horse lovers

[rozett]

MikePA hit it pretty well, but I will add a few things....

If you have never taken care of a horse before, you might want to consider boarding it near home for six months. This gives you an opportunity to learn a lot from other boarders and the owner of the barn. We did this when we first bought our horses. Although we had both done a little riding before, we learned an enormous amount of information in six months.

Another consideration is that once you have horses, it is very difficult to pack up and go away for a weekend. We're fortunate to have another horse family right down the street to help out when we go visit the daughters in the next state.

That said... our two horses are 'family members' and we find it very theraputic to go clean the stalls, etc. [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]

[mfaley]

Great…..another chance for me to be contrary. Or maybe I should say I agree with much of this conversation but not all.

I agree that you have a huge responsibility when you accept the care of a horse (or anything) so don’t take it lightly. Nothing kills a horse quicker than being alone so have something it can herd up to. In a pinch even a goat will work but ideally it’s another horse. Vet care is important so plan on those from time to time along with scheduled shoes or trimming from a farrier. You will get what you pay for from a farrier so don’t be cheap. A bad farrier will cripple your horse. You will need some sort of shelter for both of them so make sure you have separate stalls for both the horses. I am not sure how cold it gets in your area but I bet it gets cold so plan on keeping them warm in the winter and try to keep them away from the mosquitoes on the summer (West Nile Virus). They need to have access to good feed to keep their weight up and you should mix it around so its healthy. They don’t do well on just pasture grass so you will need to supplement them on occasion. I also bet you will want to take some lessons from a good local trainer for your safety and education so factor that in as well. Beyond owning them you have a RESPONSIBILITY for their health and happiness. So…….plan this out and go in with your eyes wide open!

Ok…..having said that I agree with much of what has been said let me be contrary……

Do you need to spend $500 on a horse. Nope. Can you get a good one for that price or free? Yep. I think I might have mentioned this to you (or maybe it was someone else) but you can get a good horse for free if you have the patience and the right contacts. I just had a really hard time finding a home for a 12 year old bomb proof gelding that did reining and ranch work. The price……Nothing. He has great breeding, is sound, has great ground manners, will pack and take care of a kid like the best babysitter in the world. He will lope a circle on autopilot, steer where you want him to go, change leads if you even think about it and fold in half if you ask him for a sliding stop. He can bully a cow as needed and box one anytime you ask. For about 9 years he has paid his dues. Now he needs a good home where he can be taken care of, loved on, groomed on and go on trail rides and let me tell you………I had a heck of a time finding the right someone to take him. I finally did. The condition was that she leases him for $1 per month for 6 months and during that time I can take him back any time for any reason. After that, if it goes well, it’s going to cost her another dollar bill and the cost of the paper transfer and he is hers.

You can also keep them for not a lot of money. If you have good pasture you don’t overgraze, take their shoes off (just have them trimmed) and keep them wormed, you can keep them happy and healthy. I think that there are a lot of people that can find the money on a monthly basis but find it hard to take the initial hit. If you are in that camp then keep looking.

Here is a good rule of thumb….if you are a new rider and want to get horses, have your facility ready, have planned out and acquired everything the horses need to be happy and healthy, have budgeted AND set aside that amount for about 6 months, have budgeted the time it takes to keep them feet down, have already taken general equine classes and have a good equine vet and farrier lined up then you are about ready. If you have not already done at least those things then work at ‘till you have. One of the best ways to learn is to do….I bet a local trainer would let you clean stalls and help out in exchange for some lessons and general education. This gets everyone used to the amount of work, commitment and you learn along the way. There are some really great clinicians out there you might audit before you get a horse. If Ray Hunt ever gets to your neck of the woods sign up. As Richard can attest he is the best. If you can join a Bryan Neubert clinic take that one as well…..he is really good. Most of the others are just selling sticks with a snot rag and videotapes, so pass on them.

Every one of us here started ignorant so don’t let that stop you but please don’t learn at the horses expense. If you are not 100% certain you can provide the best of care and are dedicated to doing it every single day all year, despite the weather, then do the horse a favor and get goldfish.

Mark

[opie744]

thank you everyone! I'm going to look at a bombproof gelding tomorrow in my price range. Nervous, yet hopeful. The up keep $ isn't the problem, its the intial cost. I'm ready emotionally and physically to put the work in. He doesn't want a huge amount into the horse then for whatever reason it not workout. I KNOW it going to workout, I'm going to make it work! I do thank everyone for pointing out all sides. Thats way I write in and take everything under consideration. We've got the calves and other small animals that need to be petsitted during vacation. I know the stall stuff and I have a trainer I have been riding with. I'm an ok rider, don't want to be supper great, just good enough to take us on little walks. I just want to love the horse, instead lovin' the calves like a horse and have to watch them go to processing. Hopefully now it won't bother me so, I will still have someone waiting in my pasture for me to love. To feel so at peace when we are walking through the forest. [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Am I missing something? Monthly expense is no problem, just initial cost and you've been looking how long? If you would set aside the monthly expense as if you had the horse, by now you'd have saved enough to buy one for considerably more than $500 if it were required.

There are programs for acquiring mustangs that might be worth considering.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[opie744]

Gee pat, wished I would have thought of that. So simple and logical, I was blinded by the fact that was the amount I couldn't think of anything else.
I sorta like everyone fretting over me, I'm aquiring good info in the process.
Today I need best wishes! [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

<font color="green">Do you need to spend $500 on a horse. Nope. Can you get a good one for that price or free? Yep. I think I might have mentioned this to you (or maybe it was someone else) but you can get a good horse for free if you have the patience and the right contacts. I just had a really hard time finding a home for a 12 year old bomb proof gelding that did reining and ranch work. </font color>

Good info. other than I think this is extremely bad information. Why in the world would you give away a 12 yo gelding that does all of that??? I don't know of anyone in this world besides you that would give away an animal in his prime and able to do those kinds of things. If he has good breeding, is sound, and able to do all you say that animal is worth over $10k easily and that's on a bad day at the sale barn. You seem to give relatively good advice and know what you are doing but why in the world would you post here that kind of animal would be available for free?? [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] I have been all over the country and know horse people all over who are very generous but unless it was for an extremely good cause you never ever see something like that happen. Finding an animal like you described just to be given away would be about as much chance as winning the lottery. Heck finding an animal like to buy for $10,000 would be hard to do!!!!!!!!! For whatever reason you want to give away something that valuable is fine but it sure as heck isn't realistic for someone to find even a hundredth of what that horse is for free. [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

Good point on the expenses Pat.

I wouldn't consider a wild mustang for a lady with minimal horse experience and four little girls as a viable alternative though. I think that would be the worst thing for someone to do in her situation. Getting a mustang trained to ride takes alot of patience and alot of know-how. At the minimum that horse would need three to four months with a trainer that knows how to handle mustangs and even then it would be a year or more of consistent riding before you would want to trust that horse yourself to ride much less four little girls.

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> There are programs for acquiring mustangs that might be worth considering. </font color>
One of these centers was within 5 miles of us before they consolidated them a few years ago.

No way I'd recommend a wild mustang to someone with very little experience. Heck, I wouldn't recommend one to someone with experience if they didn't also have a lot of time to work with them. [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[RichZ]

Training a horse is way beyond the abilities of even fairly experienced horse lovers. The first horse we got on our farm is our PMU rescue Belgian mare, Rosie. We got her as a tiny 4 month old fillie. I managed to line train her, but we still have to have a professional trainer teach her to drive, and maybe ride. She's a sweet horse, with naturally good manners, but I would never trust anyone to get close to her without me there, even our vet and farrier. She is good at listening to me, but she makes a game out of any command that anyone else gives her, and with a 1700 pound horse, her well intentioned playing can be very dangerous. Actually any poorly trained equine can be very dangerous, and as much as I love my Rosie, if I had it to do over again, she would not have been my first horse. I've been around horses my whole life, and I foolishly thought I could manage to train one myself. The trainer we're going to use has already evaluated Rosie, and actually says I did a good job for a novice, but that is only because she is extremely bonded to me, but I'm still careful because I know she can be dangerous, even though she doesn't mean to be. So please don't follow my bad example, and unless you're experienced training horses, like Cowboydoc, don't try it on your own!!! Thinking back I know that I'm lucky that I was never hurt.

[egon]

<font color="blue"> </font color>
Training a horse is way beyond the abilities of even fairly experienced horse lovers.

I can recall the days when horses were the prime mover for farm work and most people had saddle horses. Can't remember any of them having a proffessional trainer.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]