Thinking about getting my first horse

[Kelly G]

Quote:
Have to agree to disagree on this one: draft HORSES do eat quite a lot and are much more expensive in terms of farrier bills. In most places you will be lucky to find one at all who will service a draft horse. Draft PONIES, however, can be very inexpensive to feed...Fjords, Haflingers, Gypsy Vanners, etc as well as the cob breeds. I have owned both and can tell you that a draft horse can easily eat 1-2 bales of hay a day all by itself. My cobs, however, are easy keepers...they are not pony sized but are still considered a draft pony type. There are many in-betweens and I think something in between would be well suited to you, but you should definitely know the horse you are buying. A Dept of Ag auction might even have confiscated horses that they have little background on...here, the Dept. of Ag can enforce humane laws. You'd be better off applying to a rescue in this case, so you would have someone who has gotten familiar with the horse.

You are quite right on this. My friend breeds Clydesdales, and they do eat a considerable amount. However, since she mentioned a Haffie, I wanted to make sure she didn't think that these horses required all the larger accomodations made for the real giants.

Good luck & keep us all posted. Really - no one wants to turn you off on this idea...only direct you down a path that has a better chance for success.

 

[joedie]

I agree wholeheartedly with the other posters about not getting a young horse for an inexperienced rider nor would I buy from an auction! I got a 9 yr old Haflinger mare last year in trade for one of my mammoth donkeys and my grandson wanted her badly. I took her and she is a lovely girl. BUT, with that said, I still had to look for a horse for my grandson because she is much too wide on the back for his legs to get around. Finding an appropriate saddle to fit her is something to think about. He rode her in an English saddle and it fit her much better than the western. I found a nice 14 yo QH gelding that was his lesson horse and came up for sale. He has a great time on him so look around a lot before you make your decision! They can be a great joy with the right horse fit to the right rider. I had to spend quite a bit of money for his horse but safety is something you can't put a pricetag on. Too bad you're not closer. If your set on a Haflinger this mare can be had fairly cheaply.