[BullyGirl80]

Someone should explain to her how much its going to cost to take care of a horse, because if she cant afford vet bills and other necessities, ultimately it will be the horse who will suffer. I think that you should express your concerns and hopefully she will listen...if she doesnt, then at least you tried.

 

[TiggerBounce]

Someone should explain to her how much its going to cost to take care of a horse, because if she cant afford vet bills and other necessities, ultimately it will be the horse who will suffer. I think that you should express your concerns and hopefully she will listen...if she doesnt, then at least you tried.

Actually I think a better approach might be to offer to help her make a budget lol.

 

[BullyGirl80]

Actually I think a better approach might be to offer to help her make a budget lol.

Yeah, thats a good idea! :thumbsup:

 

[dogdragoness]

Actually I think a better approach might be to offer to help her make a budget lol.

I also think this sins good idea!

Also about bombproof horses, you are right; it is a HUGE difference btw my bombproof pony horse and the spooky, reactive race horses.

That being said, I always always make sure even our pony horses know I am coming if I pass behind them while they are tied up or walk up on them if they are resting. A guy we know got seriously hurt when he walked up on his own horse and patted it on the butt while talking to someone ... Well the horse was asleep and it spooked and kicked him with both barrels.

Even broke horses can get spooked.

 

[TiggerBounce]

I also think this sins good idea!

Also about bombproof horses, you are right; it is a HUGE difference btw my bombproof pony horse and the spooky, reactive race horses.

That being said, I always always make sure even our pony horses know I am coming if I pass behind them while they are tied up or walk up on them if they are resting. A guy we know got seriously hurt when he walked up on his own horse and patted it on the butt while talking to someone ... Well the horse was asleep and it spooked and kicked him with both barrels.

Even broke horses can get spooked.

Yep, I'm paranoid about walking behind horses LOL. Perhaps overly so, but oh well I see friends who have horses and they walk behind them without a thought in the world. It always makes me cringe. I'm sure if I have my own horse some day, I will probably bond to it and feel more comfortable...But I'd probably still give it some warning first so it knows I'm behind it or about to move that way.

A part of my paranoia probably comes from the peruvian paso I was riding for quite a while (neighbor's horse, they let me ride her whenever I want). I always had a hell of a time even catching her...She would turn her butt to me intentionally and threaten to kick. When you work around that, you don't like to see horse butts! I think she was treated poorly in the past, especially by men. I've never been mean to her, and she improved over time. But I'm more well-read now and I think if I went back to working with her, I could make a drastic improvement in her attitude. I just don't have the time.

 

[dogdragoness]

Mares can be ... Moodier then colts or geldings IMO. I will never have a mare as a riding horse. It's all about knowing the horse and if they will really do it. The horses I groom will often turn their butts to you but if you just smooch to them a little and grumble at them to bugger off and they usually move. That being said, if they don't or get more "horsey" (pun intended lol) then I don't enter the stall lol. Luckily all my horses are "bad days sometimes" horses, not horribly mean ones .

 

[TiggerBounce]

Mares can be ... Moodier then colts or geldings IMO. I will never have a mare as a riding horse. It's all about knowing the horse and if they will really do it. The horses I groom will often turn their butts to you but if you just smooch to them a little and grumble at them to bugger off and they usually move. That being said, if they don't or get more "horsey" (pun intended lol) then I don't enter the stall lol. Luckily all my horses are "bad days sometimes" horses, not horribly mean ones .

That's what I've been told! I know with dogs I tend to gravitate towards boys, and bond better with them. I'm not a fan of the moodiness of girls, or how emotionally complex they are. Some people like that...I don't lol.

Though I will say, they had a mare that I was working with for a while and I really bonded to her well. She was seriously like a little puppy dog...Followed me around, loved to work for me, enjoyed praise and pets. Of course, she turned into an entirely different horse when they started to work with her more because they don't entirely know what they're doing. Idk. Maybe I could have bonded with the pissy PP if I understood her better at the time. Something about working with abused animals really saddens me. I'm not sure if I'm cut out for it. But give me a young, blank slate and I'll have doing backflips.

 

[dogdragoness]

Get along very well with female dogs because they IME are more serious about life in general and ... Neater then males. Males are generally goofier and less serious about their jobs and I don't like that lol.

But I DO like that about horses so for horses it's males for me

 

[Rennajade]

I haven't heard any more horse talk lately, so I'm hoping that means she's given up on it. She does tend to have a pretty short attention span, so it wouldn't surprise me.

Tigger -- happen to have any pics of that Peruvian Paso? They're gorgeous horses.

The first thing I ever learned the first time I was around horses was to never walk right up to them from behind. The horses I learned around at first were bombproof, so they weren't spooky at all, but it was a serious core lesson we had to learn. If we had to walk behind for any reason, we were advised to keep a hand on the horse as we walked and run it along them so they knew we were there, or just make an arc large enough that we were away from their feet.

One of the ranches I volunteered at (commercial trail ride ranch) was absolutely stupid about their horses. Hooves were picked only when the farrier came around to re-shoe (about every six months), teeth were never floated, grooming was incomplete even when they were going out on rides (resulting in saddle rashes a lot) and the blankets and tack were always filthy. Not to mention most of the horses were 20+ years old and still going on four or five rides a day. My favorite was an Arab gelding who had cancer but an awesome personality. Apparently I was the only one who could catch him. Hm, wonder why, when everyone else ran at him waving their arms like madmen and yanked his head around...

 

[dogdragoness]

Yeah it sounds a lot like the stables I boarded my horses at, they had rental horses and guided trail rides and the horses were treated a lot like that

 

[Rennajade]

Yeah it sounds a lot like the stables I boarded my horses at, they had rental horses and guided trail rides and the horses were treated a lot like that

It's so sad to see. They also get almost no pasture or running time, and in winter when it gets muddy, stand ankle-deep in filth 90% of the time. :\

 

[dogdragoness]

When they have to stay in their stalls never got cleaned ... I can't believe they didn't get reported but I suppose the people who came there didn't know any better.

 

[Roy]

Horses are a money pit (I know, I've always had them) and for $500 you are not going to be able to get a decent horse anyway, and for that price could end up with something which is unsound and may be unrideable and cost a fortune at the vets to no avail. Unless you have your own land and stables, expect to pay up to $100 per week on stabling and food (if you look after it yourself, and many more $ if you pay someone else to do it), allocate a minimum of 1 1/2 hours per day of your own time, juggling homework, need to be prepared to sacrifice all out of school activities on an evening and weekend, and then there's shoeing at $100 every 5 weeks, horse clippers, rugs, transport, vet bills............

From your description, the reasons you give are exactly the reasons NOT to get one! And as for choosing a horse by colour - who gives a ?? what colour a good horse is? Ever heard a tipster giving a racehorse low odds because of its colour?

In short, horses are not pets but a LIFESTYLE choice and the sooner people stop thinking of them as pets the better.

I know a friend who is a knackerman and they are constantly getting people bringing horses and ponies to be destroyed just because they have bought them without realising how expensive and time consuming they can be and children have lost interest and they become disposable like discarded toys.

What your foster sibling needs to do is find someone with a horse and offer to share duties in exchange for riding, therefore they are not committed to owning one.

 

[dogdragoness]

well I definitely have preferences when it comes to color, I don't care for greys but if I am looking for a horse and the only thing about the horse I don't like is its color then I will take the loss LOL. I agree there is more to a horse than color.

 

[dixiesmygirl]

*I haven't read all the posts.* I'm a bit confused as to why her foster parent is even letting her look for a horse. If she knows nothing about horses, has no income, etc. she doesn't need a horse. Period. I'm 17 and have two minis and a Welsh, but I've been around minis since I was 8 and have been riding and taking lessons since 11. I also have a steady job as a nanny, I'm homeschooled so I have time to care for them, and I live on a tiny mini farm so I've got a dependable place to keep them. I also plan on going to college locally so I don't have to worry about leaving my parents with the burden of a horse. She is not in a good situation to have a horse. I cannot even stress that enough. Nothing but bad will come from her having a horse.

 

[dogdragoness]

*I haven't read all the posts.* I'm a bit confused as to why her foster parent is even letting her look for a horse. If she knows nothing about horses, has no income, etc. she doesn't need a horse. Period. I'm 17 and have two minis and a Welsh, but I've been around minis since I was 8 and have been riding and taking lessons since 11. I also have a steady job as a nanny, I'm homeschooled so I have time to care for them, and I live on a tiny mini farm so I've got a dependable place to keep them. I also plan on going to college locally so I don't have to worry about leaving my parents with the burden of a horse. She is not in a good situation to have a horse. I cannot even stress that enough. Nothing but bad will come from her having a horse.

This.

When I was young I told my parents I wanted a horse and they were like "Fine, but you have to take lessons and prove that you will stick with it!" that was over 20 years ago and I am still "sticking with it" LOL.

that being said, it takes a special kid to stick with horses throughout the teen years and all the distractions that come with them. But I did, in fact they kept me out of trouble.

 

[dixiesmygirl]

This.

When I was young I told my parents I wanted a horse and they were like "Fine, but you have to take lessons and prove that you will stick with it!" that was over 20 years ago and I am still "sticking with it" LOL.

that being said, it takes a special kid to stick with horses throughout the teen years and all the distractions that come with them. But I did, in fact they kept me out of trouble.

Horses (and other animals) are doing a real good job of keeping me out of trouble too! I agree it takes a special kid to stick with it, I've seen several kids who were raised around horses or who once loved them, get out of horses once they hit the teen years.

 

[dogdragoness]

Horses (and other animals) are doing a real good job of keeping me out of trouble too! I agree it takes a special kid to stick with it, I've seen several kids who were raised around horses or who once loved them, get out of horses once they hit the teen years.

Yeah I saw a lot of that and it was a sad sad thing I also saw a lot of kids who just owned horses to be popular, because it was a status symbol ... Like a flashy car