@Autumn1990 “I don’t understand why everyone thinks keeping a horse at home is hard work.” 😂😂😂
Well, this week I have:
- repaired fencing where the pony decided he liked the look of the grass I’m trying to keep for summer.
- rolled a new bale of hay into the dry standing area for them to eat during turnout periods.
- topped up the IBC for emergency water supplies when the taps freeze.
- repaired a leaking auto-drinker.
- cut down a decaying branch that was overhanging the stable roof, I did not want it to fall on the stables in high winds.
- ordered more hay and bedding for delivery.
- harrowed the school.
- done a bit of muck heap maintenance.
This is as well as daily mucking out, making and giving feeds, turnout and bring in, before I get the opportunity to ride. I don’t poo pick, I rotate and harrow. Both are work intensive options.
Don’t get me wrong, I love having my horses at home, I have 3 of them at home and one turned away for the winter as he was trashing the ground and is out of work atm. I would not be able to afford 4 horses on livery. But I am under no illusions that it is not hard work. Over the coming months I will be beginning to install a track so that my ground is not trashed so much in the winter, and my stable block needs replacing as it is old and coming to the end of it’s life - I spend more time maintaining it than I should. I will need to harrow the ruts out of the winter fields, and overseed the poached areas with a repair seed mix, maintaining a paddock rotation and maintenance plan as I only have 5 acres and it’s not enough for the horses I have unless I work at it. Cut the hedges, dredge the ditches (I have several hundred metres of both ditch and hedge) pull ragwort, cut back overhanging trees, spread rotted manure back on the fields or fertilise, paint the stables with preservative, repair the endless little bits horses damage simply because they are half ton animals.
I am responsible for taking delivery of the hay and feeds and bedding, being there for the vet and farrier, keeping to a worming program. There is no one else here to remind me or to offer advice, the only back up I have is that which I organise myself so if I want to go away for a night I need to find my own help, none provided by the yard owner.
A novice horse owner keeping their own horse at home would need to know what colic looks like, or laminitis, what to do if a horse gets cast, do you call the vet or the farrier when the horse comes in on 3 legs, the merits of washing legs vs brushing them clean when dry, why you wouldn’t turn out on frosty grass, which plants are poisonous, what hard feeds would be suitable for their horse. They would need to have an address book with a good saddler, farrier, physio, dentist, hay merchant, vet and emergency groom in it. You get all of these things through experience and years under your belt, often with your first years on a livery yard with help and more experienced owners to bounce ideas and questions off. I had horses at home for the first 12 years of horse ownership, but I was a child and we had the support of some very knowledgable friends. We were clueless and lucky. As an adult, I did not keep a horse at home until I was in my mid 30s. The years I spent in livery yards were both frustrating and the source of my basic knowledge and also the place I made long standing friendships, including my best friend. I would not recommend any novice to keep their first horse at home. Even an old friend who is from a billionaire family kept her first horse at livery while she learned.
@Newhorse My advice would be to look at several yards close to home, find a one you like and ask if they have a vacancy or waiting list. Make sure you have a space before you buy a horse. DIY is fine, but try to get the things you want like small herd turnout. Make sure the yard has someone on hand who you can call to help in an emergency, and who can do ‘extras’ such as stables, feeding and bringing in if you want a day off or a holiday. In the meantime get to know your own land well - is it wet, dry or a mix? Where is good for your muck heap? Build your experience and when you feel confident you can manage anything a horse throws at you, that’s when you are ready to bring it home. You will need a companion horse or pony. A goat or donkey doesn’t provide the same friendship. My horses groom each other and play together, even a little herd is better than a single horse on their own. They take it in turns to keep watch while another sleeps. A goat isn’t going to give them that feeling of security.
Good luck, it’s a hugely rewarding thing to own your own horse, and even more rewarding to have them at home. But it’s something you build up to. You would not be daft to join your local Facebook county horse group - there is usually a lot of useful information among the adverts for old numnahs!