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ShrekDawg

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Jan 18, 2008
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I know there's a lot of threads on horses already but I don't think most are active anymore cause I replied to a bunch so I figured I'd make my own.

I don't own any horses yet but I want to eventually. I don't think I will on this property or anytime soon because I'm trying to save to move out soon and also we have close neighbors in the back. Although the horses would not be in the back and we do have almost 3 acres, most of which is lawn, so more than enough room for one or two, or some minis, but like I said, trying to save up for other stuff atm. I have always loved horses though and will own them eventually.

That does bring up another question though... are horses really as expensive as everyone says they are?

I think for now I might start lessons again or leasing. I used to ride when I was a kid and then started again like 4 years ago but I stopped again. I would like to start riding again.

I do have another question though: recently I've been kind of afraid that a horse is gonna like seriously injure me or something. I guess with calmer, less hot horses there's less risk but still, idk.

But my biggest issue is the few times I went trail riding, even on the calmest horse, I would always worry the horse was acting up or doing something wrong even if he like moved his head. Now, of course, it did get worse after I fell off* so maybe I just need more practice. Sometimes he did get a little bad though like when the others would canter ahead he wanted to go and would speed up and he hated being alone so maybe I need an even calmer one.

I guess the question is is it even possible to safely trail ride with anxiety or any horse or would I make them nervous and act up because I'm nervous?

Anyway, anyone have horses?

*Was not his fault, we went up a slight kinda gravelly/rocky hill, wasn't even really a hill, more like a little bank, and I didn't have a good seat so I fell off. He was actually concerned about me and waited instead of running off so I know he wasn't being fresh, at least that's what my instructor said. He would've been down the trail if he was. I felt bad for him actually cause he didn't understand why suddenly I was on the ground and crying lol I got back on and rode back to the barn though (thankfully not far). He tried to take care of his rider.
 
Every summer I am kind and care for a friend of ours horses.I am “scared”
Of horses to an extent.I actually am able to go in their pen and be calm but I would never go out in my field where they can harass me.Horses read off energy (I had three geldings of my own,I know from experience.),and are super onrey animals.They simply will harass and pick on you if your nervous,they get a joy out of it,best to throw your weight around and not act nervous.They also need training.My friends horses have terrible training.At one point yes they had good training but at this point in their life if you jump on their backs,they would probably go ballistic.
You being nervous can cause them to act up,I have learned this just by being around them,and around animals in general.Sorta if one of my family memebera were nervous about something bad happening,it would probably make me nervous as well.
I follow some farm saling groups and depending on the breed of horse,age,gender and training quality ,they can be exepensevise,but that really all depends on how much money you have, and what’s your definition of expensive.Most horses I see are sold for a couple hundreds.I gave mine away for free because they were old and I just couldn’t spend time with them as I could with my other animals,because I was scared of them and had not trust.
 
I still have four out in my pastures, but no longer ride, not having a 'steady Eddie' individual any more.
Take more lessons! Then consider maybe leasing a nice guy at the barn where you are already riding, and see how it goes.
You must be calm and confident, or things won't go well! Yes, you might get injured, and it's likely that you will fall off once in a while. Wear that helmet always!
Trail riding occasionally is tricky, because those livery horses will run the show. They know how insecure and untrained their riders are, and they put up with a lot of tugging and bouncing, and really are saintly in many ways. A trained horse responds to a slight shift in your weight, or a tense muscle, and knows when you look in a different direction. Sensitive!
The learning is what's fun, IMO, and nobody every learns it all. Olympic riders take lessons!
Mary
 
The level of expense for horses depends on your area and what's available. Have land you can keep it on? Knock the price of a boarding facility off. Have a ready source of cheap, good quality fodder? Wonderful! Here, I live in Alfalfa country and yet a three-string bale of grass will cost me around $18, Alfalfa around $16. Figure my two mares go through two bales a week, sometimes three depending on weather. I have mustangs, and they'll get fat on dry grass - so I don't need to supplement their feed with any grain of specialty feeds. They get psyllium fiber once a month - that's about a $30 expense per month here. Hooves trimmed - they're barefoot - about every two to three months, as needed, for another $100. Trying to find a reliable farrier here is an exercise in futility, so I end up having to call around to a half dozen people to actually get one to show up. The concept of 'keeping an appointment' is incomprehensible to any of them, so figure a day off work spent sitting around waiting for someone who might show up, I add that to the 'expense' for the trim, though it's not reflected in the above price, since it's not monetary.

Then there are emergency vet bills, standard vet bills, etcetera. I don't vaccinate my horses, because I live nowhere near any mosquitoes - no open bodies of water within about twenty miles - and I don't travel with them. I've known too many people who lost horses due to a bad vaccination to do it if I don't need to. If I were living in a mosquito-rich area, they'd get vaccinated. Emergency vet bills for a horse are staggering. I know. One of my girls got out a while back, ran square into the hitch of the goose-neck horse trailer, and ripped her shoulder wide open - a gash about a foot long, and bone deep. It couldn't be stitched up, being on the point of her shoulder. I'm incredulous that she's recovered, and is actually sound - when I saw the cut, and all the blood she'd lost, I KNEW she was going to have to be put down. Horses will get hurt. They're incredible animals, but they have a strong prey instinct - which is to say, they're prey, and their instinct is to flee danger, even if doing so gets them hurt.

Ultimately, horses are very expensive, but just how much depends on what kind of horse, what its needs are, what your needs are, and what's available where you're at.
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone! It's very useful.

So it seems like I just need to work on getting over the anxiety or at least not show it in front of the horses. It makes sense that they'd react or sense it because I know dogs do too.

I think I'm going to start by taking lessons. But I might need to get in shape first lol

And Two Roos, thanks, you definitely right about the training thing and I'd be sure to train mine well but for the cost I was actually meaning like the cost of owning/caring for one. Horses can be acquired very easily and cheaply
 
My horses live at home, on pasture, with hay ($45 per big round bale) in winter. Some extra pelleted feed too, in winter especially.
Annual vaccinations are essential, at least here! I usually don't do strangles, but everything else. Mosquitoes or not, I can't imaging leaving out tetanus anyway...or rabies.
Farrier every eight weeks or so, $40 each, for trimming, never shoes.
Teeth need to be checked and floated, every year or so, $150+ depending on issues. Old folks need more, some way less.
Illnesses; at least $150 or more per vet visit with meds. Colics and major issues way more. Colic surgeries $6000+.
Horses are accident prone! They like to damage fences. Tack breaks. Just be ready for these 'little issues' to pop up. They live into their thirties fairly often. Easy to buy, hard to sell.
Some of us are born 'horse crazy' and just go with it. Logical, maybe not, but there it is.
No animal is more beautiful, with more history, and majesty.
Mary
 
Having horses at home is definitely less expensive, but in snow country, having access to an indoor riding arena means a lot in snow and rain. I rode a lot more having one horse at a barn with an indoor, than I ever did having more horses at home!
But I discovered that breeding and raising foals (for a few years) was more fun than riding.
Mary
 
That does bring up another question though... are horses really as expensive as everyone says they are?
Yes, they can be. It really is a question of how you choose to care for your animal. I live in Texas now, however grew up riding Hunter jumpers in Missouri. We pampered our ponies, and horses, because we showed them almost every weekend all over the country.
Here in Texas I have found many cattlemen just rely on the pasture as their food, and they don't really feed them grain, or any quality hay or alfalfa.
I am not saying it's the wrong way, just not the way I would do it.
Take the cost factor:
1. Boarding- do you have a place to house them?
If so great, if not, then add that to the expense on top of the cost to purchase a sound horse.
2. Feed/bedding
3. Vet
4. Farrier
5. Tack
6. Misc(fly spray, deworming, etc.)
It could all add up. However is the worth it? Yes, absolutely in my mind! I love them, and will always love them!
 

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