My sister has horse property, used to have horses.

Really, horse is like a boat, you want to use someone elses

For not having horses you’ve said probably the most important thing in this thread


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She knows about needing more than one horse.
Her plan is
Obtain a horse now, board it somewhere where there are other horses, but this one is "her horse".
Later, after one or both of us are retired, we would relocate closer to the granddaughter, get a second horse, and then either she and her daughter can ride together, or hopefully she and the granddaughter can ride together. But our granddaughter isn't three yet. That would be a few years off.

It didn't help driving through southwestern Wisconsin this weekend. There's a lot of farms along our route that have horses, and she was all too happy to point them out.

A divorce might be cheaper than a horse long term.

As a former horse owner. I can tell you that it is a LOT of work.
1. Cleaning stalls ( a facintating experience when the weather is cold)
2. Hay, the cost and work involved makes me shudder
3. Colic ! This is bad and always seems to strike in the middle of the night when the weather is pure ****. As others have mentioned..I have walked horses many miles while they were suffering from colic.
4. Vetrinarian and equine dentist. Want to watch your saving disappear quicker than a 50% drop in the stock market ? Expensive and frequent.
5. The never ending purchases of tack. It is like "Princess and the Pea" syndrome.
6. Stabling. Good grief this can be like losing your paycheck at the casino. When we had 2 horses, it was $750 per horse...monthly. I built (myself) a barn ...to save money. Figured the savings would pay it off in 5 years.
7. I could go on and on, but you will have lots of your own surprises.

I am very fit and active at 62 years old, but I will not ever consider having any more horses.

In your case, I would lease a horse. My daughter leases her remaining horse. She has no expenditures. The horse is on a "Free" lease. The leasee's pay for everything. I would suggest this to you to try. This way it is like you are the owner, but when the chrome wears off...the horse can move on to the next home.

If you have a farm, with a barn, already have animals that keep you tied to the place 365 days a year, and lots of extra money, then horse ownership might be for you.

The biggest obstacle we faced was finding someone reliable to watch the livestock while we took some time off. Every other problem could be solved with money.

Horses need to be entertained, but they don't always need another horse. My friend had a show draft horse, a Belgian, who lived with a goat. They would chase each other around the paddock. She built a platform that the goat could climb and get up on the horse's back and stand there while the horse ate. The horse seemed to like it.

She wasn't very creative with names. I don't remember the name of the horse, but the goat was "Goater," Her dogs were "Dogger1, Dogger2, Dogger3, etc." Same with her cats.

https://www.joyfulequestrian.com/different-kinds-of-horses-leases/

At the equine therapy place we did modified free leases. The horses were at our facility and we paid all normal care and feeding expenses. If the horse had a significant medical issue not tied to our program or just became too old to ride, it went back to the owner.

True, doesn’t have to be a horse. But it has to be something.

All true. I give you Loveville Leather and Feed, the most entertaining Amish/Mennonite folks on the planet.

From today:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1699987589.jpg

The shop smells like victory:cool:

I've ridden a horse twice and interacted (nose/neck pets) another time or two, so hardly any experience. But from my minimal interaction, they seem like amazing animals. When you look at them, they seem to be looking back at your with more intelligence in their eyes than interaction with other animals.

I can understand enjoying them and the relationship, but like so many other things this is something that seems very true "One thing to consider is that you're in "horse jail". Wanna go away for the weekend? Good luck with that. They need to be fed, stalls mucked if they're in stalls, watered, ice broken from outdoor troughs yada."

Soti, the Icelandic gelding my wife had a decade or so ago came from a farm in BC's Okanagan Valley. On a trip through the Rockies we stopped by to let them know how he was doing and they gave us a tour of the herds. In with the mares, I was having a chuckle over one of the herd who came up to me and almost begged to go with us. The lady giving the tour said that was Soti's sister. Funny feeling that connection.

Best
Les

Yes, and I should have added that there are worse places than horse jail, in fact most places, but you have to have your heart in it as a couple.

If you board a horse at a stables for a monthly fee, they will feed the horse twice daily, clean its stall, and even exercise it if you so request. As such, you are not in "horse jail" unless you stable him at your own home. But with that said, you can hire "horse" people who will come out and take care of it for a fee while you are away.

As far as a horse having a "horse friend" goes, as long as the horse is in a stall with a horse in the next stall sharing a common fence with it, the horse is fine.

Horses are like people. Some are very smart while others not so much. My horse is very smart and has always been the favorite of other horse owners. My horse and I used to play tag in a big arena and everybody was astounded when witnessing it. I was always happy when he was able to stop on a dime after running full tilt to tag me before running into me...

I grew up around horses. Grandfather and Uncle both had them, boarded out in Livermore. I remember as a kid going out there every weekend as they'd tend them and ride them.

Both Grandpa and Uncle rode carrying flags, they used to do it at the rodeo at Rowell Ranch up in the Bay Area and every year we would attend the Grand National at The Cow Palace.

Now it's limited to my Cousin Jeff who breeds and raises stallions cow horses and cutting horses.
https://oswoodstallionstation.com/aboutus/

I also have a sister Cecilia who's a full time farrier and blacksmith. she's always in demand and LOVES horses!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1700432743.jpg

Can someone post annual cost to own a horse?
I heard it makes moon travel seem cheap.

Use this handy horse cost calculator!

https://www.horseillustrated.com/horse-exclusives-horse-expense-calculator

She must be getting ready to work on his feet, those hoofs look really rough.