horse transport W. auckland to Franklin

I am going to look at a horse today in West Auckland, if I fancy it rather than SOH go back and forth with a trailer on one of his few days off, is there a good horse transport business that I could use that would transport her back to us in Franklin district?

We've always used Majestic Horse Transport, not sure if they're based in West Akl but we are so they will go there. They've been good so far, no complaints.

I used Majestic to get my girls from my parent's place to here and they were great. Only issue was where the truck could turn around (it was their smallest and it was still pretty big) but it was the first thing they checked with me. The truck only just made it around the truck turn-around at Mum and Dad's, and didn't even try here - I got him to stop in a side road where the school bus and big cattle trucks turn around, and then I led the girls up the road to my place.

The driver was running 30 minutes late, rang to tell me he would be late, helped me load the horses (I was quite scared!), and was very professional. I had pre-warned them that the girls might have issues loading. Of course, they loaded fine, in about 10 seconds flat

Oh, and Majestic were also the cheapest! $90 for the two, from Ramarama to Mangatawhiri (35km).

Same experience as Pumpkingirl, their trucks can't get up our driveway so they've always walked up (200m) and collected the horse or vice versa and been really good about it. Also they've done it for me 'cause I'm s**t scared of them []. One day I hope to not be.

The last one they took was a yearling we had who is VERY stubborn and it took the driver and hubby 2 hours to get her in the truck [}]. And he reckoned he'd had worse [:0]. He was very patient (sp) with her.

many thanks both of you for the reference.

Unfortunately to my inexperienced eye, the horse seemed very stiff in the rear and watching the leg move forward, it was like the rump would roll, the foot would go down, and the leg become stiff as the weight was placed on it.
Sometimes it seemed that the hoof would go towards the centre of the middle rather directly in front.... I knew the hooves needed doing, quite lengthy, but could this be the only reason for the stiffness?

this is the 2nd standardbred I have seen like this, as mentioned, with my inexperienced eyes.

E was concerned (watching from the ground) about lots of head pulling and movement as the horse was ridden at walk. I would imagine this is indicating some sort of discomfort, as the flies were not too bad at all (for a change).

Any thoughts?

Sounds like the horse was sore. Would need more info as to what you mean by "head pulling and movement" to be more specific.

Diane

um Dianne, I don't know how to express it really apart from lots of movement and pulling... having said that, the bridle had a nose leather band that ended either side of the cheeks. to me it seemed quite pointy and tight.
i asked the rider (not the owner) what that was for as I haven't seen that before, and she said it was a dressage bridle..... but I wondered if that was causing discomfort to the lower cheeks.

I walked the horse on the ground to show the rider the stiffness and she (horse) kept rubbing herself against me, had no discharge from eyes etc and as mentioned before, the flies were not bad.

E said the stiffness wasn't as bad as when the rider was on the horse...
:(

For a 4 year old, I quite liked her. they have had her in saddle for about 4 months and this is what they do, and move them on.

but its nothing like how 12 yo Billy moves....who just plods away evenly. [8D] Even if he does have a larger muscle lump on his left front than his right...

2nd thoughts, the rider said she (the horse) had a stone bruise in her front foot last week. Would that affect the back, and what exactly is a stone bruise and how would I know?

She is unshod (which is fine with me and suitable for the grass she is on).

And bear in mind that alot of horses up this way are reacting horrendously to the passpalum grasses etc...
Did you like her enough (aside from her dodgy movement) to view / try again!??
That is the real question...
If you wouldnt want another trip to view her - maybe the horse isn't right??
Sundays

oh sundays a tough question...

to my aussie mind passpalum is a long grassy type of thing with pink fringes etc but none in her paddock which was shared with other horses too. the entire property is on 10 acres, but the group of horses she came out from was about 1 or so... a wild guessitimate on my behalf.

the rider and property owner said she (the horse) had problems with bossy ness in the paddock and was slow to defend herself so I wondered about bruising from fighting etc although there was no apparent recent injuries as I have seen in others.....

yes if she is kind and quiet as she appeared to be, then I would be interested, but the bridle issue concerns me and I wonder if that was a compound problem? But would still be happy to take this further if I had more info'd advise on my own basic opinion, as she was the right height etc..

Oh, tough tough...as 4yo, green broke (and at 4 months under saddle, even every day, is green broke), head pulling, rubbing, being unbalanced, "stiff", is just to be expected...or could be lame. Very hard to "diagnose" over the net! LOL

A stone bruise is pretty much just what it says--an "ouchie" caused by a stone on the sole of the hoof. It can be bad, it can be mild, it can be in-between. My best advice, if you REALLY like her, get a vet out to check her. (or think about spending that money to ship my standy up to you! LOL).

Another choice--isn't there a horsey person near you who can go along as a second opinion? That way they can ride/you watch and you ride/they watch.

Diane

its a tad of a hike up there so as Devan kindly supplied a number who might know of some potentials more locally to us, I will give that a whirl tomorrow.

Swaggie, I'm down in West Auckland each week. I could have a look at the horse for you if you're keen on it?

I can certainly tell if they're sore & usually have a pretty good idea as to where but that's about where I hand over to the experts to diagnose what the damage is, how bad & how to fix it.

A lot of SB's are very unbalanced & appear to move strangely anyway so I'm not surprised you found it difficult to figure out what's going on.

Swaggie you should take glo pony up on her offer, its always good to have a 2nd opinion. If you need a horse picked up thats a bit more local just give me a yell, i brought a float yesterday and would be happy to help, just put some gas in the car