New Horse Owner, Any tips would be welcome!

Yup, we have some money set aside for this stuff too. I am going to see if either of the vets in our town can also do the farrier and dental deals along with annual visits and vaccines. The hay is pretty cheap here too. It is $25 per big round bale. And we found some cheap yet good quality feed, I am not sure if we will be giving the horse feed, they were made to eat grass! But we might if the grass quality isn't good enough. That was one of my questions. If the lot has good grass, and the horse is turned out pretty much all day, would we still need to feed grain and hay as well? Thanks for going into detail!

Also, my mom thinks that we need to know what to look for and what to ask.


Ummmm, there is a lot right next to our house, it is half an acre. But I am asking around to see if there is a bigger lot somewhere close by. We do have a mini barn to put the hay and feed, tack, etc. in. It is actually more like a carport that we are going to add sides to to make it into a barn it is a nice size. I read somewhere that horses should be fed 2%of their body weight divided into two feedings. Is that correct?

Ok, first off, horses all have different metabolisms, I'm sure you know a person that could eat an entire cheesecake every day and never gain weight and another that so much as looks at a brownie and gains 5 pounds, horses are like that too. You can't just say that horses are designed to eat grass, they are, but, that pretty paint mare that you are looking at is so far removed from her wild roots that it's not even funny.

When looking at hay, especially round bales, it NEEDS to be kept inside, if you leave a round bale outside, it will get wet, the water will sink into the bale and get to the center, then it will dry on the outside and may stay wet in the middle which will produce mold and even possibly a fire as hay gets hot as it molds. The 2% of body weight is a good rule of thumb, but that's exactly what it is, it depends on the horse, activity level, and quality of hay. If the hay has a lot of weeds in it, the horse will need more due to not eating the weeds (you hope, they can be poisoned by eating the wrong weeds).

I don't know where you are, but where I am in Virginia, the rule of thumb is 2 acres PER HORSE and that is if you are dividing it up and rotating. Also, you need to have a sacrifice area which is a dry lot that won't grow anything (eventually, you don't need to kill the grass) and that DOES NOT count in the 2 acres. The sacrifice area is where you feed hay, have the water tubs, and where you keep them in the winter. Unless you have a HUGE pasture, they will absolutely destroy the grass in the winter and it gets weaker every year this happens until the only thing still growing is weeds.

As for grain, you need to ask detailed questions about what she is already eating, brand, how much (should be measured in weight not scoops), any supplements she is on, if she is on supplements, then you need to ask why she is on each one.

Also, unless you are purchasing her from very far away (different climate) ask if they blanket her in the winter, if they do, find out what size blanket she wears and what weight. Some horses turn into wooly mammoths in winter, some barely fluff up, if it gets cold and she doesn't grow much coat, she will burn a TON of calories trying to stay warm and can drop a few hundred pounds in a week unless you are throwing feed at her. When feeding, you should give a maximum of 5 pounds combined feed per meal, if you need to feed more than that, it should be broken up into multiple meals, a horses stomach isn't very large and it works differently than ours. Our stomach will fill up and hold the food until it is digested which gives us a full feeling, horses stomachs empty when they get full even if the food isn't digested yet, they do not get a full feeling and will not stop eating if there is food in front of them, if the grain gets past the stomach without being digested, then it can cause the horse to founder which is huge vet bills and can cause the horse to become un-rideable (and un-breedable due to the added weight when pregnant) or even cause the horse to die despite vet care.

Something you haven't mentioned is manure management. All of that hay comes back out, you need to do something with it. In a LARGE pasture, you can leave it, but the more manure left in the field the greater the chances of getting worms (and DE is not a horse wormer, it MAY help, but I seriously doubt it) but in a small pasture you will need to clean all of the manure up daily. The easiest thing to do is to form a manure pile, but, they can get large FAST, the manure pile attracts flies, and will possibly pollute ground water if you have it were the water table is close to the surface. Also, the manure pile is yet another thing in your field that you cannot use for pasture so it makes the pasture even smaller.
 
I have had horses all my life... Still do I'm new to chickens ... But 50 plus years of horses ! My advice I would give... On top of what has been given... Is see if there is a stable around that might trade riding lessons in exchange for cleaning stalls ? Or some outher use ? For them... You and they will both learn... Personally... I would have advised... You do the volenteer thing BEFORE ... Byeing a horse . Please feel free to ask me any questions I PROMISS to try to answer them ! I truly care ! And there are no stupid questions !
That said... Farrier is who you are looking for for there hoofs ! A vet for any health problems... That said... A good vet ( most specialize in " cat,dog" med sized anamals and a LG animal vet is like for horses, cows , buffalo , ect. :) All... Can help point you in the right direction :) I also recommend a vet check before purching ... Agian your vet can help you with your questions you may have ! And be glad to do so ! That way your new vet will be able to tell you if your horses has any pre existing conditions... Or not ? And have a base line of what is normal... For your.. new horse :)
Also... What climent do you live in ? Is it hot ? Warm ? Or... Do you have tough winter's ? Lots of snow ? All have there challenge's... I live in a climet that has all 3 seasons... And winter's very from cold ! To somewhat mild... I COUNT ON... COLD ! and plan on 4 months worth of hay per horse . I have 4 ... And (each...) Take 4 ton... During the winter ! I have pasture during the summer ! :) Do you ? If not... You need to know what the average price of hay is... And if you don't have a trailer ... Or truck ? Plan on vet call cost and hay delivery cost . I have 4 horses... Atm :) 3 mares that are walkers and FRIESIAN/walker cross :) and a FRIESIAN stallion Magicque :) his mother is my profile photo last year as I went swimming with her :) good luck and enjoy !!
 
I have 4 horses... Atm :) 3 mares that are walkers and FRIESIAN/walker cross :) and a FRIESIAN stallion Magicque :) his mother is my profile photo last year as I went swimming with her :) good luck and enjoy !!
Question, the mare in the picture is a Chestnut, so this is the mother of the Friesian/Walker? Or one of those weird unregistered chestnut Friesians? Just curious, when Fire Magic got famous everyone got silly about chestnut Friesians
 
Question, the mare in the picture is a Chestnut, so this is the mother of the Friesian/Walker? Or one of those weird unregistered chestnut Friesians? Just curious, when Fire Magic got famous everyone got silly about chestnut Friesians
Her coat is black... But red high lights ... From the sun ! Her daddy is was... Approved FHANA Stallion Feika 395 her Colt my stud is out of APROVED FPZV STALLION SAM
 
If you can have a friend who knows horses come with you ? Always a plus ! And I'm assuming...? You know how to tack up and untack a horse your self ? Yes ?
 
Her coat is black... But red high lights ... From the sun ! Her daddy is was... Approved FHANA Stallion Feika 395 her Colt my stud is out of APROVED FPZV STALLION SAM

Also..FRIESIAN HERITAGE HORSE now reg. The red Friesians as Fire Friesians... and there not... Weird !

Ahh, ok, when Fire Magic was at Bryerfest I was trying to figure out what was up with that because at that point, the red ones weren't allowed, I checked the rule book (may have checked the wrong one), I knew that they USED to be registered, but it had been something like 50 years since they stopped that.
I have heavy red clay, very wet winters, and hot summers, all combine to make it to where I likely won't ever have a Friesian (don't want feathers to rot off and cause leg issues due to always being wet and muddy, also don't want to spend all day blowdrying legs in winter, and I've seen Friesians in the heat, poor guys don't handle it well) so I haven't kept super up to date.

Thanks for the information, I've always dreamed of a black and white one like ORCA but realize unless things change drastically it wouldn't be fair to the horse or me for me to have one.
 
I have had horses all my life... Still do I'm new to chickens ... But 50 plus years of horses ! My advice I would give... On top of what has been given... Is see if there is a stable around that might trade riding lessons in exchange for cleaning stalls ? Or some outher use ? For them... You and they will both learn... Personally... I would have advised... You do the volenteer thing BEFORE ... Byeing a horse . Please feel free to ask me any questions I PROMISS to try to answer them ! I truly care ! And there are no stupid questions !
That said... Farrier is who you are looking for for there hoofs ! A vet for any health problems... That said... A good vet ( most specialize in " cat,dog" med sized anamals and a LG animal vet is like for horses, cows , buffalo , ect. :) All... Can help point you in the right direction :) I also recommend a vet check before purching ... Agian your vet can help you with your questions you may have ! And be glad to do so ! That way your new vet will be able to tell you if your horses has any pre existing conditions... Or not ? And have a base line of what is normal... For your.. new horse :)
Also... What climent do you live in ? Is it hot ? Warm ? Or... Do you have tough winter's ? Lots of snow ? All have there challenge's... I live in a climet that has all 3 seasons... And winter's very from cold ! To somewhat mild... I COUNT ON... COLD ! and plan on 4 months worth of hay per horse . I have 4 ... And (each...) Take 4 ton... During the winter ! I have pasture during the summer ! :) Do you ? If not... You need to know what the average price of hay is... And if you don't have a trailer ... Or truck ? Plan on vet call cost and hay delivery cost . I have 4 horses... Atm :) 3 mares that are walkers and FRIESIAN/walker cross :) and a FRIESIAN stallion Magicque :) his mother is my profile photo last year as I went swimming with her :) good luck and enjoy !!
Yes we just called a stable, a therapeutic riding stable 30 minutes away, and they are doing volunteer training at the end of this month, and I am planning on going so I can get some experience and training! I am sooo excited! There are two vets in our town, I believe they are both country vets. I am going to call them and see if they offer dental an farrier services or if they recommend someone for the job. We can haul some smaller square hay bales in our car, but we cannot haul the big round bales. FRIESIANS ARE MY FAVORITE HORSES!!! SO BEAUTIFUL!
 
If you can have a friend who knows horses come with you ? Always a plus ! And I'm assuming...? You know how to tack up and untack a horse your self ? Yes ?
My mom will come, and hopefully we can get someone from the riding stables to come with us. Yes I do. I rented a horse before, so I still remember how to do most of this stuff.
 
Ok, first off, horses all have different metabolisms, I'm sure you know a person that could eat an entire cheesecake every day and never gain weight and another that so much as looks at a brownie and gains 5 pounds, horses are like that too. You can't just say that horses are designed to eat grass, they are, but, that pretty paint mare that you are looking at is so far removed from her wild roots that it's not even funny.

When looking at hay, especially round bales, it NEEDS to be kept inside, if you leave a round bale outside, it will get wet, the water will sink into the bale and get to the center, then it will dry on the outside and may stay wet in the middle which will produce mold and even possibly a fire as hay gets hot as it molds. The 2% of body weight is a good rule of thumb, but that's exactly what it is, it depends on the horse, activity level, and quality of hay. If the hay has a lot of weeds in it, the horse will need more due to not eating the weeds (you hope, they can be poisoned by eating the wrong weeds).

I don't know where you are, but where I am in Virginia, the rule of thumb is 2 acres PER HORSE and that is if you are dividing it up and rotating. Also, you need to have a sacrifice area which is a dry lot that won't grow anything (eventually, you don't need to kill the grass) and that DOES NOT count in the 2 acres. The sacrifice area is where you feed hay, have the water tubs, and where you keep them in the winter. Unless you have a HUGE pasture, they will absolutely destroy the grass in the winter and it gets weaker every year this happens until the only thing still growing is weeds.

As for grain, you need to ask detailed questions about what she is already eating, brand, how much (should be measured in weight not scoops), any supplements she is on, if she is on supplements, then you need to ask why she is on each one.

Also, unless you are purchasing her from very far away (different climate) ask if they blanket her in the winter, if they do, find out what size blanket she wears and what weight. Some horses turn into wooly mammoths in winter, some barely fluff up, if it gets cold and she doesn't grow much coat, she will burn a TON of calories trying to stay warm and can drop a few hundred pounds in a week unless you are throwing feed at her. When feeding, you should give a maximum of 5 pounds combined feed per meal, if you need to feed more than that, it should be broken up into multiple meals, a horses stomach isn't very large and it works differently than ours. Our stomach will fill up and hold the food until it is digested which gives us a full feeling, horses stomachs empty when they get full even if the food isn't digested yet, they do not get a full feeling and will not stop eating if there is food in front of them, if the grain gets past the stomach without being digested, then it can cause the horse to founder which is huge vet bills and can cause the horse to become un-rideable (and un-breedable due to the added weight when pregnant) or even cause the horse to die despite vet care.

Something you haven't mentioned is manure management. All of that hay comes back out, you need to do something with it. In a LARGE pasture, you can leave it, but the more manure left in the field the greater the chances of getting worms (and DE is not a horse wormer, it MAY help, but I seriously doubt it) but in a small pasture you will need to clean all of the manure up daily. The easiest thing to do is to form a manure pile, but, they can get large FAST, the manure pile attracts flies, and will possibly pollute ground water if you have it were the water table is close to the surface. Also, the manure pile is yet another thing in your field that you cannot use for pasture so it makes the pasture even smaller.
Thanks for all the useful info. We will have a manure heap, turn it into compost, and post some ads for free horse manure.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom