From three horses to two…feels much easier. Anyone else?

cariadbach10

cariadbach10

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My big mare went to her lovely new home yesterday, leaving me just with my ridden horse and a small companion.

Much as I was sad to see her go, I am finding myself breathing a huge sigh of relief to be back down to two. It feels like a disproportionately huge reduction in workload already! And mine are at home, so I have far less to moan about than some.

Has anyone else found that three is SO much more work? Two is a pair, but three is a herd, somehow…..
 
cariadbach10 said:
My big mare went to her lovely new home yesterday, leaving me just with my ridden horse and a small companion.

Much as I was sad to see her go, I am finding myself breathing a huge sigh of relief to be back down to two. It feels like a disproportionately huge reduction in workload already! And mine are at home, so I have far less to moan about than some.

Has anyone else found that three is SO much more work? Two is a pair, but three is a herd, somehow…..
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Someone is just bound to say it is necessary to have a companion for the companion….
Well done, enjoy!
 
We always intended to be down to 2 as we get older and indeed it is much easier, they can live out because they happily fit into the shelter together. When we had 4, they had to live in pairs because 2 of them didn't get on at all.
But if i could have the big Draft mare back again, I'd happily do the extra work.
 
Well I had 3 in full work about 3 years ago - that was too many - so I sold one to a friend. Then last summer i went down to one, as i had a really good offer for my younger horse, who is now having a brilliant time eventing with a young rider. I have enjoyed just having one, however my old boy is beginning to show his age a bit (he is 22). he is still perfectly rideable but really just happy to hack about and jump the odd log etc. So on Tuesday next week I am back up to 2, my new 3 year old is arriving. The plan is to back him next year and he can take over as the old boy slows down. I am always happiest when I only have one in full work.
 
catembi said:
I was briefly down to two at one point...OMG it was soooooo easy! Now back up to four, not quite sure how that happened...! They're at home and know the routine so easy to do but it's hard work in winter & I regularly ponder my life choices when dealing with 16 muddy feet...!
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Many years ago I used to ride an endurance horse who competed for the English team. She was fed on oats, bran and molichop. Sometimes a bit of garlic was added.!! How things have changed
 
We were astonished at the change. Our costs went down drastically as we needed much less hay. They all lived out with a shelter and adlib hay. We thought 2/3 of the hay we'd used the previous year would be correct but it was a lot less than half, and obviously there was a corresponding reduction in droppings to contend with.
 
Strangely I'm the opposite, having had 3 for 9 months i recently went back up to 5 and we're all much happier. Easier to get one or two in and out, they seem happier with chopping and changing from a bigger group.

Three was harder than four for our set up.
 
I agree with the even numbers, if you've got them at home. I have four, bit when Little Madam went away for weaning, I was down to three, which meant I had to take all three at once somehow from one field to another. With 4, I take them 2 by 2 and nobody's left alone.
I have always said I wouldn't replace my Old Lady when she goes, but that means that if I take two out together when the youngsters are backed, one will have to stay on its own. I'm toying with the idea of offering retirement livery in that case to have the companion without the cost.
 
Having recently lost coblet we're down to one and its a breeze! He lives out 24/7 with my friends 3 geldings and I'm already noticing the difference in time and financial saving eg livery, hard feed, farrier trims, insurance premiums, etc
Having said that I've also found myself back on FB looking at ponies!!
 
I thought the same when I lost big B 2 years ago. I loved big B but was really enjoying just having the 2, seemed much less work, so much more time to actually spend with them. Now I'm just down to 1 after suddenly loosing P a few weeks ago. It's been hard. I'm borrowing a horse off a friend until I can find little B a suitable companion. It's been an extremely stressful few weeks, and still ongoing. I've sworn I'd never have just 2 again because of the situation I'm in now. For me 3 is definitely the magic number.

In other words having 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on all have their pros and cons
 
I think the costs are so high at the moment that it makes the jump feel much bigger than it used to when adding in another horse.
 
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