- Cob
- Black
- Mare
- 10 years
- 14 hands
- Fun allrounder who loves to jump
- Ideal mother-daughter share, brilliant in heavy traffic
- Does a beautiful dressage test but equally happy giving a lead rein lesson to a tiny tot
Lily is a lovely ten year old 14hh cob mare.
Good points:
Brilliant to hack, will go in front or behind, will also lead off another horse. Great in traffic, doesn’t bat an eyelid at big traffic, Lorries, bicycles, motorbikes, bicycles etc, even helicopters flying overhead in a lesson did not phase her! She has hacked through the busy village of Appledore numerous times and takes it all in her stride. If she does have rare little spook at eg a barking dog or a bird flying out of a hedge she’ll just jump on the spot and won’t go anywhere.
Lily goes well in the school and adapts to different levels of rider. My tiny eight year old goddaughter did her first jump on Lily off the lead rein, and my 12-year old goddaughter had her first canter on her. She can also step it up for someone more confident who knows how to ask for more. She is currently mainly ridden by two eleven year olds and a sixteen year old who all absolutely dote on her.
Lily LOVES jumping and has jumped up to 90cm at home with a local teen rider. Out and about she goes best avoiding the warm up area, which she can find a bit overwhelming, and warming up in the car park then going straight into the ring. She’s getting more confident on her outings all the time and recently won a poles competition at a local show!
Lily has done some showing this summer which she has enjoyed and done well at. She came second in a local dressage competition and has done both intro and prelim away from home, with very positive comments from the judges.
She travels brilliantly and has gone out to several arena hires and clinics where she has behaved really well. Coaches always comment that she is a cracking pony with lots of potential. Her first owner was a dressage rider and has set Lily up to carry herself beautifully – she can go very nicely indeed when asked. She has also been out to XC schooling which she really enjoyed. I imagine she would absolutely love hunting.
Lily is brilliant to clip and for the vet and farrier. She has great feet and is barefoot all round. She will come with her scoot boots which she wears on her fronts for road hacking.
With us Lily has been turned out with another mare or sometimes individually. I imagine she would be fine in a mixed herd as she has geldings just across the fence and doesn’t seem bothered by them in the slightest. She is happy being on her own for a bit – if she has food she really isn’t bothered about what else is going on! She’s not the type to fret if the last to be turned out or brought in, or if her companion is taken out for a ride. She also travels happily on her own.
Not-so-good points:
Lily can be rude on the ground and needs a firm handler. This can occasionally include small rears if she thinks she can get away with it. I think this is mainly hangry-ness as she has been on a very strict diet the past year to get her weight down (she came to us very overweight). When she’s allowed to eat more, she’s generally much nicer to handle. She is also much better in a consistent routine, however due to my focus being on my other horses she has recently lacked the consistency she needs and this has had a detrimental effect on her behaviour. Ideally Lily needs to be ridden and handled regularly in a good routine with clear boundaries in place, and then she can become quite angelic and lamb-like! For this reason although children love riding her, she is looking for a home where there is a confident, experienced adult around to help with the handling, especially at first while she is settling in. We do have her in a Monty Roberts headcollar which helps, and she is a clever girl who responds well to clicker training and groundwork. For someone willing to put the time in she is a very rewarding horse. Our intelligent horsemanship trainer has always commented on how fun Lily is to work with.
Hacking alone, Lily can be nappy at the start of the ride, when ridden by a less confident rider. She will not do anything worse than planting and the odd tiny bunny hop, but it can be frustrating. When she came to us she had not hacked out much alone and we overcame her worries with consistency and gradually increasing her comfort zone, but it’s possible she would try this on again with a new rider in a new home, until she feels settled. With her current confident teenage rider she is now happily hacking out alone, even to the beach!
In company (or with a human on foot) Lily is an angel to hack and has taken many beginners for their first ride both on and off the lead rein, from adults to tiny tots. She has a lovely dainty trot which is ideal for kids learning their first rising trot. She also longlines beautifully, and will follow a human anywhere, if you don’t have another horse to hack out with, but have someone to go with you a few times on foot until you’ve formed your ridden bond! She is also sensible in open spaces as she’s used to going out on Northam Burrows, although she does love a good blast.
Lily has a few minor health issues common in cobs, such as mild sweetitch (we manage this with use of a sweetitch rug and fly mask for most of the year, plus vitamin B and Black Salt added to her feed).
She has the beginnings of mild CPL in her legs as many cobs do – this is managed with diet and exercise and keeping her legs clean and clipped and does not affect her.
Lily needs to be kept on a strict diet as she is an incredibly good doer. We have managed this by keeping her muzzled when out on grass during the day, for most of the year, and in at night on soaked hay. Sometimes we have taken her off grass for a spell such as when the spring or autumn grass is coming through, mainly as a precaution. We keep her fit by working her 6-7 days a week, with a mix of schooling, jumping, hacking and hill work. She is currently looking fantastic and I would love her to go to a home who would like to continue this, who understand ponies at risk of laminitis (she’s never officially had it but is most definitely a contender) and would like to keep her in good shape!
Lily is a very cute and much loved pony who is absolutely adored by her sharers but unfortunately at 5’9 though she does carry me fine and takes the leg up brilliantly, I just feel a bit too tall on her and feel happier on my bigger horses. Due to needing to cut down on numbers she needs to find a new home where she can receive all the love and attention she deserves. She will be such a fun allrounder for a teen (or confident child) rider or small adult, or could be a great first pony for a child with a more experienced adult to help on the ground. She has built the confidence of our young riders massively during the time we have had her.
Lily will be ready to leave us at the start of November, as I want her sharers to have time to say their goodbyes to her, but I am putting the feelers out now to see if we can find Lily her perfect home. I would be thrilled if she could stay local to us and her new owners could stay in touch.
Open to offers – home more important than price.