Getting a Horse and looking after it

lostinrates

pelirocco wrote: »

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

There is no denying having a horse is special. I wouldn't keep them if it wasn't. Having a horse to avoid or get round social issues is less great, and possibly counter productive IMO, having a horse at university is tough, having a horse when the person paying for it is in debt already is frankly madness, having a horse when the biggest stress of your young life is about to start with exams is misguided, and potentially makes long term decisions more closed and limiting.

Dollardog

walwin wrote: »

Please re-think this. Take the advice of others on here who have suggested helping out at stables in exchange for rides. It will also be a good way for her to learn what is involved with keeping a horse.

It is a huge and extremely expensive commitment to take on a horse and to be perfectly honest, unless she's got decent knowledge of horses and the care of them it will be very unfair to the horse if she doesn't know what she's doing.

I second this. It wouldn't be fair on a horse to take it on if you are so much in debt that you couldn't afford the proper upkeep of it. What would you do if a few months down the line you found it was costing too much to keep and you couldn't sell it?
Its alright thinking of something that helps your daughter but not at the expense of another life - ie, the horse.
Please, don't do it, get her to help out at a stables in return for riding, or help to look after someone else's horse. There are lots of people who own horses that don't always have the time to see to them/ride them everyday who would probably be grateful for your daughter to help out.
A horse is a long term commitment, it needs looking after every day, winter and summer, it is also very expensive. Don't go into this lightly.

LisaB85

I look after 2 horses 3 days a week and 12 1 day a week in return for riding.

They are hard work esp in the winter, I get up at 645 (even on a Sunday) knowing it will be freezing outside. When I get a job it will be even earlier until I can drive (although won't be doing as much). I walk 20min to both yards at the moment.

I have been thrown off, had my feet stood on, bitten, kicked, head butted, pushed a wheel barrow through mud and ice, been rained on and thought I was going to melt in the summer.

It is hard work and isn't glamorous.

lostinrates

LisaB85 wrote: »

I look after 2 horses 3 days a week and 12 1 day a week in return for riding.

They are hard work esp in the winter, I get up at 645 (even on a Sunday) knowing it will be freezing outside. When I get a job it will be even earlier until I can drive (although won't be doing as much). I walk 20min to both yards at the moment.

I have been thrown off, had my feet stood on, bitten, kicked, head butted, pushed a wheel barrow through mud and ice, been rained on and thought I was going to melt in the summer.

It is hard work and isn't glamorous.

You forget the fact that whenever the horse is stabled part of the time the owner smells of pee, :Dit gets into your skin and hair. I only have to walk past the stables and i smell. If i were at school i think that would be a prime target for social difficulty, though i had them at school and don't remember it being a problem.

Dollardog

When I was 8yo, I was pony mad. I pestered my parents to let me have riding lessons, I fell in love with a pony at the stables, Candy, and wanted it. My grandmother wanted to buy Candy for me. My mother had been brought up with horses, her parents had a coal business and in those days used horses as transport, she was always helping to look after them and used to ride them back to the field. My dad used to work with a horse drawn bakers van. Both of them loved horses but luckily had the sense to say no to my grandmothers attempt to buy me one. It upset me no end, but now, I can see the sense in it, they couldn't have afforded the costs. I still used to have my riding session every week and used to stay on to groom/muck out etc.
When I was 18, I still wanted my own horse and went for a trekking holiday. The horses were being sold off at the end of the season, so I decided to buy the one I had ridden. I borrowed the money to buy it and kept it at half livery, where the people where it was at looked after it during the week and I had to look after her at the weekends. I didn't drive and the buses to get there were only every 2 hours, which was not good in Winter, especially if I missed one. I kept her for 10 yrs but the costs of keeping her were rising all the time. I certainly couldn't afford to keep one now.
If you are in debt, you certainly wouldn't be able to afford to keep one properly either.
As others have said as well, its not likely to help your daughter make friendships either as she won't have time for friends. Owning a horse is a long term commitment, she needs to know how to look after it properly, so do you. Will she want/be able to go every day before school to see to it? What happens if she is ill, wants to go on holiday, wants to go out? The responsibility of looking after it would fall on you, would you be prepared to go and see to it before you go to work or whatever?
Don't just buy one on your daughter's whim. Its not fair on the horse.

elliesmemory1

I would say the best thing to do is for your daughter to have riding and stable management lessons, work out all the costs of keeping a horse and put this amount away each month. After a year of doing this you will, if you can afford it have some money in reserve to start looking after a horse if thats what your daughter still wants, if you find you cant afford to put that money away each and every month you know the answer.

LisaB85

lostinrates wrote: »

You forget the fact that whenever the horse is stabled part of the time the owner smells of pee, :Dit gets into your skin and hair. I only have to walk past the stables and i smell. If i were at school i think that would be a prime target for social difficulty, though i had them at school and don't remember it being a problem.

I never smell that smell myself on me or anyone else but a guy I know pointed out his mum always stinks.....and he is a farmer

lostinrates

LisaB85 wrote: »

I never smell that smell myself on me or anyone else but a guy I know pointed out his mum always stinks.....and he is a farmer

Thats the problem, we never smell it on ourselves. We only have an immersian heater and bath atm, so trying to keep fragrant for the day is a bit grim. Usually when i have a shower after morning rounds and riding and after the first evening rounds. Lates at elevenish here aren't that smelly, i mainly check hay and horses, as ours live in a barn so no need to skip out on the late round.

WolfSong2000

Speaking as someone who grew up working with horses, 15 is the worst possible age to buy your daughter a horse. I was 16 when I had to give up the horse I had on loan as I simply couldn't cope with exam revision and looking after a horse. I've been involved with horses all my life and from the ages of around 10 to 16 I worked in a number of livery yards. it's the best way to fully appreciate how tough the work is. I had no social life and worked all day each weekend and holidays, including on Christmas Day. Slogging around in the mud on a bitterly cold winters day with freezing fingers and toes isn't fun. Nor is being kicked, bitten, trodden on, thrown off or otherwise injured by a horse.

People buy horses without realising how much work and commitment is required. You also have to take into account the potential injuries your daughter could receive. Horse riding, wonderful as it is, is also dangerous. It's also time consuming and obscenely expensive.

If you want to help your daughter, your best bet is encouraging her to work at a yard somewhere in return for rides. That way she'll be around other people, will be supervised and will be able to fully appreciate all the hard work that goes into owning a horse

LisaB85

lostinrates wrote: »

Thats the problem, we never smell it on ourselves. We only have an immersian heater and bath atm, so trying to keep fragrant for the day is a bit grim. Usually when i have a shower after morning rounds and riding and after the first evening rounds. Lates at elevenish here aren't that smelly, i mainly check hay and horses, as ours live in a barn so no need to skip out on the late round.

Most men aren't understanding of horses luckily I think I have found one, his sister rides and works with them so understands I can't stay over at his unless he wants to get up at 630am on a Sunday.