Horse Care Help!!!!

I am considering purchasing my first horse. I've spent three summers working guest ranches riding horses and providing care for about 100 head each summer, so I would consider myself a better than average rider. However, I am very green in terms of care for a single horse and how to properly take care of a personal horse. Could anyone direct me to some resources i.e. books or websites or classes or something that would help me prepare for the enormous responsibility of owning my own horse.

 

Ok this is kinda a wierd post. You claim that you've worked with horses for quite a while now and yet, you don't know the care. I would do LOTS of research before even thinking of getting one!

Sorry. BUt I have a rescue. You'd be amazed at how many horses have to suffer because their owner thought "hey I've ridden many, its a breeze!". NOT>

Anyhow. A little info you should know.
You need a minimum of 2 acres per horse, A barn or shed a minimum of 8'X10' stall. and A good rule of thumb, always ahve at least $50 a day to take care of a horse and at least $1200 saved up for an emergancy!

 

whoa.... that means for a year a horse would cost you $18250.00???
eeep!! :shock: good grief!!

 

Thanks for the reply, I guess I need to clarify a bit, I can do the basic care of feeding, watering, puncture wound cleaning, colic warning signs and such, I needed to know about the money issues as well as proper feeding techniques, 1 horse versus a 100 is quite a different philosophy for feed. Also, keeping a horse shawed versus not depending on trail condition and pasture condition and how much the ferrier costs. Also, what should I be keeping in the medicine cabinet and how much of each? When to worm and when not to worm? How much to feed per day depending on work for that day. And any other things that I would need to know as a first time owner. I appreciate your response and I'm glad to see that you stepped up for that mistreated horse, so what I'm trying to do is make sure that I know as much as possible both financially, medically, and health wise before I jump in feet first. I would never let myself care for something without understanding my responsibilities first. If possible I would love to start a dialogue with you about the things that I need to know.

 

I really don't know much about how much it costs to keep a horse these days. As we had them when I was a kid and my mom took care of all that stuff. I know it is no where near $50.00 a day though... because if you take the 50 x 365 days in a year = $18250.00. If they cost that much we wouldn't have had 2 when I was growing up. My mom was a single parent with 4 kids at home at the time. There are people just up the road from us that have 4 horses... so lets see how the 50.00 a day would add up for them...that would be a whopping $73000.00!!! :shock: That is just impossible! :?

If you are going to keep them on your own property and not board then it will be a lot cheaper that way. You might want to look for "horse message boards" though...

 

It doesn't necessarily cost $50/day to keep a horse. Let's see. Around here it cost about $350/month to board (which includes food), plus $50 for the farrier, plus we'll say $1000/yr for healthcare (worming, vet - being very generous but not accounting for any illnesses). If you are planning on having one on your own land - you really shouldn't have just one horse. They should have at least one buddy (it's just cruel to have only one - imo).

How much to feed depends on the horse (size, age, etc) and the type of feed. But it shouldn't vary by day depending on the amount of work you do (I mean like one day to the next - obviously if you work the horse alot they should get more food but you need to be consistent).

As far as what you need to daily care for a horse - you should have a general idea of that from dealing with so many other horses. I can't even begin to go through everything that I have for my horses (have 2). You accumulate a lot of crap with horses. 99% I never use more than once.

But if this is your first time having a horse, I would strongly recommend keeping it at a regular stable/barn before taking on a horse on your own property. Then you can get the feel of things and if something goes wrong or you have a question there are plenty of people to ask.

 

Some Great Books:

1. Books By:Cherry Hill
2. Horses for Dummies
3. For other great books check at the library

Great Sites:

1. www.horsekeeping.com
2. www.freewebs.com/horsekeeping28
3. This site
4. www.newrider.com