I have two horses, a pony, 2 goats, 1 dog at home plus the DH and two kids. Adding 1 more horse would be minimal work for day to day stuff. I wfh and my husband is primarily wfh, but he doesn’t do anything with the animals. My days and schedules are crazy, but it’s a good kind of crazy. I don’t ride nearly as often as I did boarding, but I love the grooming, night check, listening to them munch their hay, it’s the best relaxation noise ever.
Buy the horse if it’s in your budget. Life is short.
I have 3 horses (although one is out for starting right now) and a more than full time job and no partner to help. I have one small dog. I had 3 at home for a while and was commuting 45 minutes each way before the pandemic. I honestly don’t know how I did that. I don’t know how I had ONE horse boarded an hour from home that I would go ride in an unheated indoor at the dead of winter after work every night for years and years.
When people at work look at me wide eyed about my situation (although I try not to talk about it unless pushed), I return the wide eyes over how ANYONE can have kids and work a job like mine. At least I won’t have CPS called on me if I leave my fur kids at home with a stall camera, access to their runs and a full haybag for 10 hours.
As I get older, I find (1) stall cleaning is very hard on my body (especially the part where I have to dump loaded manure buckets into a dumpster), and; (2) I may not have time to ride. So this year, I have sought some paid help. I have someone to clean stalls and feed (I set up the feed) a few mornings a week, and my young horse is at a trainer’s to be started as he needs consistency. If I am forced back into the office after the pandemic calms down for any more than two days a week, I’ll likely look to boarding them all. It is REALLY hard to make a 9 am meeting 45 minutes away dressed and cleaned up after feeding and cleaning all three stalls. And, for a large part of the year, I can’t ride after work without an indoor arena (out of my budget for now). For that reason, when my 22 year old passes on, she won’t be replaced because I can’t afford to board 3 and I’d like to go back to boarding one day.
Oh the number of times I’ve come home from work, gone to pick up hay out of the field, put it up in my barn because it was going to rain, and then went to bed WELL after dark only to get up at 5:30 to go back to work. It keeps you healthy.
“healthy” 
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
