InFocus

Horses kick, horses bite and yes, horses can kill us.  I have been asked to blog about a recent experience of mine that left me in a bit of a bad way, due to a good old double barrel to the pelvis.

I have worked with horses for over 30 years and in many cases I work with horses who are extremely aggressive towards people due to the treatment they have received from people in the past.  

On December 6th last year, I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time with a horse who had been beautifully raised from a foal by caring owners.  She was momentarily frustrated and confused and she made a poor choice.  I say she....

When I was preparing to leave the UK, I contemplated packing breeches and riding boots.  But my idea was quickly scuppered by reminding myself that firstly, I was going to NZ to work hard, save and travel, and secondly, horses are scarce in central Auckland, so there'd be no point. 

I've ridden since I was small, and I've taught young riders since I was 15, at riding schools,  and at pony clubs in the UK, America and Australia.  Recently, I lost my little hunting pony, and I sold my youngster.  This together with my extensive travels of late, has meant horses have not been a possibility.  Occasionally, during weekends, I would visit my....

The NZ Warmblood Association is holding a Classification Tour in March for all equestrians interested in breeding the very best warmblood sport horses possible. 

Leading German Assessor, Gerd Küst, will be touring all parts of NZ along with members of the NZ Warmblood Committee.  Gerd is famous for being one of Germany’s most prominent breeders and producers of dressage and jumping horses and he is a regular assessor for some of the top Verbands in Germany,

He will most certainly be interested in the quality of the New Zealand Warmbloods being bred.  It has been several years since he was last here and in that time the....

More and more people are choosing www.ispyhorses.com as the place to go when they are looking to buy and/or sell horses, ponies, vehicles and more.  We’d like to share a few reasons why you may consider iSpyHorses when you are next selling or looking to buy a horse/pony.

"iSpy has been great for reaching a wide range of people through their many options for marketing. Their public Facebook posts and online marketing resulted in my phone receiving so many phone calls the day....

Here are a few points to think about when advertising that may help attract the right buyer.

A text exchange from last week.... Hi just wondering if you could ler me know if a schoolmaster 15.3/16.2hh 15yrs been there done that sort of a horse comes through your books... my horse you recommended from ispyhorses is awesome but i think she would like to be with a teenager who wants to do stuff on her. Cheers Hello Ok I think there could be one or two on the site right now. I'll have a look. Do you get our weekly LookBook? If you go to www.ispyhorsescom and subscribe for the weekly newsletter you'll see some of our latest on there. But I'll take a look too. When you want to advertise your gorgeous girl let me....

Over many years endless horse-sales stories accumulate.  They get more and more colourful, even end up as folklore, but all have the same theme; horse sales that go bad.  There are stories about horse dealers who fit people up with over inflated prices, and unsuitable horses, dangerous horses, horses so old it’s a wonder they’re still standing, sick horses, horses that are ridden for the first time at the start of the same auction they are sold at and represented as being experienced, horses delivered and they’re not even the actual horse purchased, drugged horses that transform into fiery monsters, lame horses full of painkillers that wear off, and even....

How do you as a seller deal with your horse/pony getting a bad rap?

This exact situation has arisen regarding the gorgeous Grand Prix pony, Sabrina LS, currently advertised for sale on ispyhorses.  Many have contacted us asking if we know of a great Grand Prix pony that could be coming onto the market.  We get calls from Australia.  And we repeatedly direct people to Sabrina, saying she’s been advertised for a while now, and each time it’s a similar response, “That pony has been ruined.  It’ll never be good again!”

As I’ve stated in an earlier blog, I believe it’s good to take a pony at face value. ....