Who has horses?

[ShrekDawg]

I have a TWH. I have had and been around horses all my life. Not sure I'd know how to act if I didnt.

That’s awesome! I wish I was around more horses haha

TWH’s are awesome

 

[I Love Layers]

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.

I have ridden my whole life and when I was 10 I was working with a green broke gelding. Long story short to no fault of my own, he was just acting up, I got bucked off 2 times within an hour and I get very very lucky everytime. Both times I was inches away from being seriously injured, enough of that though. I was scared to even get back on a horse, but I knew I had to get back on one so I started riding our bomb proof mare again, and she was the one that gave me my confidence back. Honestly I find the best thing you can do is find a bomb proof horse and start out small to many people who may be nervous about horses ssem to think "Oh because this horse is bomb proof I can take it out on a trail within the first days of getting it" and this is so untrue you need to start out small just doing ground work and get to know the horse there and then start riding and do small rides around corrals. I also find it helps to have some there riding with you or just watching you.


As to the expensive part I think it depends on what kind of horse owner you are, do you buy every piece of tack you think you need not just the basics. If you cannot house then you have to find somewhere to "board" them. If you do have room for them are you going to build a barn whether it's for shelter for them to just walk in, or is it going to be a barn that has stall/s, tack room, etc.. There is also feed to think about, I live in North Dakota and they do require some hay in the winter, horses are very good at digging through the snow and they usually prefer doing that versus eating the hay but it is good to give them something they can eat without burning calories trying to find it. There is also the cost the cost of grain and possibly some form of treat. There is the cost of things like fly spray, deworming and it's always good to have some antibiotic sprays like vetricyn around just in case. Then there is vet costs, we do not have regular vet checks or anything like that, but we have had to call a vet once for a horse. There is also the farrier cost which can get spendy especially if the farrier has to travel a ways to get out to you

 

[Folly's place]

And it's not going to be one horse because they are social animals and need at least one friend!
Mary

 

[I Love Layers]

Here are two pictures I took whole riding on Thursday

 

[ShrekDawg]

Here are two pictures I took whole riding on Thursday
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Awesome pictures!

 

[Oncoming Storm]

I have a beautiful amber champagne eight yo gelding named Storm. He’s an American warmblood %50 cream draft %25 Holsteiner %25 Andalusian. He’s just the calmest guy on the block (except when there’s a statue involved). I absolutely adore him. He never makes a sound and loves to run cross country. Horses with draft horse breeding tend to be calmer and more chill but it all depends on personality. That’s why I prefer warmbloods over hotbloods like thoroughbreds since they tend to be more high strung. But honestly any horse is a good horse.

 

[casportpony]

Lovely! And it's good to see you wearing a hard hat and a vest!

 

[Folly's place]

Storm, you both look great!
Mary

 

[TropicalBabies]

Here are two pictures I took whole riding on Thursday
View attachment 1880871 View attachment 1880872

Beautiful horse beautiful photos, beautiful back drop. Looks like it was a ...beautiful ride. thanks for sharing and inspiring.
I'm back to being stuck in the round pen with two bad horses lol. It is so hot here I felt guilty riding anyways... good they were bad. More ground work never hurt anybody right?

 

[I Love Layers]

Has anyone ridden recently? I just had my first week of school and practice so I haven't ridden a week, hopefully this weekend