On horse forums, Yahoo answers and other internet gathering points, people always ask, "How much money does it take to keep a horse?" They're always shocked at the answer.
Buying the actual horse is dirt cheap-- and that leads people to believe horses in general are cheap. It's an easy assumption to make. As I've pointed out here, you can buy a pretty decent trail horse for $500 these days. Heck, there's one here for just $450-- he's not pretty, but he doesn't have any glaring conformation flaws either. I suspect once he got an owner with some experience (as in, enough experience not to stick a saddle on him that sits directly on his withers) he'd be a fine ride. There's another one here, with color to boot, for only $300! "Puzzle" has two very minor health problems, but sounds extremely steady on the trails.
Yup, horses are cheap to buy-- and expensive as hell to take care of. I'm smarting today because of the big check I just wrote for routine vet care for Annie and Mr. Strut in 2012:
$760.00
Or in other words, $380 per horse, per year. Now actually, that's quite a deal. My vet's office is offering "Wellness Packages" for lower prices if you make an appointment and pay in advance. I've saved about $400 by doing so, rather than calling them out piecemeal. The basic wellness packages I got for both my horsey friends include all their basic shots, teeth floating, fecal exams, Coggins tests and nutritional consult. These things are done in two visits, one in spring and one in fall.
Of course, that doesn't include any incidentals, like lameness exams, supplements, Bute (like for Mr. Strut) or (God forbid) any accidents that require treatment. It also doesn't include worming, which I do myself.
And of course, vet bills are only the start of the costs. There's boarding, farrier visits and feed, just for basics. I'm extremely fortunate in that I'm able to board for free at my folk's place, and hay is cheap(ish) in my area. I don't think I'd be able to afford a horse, otherwise, much less two!
I think my neighbor down the road pays $220 per month to board her horse in a stall with regular turnout-- and I don't think that includes all the feed, either. That's $2,640 just to keep her horse around!
How much do you spend on YOUR horses per year? Tell us where roughly where you live, so we can compare cost-of-horse-living!
Horses aren't the smartest animals on earth. Many times, however, they're smarter than their owners. Here's one great example:
click the picture to enlarge
The Highlights:
"This colt is a well builded and very smart boy."Awesome. When I was three, I builded a sand castle all by myself.
"He should be around 15hhs when done growning."Making noises certainly makes me grow, too.Or at least, I do a lot more groaning now that I'm an adult.
"He is bred..."Amazing! The first male horse ever to get pregnant!
"He is up with his shots."Is that like being high on drugs? Or is that like being "up" on the latest news? Is he well-informed about his shots?
This looks like a fairly nice colt. I'm really sorry that his owner's IQ is the same as his is. I hope he gets a new home soon-- but unfortunately, with no information about his price, age, training, registration or breed (it's actually QH) I'm not sure that's going to happen.
Seriously, people-- if you want someone to buy something from you, put a bit of effort into your ad.
Apparently there's actual controversy over whether to blanket a horse in winter.
Annie likes her blanket, but would have preffered pastel purple over blue.
I'm serious! This happens! I've been on boards and such where one person will claim that blanketing ruins a horse for life: "If you put a blanket on them all the time you mess all that [natural toughness] up and you will be forced to blanket that horse until the day it dies." Another person will accuse non-blanketers of cruelty on the level of clubbing baby seals. Wow people. Settle down.
Whether or not to blanket a horse is a decision you can make based on weather conditions, the condition of the horse, etc-- but either way, it's probably fine.
Here are the FACTS:
Yes, wild horses do survive without blankets. But some do get frostbite, or become ill.
Blanketing a horse does not cause permanent physical changes. Like "hat hair," blanketing will temporarily smush down a horse's hair, limiting its ability to trap warm air for insulation when the blanket is removed. Just brush the horse to help it re-fluff.
A soaking wet blanket is worse than no blanket at all.
Older horses, thin horses and clipped horses obviously need a bit more help to stay warm.
Feeding more hay, more times during the day, will do a lot to help horses stay warm.
Well-fed horses with some kind of shelter will not be totally fine in any weather conditions, just the vast majority of them. Generally, wet + bitter cold = dangerous. One or the other is ok.
Use common sense. If you are outside and absolutely freezing even with your winter coat on, you horse might need a blanket.
Wild mustang showing signs of frostbite.
For me, blanketing is usually based on guilt. If I feel cold in my apartment, dammit, I feel guilty about my horses being out in the colder pasture.
When I was a teen, full of callous disregard for anyone except myself, I never used to blanket my horses. They survived just fine.
Then I grew up a bit, developing some more empathy along the way, and started blanketing my older horse.
Now, I blanket any horse when the temperature drops into single digits, or when there's a nasty wind, or when I just feel like I should-- but sometimes, after forgetting to haul the newly-dried blankets back to the farm from my kitchen, I will also say, "screw it guys, suck it up tonight, okay?" and not feel too terrible.
By the time I'm old, I'll probably be swathing every living thing in crocheted underwear and hats as early as October, for no other reason than to take pictures like these:
You can tell they're absolutely delighted.
More Notes on Blanketing:
DO practice putting one on your horse BEFORE you absolutely have to. It sucks really bad to train a reluctant/spooky horse to hold still for the blanket. It sucks even worse when you're freezing, the ground is icy and the wind is flapping the blanket around everywhere.
The older over-the-head type is especially bad for spooky horses. Invest in a front-buckled version. Trust me on this one.
DO take blankets off when it gets warmer!! Horses with their winter coats will suffer from being overheated otherwise.
Blanket sizing: take a tape measure and measure your horse from the middle of its chest, along its side, to its butt crack. Round to the nearest even number.
Make sure your horse's blanket fits okay and isn't rubbing anywhere. Fleece padding can help prevent rubs and pulling. If you blanket all the time, take it off once in a while to make sure it isn't biting into a horse's neck. Your horse will thank you for the break, and the opportunity to run around and roll freely.
It's probably the wrong season to talk about this.
Or maybe not-- there are certainly folks out there who can't get enough hay to last all winter just because they don't have the storage space. There are others who can't afford to buy it all at one time, or picked up another horse and find themselves a hundred bales short.
In any case, here's a brief lesson on hay, and my two cents on what good horse hay should look like!
First of all, you should know that growing hay is a pain in the ass.
You can't harvest it the first year you plant it; you have to wait for the second year. This means a farmer gets no income, only expenses, from a new hayfield.
It has to be cut, left to dry for 1-3 days, then raked into rows, baled and then stored. If it gets rained on during any of this process, there's an increased chance the hay will get moldy-- to the point that it's worth much less. (This is why you see ads that boast that their hay has "no rain.")
"Make hay while the sun shines" is an idiom meaning you should take advantage of an opportunity while you can. It was developed by farmers as a more polite way of saying, "get your ass in gear and pray that it doesn't fucking rain tomorrow, or we're screwed."
Every bale of hay has to be stacked by hand. When it comes off the field, the machine throws it into a hay wagon, but once off the wagon, it has to be stacked in storage. "Small square bales" (actually rectangles) weigh 10-30 pounds each, depending on the type of hay and moisture content. "Large square" bales weigh 45-110 pounds. "Round bales" weigh 800-1500 lbs and require machinery to lift. You're talking heavy labor here, no matter what size you're dealing with.
There's a certain window where you need to cut a crop of hay; not doing it at the right time can mean damaging the field, poor nutrients in the hay, moldy hay or wet, hard-to-handle hay.
Hay is cut, baled and stored during the most god-awfully hot weather; July, August and early September. Have you ever stacked hundreds of bales of hay in the loft of a super hot barn in July, with chaff in your nose and underwear and butt crack? Do you know what hay rash feels like? No? Stop complaining about your desk job. Farmers are heroes.
Farmers also tend to have nice butts.
"Cow Hay" vs "Horse Hay": "Cow" hay usually means first-crop alfalfa hay (being the first of 3-4 crops of hay cut from a field each year). It is more coarse than any other crop and more rich. It's generally not fed to horses because its richness and coarseness can contribute to the likelihood a horse will colic, and because rich hay can also cause founder/laminitis. However, it is not terribly unsafe, provided it's fed carefully, in smaller amounts.
Note: some people also call old, moldy or dusty hay "cow hay," being not good enough for horse hay, but fed to cows on the basis that it provides rough forage and some little nutritional benefit as a supplement to a regular diet of silage.
There are a lot of different kinds of hay besides alfalfa, and each type is suited for a different environment. "Good hay" on the west coast is very different from "good hay" here in Wisconsin. Some hay is "grass hay" or "grass mix" hay-- and that can mean anything from deliberately planted grasses to "my alfalfa field has gotten pretty weedy and overgrown."
This is the excellent grass-alfalfa hay I get from my cousin down the road. It's truly beautiful stuff:
Grassy, but with some alfalfa leaves. Not too green (prevents mold) but not dessicated. $2.50 per small square. I love WI.
Hay/Alfalfa Cubes: Hay cubes are an excellent substitute for actual hay. The only differences between cubes and actual hay are that the horse's body processes cubes faster (and horses eat them faster), and that hay cubes are certainly drier. If you have a horse with a sensitive stomach, feeding fewer meals of cubes more frequently will prevent colic associated with long periods between roughage, and soaking them in water will prevent colic associated with lack of water content. They're less dusty, easier to carry and store, and usually more consistent in quality than hay.
Judging Hay:
Too rich or wet: Large-stemmed, very bendable, full of alfalfa leaves and brighter green. Smells strongly like fresh-cut grass.
Too old or moldy: Yellowish or brownish, snaps easily, raises a cloud of dust when you drop it or has white or black spots in the middle of the bale. Few leaves left, very stemmy or coarse.
Ideal: Sage green, slightly pliable and grassy with some alfalfa leaves. Smells a little like grass, not too strongly.
You can go to many county fairs and check out the hay judging competitions to get a good idea of what "good hay" looks like. Be careful, however; many hay judging competitions are for cow hay.
Somehow, despite my chopping off most of Annie's forelock into a stupid bowl haircut, she still manages to attract burs up there:
Just one this time-- the single "horn" of a bur-icorn!
I hate thistles, burdocks, thorns and wild grape-- and they love my pasture. It's hard to keep 'em down. Spraying with chemicals is obviously bad for the horses-- so that leaves mowing when possible, or digging stuff out by hand. You can imagine how well that works on 12 acres of rocky pasture. I've heard that spraying with vinegar will kill plants without harming horses-- has anyone tried it?
How embarrassing! Your bare light bulbs are showing!
Yes, there, in your barn, they're totally bare nekkid!
Don't understand? Let me explain.
I live in Wisconsin, land of dairy barns. The barn my horses shelter in is a dairy barn-- a very old one. That means its smallish; old-time farmers couldn't handle more than 10-30 cows at a time, and they didn't waste building materials making fancy high ceilings. I can stand on my toes and touch the support beams in the ceiling-- and I am short. That means DANGER for my horses. Why?
Excited horse + light bulbs = broken glass or worse
My horses don't rear much that I've ever seen, they're not "wild" and there's only two of them. But if you know horses at all, you know that they will someday take advantage of any opportunity to hurt themselves.
That's why it's important to cover up those naked light bulbs! Even in a "normal" sized horse barn, a rearing horse can do serious damage to itself if it crashes into a light fixture. There are two easy ways to fix this farm fashion faux pas:
1) Put a plastic or safety glass "cone" around the bulb.
2) Screw a metal cage around the bulb.
In this picture, I have option one on the light bulb and show option two hanging above it. Of course, it would also improve the safety of the barn if I removed the big damn bolt the cage is currently hanging on, but I am super scared that it's holding up something important. Why else is it there?!
Both of these should be cheap and available through home improvement or hardware stores. A couple of bucks and ten minutes work (or ten minutes of your husband's work) could save you some heartbreak down the road.
The drought in Texas has continued unabated for months and months. Lakes have disappeared, pastures have turned into deserts and hay fields have shriveled into weedy dirt lots. The result is soaring hay prices, abandoned horses and overworked horse rescue organizations.
...and here's one very competent, very well-run Texas horse rescue trying to cope with dozens of unwanted horses, to the point that they can't take in any more: Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society
They have dozens upon dozens of really nice horses desperate for homes, and the organization has waived or lowered adoption fees on many of them. I myself am desperately in love with some of their donkeys (but the hubby has vetoed adoption of any pets of the long-eared variety).
"Jack Sparrow," a super cute donkey available for just $200.
The drought is so severe, it's the worst Texas has experienced in its history, at least since records started being kept in 1895. With all the water drying up, weird things are being found all over the state, including previously submerged slave cemeteries, ancient Indian remains, drowning victims and even missing pieces from the doomed space shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated over hundreds of miles of land in 2003. The NYTimes has a great article here.
The most heartbreaking and interesting news piece I've run across is a photoblog on the disaster done by Collective Vision here.
The animals in Texas are obviously suffering, and if you have any spare change, I urge you to donated it to Bluebonnet or any other horse rescue organization in Texas.
One question: why aren't there more free horses in Texas Craigslist ads? Admittedly I only browsed briefly, but there are far fewer free horses there than this level of tragedy would seem to create. Sure, there are cheap horses, and a few free companion-only horses, but no more than in Wisconsin. Do Texas people simply not use Craigslist as much? Are ranchers there just sending horses to slaughter instead? Is there a stubborn feeling among ranchers that there's just no way they'll give horses away for free? If you know, please tell us.
I'm a sap. I love horse movies. I even love movies that are not about horses, but have lots of horses in them. That includes the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Kevin Costner's hated "Postman," the super sad "Dances with Wolves" and others. I grew up watching "My Little Pony" cartoons. I could probably name every Disney horse ever drawn. However, any time I watch one one of these horse-filled flicks, I can't help but be horrified at the downright wrong things portrayed as "true horse facts." Here's a list of the worst horse myths in the media:
MYTH 1)Ponies Are Great for Kids. From the My Little Pony franchise to "Misty of Chincoteague," ponies have long been marketed as perfect pals for children. They're cute, they're tiny but can be ridden, and they eat less, all appealing traits. Small equine + small person = perfect match, right?
Wrong.
Ponies don't make good mounts for kids any more than Tasmanian devils make good house pets. Just because something is small and fluffy doesn't mean it won't chew your face off.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm sure there are a few well-behaved ponies out there. However, every single one I've met was an evil, power-hungry, biting bastard. There's three reasons why ponies tend to be horrible monsters:
1. Ponies can't be ridden by adults. True ponies are just too small. There are ways of exercising and training ponies that don't involve riding (kind of), but the point is, ponies don't actually get ridden by competent adults-- so they're never quite as well-trained as they should be.
2. Ponies aren't bred for children. Somewhat like dogs, horses have undergone thousands of years of selective breeding in order to refine them into trainable, specialized, hard-working companions. Ponies, on the other hand, have remained basically the same since the dawn of time. Only in the last two hundred years or so have we really bred ponies as companions-- and we tend to breed them for size and color, not niceness. As a result, the average pony has the instincts and temperament of a maddened wildebeest.
3. All ponies have a Napoleonic Complex. (They're small, so they have to prove they're just as tough as anything else.) Combine that trait with the aforementioned wild survival instincts, and you've got a beast that will bully huge draft horses, chew through fences, hog all the hay and bite anyone that gets close. My first pony was named "Sharkie," due to her habit of circling around and around, biting anyone that came within her kill zone.
The moral of the story is that children should ride well-trained older horses or small horses, not ponies. (Yes, there's a difference between small horses and ponies. Let's not get into that right now.) Unless, of course, you want them to be traumatized. I know of a few kids who deserve that.
Ponies: Evil like Cthulu
Horse Movie That Got It Right: None as far as I know. The pony conspiracy is widespread.
MYTH 2) Horses make noise constantly. Movie-makers like to portray horses as creatures who whinny, snort, neigh, grunt and even scream on a regular basis-- in fact, every time they interact with a human or another horse. Cavalry charge? Horses whinny and neigh constantly, even while running. Human friend appears? Horse snorts and whinnies. Horse fights people/other horse/predator? Lots of screaming and grunting. Hollywood can't stand a silent character.
In reality, horses don't make much noise. They do call to each other, but mostly to new horses or departing/returning friends. They will also call out when food is arriving, rather like a toddler that yells when it sees cookies. However, horses will rarely "speak" to each other when they're together. The reason? Horses do most of their communication with body language. They're prey animals, so they have no need to vocalize to cooperate over distances (like a hunting wolf pack) and don't make noise that draws the attention of predators (like a hunting wolf pack).
If a horse pins its ears back at you, or starts leaving you nasty Facebook comments, watch out.
Here's a great example of a real horse fight that takes place in near silence. Hollywood, of course, would consider this unimpressive, and edit in lots of horsey screaming:
Horse Movie That Got it Right: The beloved 2002 DreamWorks movie, "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmarron." This is one of the only animated movies starring a silent animal character. Sure, Matt Damon does a voice-over for Spirit's most important thoughts, but Spirit himself never speaks-- and most of his communication in the movie is done via movement/body language.
Translation: "Your face looks stupid."
MYTH 3) Horses are basically large, rideable dogs. Pixar's "Bullseye" from the Toy Story movies is a perfect example. Disney, however, is the biggest promoter of this dangerous idea. In Disney movies, the only difference between dogs and horses is that the horses are bigger-- and therefore more capable of inflicting comedic damage:
From The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Phoebus says, "Achiles, sit!"
Unfortunately, horses are closer in behavior to oversize, schizophrenic deer. As high-strung prey animals, their first instinct is to run from danger-- and "danger" means anything that looks even remotely weird. Horses are known to shy away from shadows, mailboxes, plastic bags and their own tails. A few horses become so well trained that they are capable of acting as riot police mounts or parade animals, but the average horse is hardly likely to put up with the kind of crap Disney says they will: fighting duels (Hunchback), sliding down mountains (Mulan), boarding lifeboats (Road to El Dorado), sniffing out and retrieving bad guys (Tangled) etc. This isn't such a big problem; no one really wants to try these things with horses. The bigger problem is trust.
Thanks to Disney and cartoons like "Horseland," little girls get their first horse or pony and immediately assume the animal won't hurt them, and can be convinced to do anything with enough petting and kind words. Horses, however, are not dogs. They don't feel the need to cuddle, cooperate with, or befriend humans like dogs do. They're trainable, but biologically, they're just not very friendly or loyal. Unlike wolves and dogs, horses haven't needed to evolve the ability to cooperate with each other on stuff-- like hunting. Horses don't mate for life, and while they do have preferred "buddies," since their main method of survival is running the hell away from danger, friendships go only as far as the next cougar attack. Too slow my friend? Too bad. Finally, horses don't really express much affection physically; while they'll groom each other, there's no cuddling up in a den or sharing a nice dead deer together. All of this means that while tamed horses are willing to suck up to you for treats and scratches, they pretty much don't give a crap whether you live or die.
Please keep in mind that I do love my horse, and I believe she has some affection for me in return; it's just that I hold no illusions about horses. They are wonderful animals. Most of them will work hard for you, and some will perform amazing acts of heroism, but at heart they are what God made them: prey animals. To try to re-make them into human-like creatures (or even dog-like creatures) is at best wishful thinking, and at worst, dangerous folly.
Throughout history, horses have habitually bucked off, kicked and run away from their riders whenever they felt threatened or overly energetic. Those trusting little girls find this out soon after getting their first concussions.
"Awww, your first CAT scan! This is going in the scrapbook."
Horse Movie That Got it Right: Seabiscuit. In his movie, the famous horse takes on jockeys, grooms and owners with rage, doing everything from kicking on stall doors to biting and rearing. True, there's plenty of pity-him pathos to explain away Seabiscuit's violence (the narrator tells us that Seabiscuit was mistreated in his youth) but at least we get to see that horse behavior isn't all nuzzles and nickers. We also see the jockey "Red" Pollard getting seriously injured by a spooked racehorse.
MYTH 4) Wild horses live wonderful, free, happy lives. It's a uniquely American image: the beautiful mustang, galloping powerfully across the range. We associate wild horses with a mystical sense of wilderness, space, majesty and freedom. The truth, however, is less pretty.
Mustangs live in the most rugged, unwanted country in the USA-- there's not much grass, and often little water. Temperatures in these mountainous and desert lands range from forty degrees below zero to one hundred and ten in the shade. Mustangs frequently die from thirst, starvation, cold and untreated medical conditions. They are preyed upon by mountain lions and wolves. Stallions may fight to the death over mares, and mares in too-small bands often become pregnant before they're mature. And that's before the humans get involved.
Out west, even the worst pastureland is treasured by cattle ranchers, many of whom resent mustangs. Ranchers have been known to poison mustangs, shoot them and drive them over cliffs to free up precious water and grazing for their cattle. In order to try to maintain a balance, the Federal Bureau of Land Management attempts to keep horses within certain ranges (usually the least desireable lands) and often rounds them up by helicopter. Once captured, the exhausted and traumatized horses are destined for auctions. A few are sterilized and re-released. You can even bid for one on the BLM's website here. They usually sell for less than $200.
Mustang Black Stallion: Sold at the BLM facility in Hines, OR for just $250, complete with gaping neck wound!
Horse Movie That Got it Right: Hidalgo. The movie is based on a fraudulent story created by Frank Hopkins, an "endurance rider" that spent more time telling lies for his own financial gain than riding horses. However, the movie does bring to light the plight of unwanted Mustangs in the American west.
MYTH 5) In the Good Old Days... well-bred, shiny horses got to pull nice carriages. Movies showing any time period before 1920 generally have at least one picturesque scene where a well-groomed draft horse from a gleaming stable pulls a shiny carriage down a cobblestone street (or a shady country lane).
In reality, horsepower was used for absolutely everything-- not just pretty passenger vehicles. Fire-fighting wagons and hose carts, river barges, garbage wagons, milk wagons, mail trucks, lawn mowers, cranes, even snow plows. Horses had to do every shitty, hard job that vehicles and machinery do today-- and many were treated as machines instead of living animals. Many were bred without much regard to conformation or temperament, since they were pretty much disposable. Probably two of the worst equine jobs belonged to coal mine ponies and treadmill horses:
"Pit ponies" worked underground in mines almost their entire lives, rarely or never seeing grass or daylight. They performed backbreaking work in dangerous, coal-dust-filled conditions.
Treadmill horses powered machinery in factories. They faced a life of heavy indoor work, constantly pulling "uphill" without rest.
Horse Movie That Got it Right: Black Beauty. Although none of the movie versions of Anna Sewell's famous book portray all of the factual cruelty she exposed, they give a better representation of the life of the average historical horse than many movies.
I have nothing against Saddlebreds. Okay, maybe. It's just... they look a little ridiculous:
To me, this horse looks like a startled deer, or maybe a frightened Thoroughbred foal, not a show horse. Yet, apparently, this is the type Saddlebred fanciers strive for!
One of these things is not quite like the others.
However, I can't laugh too hard-- one of my favorite horse heroes, Traveller (spelled with a double "l" in the British style) who carried General Lee throughout the Civil War, was apparently a Saddlebred:
RIP Traveller -- died 1871 of Tetanus
He looks more like a Quarter Horse to me. Which brings up an interesting question-- when is a breed no longer really a cohesive breed? The best example I can think of is the Morgan horse breed. One of my first horses, Jess, was supposed to be a Morgan mare:
She had a stunningly fast trot, a neck that could pull a school bus, and a large-ish rump. She was described to me once as an "Amish-style Morgan" or as an "old type" Morgan. When you go back to the original Morgans, the picture pretty much remains the same:
...but if you look at modern Morgan horses, you see something that looks like an Arabian:
...so which one is "correct?" Breeds do change to reflect the needs of their producers-- but it seems to me that our "needs" these days rarely include the Morgan horse's original purpose: a carriage/plow/wagon puller. So the breed changed into a fancier show horse. Is it still a Morgan?!
Breeders are STILL churning out unremarkable horses and expecting people to pay top dollar for them. Check out the filly below (click the Craigslist ad to enlarge it). She's got long, weak pasterns, she's camped out behind, over at the knee and downhill. Her butt-high conformation might resolve itself with time and growth, but the rest of her issues won't. Speaking of time and growth, it's going to take three more years of vet bills, feeding, ground work and boarding costs before this filly can even go to training to be broke out.
And how much is the breeder asking?
Five THOUSAND dollars!
FIVE thousand dollars!
FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!
Why?! Because she's registered and sort of peachy-colored?
Check this out:
A registered paint horse, already very well broke and an experienced show horse, great manners-- for a fraction of the cost. At 17 he might have a touch of arthritis, but compared to the costs and risks of raising and training a youngster for three years, a little money for supplements is very well worth it. There's no picture here, so we can't judge the gelding's conformation-- but if he's still sound enough to ride after all those trail rides, he can't be any worse than the filly above!
Some people seem to believe that raising a young horse "their way" is preferable. I think that's only true for a very few people-- those that have the time and experience to do so, and some very specific preferences. I'm thinking about higher-level show competitors mostly, the kind of folks that really want a very young horse to lope just right and are prepared to spend hours in the arena getting there. Most of us aren't at that level, and may not care to be. Most of us also really don't care whether our horse responds to a cluck or a kiss, or turns to face you or not after halting on the lunge. If we do, we can usually re-train a horse out of those minor habits-- the main thing is, it's broke!
Two-year-old Western Futurity Horses: Broke, Slow, Low & Unhappy
I think it may be true that there's a little extra bond between a horse and owner when that horse is raised by its owner-- but not always. You can't guarantee that you'll "click" with any horse, whether it's your hand-raised bottle-fed foal or an older auction pen bargain.
In short, I can't think of a good reason to buy a very young horse, unless you're a professional with a very specific purpose in mind-- or you're a sucker for a cute face at an auction :)
Remember that free paint mare I blogged about a few days ago? I'm still pretty angry about her owner dumping her on Craigslist-- and today I felt just a little more despair when I saw the ad below.
You see, horses given away for free don't always wind up in the hands of a kill-buyer (and then at a slaughter house).
Sometimes, they end up going home with a person like this:
(Click to enlarge)
I don't want to come across as a snob here-- but do you think that maybe, just maybe, a person who types in ALL CAPS, can't spell and doesn't have "allot of money" might not provide the best home for a horse?
Can you imagine a person like this ever paying for a vet call?
Would this person even know when it would be appropriate to call a vet, considering their knowledge of horse health problems seems to consist of "bad legs and feet?"
Maybe I'm being a little over-critical of this person. I'm sure that they have the best intentions. They even said "please." However, anyone who owns a horse knows that they cost a ton of money to keep-- and if you don't even have the cash to purchase one of the "ride able" $500 horses on the market right now, how can you even afford to pay for winter hay?
Giving your horse away for free is a bad idea.
There are, of course, exceptions to every rule, and some free horses do find good homes:
(He always looks this worried.)
This is Mr. Strut.
Mr. Strut was dumped for free on Craigslist a couple of years ago. My father brought him home. He's a registered, purebred Tennessee Walker, broke to ride and a true gentleman-- he even came with his papers.
The lady who gave him away, whom we shall call Bunny, just didn't want to take care of him anymore. Mr. Strut has arthritis, is prone to founder, and while he has excellent ground manners, he's not very cuddly or personable. Bunny was getting older and didn't want to deal with his issues.
I don't want to give you the wrong impression-- Bunny was a nice lady. Mr. Strut was in good health when he came to us, and she even sent along the last of his feed, his supplements and his vet records. She was worried enough about Mr. Strut to grill my dad a little on his future home. However, Bunny didn't bother to ask my father for vet references, or visit our farm. Bunny just led Mr. Strut into dad's trailer and watched them drive away. She did eventually visit-- months later.
Had we been unscrupulous people, we could have sold Mr. Strut to a horse dealer or kill-buyer that same day for at least $100-- a nice profit for the easy work of one local trailer trip. Bunny would never have wanted that, but as well-intentioned as she was, she didn't make sure we weren't "bad guys" either.
The fact that we are, in fact, "good guys" doesn't excuse her.
Good guys like us are hard to find, at least when it comes to finding a home for a free horse. We really do understand the true cost of keeping a horse, and so we're not usually eager to take on another one-- especially one with special needs. We're also pretty scrupulous about making sure our horses get handled, so we don't take on more than we have time for-- and for most of us working folks, two is about the maximum. We good guys are careful-- and so good guys are rarely the ones who want a free horse.
Even those of us that don't mind taking on special needs horses are pretty much at capacity-- because of years of the bad economy and terrible horse market, we've already got most of the unwanted horses we are capable of supporting.
Mr. Strut won the horse lottery. He's now pretty much retired, acting as a buddy for Annie and (when he's sound) an occasional trail mount for up to a whole mile of riding. He's getting downright spoiled. But so many other horses don't win the lottery. They end up with nasty people, or well-intentioned idiots with no experience and no money for feed, or in the hands of a horse dealer or kill-buyer.
Giving your horse away for free is a bad idea.
- Selling your horse would ensure a better home-- at least your know that the new owner has some money to spend on a horse's care. - Euthanasia might be better, especially for older horses or horses with medical conditions. - Surrendering to a horse rescue is a better idea-- if you can find one that has room.
If you have no other option than to give your horse away for free, ask for references, visit the new home, Google the new owner's name, check their criminal history, make SURE the horse is going home with "good guys."
Lest this blog wander too far from its intended purpose, I have to give you a brief update about Annie's progress:
First, I HATE burdocks. Annie has a particular knack for sticking her head directly into them, and also hates having her mane and forelock messed with, a combination that makes us both very unhappy during fall. I know, I know, if I weren't so lazy about pasture maintenance... Annie now has a ridiculous haircut, because I just couldn't get all the forelock burs out without some collateral damage.
It's a bur-icorn!
As for riding, Annie and I have been riding for short distances, but fairly frequently. We don't go more than 1-3 miles, walk and trot under saddle, but I usually lunge Annie for at least 20 minutes before a ride. She's doing much better about traveling straight and listening to subtler leg cues. Twice now, however, she's started to move during mounting-- something to keep an eye on. A horse that walks off while you mount is super annoying.
Tonight was our first ride in about 6 days (I've been at a conference). Foolishly, I didn't do any groundwork with Annie before the ride; I was too excited to get into the saddle. A six day vacation, no lunging, no groundwork? What was I thinking?! She was fractious, energetic and a bit spooky. It's unusual to see Annie upset; it's sort of like a mean Golden Retriever. It just doesn't happen much.
What made matters worse tonight is that Annie has become convinced that there's a CORN MONSTER.
I EAT HORSES! RAWWR!
The farmer who rents the crop land on the farm hasn't harvested the corn yet-- so the dry stalks surround both sides of our road in a quaking, rustling mass of DEATH. The merest hint of a breeze makes it sound like there's an army of evil dire-rats coming towards us. A full-blown gust really spooks her-- and I don't blame her. The corn does start to look alive and malicious. We made it past the gauntlet into more open roadway, as we have every time for the past few weeks, but it was unnerving because we hadn't prepared well enough. At these times, I'm extra glad I'm wearing a helmet.
On the way back home, it got pretty dark (damn Winter) and a combine started up behind us as we entered a wooded part of the road (dark, more rustly noises). I made it about a quarter of a mile in the saddle before I had to dismount and walk her home. She was just really nervous, not naughty, and I probably could have stayed on-- in fact, in my teenage years, I would have. Now, though, I'm cognizant of my own mortality, and of how much things can really hurt. I don't even want to think about bolting home on a dark concrete road at top speed, around a blind curve.
My helmet-- a lifesaver.
Therefore, Annie and I walked. That didn't mean she got out of work, however. Any time I felt she was being unreasonably forward, I made her whoah, back up, and start again. I always want a horse to follow at my shoulder or just behind it; when they're very frightened, I make allowances and let their head move forward, but under no circumstances do I allow a horse to walk so far forward that I'm walking at the base of their neck or at their shoulder. I've been knocked over more than once making that mistake, when a horse reacted to something.
A horse WILL avoid running into you if at all possible when it spooks, but if you're dead in the way, you can become a pancake pretty quickly-- your own safety is the best reason to teach good leading habits.
Good! Nose at handler's shoulder.
Okay-- horse rather too forward.
Future human roadkill.
If Annie didn't whoah or follow nicely, I made her circle, and circle again, until she was calmer. We stopped several times just to stop and stand, despite the distractions; I think this is one of the most important, least-taught skills a horse should know.
When we got home, we headed directly down to the barn-- and then at the last second, we turned back. I made her do a couple of circles and figure eights, then stopped and stood again for a while. THEN we went "home."
The message you want to send is that being back at the barn doesn't mean an end to work or obedience, being scared is okay but being naughty is not, and that you expect good manners all of the time.
I was disappointed in our ride tonight, but it was my own fault due to lack of preparation-- and I did manage to teach some good lessons during it.
As for my own training program, I woke up extra early and power walked two miles before work-- and then had ice cream for supper.
