For those with multiple horses - why?

We started with two and then decided to breed from one so had three, then over the years lost the two older mares and was left with just Megan so bought the cob to keep her company and then year before last fell in love with a mini so bought her. My big horses didn't like her so bought another mini to keep her company and then last year fancied another mini so bought her too. Now have five but three minis only make one big one. The minis have always been kept separate from the two big ones until last night when they must have broken into the big horses field because that's where I found them this morning so they are all out together today and seem completely settled. As to why I have five the answer is definitely because I can. I wouldn't have more than one if I didn't have my own place to keep them.
 
OH pays for everything I love baby horses so we started with a young yearling highland 16 years ago for him to show this started a trend buy a foal at weaning show until three back at four and sell except the sell bit with two never happened. Bred a foal from the original highland who is now a backed and will be for sale but again the sell bit seems a bit unlikely so we have 4 the two that didnt sell are a wonderful but mildly quirky Connie in that she was for sale but doesnt settle easily away from me so although she is a perfect pony in every way she is stressed by moving home. The dartmoor is just evil and will never be sold, he is the only gelding I have owned in 40 years and to be honest never again all the males round here are grumpy and unpredictable the cat will love you one minute and kill you the next the pony is down right dangerous and I have been advised to PTS and OH is a grumpy miserable git wo will do anything for anyone but dont ask him to smile the other three ponies, the dog and me are all female and all of sunny positive disposition. Funnily even the male canary in the aviary is on his own because he killed all the others
 
I'm another 'because I can' merchant. I had as many as 14 at one time, because I could, ended up having no time to do any of them justice. Have 6 now, still seems like 14 though. ;)
 
I have 4 in total and can only say it's because I'm extremely lucky to have an acre of my own land. I couldn't keep 4 on a livery yard. I do tell people though that i compromise by having lovely horses on my own land with the fact I live in a caravan and can't go clothes shopping as much as I would like to ;)

I don't agree when people collect them as field ornaments, if they can then they should have a job and be worked. All mine are fit and exercised, if I started to struggle to look after them all then I would consider selling or loaning.

I do think do they miss out on attention because I have 4 but I don't think they do. Sometimes I turn two out and keep two in... I don't save time and get anything else done I just end up doing my jobs slower and make more brews. All mine have a different job to do and excel in different disciplines, I love the variety!
 
We have five......

my one is retired at 13 due to KS and is happy being a lady of leisure, I lost my other mare back in may. My brother has two, The little appy who I ride as he now has a weight limit, the big appy who is perfect for my brother (he is disabled). My sister has the ex racer who is a gem and my dad brought home an unbacked 6 year old from the big appys breeders back in july who we are playing with at the moment and he will be sent away to be backed in the new year....

there is five of us in the family and we all share jobs and rides etc so its not really left to one person.
 
I'm up to 4.
1 is my old competition horse/hunter. He's time served & I owe him a happy retirement.
1 is my kids pony. No longer ridden as again retired but the nicest pet & fantastic companion.
3rd was my eventer. He injured himself & his future is looking a bit bleak, however I couldn't live with myself if I didn't see what 6 months of Dr Green therapy did.
As I was supposed to be on a one in one out policy that seemed to be it......but then I got offered a horse which is of the calibre & quality I have previously dreamed about owning. I knew he'd always be the one I regretted letting get away...so...well I didn't let him get away :D
Definitely no more though!!
 
...because Exmoors come in herds! You think you are safe getting one and that you will be sensible enough to refuse the next one...and the next one...and the next one (can you see where I am going with this??!)...turns out willpower is something I am very lacking in when it comes to saying "no" to more ponies!! Thank goodness they are on private land or my livery bill would be more than my mortgage at this rate!
 
Currently we're at 11. It started rationally enough; one for me, a companion, a couple of FTGH's for the children, but as the children grew, I planned for the future by acquiring a couple of colts which would make 14hh; then another couple. I told myself that we would sell the smaller ponies as they were outgrown, but who was I kidding?

What now happens, is that in addition to ponies, we have acquired a little social club of rider/sharer/friends. Instead of riding age/height appropriate ponies, we all swap and change, which is proving to be very good for riders and ponies alike. The only rule is that we kick the kids off the Shetland when their feet drag on the floor.

What will I do when the kids leave home? Well, I've started training some of them to drive as pairs, working up to a team. Who knows, perhaps one day I'll have to exercise them by hitching the whole lot to a little coach, and driving to the pub. ... because I can...
 
pennyturner said:
Currently we're at 11. It started rationally enough; one for me, a companion, a couple of FTGH's for the children, but as the children grew, I planned for the future by acquiring a couple of colts which would make 14hh; then another couple. I told myself that we would sell the smaller ponies as they were outgrown, but who was I kidding?

What now happens, is that in addition to ponies, we have acquired a little social club of rider/sharer/friends. Instead of riding age/height appropriate ponies, we all swap and change, which is proving to be very good for riders and ponies alike. The only rule is that we kick the kids off the Shetland when their feet drag on the floor.

What will I do when the kids leave home? Well, I've started training some of them to drive as pairs, working up to a team. Who knows, perhaps one day I'll have to exercise them by hitching the whole lot to a little coach, and driving to the pub. ... because I can...
Click to expand...

This post has tickled me!! Sounds like a lovely set up.
 
'Because I can' is definitely a good enough reason for me :) I currently have 5.
Two are retired though and are now field ornaments living the good life and I recently aquired the 5th One so now have 3 which I showjump! I have seen another one that I really would like to add to the collection but I'm pretty sure my OH would have something to say about that!!
 
I have 4 but have sort of collected them! Our irish cob,we've had for 8 years and is our daughter's first pony - then kept for my son but he doesn't love riding - the pony has stayed with us because because he's part of the family and muggins here takes care of him.The second is my daughter's horse(after she outgrew the cob),but now my daughter's gone to Uni,so I have her and my 2 are arabs. I initially bought the my arab gelding 5 years ago and he became so precious,I had to have his full sister too. Thank goodness there was only one sibling!

I wonder how many parents have landed up taking on their children's horses?!
 
A few!!! LOL.

What started off as one when I moved down to the forest has grown and reduced and now growing again over the years. I run stock out on the forest too. The collection will grow further next year as Pepsi is in foal.

My boyfriend (who has since become my husband) very kindly gave me some money for my birthday, so I purchased a mare and foal from the forest. :)
 
I have a horse and two mini shetlands. I bought the minis years ago as company for my old horse. I sadly had to have him PTS at the start of this year. Couldn't bear to part with them but have recently bought another horse so I can justify having them again :)
 
I have three, probably soon to be four! and another I look after for a friend.
I bought first pony aged 12 as a novice, she has always been super stubborn and I had a good couple of seasons with her jumping (she won all the time, but only at her favourite venues, anywhere new and she had a tantrum :P ) then her tendon went, so had to rehab her and decided I should buy a project to bring on and sell while I waited for her to get better. Well I got too attached to my project as I found myself with a very non-stubborn-jumps-anything type so I ended up with 2 horses :D so I thought, ok I'll try again and ended up with three :p managed to part with the project ....eventually.. and now have another project, but I'm getting a bit attached to that one too so might have to try again with another one.... which will bring me up to four, plus friend's horse which makes 5.
 
ended up with four for some bizarre reason this year! Main reason is that i have friends who are also horse hoarders (waves to ais m!) and encourage this kind of behaviour!
 
Definitely because I can!
My now retired eventer/hunter
A 5yo hopefully next hunter that we bred (to go racing) but was limited in speed so he 'needed' a job, isn't a serious event prospect but has a fabulous attitude, so hunting fitted the bill for him & replaced my now retired (ish) one
Then, because he wasn't going to event, in June I bought myself a very lovely 4yo, with the plan to event him next year.
My kids have a pony each, we have the mare that bred the 5yo, & then there's a 4yo (homebred) away in training & a very well retired pointer (the first one I had) out on loan
That's the least we've had for a long time, I sold a couple last year that just weren't good enough to do what I wanted, so hopefully now, the 4 & 5yo have plenty of years of fun in them, because I suspect I'm going to be looking for a 128 jumping pony before next summer! (What did I start!)
 
pennyturner said:
Currently we're at 11. It started rationally enough; one for me, a companion, a couple of FTGH's for the children, but as the children grew, I planned for the future by acquiring a couple of colts which would make 14hh; then another couple. I told myself that we would sell the smaller ponies as they were outgrown, but who was I kidding?

What now happens, is that in addition to ponies, we have acquired a little social club of rider/sharer/friends. Instead of riding age/height appropriate ponies, we all swap and change, which is proving to be very good for riders and ponies alike. The only rule is that we kick the kids off the Shetland when their feet drag on the floor.

What will I do when the kids leave home? Well, I've started training some of them to drive as pairs, working up to a team. Who knows, perhaps one day I'll have to exercise them by hitching the whole lot to a little coach, and driving to the pub. ... because I can...
Click to expand...

Sounds absolutely brilliant! Two questions...
1. what is an FTGH?
2. Will you adopt me ?
;-)
 
I could certainly do with less! In an ideal world I'd like just 1 horse and 1 tiny pony for my son - back to the simple days when I only had 2! I've not had less than 4 horses for quite a few years now. Currently I have 3 retired veterans (2 large horses due to injury and 1 is my very first pony in his late 20's) and 1 that I ride and compete. I have a responsibility for my horses so I have to keep them happy into their old age, there's no other option even if it stretches me in time and money. Would love to get my son a little pony (he rides my 'retired' one gently) but I can't until one... well... you know :(
 
2.5 really, two are mine, aged 22 and five. The 22 year old is still ridden and very happy in his life, and the five year old is coming along to take his place. The 0.5 is my husbands loaned horse, all 600kg+ of gurt big strong cob! If I was still in DIY livery I would think I would just have my older boy... As it is our horses live out 24/7, and are simple to cae for and keep.
 
I have two and have had two for a few years, for a number of reasons. I like competing and don't want to do 'overdo' it too much, they have company, I can give them both lots of time off and still have one to ride!
 
Same as you OP because I could!! Seriously though they will not be replaced if anything should happen to them. Horse owing is no longer as much of a pleasure as it once was. I am thin king my mare will go sooner rather than later as she has some ongoing health issues and that will leave me with 2....I have been upto 7 in the past!! Never again, unless I could buy a nice home with land and have a little retirement livery thing going on!!
 
Because I can, we had one each, then loaned our bolshy mare to my daughter, swopped our trailer for her replacement, a 17 1hh TB, he was nappy, prone to rearing, turns out he was in agony with his teeth, before we had his teeth done we sold him on, believing he wasn't right for us, got a 16 3 ex racer as his replacement, so for a shortwhile we had three, own place, no problem, TB went off to new home, lost the ex racer to colic 6 months later, (still a huge miss) my lad grieved so badly, I paniced bought a WB mare for company, best buy ever, then I was gifted the 17 1hh TB back, then I saw an ad for a young cob I couldn't resist, so now I have four, a nice well adjusted herd, my big lad and mare are 20 yrs +, the cob is a baby and my lad is 11yrs pls, a nicer mix I couldn't ask for
 
I have five. A warmblood mare who I bought unbacked and have backed myself, she is my horse of a lifetime. A welsh d who I bought as a project last yr and who is now doing amazingly but is a little too "quiet" for me. A three yr old gypsy cob who my friend rescued and then realised that at 70yrs old she probably was too old to be backing youngsters so I took her on, she is a lovely little person. A mini who I got a few years ago as a companion to the warmblood, she is not great at life, easily stressed, cant be left alone, cant be tied up etc. I originally kept her with with a friends mini and when she moved yards and took her boy with her I got another mini to keep no. 1 company as think they really need one of their own or similar size for grooming etc.

Thats it for now but I really want an ex-race horse to re-train... So, possibly six in the near future.
 
OldNag said:
Sounds absolutely brilliant! Two questions...
1. what is an FTGH?
2. Will you adopt me ?
;-)
Click to expand...

1. 'Free To a Good Home' - standard price for a slightly wonky, quirky, young or ungelded addition to the family.
2. Happy to adopt you - we ride out most weekend mornings from Whitchurch, Hampshire, if you'd like to join the fun. The only requirements are that you're small enough to ride 12-14hh ponies, and are happy to ride as if we're chasing something!

:)
 
I'm down to 2 now that the girls have grown up. It should make livery life easier when turning out early/late as I don't have to worry about a lone horse in the field. Unfortunately, we don't have mixed herds here so that reason isn't working anymore.
I could quite easily be tempted to get a 3rd or a 4th, but I'd find the quality of care and exercise would drop now I'm not as energetic as I was 30 years ago.
 
Totally by accident. Was given my boy but he came with a life long companion (who turned out to be my special horse) so 2 then the third was on lwvtb to someone on our yard who decided not to buy her but I had been looking after her and my husband had fallen head over heels in love with her so before we knew it we had paid and had a third! Its nearly bloody killing me though lol!
 
I started with one - and the rest of the yard was let to one other pro rider... They left in one go so had to get a pony to keep my horse company,... Sec a arrived. Big horse went permanently lame and was retired so I bought cobbo to ride and have a laff with ( couldn't afford the type of horse I wanted.) then I was left the 2 minis... That makes 4 and bought the unaffordable horse this year but can't bare to part with cobbo so that makes 5... I am not buying any more... *grin*
 
I had one, then when his arthritis started to get bad I got another so I had something to ride when my first one had to slow down a bit (not that he ever did, bless him!!) Horse no 2 proved to be a bit of a handful over the years, but I kept her as when she was good, she was very very good. When I knew horse no 1 would have to be pts, I bought horse no 3 well beforehand so it didn't feel like he was a replacement for horse no 1. Horse no 3 was a mistake, bought with the heart not the head, but I've persevered. So now I have handful horse no 2 and mistake horse no 3!!! Both are now 22, horse no 2 is still ridden and is a lot of fun - when she's in a good mood, that is! Horse no 3 is retired due to terrible COPD. When one of them goes, I will replace them but when the other goes I'll just stick with one. I think............
 
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