Does anyone here own horses?
 

My wife has decided she wants a horse. For now, we would have to board it somewhere, but that's the next thing, she would like to find a place with some land so that she could keep a couple of horses. I'm hoping this is a passing whim, and once she gets on a horse again she's going to realize that maybe she's too old for this. If not, what am I in for?

It's been 40 years and 50 pounds since I've been on a horse, I don't have any interest in riding one again. If I want to ride a trail I'll get a dirt bike.

I was in a similar situation as you - wife decided she wanted horses.

Riding is the easy part - caring for them is something else.

I got her to enroll in riding classes at a nearby stable that also required a certain number of hours per week caring for horses (brushing / cleaning / handling the tack / mucking stalls / etc). After 6 months the fascination wore off...

I grew up with horses, events every weekend etc. It's horses and nothing else OR no horses.

50 years ago, when we met, a drive around the area with some friends ended up at a stable. My wife has had horses since she was in her teens. The only time she has been without a horse was at university and a couple of years when we lived away.
The second structure I built on this place was a barn. First for two, then three, now four equines. Although I grew up on a farm, the horses were retired by the time I was 5 so tractors were my thing. I took riding lessons 25 years ago and even went on a couple of trail rides in the UK with my wife and daughter but am much happier on the ground.
In my experience there are two types of folks. Some are briefly interested in horses and that feeling does indeed pass with the never ending work load and expense of large animal care. The other type are people like my wife who was miserable when she broke her hip ( in the barn) not because of pain, but because she was afraid she might never ride again. Several times while she was restricted to getting around with a walker, I loaded her and a frame into the car and drove to barn so she could treat her charges and pet noses over the gate. As soon as the surgeon gave her permission to walk again, she was in the barn. She feeds, medicates ( when required), waters, mucks out and manages pastures. I build and maintain fences, cut and make hay . She operates the tractor when we're baling. I build the load on the wagon. In the last two years we have hired a neighbor's kid to help her unload the wagon . ( He is a cool kid. He has built and races a dirt track stock car.)
The wife loves her horses. I suspect if I go first, she will miss me but hire someone to help make hay and do the other things that need to be done around here so she can be around her beloved equines. It's just the way she is.

Best
Les

I do and have most of my life.

All comparisons to boat ownership apply...the two happiest days, etc.

Horses are to be rented and returned...owning a horse is an expense in both time and money I don't think many truly understand.

Have her take lessons with rentals for at least a year and then gauge her continued interest.

Trust me on this.

We have had horses on our property for 10+ years. My wife’s horses and sometimes some boarders, she has been riding for 30+ years now.

Seahawk nailed it, excellent advice and insight.

You have likely heard someone say,"Healthy as a horse ". Horses were evolved to live in environments where they had to be constantly on the move to get feed and water. Many owners make the mistake of overfeeding and underworking the animals. Colic is a word which can freeze your heart. A horse cannot vomit, so if it gets something toxic ( half of the vegetation in the world seems to be toxic to horses), it may cause severe abdominal distress or be fatal. You haven't experienced the joys of equine ownership until you have been up all night walking a sick horse every half hour. (Walking can help the gut move things along. A horse that is not producing manure will die.)
As Seahawk said: rent the beast.

Best
Les

There are several horse ranches within 2 miles of our house. From small to huge places. Horses and horse shows are everywhere in the Oklahoma City area.

My wife has wanted a horse shince she was a little girl, and back then her grandparents on both sides had real working farms and horses but her parents said no.

She has run the numbers, and we can afford it, but wow, why. She has realized a horse is just a huge financial and time commitment. She just spends time and money on her flower gardens.

We have 2. We did 10 years of a small farm with them at home and will never do it again, at least in a climate with real winter.
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.
Board here isn't cheap, we spend $500/mth per horse for field board (have stall access for emergencies and horses have sheds) but most farms lose money even at that - hay is $11 a bale for ordinary stuff, diesel for tractors to mow is outrageous, etc. The only way most boarding farms make income is through their lesson programs.
I still enjoy riding, even though I started late-in my 50's, but I could own a really nice sailboat for what I spend on horses. I don't want to discourage you, but I'd try an onfarm lease for a year. Lots of horse owners will do this-their kids go to college, or their priorities change, but they don't want to sell-they'll lease the horse (or partial usage). This is better than random horse rental, as it really takes a while to bond with the animal and figure out their idiosyncrasies. If you jump into to ownership and find its not for you, horses aren't easy to rehome in this economy.

I've also had horses - and boats - and would add another commonality: they will, if you don't have immediate access, end up being largely unused. Boarding a horse, to me anyway, pretty much amounts to having visitation rights with a very social animal. Horses are far more intelligent than most people realize, are highly curious, have personalities all their own and, after hundreds of years of domestication, crave frequent interaction with their human (for lack of a better word) keepers.

When we lived in the foothills (our home was right at 8,000') outside Golden, Colorado the combination of wind and cold could be absolutely brutal. Many times, we'd get home as dusk was upon us, the wind whipping up snowdrifts that made it challenging to get to the upper pasture - and made the gate to the pasture impossible to open. I would often dread fighting my way to our equine and caprine friends so they could be fed - right up until I was greeted by seven beasts that were always happy to see me. I'll forever cherish the memory of being in sub-zero temps, winds raging at 40-60 mph, with a thousand pounds of amazingly warm horse pressed against me on both sides. I certainly didn't cherish the walk to the pasture or back to the house, but the feel and the smell of those moments remain indelibly - and fondly - etched in my mind's senses.

Yes indeed, if you're going to have horses, have horses ... IMHO, of course.

_

I love horses...both my sisters were A Pony Clubbers and Three Day Eventer's, my Mom was the President of Southern California Pony Club for years, my daughter won the Maryland Pony Breeders Cup, etc.

I also rode a lot as a kid, both western and English, and enjoyed it. I worked for a cowboy on the rodeo circuit in the valley and was a race horse "swing groom" for two winters in South Carolina as well.

I get it and agree with you Norm. I just would not buy right away.

I ran a small non profit for a few years that did equine therapy. We used horses as a tool to provide physical and occupational therapy to children and adults who were disabled and veterans with ptsd. It is a noble mission but the care for the horses is just constant and expensive. Unless you are on donated land with something like this, it will never be financially sustainable. I thought I'd grow to love being around horses and riding. I took lessons. Fed them, mucked stalls, loaded hay, all of it. It never took. There are horse people and everyone else. It has to be a lifestyle.

My son is in the process of exiting the military. It will happen after he gets back from Korea next summer. He is looking for land now. They want a "hobby farm" and his lovely wife wants a few horses. He understands pretty well what he is in for. We looked at 20 acres over the weekend. It will be interesting to see where they end up. We're hoping close to us so I'm happy for him to have that experience :-)

Well, if it's been 40 years and 50 lbs. since you've been on a horse, I'm guessing that your wife is older and perhaps has gained some weight, too (60+ years old?). If so, it's not going to be all that easy for her to restart and make this infatuation, real. I fully agree with Seahawk in that she should first take lessons. AND, she should get very proficient and comfortable before she rents a horse (and then should take 5-10 lessons on that rental horse before she goes solo so she and the horse understand each other fairly well).

My Palomino Quarter Horse is incredibly strong, stubborn, and smart and those qualities made it both fun and a PITA to ride him. To take advantage of and soften those same qualities, I would need to ride him five days a week, which I loved, really. But, if I could only ride him once or twice in a week, he would turn into a beast that needed quite a bit of tiring before I rode him. He might not be the "normal" horse, but horses can all of a sudden act up and guess who is going to pay the price?

He literally was my best friend for years upon years, though, so that is the wonderful side of owning a horse. With that said, a horse is essentially your child and needs to be taken care of and loved like one. It requires a lot of time, energy, and financial resources with the cost of boarding, shoeing, supplements, vet visits, etc.

Your wife should fully vet her experience with lessons and a horse rental before plunging head first into the reality of owning (and enjoying) a horse. With that said, owning a horse is truly a life style. Just like a child, it will change your life and will take the requisite time and requisite resources. Unless willing to make that commitment, limit the experience to trail rides on rental horses.


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Me and my wife raised llamas for 25 years.

You can keep 3 llamas for the maintenance costs of 1 horse.

Alpacas?

son of a horse woman. my mom is in her 60s, has been competing in eventing for my entire life. has not slowed down a bit, is actually doing more with them now than ever before.

horses make racing cars seem like a reasonable hobby.

This will be your new theme song:

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This is something that I don't think she has considered.

This is the same woman who, when our granddaughter was born, said she wanted to visit her at least once a month, and didn't want to be "the grandma 4 hours away". We went to visit this past weekend, the first time we've been there in 6 months. Too busy, she says.

I'm going to try to steer her toward renting at a stable, but she tells me she wants HER horse. She has a riding appointment for this Friday, let's see how that goes. If I'm lucky she will be too sore to move on Saturday and give up on this idea.

Another thing, she is terrible with money. She says she has money to cover this, but her car is now 7 years old and approaching 110,000 miles, and it isn't going to run forever. At least it is paid for.

I'm watching the news right now. Maybe I can sign her up for this program.
https://www.wqow.com/news/top-stories/trinity-equestrian-center-helps-adults-with-dementia-with-the-help-of-horses/article_afe56a24-8219-11ee-a35a-e3e512c0b96c.html

This might not be in green font in a couple years.

"The best horse in the world is somebody else's horse."

Some great advice above from these who have been there, done that, or are still doing it.

I did not "grow up" with horses, I left that to many of my local cousins. I have been riding since I was pretty young, since so many cousins had them. I well remember what Greg refers to above - "horse jail". My poor cousins that were encumbered with these things simply had no time for anything else. What many might see as an "idyllic" childhood, growing up in wide open spaces with these kinds of animals, really wasn't so much for them.

Fast forward to adulthood and my brother in law and his wife. They have been horse people for as long as I have known them. Their entire existence is centered around their horses. Can't go anywhere without them or do anything else without them unless they can find someone to either stay at their place of board their horses. A pretty mono-focused existence, too much so for me. I love visiting and riding, but I sure like leaving as well. A really, really big commitment...

Disclaimer: I’m not a horse owner.

My dad raised and raced quarter horses when I was a kid. Two things I remember.

1. Lots of upkeep.
2. Two best smelling things in the world; an old time feed store and a saddle maker’s shop. If you’ve never experienced either of those, your life will never be complete.

That said, your wife is not a horse person. You either are, or you aren’t. She isn’t.

Horses come in pairs, you do not buy one horse and force it to live alone in a field.

Horses can live a long time. Might outlive you and your wife.

You live in a part of the world where maintaining a horse is really unpleasant, several months out of the year.

I have a friend whose sister owns horses, on a nice little ranch up in Utah. She has more money than she can spend, and is retired. He visits her several times a year and spends the days with her. They only stories he brings back are about taking care of the horses. No skiing, no snowmobiling, no traveling, no great adventures, just taking care of the horses.

I don’t see this as being anything even close to a good idea.

At the beginning of the last century rich people had cars and poor people had horses.
Now it is the opposite.

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:

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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!

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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.