Anxiety about bringing horse home

[rulex]

@LCDR

Then I’d bring the horses home for long weekends.

OP if you have the flexibility to do this it would be a great way to see how your horse might fare on their own. The last thing you want is to bring your horse home and see how they do on their own only to find they are a stress case. Then you will feel pressure and rushed to find a friend.

And this depends on how available hay is in your area, but if there’s access to year round suppliers, I would not rush in to feeling like you need to buy a year’s supply right off the bat while you are still figuring out storage, suppliers etc. Yes you will likely pay more to purchase smaller quantities but that’s fine to start especially with only 1 or 2 horses. Then once you feel like you have found a good supplier and have storage sorted, by all means do the years supply.

Better to pay a bit of a premium while you get your bearings than to buy a years worth of poor hay, or poorly store a years worth that could then get ruined.

There’s a big learning curve to bringing horses home for the first time and nothing wrong with taking time to figure things out.

@tbchick84

There are several rescue/retirement places nearby so I think that’s a good place to start.

If you are trying to keep your workload reasonable, be very aware of how high maintenance some of these rescue/retired horses can be. I was offered a free lease on a retired mare that needed soaked cubes 4x a day and passed because that’s a considerable commitment anytime you need to be away for a good chunk of the day. And an headache in the winter when temperatures drop below freezing. Also consider while you may not mind doing the work on the average day, what does that look like if you have a farm sitter? Some may need daily meds and a certain amount of equine handling experience to administer. That changes who can look after the horse vs a horse that just needs some hay tossed over the fence.

[paintedpennypony]

Fostering is a great suggestion and solution to the herd bound issue. In fact because of this thread I’ve reached out to a rescue and have a meeting with them later about fostering

[MunchingonHay]

Get a pully system.

That is how we loaded our hay into our loft. You need two people, one to hoist the other to grab and stack the hay. (a hay hook works wonders to grab the floating bale) You make biceps pretty quickly but then its done and you just need to drop hay as needed (full bales or less). depending on your horses to make it easy for your self.

We pulled the pully rope through the strings on the bales and hauled them up.

[sparkygrace]

@tbchick84

How do I go about finding a buddy horse who won’t flip out every time I take him off property?

Check out miniature horses. I have one as a companion for my previous horse and now my new mare. Around here, they can be obtained for free due to so many breeders giving up their stock. If you can find one who doesn’t really care about other horses, it works well.

You do need to know how to manage them as far as pasture and feeding. I keep mine is his own paddock, but it’s enough to make my mare happy.

In general, set up your property to make everything as easy and efficient as possible. We did that before moving in and I spend only 30 minutes on chores in the morning and periodic short manure picking later in the day.

[PaddockWood]

I will add too, don’t bring your horse home thinking you’ll save money. Add up first what all you need to spend and see if it makes sense. I brought my horses home to have control over their care and provide freedom - no stalling but stalls are available etc. What I’ve spent I could have boarded at a luxury facility for the rest of my horse life. But would my horses be as happy as they are at home with me. No.

[rulex]

@PaddockWood

I will add too, don’t bring your horse home thinking you’ll save money.

That is discussed extensively in this thread Getting our own place vs boarding - with specifics

[cayuse]

Just want to echo sparkygrace, if you get a mini you may need a dry lot or semi dry lot. The weight/lami thing is real and lush pasture may not be your friend. Minis are great fun though and very collectable .

[sparkygrace]

Yes. I have dry lot and a grazing muzzle for mine. He is 25 and has Cushings. He had a blood test three weeks ago and everything is perfect.

[cayuse]

Two of mine are IR, it’s a struggle but we just had bloodwork and everyone was under 40. It’s a job keeping them that way

[tbchick84]

My horse can’t be on lush pasture, so the mini/dry lot thing would work fine.

I don’t expect to save money, but I do expect to save my sanity. Right now, I am paying almost $1,000/month to drive 45 minutes to see my horse at a crap hole where the fences are falling down, exposed nails everywhere and they never plow the driveway or clear the paths after it snows. If I want better, it’s drive even further and pay more $$. As I said in my original post, it’s now either get my own place or be priced out of horses. I might end up working my butt off, but at least I know my horse will have the best care possible in his senior years.

[ThreeWishes]

A lot depends on your horse’s temperament. I have a small farm. A little less than 4 acres. Had retirees at home and my show hunter boarded. There was a time my 35 and 29 year old retirees needed to cross the bridge. Then. I suddenly needed to bring my riding horse home. He shared a fenceline with the neighboring farm full of minis and was completely fine. Alone. He has always been super human oriented. About a year later I took in a horse I used to own who needed retiring but who had a suspensory tear. So I brought my daughter’s old horse home into an adjacent paddock and things were still fine. Taking my riding horse off property and my remaining retired horse being okay at home. Horses are individuals. Not everyone needs group turnout and emotional support constantly. You don’t know until you try.

[MapleFarm]

Just want to add regarding buddies and keeping horses at home. I went from being out of horses entirely for 10 or so years and never having them at home to buying a farm in 2020. Best decision ever and my husband now loves horses.

My first mare came alone - the breeder actually recommended we keep her alone for a year as she was very herd bound and the breeder is a very good friend/knows I would be present. I work from home so it’s easy for me to check on them etc. I did it, but the first week was really painful. I got horse #2 at the one year mark just about. Horse #1 is now the one I can leave alone and take 2 for shows etc (but I can’t do it the other way).

Do I think it’s optimal for any horse? No. Temporarily and to train them to be alone? Yes I think it can be helpful. I didn’t want a donkey as I don’t like braying, and minis, like others have mentioned, are a PITA regarding grass.

[PaddockWood]

@Simkie

This is a weird argument to make, that only people with a penis can be skilled or strong.

Yeah, sure, absolutely. If you don’t have the still, strength, or desire to manage a task, hire it out. Men aren’t the only ones with skill, strength, or desire.

Telling someone that they need a man of some sort to manage farm tasks is just…wow, blindingly sexist. Aren’t we past that?

There are plenty of things that go on at this property that absolutely have required the strength of a man. And I’m a strong, muscular hard working woman. But that has been my experience. Clearly it is possible to have the right tools, PTO hitch thing that doesn’t require a man’s strength etc but I do not have them.

[Simkie]

Dude that’s the point. Men aren’t the only people with that strength. To say they are–that only a man can possibly do those things–is wildly sexist.

Totally understand that there are things beyond your own personal strength, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But to say those things are out of the scope of all women, and within the scope of all men? Wow.

Strong, competent women … you know … EXIST.

[endlessclimb]

Check out my thread about building my place. I walked a 2x12x20 up a wall, by myself. I built a 10x40 loft, by myself. I put up thousands of feet of woven wire, by myself. I pounded hundreds of t-posts by hand, by myself. I dug and set 6x6s and 4x6s by myself. I hung the dutch doors, by myself. I hung my stall doors, by myself.

“You need a man” is obnoxious. Maybe YOU do, but that is not a blanket statement. Anything that exceeds my bodily strength can be moved by a chain fall, a come along, or a tractor.

[PaddockWood]

@Simkie

and within the scope of all men?

I did not say that whatsoever. I would say in fact that MOST men, and most women do not have what it takes to run a farm property and what all goes wrong. My husband grew up on a farm and can fix anything. And it’s damn handy. That’s all.

[Simkie]

Maybe you should just stick to saying some stuff requires strength and leave it at that. Jesus.

Both men AND women can be strong and competent.

[PaddockWood]

And maybe you just have it out for me at this point eh? I have lots of female friends who have horses at home and they all farm out pretty much anything that goes wrong. So yeah I think what you are talking about is pretty rare.

[Simkie]

Hiring help for whatever you can’t do?

Whatever, cool. Knowing your own personal limitations on desire or strength or capability is great.

Insisting men are the only ones who have desire or strength or capability?

WTAF.

[2DogsFarm]

NWIH was I suggesting I need a male to run my farm.
Former lifetime Citygal has managed just fine for 21yrs next month.

But will you admit a man is muscled differently enough so sometimes that gives them an edge?
My FG is my height, but his muscle mass along with youth means he can literally manhandle things I can’t.

Would you continue trying to.pound nails with a tackhammer when a claw would do it faster & more efficiently?