and checked on us to make sure we were still happy. One day three ladies came to have a look at me and rosie. It looked like they really liked us. One of the ladies said I was really cute and wanted to buy me. The other lady said she wanted to buy rosie because she would make a good show hunter pony. Sooner than I thought we were being loaded on to the horsebox and being taken to our new homes.
I got to my new home and the other horses all neighed at me to say hello. Rosie was put into the stable opposite me so we wouldn’t get lonely. The next day the whole yard was gathered at my stable door all saying different names. My owner’s daughter said ‘why don’t we call him alfie?’ Everybody agreed so that was my new name ‘Alfie’ I felt so proud!
My owner took me down to the field and I was very excited but extremely nervous at the same time. Rosie came with me because she is older than me so she can look after me. We had a whole field to ourselves, but the grass was quite short. On the other side of the fence the grass was long and luscious. It was a dark green colour and it looked very tasty. The fence was an electric fence but it wasn’t on. I barged through that and started eating the grass on the other side. It was extremely tasty. I saw what looked like food so I strarted nudging it and it smelt good and it didn’t look scary so I tried to eat it. That was when it went completely wrong. I tried swallowing it and it got stuck in my throat! I called a feeble neigh to rosie to tell her to get help. At that point I fell over. I was panicking so much! My owner and the other two ladies came rushing down to my field and tried to help me. One of the ladies held my mouth open and my owner put her hand in and struggled to find the wrapper. It took them about 4 or 5 minutes to find it. Luckily they found it and pulled it out. The other lady called the vet to come and give me a check up. I was ok. Nothing else wrong with me. I coughed and spluttered and stood up. I nudged my owner with appreciation. So was so happy that I was still alive! ‘Never do that again!’ my owner said to me.
From that day on none of the horses ponies or me from that yard have tried to eat the grass on the other side of the fence!
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A Day in the Life of . . . a Farrier
Meet our newest member to StarPonyz, his name is Duncan Langman, he lives and works in the South Hams situated in the beautiful countryside of Devon, England.
History
Duncan started training to be a blacksmith at seventeen years old, where he worked largely around metal work for a year. This was before he started his four and a half year apprenticeship to become a horse farrier. It is a very hard and competitive trade to break into with an overwhelming number of hopefuls faced with limited places on offer. Our man had to move to another county to learn his trade before embarking on his dream career.
From an early age he showed a keen interest in horses, having owned them and looked after them to being an involved member of Pony club. Which he reminisces, was not entirely for the horses...! He has been a farrier for 10 years and has picked up his fair share of accolades along the way. Most recently winning best shod for the second year in a row at the Devon County Show, (in the UK for all our overseas members) and has previously been voted the best looking farrier in the country by Horse & Hound Magazine. My aim was to find out ‘what is involved in a day in the life of a farrier?’
A Day in the Life of . . . a Farrier
Duncan is an extremely hard worker; he often starts his day as early as 0700 in the morning and can finish sometimes as late as 2200 in the evening. He takes a great deal of pride from his work, and as a result, has built up many trusted customers who all need and want their beloved horses to be shod by Duncan. With the South Hams based in the countryside, it means he can spend a large proportion of his time travelling between farms and stables. He explains that one horse can take about an hour to complete a whole set, and he can sometimes be shoeing from 5 to 10 horses in a given day. Horse’s new shoes can generally last up to 8 weeks after which the horse returns to Duncan so he can recreate his good work.
The Process of Shoeing a Horse
- Remove the shoes, and check the horse’s leg, foot and hoof. It is important to remove any extra growth and dirt, ultimately making sure the horse holds a balanced stance. The tools he needs to use are a knife, nippers and rasp
- Fitting up the shoes: it is obviously important to get the right shoe that fits the size, activity it will be undertaking (jumping), condition of the foot and any known medical conditions
- Duncan uses handmade shoes (on this occasion made the previous evening) which he places in the portable gas forge to heat up. This means he can make any last adjustments to the shape of the shoe using a hammer and anvil as the preferred tools. The hot shoe also helps with burning on, which is a process that is necessary to achieve a good level between the horse's hoof and shoe. In this case, he added a thread for studding because the horse is expected to be jumping; this gives extra grip when their hind legs are driving over the obstacle
- Quench the shoe in water, cooling them down ready to be fitted
- Add the nails to the shoe using a specific nailing on hammer, making sure the angle is correct so the nails protrude from the hoof so they can be driven back on themselves, creating a small hook for extra hold
- File the hoof to shape around the newly attached shoe using a rasp and a stall jack. This is a tool that closely resembles a tripod and is used to place the horse’s front legs, helping to do the finishing touches
- Fill the stud holes with cotton wool and Vaseline, which prevents any stones or mud getting stuck in the gaps
The Royal Windsor Show: Pride & Griffin
Meet Pride and Griffin, the pair of shires who work for English brewer, Fuller Smith & Turner. They both are gorgeous black geldings, with Pride standing 18 hands 2 inches and Griffin at ‘only’ 18 hands.
Unbelievably big and very gentle, their working life involves making appearances at pub openings, horse shows and special events; you may even catch them enjoying a cheeky pint of Fuller's when they visit pubs!
Whilst Griffin and Pride mainly do appearances, the life of brewery horses is traditionally very hard working as it was their job to delivery beer to pubs in England. The barrels of beer used to be loaded onto a trailer – or dray - to which the horses were then harnessed.
This delivery method was used by brewers for over 160 years however they all use motorised delivery now. Whilst Griffin and Pride are shires, many different ‘heavy horses’ were used including Suffolk’s, Clydesdale’s and Persheron’s; as these horses were so gentle, strong and reliable they were used to transporting armour in World War I and II.
John and Julie are the two charming people who look after Pride and Griffin; John is their full time groom and Julie helps when it comes to shows and events. Julie looked after and owned horses since she was around three years old, and her passion for horses is obvious. She currently works and teaches other horse mad riders in the UK.
John has the very privileged job of looking after Griffin and Pride year round and you can tell there is a strong trust and mutual relationship between the team. During summer seasons they can be found at village fetes, where they offer dray rides, towing up to 14 people at once. They also attend young farmer’s events and partake in shows involving obstacle driving and pub openings.
Getting ready for the show
Day before:
- They are shampooed all over to take the grease and mud off from the fields where they live during time off from shows and events.
Show Day:
- Firstly they are thoroughly groomed, especially washing their ‘feathers’ which are the long hairs on their legs. Both Pride & Griffin have white feet, so in order to make them look as best, dry wood flour is brushed onto them!
- This is followed platting their manes and tails. This alone can take up to 30 minutes per horse – and Julie is incredibly fast at it - but the horse look amazing when it is done
- The tail bun is added purely for extra decoration and for no extra purpose. The process is very similar to what girls would do with their hair.
- There are two options of either platting the tail or thinning the hairs at the top giving it shape; known as a pull tail. John and Julie prefer to give Pride & Griffin a platted finish, therefore leaving them in their most natural form. Traditionally, horse’s tails would be cut off, a process known as docking but luckily it is illegal now!
- Once the tail is finished, it is woven into the tail and ‘flights’ (ribbon and wire mane decoration) are put into the mane.
- The noses of both horses are cleaned at this point; this is done exactly the same way as any horse owner would - using a sponge and warm water!
- By this time both Pride and Griffin are beginning to look very smart but there is one final stage to go - tacking up…
- Firstly the collar is put into position, followed by a martingale, then the chains that link the tack to the dray are added. The last addition bit of tack is a set of blinkers; these look quite scary but actually help the horses’ safety – without them, horses keep turning round to look at the dray and can think that they are being followed!
All that is left to finish is for both john and Julie to get the horses in position and attach the harness to the dray and off to the show or opening.
Tips from Julie the Stable Manager
- How to enhance features of your horse:
- Put baby oil on the areas you want to highlight
- Her tip to whiten the white parts of your horse:
- Use chalk block on areas such as faces and legs
- How to calculate how tall a horse is:
- By using hands, there are 4 inches in every hand and you do it from the wither (where neck joins back) downwards
- How to get rid of/prevent dandruff:
- This is a very natural process and most horses will experience this at some point, normally during cold periods. Don’t worry, natural grease normally sorts it out but general grooming should maintain a healthy mane and tail
- How to improve the relationship with your horse:
- It simply comes down to spending time with your horse and learning their reactions and habits. The more practical time you experience with them the greater the experience you will gain.
- How to get involved in doing shows with harness and vehicle:
- Unfortunately, this is a rare and dying tradition and few people still possess the skills and knowledge required. If you are really serious and show an interest, try and contact the very few people who prepare the shire horses and show a genuine enthusiasm and willingness to learn. They would be mad to not let you help out or even share some tricks of the trade!
A slide show of all the fun that was had...
