How many horses do you care for?

[kalidascope]

I have five at home - my own two riding horses plus my three school horses. All are turned out 24/7. It’s easy, though a tie. At a minimum they get fed (small amount of hardfeed, in tubs in the paddock) twice a day, covers on/off if needed, and the break fence shifted back. Takes me 30-45 minutes morning and night.

I don’t groom daily, nor do I pick poo. When they are done with a paddock I mow it (blitzes the manure and tops the small amount of dock/thistles).

I don’t have any help - though my blessed husband feeds them when I am occasionally away.

Eventually we will probably have kids and I have been thinking about what we will do. I am likely to sell my two big horses as they can be dodgy to handle on occasion, and are much harder on the pasture. The three school horses are pretty safe and I think I would be okay handling them while pregnant (I think I will try to keep teaching as long as I can).

If I boarded, I would probably only have one horse for myself because of cost, and perhaps the three schoolies if they could pay their own way.

[DressageFancy]

I have 7 horses 1 pony and 2 goats that I milk plus a breeding buck and 2 yearling does not yet of milking age. (3 of the horses are retired/aged and just enjoy hanging out!) I also (for the past 8 years) work away from home full time. But, I have owned the farm for 40 years and have constantly made changes that cut the time needed to care for the animals without cutting quality of care.

[saddleup]

I have 3. Spring, summer, fall, 3 is easy. In the winter, 3 feels like a ton of work. I have my own place, my barn is a 30 second walk from my house, but when there’s snow on the ground and I’m feeding in the dark both a.m. and p.m., it is hard. I do everything myself, with the help of my trusty Kubota tractor. I clean their stalls and pick the runs and paddocks every day.

I have to haul to an arena to ride, and that feels like way more work than in the summer when I can ride at home.

I do love having them home, though, even as I dread the changing of the seasons. After New Year’s it just drags on and on, but by March my mood improves.

[Irish_Love]

I have 7, at one point I had 10 (technically speaking), but pawned 2 off on the neighbor and 1 dartmoor pony for local kiddo lessons.

I’m 27. I do it myself. Work more than full time, and commute 3 hours a day, but owning 22 acres in BFE is worth it with easy keepers. I have 3 yearlings, 2 early teens (my primary mounts) and 2 old guest horses. I’m stretched. Happy, yet stretched for time, though still not willing to part with any. smh.

[Simbalism]

I have two that are currently pasture boarded. I think if I had my own farm, I could probably handle one more. I just recently retired, so the horse care wouldn’t be a problem. I wouldn’t want to big of a farm or too small as the maintenance would take a lot of time.

[lilitiger2]

Five, and it is really hard. Mostly because they have stalls, which require cleaning. it is NOT like easy peasy run ins (MUCH easier to clean, IMO). And I clean their pen and pasture. And feed (all eat different feeds, of course). And medicate. And fly mask and turn out (they do NOT get turned out together). One gets fed 3 times a day (separately from the others). They eat hay and he cannot. Watering is a headache - stock tanks but the hose is a PITA. ANd of course I clean all the buckets, do all the fence repairs (and my electric fence is NOT working well at hte moment). It’s doable but require a lot of coordination and planning. Two oldsters who require “watching”…it’s a lot!

And of course the hay, getting it, stacking it, moving it around.

I love them all but itis labor intensive!

[Lady_Eboshi]

20, but it’s very easy since they live out on 24/7 turnout with run-in sheds. There is no daily mucking, no shavings, and we only have to hay half the year so from May through October it’s really only separating for feeding the ones who need supplemental concentrates. That and doctoring their occasional owwie, deworming 4x year, holding for trimming, and nominal grooming. And of course procuring the feed, hay, etc.

I’ve got a superb all-around landscaper who helps me with the big stuff–building and repairing fence, cutting down trees, additions to the barns, etc.

AND–happiness is definitely a big diesel tractor with a front-end loader! :yes:

[AmarachAcres]

4. We have 2 boarding horses but they are self care and their owner is great. Though we take over when she is gone, though that is rare.

My daughter helps out some, my husband helps out some.

Most of the outside is me though.

3 easy keepers and one cushings pony on 6 acres.

[Timex]

40 horses, 40 beefers. Me and the SO. 24/7 turnout and doing our own hay (round bales) make it workable. If the horses came in, I’d never be able to ride AND teach, AND drive timex jr to football, Boy Scouts, etc. never mind sleep. Lol

[quarterhorse4me]

I have 4 and do everything myself. I have very limited pasture as I live in a tourist resort area. I work full time and often commute 1 to 2 hours.

Winters are not too bad here but summers are really hot and sticky. Stall cleaning is really miserable as their turnout is limited each day. Despite all the work, they are my therapy after a long miserable day.

[SMF11]

10 horses and one donkey (the donkey and two horses are mine, the rest are boarders). 10 is not bad – my set up is like Lady Eboshi’s, so the daily routine takes about 2 hours, one in the morning, one in the evening to assemble and then feed nosebags. Longer hours when the farrier is here, or hay is delivered. I also have someone to help with the mowing and repairs. In the winter it can take 3 - 4 hours per day with hay and blanketing.

[katyb]

I have 3 horses and a young, standard donkey. Mine were all out on 30 acres 24/7, so that was super easy. One developed laminitis (despite Remission and a muzzle) in early August, so now things are more complicated. She is up in a barn lot, and I alternate her dam and the donkey as companions (mom during the day, donkey at night). My teenager is responsible for all poop pick-up, the entire lot every day, because she is his horse. That is a big help. I fill hay feeders twice a day, got a gutter to downspout to water trough set up installed, which is helping with water. Moving the two back and forth is the most time consuming thing I do. When they were all out, I just put out buckets once a day and kept the trough full. That was so easy, but I guess we are suffering the consequences now.

[Stushica]

Nineteen Horses, three donkeys, a pig, and far too many cats and dogs to count!

But I’m a farm sitter, and only one of those horses is mine It’s also very rare that all 22 of them depend on me at one time, however it usually happens once a year. When that time of year comes it’s definitely rough. Mostly because of the driving. Some days it’s tough making sure that everyone has had their nose to tail inspection and that I haven’t missed over anyone (herds of matching horses, and occasional rescues that would rather not be messed with). I’m also on most of my farms speed dials to hold their horses for vet/ farrier/ whatever appts.

Surprisingly, I typically find it pretty easy, I have this special skill that only works with animals that once I’m shown what/ how they eat it’s like it’s ingrained forever. (I wish I could do this with school!!) So basically I get a pattern for each farm and try to follow it each day at the same time(as per, however horse owner showed me how). The easy part for me is that most of the horses are on 24/7 turn out and only about a 1/3 get daily supplemental feedings.

I go to school full time, and have a pretty full schedule, when I have a “gazillion” horses to take care of I come home late, I’m filthy, I stink, and for some reason I’m usually soaking wet, I’m also totally satisfied and feel accomplished and happy.

No they’re not mine but I treat them and love them as such

[Aileybay]

I manage a barn that has anywhere from 18-21 horses at any given time. I am in charge of horse care, checking horses for shoes/injuries/illnesses, tack cleanliness and safety, client issues/questions, horse/client paperwork, and helping the BO/trainer with anything/everything she needs. We have another barn manager who is basically in charge of daily issues and maintenance…he feeds, turns out, fixes things, etc. We also have 2 stall muckers who do the stalls and very basic maintenance like mowing, trash, etc. On weekends and Mondays there are only 3 of the 4 working, but things still get done. I love it :]

[Manni01]

7 horses (one is a pony, 1 weanling, and one yearling) and 2 dogs… I do mostly everything (except for fixing fences) myself, that means I have no barn helper. And I try to ride my riding horses as much as possible…It is a lot of work but also fun

[findthedistance]

I’m responsible for 17. 10 in stalls, 7 field-boarded. On a day-to-day basis I do the PM shift (feed, change clothing as needed, turnout, close up barn). Someone else does the AM shift (stalls, water, bring in, feed, change clothing as needed). In years previous I have done it all myself, and while it wasn’t sustainable in addition to the rest of my job, it was doable as a stand-alone job for one person.

[Janet]

As my .sig indicates, I typically care for 4 (sometimes 3).
3 yo Conn x TB
18 yo Conn x TB
28 yo 3/4 TB x 1/4 QH
32 yo TB

If I am sick, or away, my husband can look after them for a short time. When we go away, we have a young lady who comes in twice a day to feed them etc. She is now in her 30s, and has been doing this for us since she was in high school.

I work full time. I have the horses at home, in a facility specifically designed to make things easy. The barn is attached to the garage, attached to the house. So even when ther is bad weather, I can easily get to the barn.

It is a center aisle barn, and all the stalls open to the outside. Most of the time they have free access into the stalls (though I close the stalls up when introducing a new horse). There is a large (10’ IIRC) overhang, which provides a place to get out of the sun or rain without going into the stalls. During the winter, Music is shut in at night, so she can be under lights (long story). Other than that, they are rarely shut in.

The pasture is crossfenced into 8 distinct pastures They are all connected so that, whatever pasture is being used, they have access to the paddock around the barn. I can rotate pastures simply by opening and closing gates. I never need to lead horse from one to another. They USUALLY come when called, but sometimes I need to go and “get” them, but I don’t need a leadrope or halters.

[Emily_amp_Jake]

I have one horse who I board. I am responsible for providing all of his feed (hay, grain, supps.,), and of course farrier/vet/routine maintenance care. If I had my own property I would probably consider getting another horse, as my gelding now is mostly retired.

[BrookdaleBay]

11, one of which is mine. I work at a dressage facility. The numbers fluctuate from time to time, but I have morning chores down to a science now and I get rather grumpy when someone tries to ‘help’ and messes up that system. With blanketing season nearing, turnout will take a little longer, but I can have stalls mucked and bedded, hay thrown, and waters dumped, scrubbed and refilled for the gang to come in at 12:30. Night chores are easy; feed dinner hay and grain, make up breakfasts, pickout stalls, and top up waters. That takes less then two hours.

[katarine]

3 @ home.