Buying A Horse for Life?Warning: “Hang on to your hat, this buying a horse page is going to be a wee bit of a bumpy ride!” I am the kind of person who tries to see the positive side in difficult situations. Lately however, I have noticed that many get involved in buying a horse that they are not prepared to own. So by sharing my situations I hope to offer some guidance in the long term financial and emotional commitments that go along with horse ownership. In the recent past alone I have had four boarders wishing to abandon the responsibility. All for slightly different reasons but in the end it was obviously due to the financial commitment. (No, I am not currently operating a horse rescue program nor am I going to enable people to relinquish a responsibility they themselves committed too in the first place. That’s just too easy!) "One thought their way out was to just take them to slaughter." The others asked this of me: “Hey, will you take my horse? “I don’t want to pay for it anymore, “I don’t have the time, “It cost more than I anticipated and can’t afford it right now”, “But I would feel really good if you would take them!” Everyone knows that we don’t always have complete control about some of life changes. Maybe we loose our job security, accidentally get pregnant or suddenly are in a divorce situation. (I often see spouses resentful of the time and money the other spouse is spending on their horsey passion.) The other side to this is when the horse and the human do not match up in ability. Far too often that free horse is not broke to ride! Or maybe the horse has a long term health issue that will require a large financial and time obligation. Be very picky about the horse you are considering. You will need more time and more money to train, retrain or rehabilitate back to health any horse. So before buying a horse and taking on the long term commitment involved let’s consider their lifespan. On average a healthy horse should live well into their 20’s or 30’s! If they do get ill, vet expenses are not cheap! Even the healthy horse requires routine care usually from outside sources like hoof care, dentistry or maybe you need help on a horse training problem. If you cannot house a horse on your own property then boarding will be an ongoing expense too. And make no mistake you get what you pay for!
When the going gets tough, the tough get going!So here I sit with three more horses than I ever intended to own and wonder how it came to this. I wonder how I can offer people the equine information they need to hear before buying a horse of their own. I wish I could make owning a horse the “romance” that many are hoping it will be and on the emotional side it can be, but the reality is this is a long term life style commitment not a hobby people should embark upon today and give up tomorrow. It’s sad enough the number of owners a single horse ends up with. They seem to get tossed around like an old used car! So, please, please, please, before buying a horse really look well into the future before making the decision. On the upside this has opened a door for us to offer other options for people to consider before buying a horse. Please give some thought to
leasing a horse
or
volunteering at a horse facility.
. It’s a great way to learn. Ask every question you can think of we are always glad to offer our experiences and we know the reality of the financial & emotional means required.
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