In This Chapter
- Understanding ownership realities
- Studying horses’ characteristics
- Getting insurance info and help from experts
Becoming a horse owner is a
serious decision; it’s serious business. Unlike skiing, golf, or tennis,
horseback riding is a hobby that involves a living, breathing creature. When
you don’t feel like playing golf or aren’t in the mood to ski, you can just
toss your equipment into the garage and forget about it until the urge strikes
again. But owning a horse is different ballgame.
When you own a horse, you’re
taking responsibility for another living being that you must feed, groom, and
even ride on days when you don’t feel like it. A horse can’t sit in a corner
while you decide to do something that better suits your mood. Horses need
regular care and attention, and they need TLC.
For these reasons, you need to
consider some serious points before embarking on the journey of horse
ownership. In this chapter, we take a look at these important considerations
and give you some advice about preparing for the day when a horse ultimately
calls you “Mom” or “Dad.”
Finding Out Why You Want a Horse
When you find yourself developing
the urge to own a horse, you need to do some soul searching. We want you to ask
yourself some profound and difficult questions. Not only does your happiness
and enjoyment depend on the answers you give, but so does a horse’s well-being.
We’ve heard too many stories of
people coming into the horse world on a whim, casually entering into horse
ownership without realizing the commitment involved. The final result: The
newcomer grows unhappy, and the horse ends up paying the price for it. The
owner loses interest, and the horse winds up standing in his stall for weeks or
months at a time with little or no attention other than a minimal amount of
care. Or the animal ends up being sold for a
Although these scenarios sound
dramatic, they do occur. We know that you don’t want to be guilty of inflicting
any such unfair treatment on a horse, the most noble and beautiful of all
domestic creatures. That’s why you need to probe deeply into your psyche to
make sure that owning a horse is really something you want to do. And we’re
going to help you do just that.
Rating your reasons for wanting a horse
People are drawn to horse
ownership for a number of reasons. Some of them are good, and others are not so
good reasons.
Maybe you’ve wanted a horse your
entire life, but couldn’t afford one until now. If so, you’re part of a
fascinating, primarily female trend in the horse world. As little girls, many
women longed to have a horse of their own. In fact, a horse obsession is almost
a prerequisite to being a little girl, it seems. This little-girl passion
for horses apparently reached an all-time high in the 1950s and 1960s. And now
these once-obsessed little girls are all grown up and have the disposable income
to fulfill their dreams.
Men are not exempt from this
phenomenon. More than one little boy grew up wanting to be a cowboy riding on a
swift steed and galloping off into the sunset. For many men, that John Wayne
fantasy never went away, and horse ownership makes that fantasy a reality —
well, sort of.
Remember
Wanting a horse to fulfill a dream is fine as long as you realize all the real-life responsibilities that come with horse ownership. Here’s a list of the not-so-glamorous things you’ll be dealing with after taking the ownership plunge:
- Unappealing jobs: You won’t only be riding your horse, you’ll also be feeding him, grooming him, and cleaning up after him. The feeding and cleaning part is especially true if you’re keeping the horse on your own property. Mucking stalls is hardly one of the more romantic aspects of horse ownership, yet the task is inevitable and just about every horse owner does it at some point in his or her life. Although horse manure doesn’t smell anywhere near as bad as dog doo, you still won’t relish the job. (Check out Chapters Establishing an Everyday Routine and Keeping Your Horse Clean and Pretty for feeding and grooming details.)
- Assuming total responsibility: The horse is completely dependent on you for food, water, exercise, and attention, so you must be willing to make the horse’s needs a priority in your life. That means no going out to the karaoke bar with your friends after a hard day at the office until after you feed your horse. It also means braving any kind of weather Mother Nature throws at you — and she can have a pretty wicked aim — to get your horse out for grooming and exercise — whether you feel like doing it or not. The horse stands there waiting for you to show up and give it the care it needs, and doing so is your responsibility. Period.
- Enslaving financial obligations: Owning a horse is downright expensive. Many horse people sport a bumper sticker on their cars that reads, “Poverty is owning a horse,” which is not that much of an exaggeration.
If you get lucky and end up with a horse that never gets sick or injured and doesn’t need shoes or supplements, that bumper sticker may not be for you. However, we’ve yet to meet anyone who owns such a creature, so odds are that you’ll be regularly coughing up cold hard cash to tend to your horse’s special needs.
Fulfilling a dream isn’t the
reason that everyone is drawn to horse ownership. Some people just love animals
and find the idea of spending time and bonding with a horse appealing. Others
see people riding and think it looks like great fun. Both are legitimate
reasons for delving into horse ownership as long as you understand the responsibilities
and drawbacks of horse ownership that we outlined in the preceding bulleted
list.
Warning!
Don’t fall prey to some of the not-so-good reasons for wanting a horse:
- Zoning ordinances: You just bought a house in the country that happens to be zoned for horses, and even though you’ve never had an interest in horses before and aren’t terribly interested in them now, you feel like you need to have one, well, because you can.
- Lawn ornaments: You think that horses are attractive creatures, and even though you don’t have any great urge to care for or ride one, having a horse on your property would make your yard look nicer.
- Junior wants one: You don’t have much interest in horses, but your child wants one. Your child has never ridden a horse before, but rather than giving him lessons first, you’d rather just buy a horse right away.
- Romance: You have absolutely no experience with horses but think that the whole notion of riding is romantic. Rather than take lessons first to see whether you actually enjoy riding, you decide to buy a horse instead.
- Spare change: You just inherited a little bit of money and want to spend it all on buying a horse. You think that the biggest expense in horse ownership is the purchase price, so you aren’t worried about maintenance costs.
Warning!
If any of these scenarios sound like you, stop before you buy a horse and think. None of the reasons in this list is adequate for taking on the huge commitment and responsibility of horse ownership. You first need to do much more research into what owning a horse is all about. Most important, you have to develop a genuine interest in horses before taking the plunge into owning one. Horses require a huge commitment of time, money, and energy, and if you aren’t sincerely dedicated to your equine charge, the responsibility soon feels more like a burden, and ultimately, you and the horse will suffer.
Determining whether you’re ready
Before you accept the challenge
of horse ownership, you must prepare yourself for the experience by developing
a basic knowledge of horses and what owning one is all about.
Forfeiting the green: The money factor
Money — and how much of it you
have — is a big thing to consider when you’re debating whether to buy a horse.
Horses are expensive animals to have around, and knowing exactly how expensive
before you go out and buy one is imperative.
Find out the costs of various
aspects of horse ownership in your area and make sure that the total amount
fits in your budget. Following is a rundown of what costs you can expect to
incur.
Starting up: Initial costs
Buying a decent horse means
shelling out some decent money. The cost of horses varies considerably from one
place to another, but expect to spend at least $1,000 (usually more) for a
pleasure horse and much more for an animal you want to show.
In addition to the expense of
getting the horse, you need to buy equipment and supplies, including a saddle,
saddle pad, bridle, halter, grooming tools, and so on. Plus, you need riding
apparel for yourself and possibly your family (see Chapter Getting
into Gear with Horse Equipment for details on
horse equipment). All these things can really add up. Depending on whether you
buy these items new or used, you can spend anywhere from $800 to $3,000 for all
this gear.
If you plan to keep your horse on
your own property, you also need enough money to create the appropriate housing
for the animal. This sum can be substantial, depending on the amount of work
you have to do (see Chapter Housing
Your Horse Comfortably for details about housing a horse).
Keeping your horse:
Maintenance costs
One big mistake that newcomers to
the horse world make is underestimating the cost of maintaining a horse. In
most cases, the purchase sum is minimal compared with the amount of money that
keeping the horse requires.
Remember
Here is a list of the regular expenses you can expect with horse ownership. The costs of each item or service vary considerably depending on where you live, so we advise calling commercial stables, veterinarians, farriers (the people who trim and put shoes on the horse’s feet), and tack and feed stores in your area to get a sense of how much each of these items runs:
- Boarding: If you plan to keep your horse at a commercial boarding facility rather than on your own property, you pay a monthly fee for a stall, pasture, or paddock (a fenced enclosure). This fee usually includes food and stall maintenance; it may or may not include bedding.
- Bedding: If your horse is kept in a stall that you’re responsible for maintaining, you have to provide shavings or another type of bedding, which you must clean and freshen daily.
- Feed: If you’re keeping the horse on your own property, feed includes hay and/or pasture maintenance. If you plan to give grain or other special-diet foods to your horse, figure in that cost as well. See Chapter Establishing an Everyday Routine for more about horse feed.
- Supplements: Many horses benefit from including feed supplements in their diets. If your horse needs these supplements, add this cost to your monthly expenses.
- Shoes: Most horses require new shoes every 6 to 8 weeks. A farrier still needs to trim the hooves of horses that don’t need shoes — because they’re either not doing much work or have tough feet — every 6 to 8 weeks. (Chapter Preventing Equine Health Problems has more info about shoeing and hoof care.)
- Preventative veterinary care: Regular health maintenance for most adult horses includes vaccinations, deworming several times a year, and teeth floating once or twice a year. Teeth floating doesn’t mean your horse’s teeth will be set adrift in a bucket of Efferdent. Floating is another term for filing them down. See Chapter Preventing Equine Health Problems for details.
- Veterinary treatment: When a horse gets sick, the problem can be anything from a minor illness to a situation that requires major surgery. As an owner, you must be prepared to spend money on veterinary treatment whenever your horse becomes ill.
- Insurance: If you insure your horse for major medical, mortality, loss of use, and/or liability, add the premiums to your list of expenses. (See “Investigating Horse Insurance” later in this chapter for more info.)
- Training/lessons: New horse owners with little riding experience need to continue their own and their horse’s educations with a trainer or riding instructor. Training is a must if you intend to show your horse, and weekly training or lessons for horse and/or rider are an expense.
- Show expenses: If you plan to show your horse, you’ll spend money on show clothes and tack, entry fees, and transportation. (See Chapter Competing on Horseback for details on showing.)
Watching the clock: Time issues
Owning a horse is much more time
consuming than people usually think. The daily care of a 1,000-pound animal
that can’t be housebroken is involved.
If you’re keeping the horse at
home, and the horse is going to be in a stall, you must find time to feed it
two to three times a day and make time to clean the stall (remove the manure
and soiled bedding) at least once a day. Add the time to do these chores to the
amount of time you need to spend grooming and exercising the horse, and you’re
going to spend a noteworthy chunk of your day on horse care.
Warning!
Although a horse can be an ideal family companion, don’t expect your kids to take on too much of the time responsibility. Sure, they can help out, but as the adult, you’re the one ultimately responsible for the horse’s care and wellbeing. And considering how most kids are about such things, you’ll probably end up having to make time to do the work yourself.
Staying loyal: Commitment issues
You have to be willing to be
there for your horse every day, rain or shine, time or no time. You can ask
yourself the following questions to help determine whether you’re ready and
willing to make this commitment:
- Am I willing to give up some of my other activities to spend time caring for my horse?
- Am I willing to drop everything and run to my horse’s side should he get sick?
- Am I willing to spend time giving my horse medicine or treatment if he becomes ill?
- Am I willing to take time out of my busy day, each and every day, to groom and exercise my horse?
- Am I willing to work with my horse to solve any problems the two of us may encounter?
- Am I willing to perform the sometimes hard physical labor that horse care calls for?
- Am I willing to think of my horse as a partner, one who deserves the best care and treatment, regardless of the inconvenience I may experience?
- If I am buying this horse primarily for my children, am I willing to continue to care for him even if my children lose interest?
If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you’re ready to make the commitment to horse ownership.
Exploring which way you want to ride (and how you want to learn)
If you haven’t yet figured out
how you want to ride, flip to Chapter Selecting
a Riding Discipline to decide which discipline interests
you most. Four popular styles are hunt seat, dressage, saddle seat, and
western. Figuring out in which discipline you want to ride is one of the first
decisions you need to make, because the way you ride determines what kind of
horse you buy.
Most horses are trained in only
one or two of the disciplines, so you then may want to get some riding
experience in the discipline you’ve chosen to make sure that you really like it
before you commit to buying a horse and tack that you can ride only in that
style.
Learning to ride is one of the
smartest things you can do before you go out and buy a horse. Although this
statement sounds obvious, if you don’t know much about riding, you may not
realize how hard it is and how much work proper riding takes. After all, you
need to know much more about riding than just hopping up on the critter’s back
— which isn’t that easy, either!
Remember
Some of the benefits of learning to ride before you get your own horse are
- Knowing for certain that riding is something you truly enjoy because you’ve already been doing it.
- Having a good sense of what type of horse is best for you, based on your riding style and skill level.
- Evaluating horses for purchase with better insight from being able to ride them competently.
- Avoiding the risk of ruining a new horse with poor riding skills that can disrupt its previous training.
- Enjoying your new horse right away, instead of spending precious bonding time just trying to learn the basics of riding.
We cover a few ways to get some
riding experience in the following sections.
Taking regular lessons
You look for riding lessons by
cracking open the telephone book and searching under the heading “Riding
Academies.” If several riding facilities are accessible to you, contact an
equine veterinarian in your area for help choosing a good one. Tell members of
the veterinarian’s staff that you’re looking for beginning riding lessons and
ask whether they can recommend a good facility in the area.
Tip
After locating a facility, we recommend that you take an initial riding lesson in the discipline of your choice, and if you like the instructor and the quality of the experience, sign up for a series of lessons. Most facilities offer discount packages of four or more lessons.
If you’re arranging riding
lessons for your child, make sure that the facility you call offers lessons for
young riders in your child’s age group.
Remember
The number and type of lessons you ultimately take depends on what you can afford and how much you still need to learn. We suggest that you take as many lessons as fit your budget. Group lessons are less expensive and can be a fun way to learn from watching others. Individual lessons cost more, but you’ll get more personalized attention from the instructor.
Some people continue to take
lessons for years, gradually moving up in their individual training level just
as any athlete does. You can never educate yourself enough about riding. In
fact, Olympic equestrian team members continue to take lessons even after
they’ve won gold medals!
Attending horse camps
A horse camp is another way that
you can start riding. By attending a horse camp, you can combine a vacation
with an intensive riding experience.
Horse camps are resorts that
specialize in equine activities. Most offer lessons for beginners and enable
you to spend a concentrated amount of time with and around horses. The camps
provide access to other activities — tennis and hiking, typically — but you
have the option of spending all your time checking out horses. (See Chapter Riding
for the Fun of It for details on horse camps.)
Remember
Horse camps are a great way for beginners to start riding. However, plan to continue your riding education when you return home from your vacation. True, you’ll get a good foundation in the week or two that you spend at horse camp, but this short amount of time isn’t enough for you to completely develop your riding skills. Sign up for ongoing lessons at a local riding academy to give yourself more time learning in the saddle.
Participating in adult education programs
More and more community colleges
and private learning centers are offering introductory courses in riding for
adults. These classes can be a great way to have a first experience on a horse
because they almost always include riding lessons. Basic information on equine
anatomy, care and feeding, grooming, and other aspects of horsemanship often
are often a part of these courses.
You can find these courses in the
continuing education catalogs you get in the mail, or use the Internet to
browse the curriculum of the community colleges and private learning centers in
your area.
Using breed club programs
A number of national breed clubs
sponsor programs that introduce people to the world of horses, particularly
that association’s breed. These programs match up beginning riders and
experienced professionals within the given breed. The goal is to give new
riders more information about horses and to assist them when they’re ready to
purchase that breed of horse (for a list of breed clubs, see the Appendix).
Avoiding rental stables
Warning!
Rental stables are places where you can rent a horse in increments of one hour and take the horse out on a trail ride, usually with a group. Instead of offering riding lessons, these facilities stick you up on a horse and send you on your way. Most rental stables offer nothing in the way of instruction and plenty in the way of potential disaster. Stay away from them while trying to acquire basic horsemanship skills.
Although you can find a few good
rental stables, they are not common. At most rental stables, the horses are
poorly treated and make terrible mounts. Because they’re ridden day in and day
out by people who don’t even know the basics of riding, they lose whatever
training they may have had when they first came to the place. Horses that are
uncooperative and sometimes even dangerous are the end result.
The sad truth is that most first riding experiences occur at these kinds of stables. Consequently, most first riding experiences are unpleasant ones. Ask your non-horsy friends about the first time they ever rode a horse, and you’ll see what we mean. Tales of horses trying to rub riders off on trees, horses rolling on the ground with the riders still in the saddle, horses running back to barn while the riders hold on for dear life — these all are common rental stable stories.
Establishing responsibility for your horse
Before you go out and start
looking for a horse, figure out exactly who is going to ride it. Is the horse
just for you, or will your spouse or children also be riding the animal?
Remember
When more than one person in your family is going to ride the horse, you must consider those individuals as you’re figuring out which horse to buy. The horse needs to be suitable for the family member with the least amount of riding experience. If you’ve been riding for years, but your spouse has never been on a horse before, get a horse that can take care of a rank beginner (sorry, dear). Meanwhile, sign your spouse up for riding lessons.
Tip
If your children are the only ones who plan to ride the horse, then you’d better be absolutely certain that they’re committed to riding (as committed as a child can be anyway). After all, if your kids can’t even sit relatively still through The Incredibles, they may not be ready for the amount of concentration that’s required in horseback riding. Make them take riding lessons for at least a year before you actually buy a horse. If they’re still enthusiastic about riding after taking instruction for that long, then they’ll probably stick with it after you purchase a horse.
Deciding between leasing or buying
Most people who want a horse have
the impulse to buy one. Many horse lovers have dreamed of having their own
horse since childhood, and as adults, are in the position to make it happen.
However, owning a horse requires a huge commitment in time and money. So, we
heartily recommend another option: leasing one.
Remember
Leasing a horse instead of or before you buy one gives you a great opportunity to find out what horse ownership is all about before you commit to it. When you lease, you function pretty much as a horse owner but without the same financial or long-term pledges.
Shortages of horses that are
available for lease never seem to occur. On the contrary, leasing is a perfect
arrangement for an owner who doesn’t have time to ride the horse, doesn’t have
the money to care for him, or no longer has the desire or ability to ride. Why
don’t people in these situations just sell their horses? Because leasing
enables them to stay in control of the horse’s fate while eliminating some or
all of the ownership responsibilities.
Warning!
Although leasing can be a great way to test out your commitment to horse ownership, the one pitfall is that you can find yourself growing attached to the horse you’re leasing, only to discover that the owner refuses to sell the animal or wants to sell but you can’t afford to buy.
We give you the scoop on leases
in the sections that follow.
Deciphering different types of leases
Leases, which often are flexible,
can work in a number of different ways. The one you ultimately choose needs to
be the one best suited to your own needs and wants. Some examples of common
lease arrangements include:
- Full leases: The owner leases the horse out completely, letting the lessee keep the horse in the facility of his or her choice. The lessee pays a flat fee upfront on the lease for a given amount of time (usually a year) and assumes all of the horse’s maintenance costs, including food, shoes, and routine veterinary care. In most cases, if the horse becomes seriously ill or is injured, the owner is responsible for the horse’s medical bills. These leases sometimes come with an option to buy the horse at the end of the lease term. Consider this option if you want to get a realistic taste of horse ownership before you commit to buying one or if you don’t have the cash upfront to actually purchase a horse.
- Full leases with stipulations: The owner leases the horse to you but requires that the horse be kept at the owner’s or another approved facility. The lessee can ride the horse each and every day, but must request permission to trailer the horse off the property or do anything out of the ordinary with the animal. Payment arrangements tend to vary considerably with this type of lease. Owners sometimes charge a monthly fee for the lease, which may or may not include the horse’s vet care and shoeing. This lease arrangement is good whenever you want to get a sense of horse ownership without the total commitment of buying. Because of the stipulations, these kinds of leases often are cheaper than straightforward, full leases.
- Partial leases: With a partial lease, or half-lease, the owner leases the horse to a lessee for riding only a few days a week. Oftentimes, the owner rides the horse on the other days. Sometimes, the owner gives two half-leases to two different people, who end up sharing the horse. In a partial lease situation, the lessee rarely pays for any costs other than the leasing fee. This option is great if time and/or money are limited.
Finding and choosing a horse to lease
Locating a good horse to lease is
much easier than finding a good horse to buy, in most cases. Here are some
methods:
- Word of mouth: Asking around at boarding stables is one way to find horses for lease. This method seems to work particularly well — undoubtedly because of the strength of the horse-owner grapevine.
- Trainers: Horse trainers often have clients looking to lease out their horses. Asking trainers in your area may turn up several options.
- Advertisements: If your area has a horse-oriented publication, check the classified section for “for lease” ads. Tack and feed stores almost always have bulletin boards with notices featuring horses for lease.
Remember
When you consider leasing a horse, evaluate the animal as though you were buying it. Because your commitment is limited in a leasing situation, you don’t need to be quite as certain of your choice, but you still want to make sure that the horse you choose is good for you. For more about characteristics to consider when choosing a horse, see “Considering a Horse’s Traits” later in this chapter.
Tip
If you’re going for a full lease, where you’re be responsible for all the horse’s veterinary care, you may want to pay for a basic veterinary prepurchase exam to ensure that the horse is healthy. People often don’t take this step because of the costs involved, but you may want to consider it. Check out Chapter Making the Big Buy for more info about prepurchase exams.
Securing a written agreement
Tip
A lease is a business transaction, so put the details of the arrangement in writing and have both parties sign the agreement. Having the agreement looked over by an attorney before signing and then notarized upon signing also is a good idea.
Remember
If the owner doesn’t offer a contract, draw one up yourself or have an attorney do it for you. If the horse’s owner provides a contract, make sure that the document includes these details:
- Names: Your name, address, and telephone number, and that of the horse’s owner.
- Description: The name and a description of the horse, including age, color, height, and registration number, if any.
- Purpose or intent: How you intend to use the horse — trail riding only, showing in hunter classes, and so on. Write out all intended uses you have for the horse (after discussing them with the owner).
- Equipment: Whether the lease includes use of the horse’s tack.
- Restrictions: What you won’t be doing with the horse. If the owner doesn’t want you to trailer the horse off the property, for example, the owner needs to stipulate that information in the lease.
- Care requirements: Any physical care the horse needs, including grooming, exercise, feeding, and so on. Don’t forget to include any regular medications or treatments the horse is receiving.
- Riders: Who is permitted to ride the horse.
- Lease terms: How long the lease is for, and whether it’s renewable.
- Options: If you hope to buy the horse at the end of the lease, make sure that the contract includes an option to buy.
- Price: The price you’re paying for the lease and how you’re going to make payments.
- Insurance coverage: Details on what kind of insurance covers the horse, particularly who is responsible for maintaining the premiums. If no insurance covers the horse, indicate who is responsible if the horse is injured, becomes ill, or dies. See “Investigating Horse Insurance” later in this chapter for more about insurance.
- Medical care: State who is responsible for paying the horse’s medical bills.
- Cancellation policy: Indicate whether the lease can be canceled, by whom, and under what circumstances.
- Availability: If you’re signing a partial lease, spell out which days you can ride and which days the owner or other lessee is using the horse.
Considering a Horse’s Traits
Okay, you’re certain that you
want a horse, can afford it, have the time for it, and you’re ready for the
commitment. Now you need to start thinking about what kind of horse you need.
In the sections that follow, we provide you with a few important
characteristics to consider when thinking about what you’d like in a horse. In
Chapter Making the
Big Buy, we get into deeper details on horse selection.
Thinking about a horse’s age
Age is an important factor when
selecting a horse, for reasons we’ll explain in the sections that follow.
Knowing why age matters
Warning!
The idea of getting a young horse may be appealing because of the potential for the animal to live longer than an older horse. However, you can’t go in a worse direction when purchasing a first horse. Young horses typically are inexperienced and full of bugs. They don’t have much confidence or knowledge, and their training usually is only cursory. Combine these elements with an inexperienced horse owner or rider, and you have a recipe for disaster.
The notion that a young,
untrained horse and an inexperienced rider can learn together is a romantic one
that doesn’t cut it in the real world. In these situations, the horse generally
becomes unmanageable, the rider becomes miserable, and the relationship
dissolves into disaster.
Remember
When you’re learning to ride and care for a horse, your best teacher is an older, wizened horse that forgives your mistakes and helps show you the right way to do things. Horses older than 6 years are adults and capable of the kind of equine maturity and experience that you need in a first horse.
For example, coauthor Audrey
Pavia got her first horse at the age of 13. She’d been riding for a couple of
years but definitely was a neophyte when it came to horse ownership and serious
riding. The horse her parents chose for her was a quiet, affectionate, older
mare named Peggy, who was about 15 years old. Peggy had seen it all — including
little kids who didn’t really know how to ride — and she patiently taught
Audrey much of what she, your humble author, now knows about horses.
Breaking down age differences
The horse world has standardized
ways of evaluating horses by their age. In humans, we think of youngsters,
teenagers, adults, and senior citizens. Well, equine equivalents of these
stages of life exist, too. You may be surprised to see how horse age groups are
similar to human age groups.
Although horses tend to age
somewhat differently based on breed (larger draft and warmblood breeds take longer
to mature than smaller, lighter breeds), what follows is a generalization about
how you can categorize horses by age. Looking at horses’ ages in this way helps
you get a sense of who they are at any given point in their lives:
- Foals: Foals are baby horses, anywhere from newborn to the age when they are weaned from their mothers (4 to 6 months, usually). Foals are physically awkward and curious about their surroundings, not unlike human infants and toddlers.
- Weanlings: Weanlings usually are anywhere from 4 to 6 months in age. As the term suggests, they are babies who have been removed from their mothers. In human terms, weanlings are equivalent to preteens.
- Yearlings: Yearlings are young horses that have reached their first year of life. They are the equine version of a teenybopper.
- Young horses: Horses in this category are 2 to 3 years old and are just starting to be trained for riding. These are formative years for a horse, and equivalent to the older teenage years for a human. These horses tend to be harder to work with because they’re not yet mentally mature. Physically, they’re pretty much grown up, but they still have plenty of mental growth to go. Horses in this age range are not usually suitable for beginning riders because of their lack of training and maturity.
- Young adult horses: Horses in the range of 3 to 6 years old are in their peak learning phase. The majority of a horse’s basic training takes place during this stage of life. As the horse slowly matures physically and mentally, he becomes ready to take on the role of serious worker and companion. The human equivalent to this age group is the late teens to early 20s. Most horses in this age group still are learning and so often are not right for beginning riders. Exceptions to this rule do exist, and mellow horses in this age bracket can be found.
- Adult horses: This category is for horses between 6 and 14 years of age. Horses in this age group have matured physically and mentally, and most of their training is complete, so they’re ready to do their jobs happily. Adult horses are similar to humans in their late 20s to late 40s. Horses at these ages can make good companions for novice riders, provided their training has been good and they aren’t too full of energy.
- Senior horses: Horses 15 years old and older are seniors. Just like humans in their senior years, 15-year-old horses start to become arthritic and may have other health problems. When a horse reaches the age of 20, it moves into the upper reaches of the senior range (the human equivalent of the mid-60s and 70s age bracket). Horses at this age usually make good mounts for beginners. They have seen it all and done it all, and not too much fazes them. They tend to be mature, mellow, and forgiving of beginning riders.
Studying horse bodies
A horse that has a better build,
or conformation, is the one most capable of doing the work humans ask of
them. If you take time to study a horse’s structure and anatomy, you develop an
eye for what horse people call good conformation. Horses with good
conformation are the ideal for most horse people. The following sections tell
you how to spot both good and bad conformation. (See Chapter Understanding
Horses from Head to Hooffor additional
general info on horse parts.)
Recognizing normal conformation
Before you can spot the abnormal
(covered in the following section), you need an idea of how a horse with normal
conformation looks. When viewing a horse’s legs from the front, drop imaginary
line from the top center of the leg (at chest level) down to the ground. The
centerlines on the legs of a horse with good conformation essentially split
each leg in half all the way to the ground and appear to be parallel with each
other.
Do the same thing when looking at
the foreleg from the side. In your mind, draw a line from the top center of the
leg all the way to the ground. A horse with good conformation has a centerline
that splits the leg to the level of the fetlock (the horse’s ankle), and then
falls to the ground just behind the heel. (See Figure 4-1 for front and side
views of straight legs.)
Figure 4-1: A horse with good
conformation has a well-balanced appearance.
Figure 4-2: A horse with
good hind-leg conformation is more likely to stay sound through the years.
Remember
Although these lines and angles may sound like a lesson from geometry class, they’re important indicators of the effects of concussion, the impact of weight on the ground as it’s felt through the horse’s legs and hooves when it moves. A horse with proper leg angles is able to absorb the concussion more effectively and efficiently, thus placing less stress on its joints than a horse with the wrong angles. A horse with good angles is more likely to stay sound and healthy into old age than a horse with poor angles.
Detecting conformation faults
No horse is perfect. Every horse
— just like every human — has some physical characteristic that is less than
pleasing to the eye. In horses, these conformation faults not only
affect the appearance of the horse, but also the horse’s ability to function
properly in its work.
Remember
Just because a horse has some conformation faults doesn’t necessarily make it a bad horse; however, being aware of those faults can help you know your horse’s limitations. Ask a vet, trainer, or wise horsy friend to help you learn to spot these faults.
Leg faults are a common problem
for horses and can cause performance and health troubles. Spotting conformation
faults in horses helps you anticipate a horse’s potential troubles. Here’s a
list of some typical leg conformation faults that can affect a horse’s health
or ability. You can learn to recognize them by sight. To spot these, view the
horse when it’s standing still and alert:
- Base narrow: Base narrow is the exact opposite of base wide (see next item). When viewed from the front, the distance between the imaginary centerlines of the legs is narrower at hooves than it is at the chest, meaning they tend to point inward from top to bottom. This construction occurs in wide-chested horses and tends to go with toed-in or toed-out hoof conformations. Horses with base narrow legs carry more weight on the outsides of their legs, which means that bruising, sidebone (where cartilage in parts of the foot become bony and hard), and arthritis commonly occur in these horses, affecting the outside of the leg regardless of whether the horse is toed-in or toed-out.
- Base wide: When viewed from the front, the centerlines of the legs of horses with base-wide conformations are wider at the hooves than they are at the chest, meaning they tend to point outward from top to bottom. This fault tends to show up in narrow-chested horses and usually goes hand-in-hand with toed-out hooves. As a result of this construction, the horse carries more weight on the inside of the leg, so the hooves tend to land on the inside first, creating more strain on the inside of the leg. Horses with this conformation are more prone to problems on the inside of the leg such as bruising, sidebone, and arthritis.
- Bowlegged: The centerlines of the legs of bowlegged horses, when viewed from the front, arc outward at the knees. If the bow in the legs is severe, the horse may be more prone to developing arthritis in the knees.
- Calf knee: The forelegs of calf-kneed horses appear to bend backward at the knee, when viewed from the side. When asked to work hard, horses with this problem may suffer from chip fractures of the knee.
- Knee-sprung: Knee-sprung horses, which also are described as being over at the knee, have forelegs that appear to bend forward, when viewed from the side. If the problem is severe, the horse is prone to developing issues with the sesamoid bone, with resulting lameness.
- Knock-kneed: The legs of horses that are knock-kneed, when viewed from the front, have knees that appear to come together. If this construction is severe enough, it can cause arthritis in the knees.
- Sickle hocks: With sickle-hock construction, the horse has too much angulation of the hock and stifle. Sickle hocks are the opposite of being straight behind, and can result in arthritis of the hock if severe enough.
- Straight behind: The straight-behind build means the horse has very little angle to its hock and stifle. Horses that are straight behind are much more prone to hock arthritis and locking kneecaps.
- Toed-in: Also called pigeon-toed, this conformation fault results in hooves that point toward each other. The legs usually start to turn inward at the level of the fetlock but may start as high as the point where the leg meets the chest. This conformation causes the hooves to paddle, or swing outward while moving, creating interference between the legs and possible injury.
- Toed-out: Also known as splayfooted, toed-out hooves point away from each other. Similar to toed-in conformation, the toeing out may start at the fetlock or higher up the leg. Horses with this problem tend to wing, or swing inward while they’re moving. Sometimes the hooves can wing in to the point where they hit each other.
Looking at gender differences
Among humans are boys and girls
and men and women. Horses, however, have a whole slew of genders that we show
you in the following list:
- Colts: Intact male horses younger than 4 years old, colts typically are full of energy. The older ones are looking for females under every rock.
- Fillies: Females younger than 4 years old, fillies are the female horses that hormone-enraged colts most eagerly seek. Like colts, fillies also have considerable energy, but they aren’t as hormone driven as their male counterparts, and they don’t hide under rocks.
- Geldings: Geldings are castrated males. Many horse people think geldings make the best mounts because they aren’t plagued by hormones and the distractions that often accompany surges of these chemicals.
- Mares: Mares are female horses ages 4 or older. We think that mares make wonderful companions, although many people find some mares difficult to handle whenever the mare comes into season (heat). Hormones, you see.
- Stallions: Colts that are 4 years or older with their reproductive organs intact are called stallions. They have a strong interest in breeding that can drive them to distraction, so they aren’t recommended for beginning riders. In fact, many boarding stables don’t permit them on the premises because they sometimes are unruly. Only experienced horse handlers have what it takes to train and manage most stallions.
Warning!
Realistically, your choice of horse is limited to either mares or geldings. If you’re thinking about a stallion, forget it. Few stallions are suitable for beginners, no matter how romantic the notion of riding one is. And all stallions come with logistical problems. For instance, most boarding stables won’t allow stallions on the premises. If a stallion gets out of a pasture and impregnates a neighbor’s mare, the situation is ripe for a lawsuit.
Remember
The question of whether to get a mare or a gelding is a big one to some horse people and not something that everyone agrees upon. Many people own only geldings, while others swear by mares. Some people don’t have a preference one way or the other. The decision on whether to get a mare or a gelding ultimately rests with you. If you don’t have a preference — most people don’t — then just look for the best horse regardless of gender.
Investigating Horse Insurance
Before buying a horse, think
about the possibility of getting insurance coverage on the animal. Your horse
represents an investment in money, time, and emotion, that makes insurance a
good idea. Companies that specialize in insuring horses offer many different
kinds of equine insurance. Explore all the types of insurance to see which ones
you want to buy for your new horse:
- Major medical: Major medical policies for horses are similar to the ones humans buy. The policy covers medical costs like diagnostic procedures, surgery, medication, and visits by a vet associated with an illness or injury. Preventative care is rarely covered. A deductible for each incident is common with major medical policies. You must supply a veterinary health certificate to assure that your horse has no preexisting conditions at the time you take out the policy. Age restrictions often apply to older horses; it’s rare to find a policy covering horses aged 15 or older. Most companies require you to cover the horse for full mortality if you want to insure for major medical.
Tip
We highly recommend major medical insurance. If your horse develops a serious illness, veterinary bills can mount quickly.
- Surgical: Surgical coverage is a medical policy that applies only to situations where surgery is required. You must also carry a full mortality policy on the horse. If you can’t get or can’t afford major medical insurance, surgical is the next best thing. It protects you and your horse if the animal requires colic surgery or another operation.
- Full mortality: Full mortality insurance covers the horse if it dies because of illness or accident and usually pays the estimated or declared value of the horse. Full mortality coverage is effective if the horse is stolen and not recovered. The insurance company requires a veterinary health certificate indicating that the horse is healthy. If your horse is older than 14, you may have trouble finding coverage.
If you paid a substantial sum of money for your horse, full mortality insurance is a must. Even if your horse didn’t cost that much, realize that without this insurance, your horse’s unexpected death can result in a loss of your investment.
- Limited mortality: Limited mortality usually only covers death as a result of accident or other specified causes. Because the policy doesn’t cover illness, the insurance company doesn’t require a health certificate.
Warning!
You’re unlikely to need this insurance on your horse unless you have special circumstances that place your horse at risk of an accident. A typical example of special circumstances is shipping your horse cross-country. If you insure your horse with a limited mortality policy, and your horse dies in a trailer accident during the trip, the insurance company will pay out the value of the horse.
- Loss of use: If the horse is injured or ill to the point where it can no longer be ridden, loss of use insurance compensates you. You’ll be paid a predetermined sum, which is based on an amount of money agreed to by you and the insurance company. Loss-of-use policies require that you also carry some type of medical coverage.
Some horse owners like to have this option. Some policies allow the owner to euthanize the horse and still collect loss of use, while others allow the owner to keep the horse even though he can’t be used for the specific purpose that the policy indicates.
Warning!
The downside of loss of use coverage is that it is difficult to collect on and many companies don’t allow the owner to keep the horse, which means the horse is turned over to the insurance company, which likely will sell it for slaughter.
- Personal liability: This type of insurance protects you if your horse injures someone or damages property. Your homeowner’s insurance may already provide you with this coverage. Carrying personal liability on your horse is always a good idea, if you can afford it. You never know when your horse could accidentally hurt someone or cause damage to another person’s possessions.
The cost of insurance depends on
where you live and the type of insurance you purchase. If you plan to cover
your horse for major medical and full mortality — the most common insurance
coverages used by the average pleasure horse owner — expect to spend several
hundred dollars a year.
Tip
To find an equine insurer, ask your veterinarian for a reference. You can also peruse the advertisements of most any equine publication. Most insurers take out ads regularly, both large ads and classified listings. Locate an insurance plan that you want to use and be prepared to insure your horse the same day you buy it. Doing so affords you maximum protection for your investment.
Finding Expert Help
You can never educate yourself
enough when it comes to horses. Even the most experienced, savvy horse people
strive to gain more equine knowledge.
As a first-time horse owner, a
whole world of information and experience awaits you. And the best place to
garner that knowledge is from the professionals who deal with horses: your
trainer (or other equine expert), your veterinarian, and your farrier. These
people can guide you and help you with your new horse, so selecting them
carefully is important. Take the time to get to know how each of these
individuals relates to you and your horse.
Before you go out and start horse
shopping, line up some solid people to help you with the task. Finding the
right horse isn’t easy, but you have better chance of making it happen when you have a decent
trainer (someone who teaches horses and humans) or riding instructor (someone
who teaches humans), veterinarian, and farrier to hold your hand through the
process.
A trainer or riding instructor
Remember
For beginning horse people, we can’t stress enough the importance of getting help from someone more experienced and knowledgeable about horses, both before you buy your horse and afterward. Owning a horse for the first time can be challenging, and few things are more terrible than the feeling you’ll have if something goes wrong and you have no one to turn to for help. Having someone to call when you have a question, someone to show you the ropes and actually teach you, hands on, how to handle, ride, and care for your horse can make all the difference in the world.
A good horse trainer is the best
person to help you with your search for a horse. Horse trainers are able to
evaluate a horse on the ground and from the saddle. They can ride any horse
you’re considering to make sure the animal is safe and well suited to you.
Assuming you can’t find a
qualified trainer, a riding instructor can assist you with finding a horse, if
he or she provides this service to clients. However, an instructor may not to
be willing to ride the horse for you to determine its suitability, because many
instructors do not provide this service.
How to find a trainer or riding instructor
Tip
You have a number of options when looking for a good trainer, or at the very least a riding instructor, if no trainer is available in your area:
- Contacting an organization that certifies riding instructors: Listed in the Appendix of this book, these organizations may be able to provide you with the names of certified instructors in your area.
- Attending a few horse shows in your area: As you watch the classes, you’ll notice trainers and riding instructors working with their students on the sidelines. The trainer or instructor is the one functioning as a coach of sorts, giving advice before the student enters the ring, and constructive criticism or congratulations after the class is over.
Find a good moment and approach a trainer or instructor who seems to be working with students who are in your age range. Tell the trainer or instructor that you’re a new rider, ask for a card, and get basic information about that person’s program to make sure that he or she works with beginners. The person you contact may not have time to talk to you at length during the show but should be happy to discuss his or her program with you over the phone at a later date.
- Looking in your phone book: Check under “Riding Academies.” Call a few trainers or instructors and talk to them about their riding programs. Let them know you’re a beginning rider who’s interested in learning horsemanship so you can eventually purchase your own horse. Take note of the person’s personality, and get a sense of whether you think you’ll work well with that person.
- Asking around for a referral: Call a tack and feed store, a local equine veterinarian, or just talk to some horse owners in the area. Ask for the name of a trainer or instructor who works with beginning riders.
Remember
Be sure to choose a trainer or instructor who incorporates different aspects of horsemanship in his or her program. You should not only learn to ride a horse but also to groom it, put on its tack, lead it, and care for it after riding.
What to do if you can’t find a trainer or instructor
If you live in a small town or
rural area, you won’t have many choices when it comes to picking a trainer or
riding instructor. In fact, you may not be able to find one you like, or any at
all, for that matter. If that’s the case, the next best thing is another equine
expert of some kind. The expert you find may be an equine veterinarian, a horse
breeder, a shoer, or even just another horse owner who’s been working with
horses for a long time and really knows his or her way around a stable.
Remember
When you don’t have access to a professional horse trainer or riding instructor, you have to be creative in finding someone to help you with your horse. Go to a local horse show and introduce yourself to the competitors. Call a vet or farrier from the phone book. Do whatever is necessary to make contact with people experienced with horses and willing to lend you a hand.
If the expert you come up with is
an equine professional, you may have to pay that person a fee to help you buy a
horse, give you lessons, or teach you other aspects of horsemanship. If the
person is a stranger to you, you need to at least offer to pay. Many horse
people are more than willing to help a new horse owner, and some will provide
you with free guidance out of the kindness of their hearts.
Tip
Several breed associations now offer mentor programs to help beginning riders hook up with experienced horse professionals. See the Appendix for a list of breed associations.
A veterinarian
An important person in the lives
of you and your horse is your veterinarian. The vet you choose ultimately
provides your horse with regular preventative care and is the one who shows up
in the middle of the night when your horse is colicking or has seriously
injured itself. In emergency situations like these, your veterinarian appears
as a guardian angel coming to Earth to rescue you from whatever trouble you and
your horse have gotten into.
You won’t need a regular
veterinarian until after you purchase your horse. But you need to start
searching now, because you need one for your prepurchase examination (see
Chapter Making the
Big Buy for details).
Tip
Before you actually start shopping for a horse, locate the veterinarian you want to hire to do the examination. Begin your homework on this subject long before you find a horse for the vet to look at. The night before you want someone to conduct the exam is not the time to start shopping for a vet!
If you like the prepurchase
veterinarian, you may want to consider keeping that person as your regular vet
after you purchase a horse. If that’s your plan, make sure that you evaluate
the veterinarian per our advice in Chapter Preventing
Equine Health Problems.
A farrier
Before you buy your horse, you’d
be wise to start looking around for a qualified farrier. The farrier is
the person who trims and shoes your new horse’s hooves.
Remember
Finding a really good farrier is incredibly important. A good farrier helps keep your horse’s legs and feet healthy and sound. A poor farrier can make your horse lame and even permanently destroy his soundness.
Obviously, given the effect that
your farrier has on your horse’s well-being, the selection you make regarding
this equine professional is rather important. The best person to ask for a
farrier referral is a veterinarian. For more details on how to make the best
possible choice in farriers, see Chapter Preventing
Equine Health Problems.
by Audrey Pavia with Janice Posnikoff,DVM
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