Getting a Horse and looking after it

Mara69

man_of_faith wrote: »

Yes I know it is a lot but am gradually getting it down.

Daughter has had a few problems so will try anything to help her.

Admirable but ultimately foolish and of no benefit to you or her. Is there a particular reason she cannot go down the helping out for rides route?

Paradigm

Mara69 wrote: »

Open your wallet, look inside, and say goodbye to the contents......:)

^^ This

My OH has horses & I worked out that it costs more to keep the 2 of them than it does to run her car & that's with them living out all year round! I don't even want to think of the cost if they were stabled overwinter :eek:

rising_from_the_ashes

Ours were always kept at home as we were lucky enough to have land & stables - I know someone who pays £300/month for pasture only - they have to store their hay/straw separately (and pay but I can't remember how much) and she had to pay the costs of the field shelter herself.

They really are hugely expensive (which is why so many are unfortunately ending up in rescues) and even seasoned owners who've had them many years and know the tricks to reduce costs (bulk buy, get horses together and get the farrier to do them together etc) are now struggling with the economic downturn..... the costs of hay / straw & therefore hard feed too are astronomical this year.

Honestly, if you've debts now - it's really not a good idea (sorry). I still think helping out would be the best option.

Do you have a Riding for the Disabled centre anywhere near you? They are always looking for volunteers and it's a great way to get experience of looking after them / grooming / tacking up etc and I'm sure they'd let her have the odd ride.

pelirocco

Someone once quoted ' Horses dont eat hay ................they eat cheque books '' which is very true lol

A lot of horse do spend more then they need to , but the basic costs are still high ,plus the time commitment , trust me when you have children who cant drive it will be you taking her up to the stables at 6 am on very cold and dark winter mornings ! ...........and some how get roped into mucking out lol

You will sometimes see people advertising horse share , this might be the way to go

Caroline_a

Another one to add to the 'say goodbye to your wallet' - we had ponies when the children were at home and it's a huge expense - it took all of my (good) salary and some.

However, does she (and you) realise that she will have to be up before school every single day of the year, including Christmas Day and all Bank Holidays, early to muck out, groom, feed and turn out. And that if she doesn't do it, you (or someone else) will have to?

Getting the horse is easy, keeping it both in terms of care and finances is the difficult part.

Before we got ours, my eldest (who was the horse mad one) helped out in a stables that was 2 hours away from home by public transport. She got up every weekend to get herself there at around 5 am, as the stable owner and I figured it was a comparible time to get up if she had her own locally. After 6 months we got the ponies - at one time we had 4, and although I'd ridden myself as a child it was the steepest learning curve I'd ever been through! You will need to be as much if not more of an expert as the child is, to identify good and bad practises, even down to identifying ragwort in fields, illnesses in horses, when to call the vet, etc.

They are NOT like dogs, some people make this mistake, it's a totally different commitment, you cannot just put them in kennels when you want to go away for a weekend or a week's holiday. We didn't have a holiday for over 6 years... not that we could have afforded it anyway!

Also - it really isn't a way to make friends. A lot of horsey people 'buy' their way in and are very aloof. My daughter is very outgoing and made her friends via the stables she worked at, but made no friends by having her own pony.

pinetree

Hi I would go along the horse share route and see how things go, you wont be commited to going everyday, you will share the costs etc, look for ads in local tack shops, freeads etc, there are loads of owners looking for sharers in the present climate. hope this helps, once you get the horse bug thats it

heretolearn_2

Hi,

you haven't told us yet what experience your daughter has with horses. Unless she has several years of proper riding lessons AND experience gained in looking after horses (most horsey kids/teens learn this by helping out at the riding school/helping horse owners/sharing arrangements, please don't buy one. It's a guaranteed disaster area, for the horse and for her, downright dangerous for both of them.

If she does have that experience then I've estimated it would cost me around £400 minimum per month to keep a horse in the cheapest possible way that doesn't compromise on safety for both of us and the horse's welfare. So I don't have one.

It also means a committment of turning out to see to the horse a minimum of once a day in summer, and twice a day in winter - or more - or paying someone to do this for you. Every day. Even when you want to go on holiday, when she has flu and can't get out of bed and you have to go and do it for her (are you going to learn this?), and Christmas morning.

It's a fantastic hobby but people are being quite down on you about it as somehow you just don't strike us as being too realistic about it. You need lots of spare time and money to own a horse. During this economic situation thousands of owners are having to try and re-home their horses or have them put to sleep as they can no longer afford what they used to be able to afford.

Getting a horse and having to sell it a few months later would break your daughter's heart. Sometimes parents don't realise that their children would form emotional attachments to their horses, same as the family pet dog. I had a horse on loan for two years between the ages of 14-16 and was devastated when I had to hand him back to his owner, even though I'd been expecting it. My parents were so surprised at my reaction, even though they were quite fond of him too. I had to say 'how would you feel if you had to hand X (their dog) over to someone else' before they understood. And I wasn't being weird or anything, that is how people feel about their horses, especially children and teenagers. I really wouldn't risk that with your daughter right now, especially if she is already having problems.

Oh, and many stableyards are pits of !!!!!ery and bullying - so it might not work out quite as you hoped.

Why don't you encourage her to volunteer at a yard as others have suggested? She'll get to know people, gain in confidence, and learn what she needs to know.

Caroline_a

heretolearn has touched on the dangers of owning a horse, I guess those of us who have had horses and been around them are very well aware of this. When we lived in Yorkshire where land was cheaper, I saw one or two people buying foals 'so that they can grow up with the kids'. :eek: which is of course total folly as you can't ride a horse or pony much under 4 years of age, they need to be trained, etc, hence my remark above about they are not like dogs.

However, safety-wise be aware that even the smallest pony is probably a lot stronger than you are, let alone your daughter, and many people have been seriously injured or killed from horses that they know, never mind youngsters who know little about them. Risk assessment is about minimising the risk - and unless your daughter knows what she is doing around horses you have a potential fatality on your hands. Yes, sounds dramatic, but I'm sure there are a few on here that would back me up.

What, for example, would your thoughts be if your daughter decided that she wanted you to buy her a stallion? They are potentially exceptionally dangerous animals, again very unlike an entire dog that you can control.

Please think very carefully about this.

lostinrates

I work with horses amoung other thingd, i take liveries and own a few. It would be in my interest to have everyone owning horses to boost my industry, but I would urge to to think very, very hard and not because of the money.

Firstly, a lot of horsey girls are similarly solitary at that age. Having a horses doesn't change that, in fact, in many ways the time and money involved can make the problem worse. You CANNOT go the cinema with your friends on a saturday afternoon, because you need to get your horse in. You are not free for sleep overs or shopping excurtions etc, because of the commitment, and also, most importnantly the excuse to yourself. Thus, girls prone to find friend ships hard find solace in the horse and further evade the issues.

Secondly, she is fifteen. In a year, and in three years, she will be doing exams. When will she revise? Then when she is eighteen and heading for college or university? The heartbreak of leaving the horse is tremendous. Taking the horse is very expensive... You would need to pay transport there and back every semester and also reserve costs on a space at. Yard at both places. Plus, she still has the commitment and further excuse not to make friends.


Now, getting a share, or being more commited at a good stables...and these can be catty places, i am like a HAWK here stamping it out and won't take teens becauase of that, meeting other girls and having the joys of being with a horse with out the drawbacks of owning one is another thing entirely. Very good for her physically, and at the right yard the balance of social with commitment is far better for most teens.


If she were a little younger, and/or you or your partner were knowledgeable and very interested, my responce would be different. But it is not. Imo in trying to help her you could severely hinder her. It must be so hard to see your little girl sad, but buying a horse is neither the answer now, nor the solution for her when she find herself in a sad situation in early adult hood. Nor is it a great life for the horse tbh. Find a kind yard, with a kind manager who cares about the people and horses and let her share and help. If she had two paid for lessons a week it would be as cheap as most horse ownership using a livery yard....so that is another option too.

pelirocco

I would like to add , that despite the costs etc , getting our daughter her first pony when she was 13/14( she had been riding since she was 2 ) was the best thing we did . The pony was kept at a livery yard a mile away , there were quite a few other girls around the same age and she spent all her free time there ...........so no hanging around street corners !Owning and caring for a horse/pony can have a huge positive affect on some ones life imho. Fifteen years down the line she still has a horse and now her 5 yr old daughter has a pony too