Looking for info on keeping horses in USA

S

sonjafoers

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 May 2009
Messages
2,107
Visit site
My husband & I are toying with the idea of moving to the States and I would be taking my horses with me. We have found 2 properties with land, one is in Maine and the other in Tennessee which is the more likely as our friends would be living close by and as I'd be like a fish out of water in the early days it makes sense to have someone I know around.

I've thought of the dilemmas of different feed, farriers etc but what I don't know is anything about the grazing and how this will have an effect on them. The property in Tennessee is currently a horse ranch so I'm assuming the grazing is suitable for equines but can anyone offer any advice on what I should be finding out about the land/grazing as I'm not sure what type of grasses grow naturally in the area.

Of course I'll be doing a lot of research before anything is decided but if anyone can give me any tips or provide me with any information about keeping horses in Tennessee ( or anywhere in the States ) I'd be very grateful.

Thank you.
 
Try this in the Overseas forum.

Also go on COTH, Horsetopia, both are US based forums.

There are plenty of people here with experience of the US.

I love property hunting, we are house hunting too.
 
Both States you've mentioned tend to keep horses in a similar fashion to Brits ie. larger paddocks or small fields rather than pens like you see elsewhere in the country. I've only been to Maine once in my life, and I will only ever have been to Maine once in my life by the time my life is over ;) Tennessee on the other hand I've been to many times and it's a lovely State (imo). It's a big hay making State so you should be fine for hay and they often get 4 cuts of hay per season down there. You know what my vote is! :)

Enfys said:
I love property hunting, we are house hunting too.
Click to expand...

You are :eek: where are you going?
 
Ok Spring Feather that sounds quite promising, well unless we pick Maine!

The land at the Tennessee property is split into large fields with some natural shelter, it's not too dissimilar to what my horses have now in terms of area/set up but I'm not sure what actual grasses grow. 4 cuts of hay sounds good though :)
 
There is a women on COTH named Tamara in TN. PM her as her family have a superb hay making business.

Very hot and humid in Tennessee for the summer months and I mean humid. Horses spend the days inside under fans and graze at nights. Droughts have been real issues the last few years. Winter very little snow and not drastically cold. There have been some crazy rain events again the last few years in spring but they don't last like over here. Crazy thunderstorms.

It is a beautiful State. Maine is too but really winter there is quite long and never ending. Cheaper to live in Tennessee.

Feeding is basically the same. Big feed companies promising everything. Very little to no chaff though. Easy to get things like Unmolassed beet and flax. Wormers are very cheap as are most meds but vet call outs can be quite pricey. Shoeing much more expensive. When you know of where you will be ask for references for vets and shoeing for the type of riding you will do.

Make sure you get health insurance. This will be pricey and most likely you will have a huge deductible. But you do not want to go to the hospital on Christmas Day with a nasty ear infection and walk out with a 5k bill. You really need to think about this in relation to your move. M

PM me if you need any help. I'm an American living here so I know what culture shock is like!

By the way am jealous. I have 5 horses, 3 dogs, and a cat to get home! Not this year anyway!

Terri
 
Tennessee is nice, you'll like it I'm sure. You are aware though that they get tornados and often beaten up by the aftermaths of hurricanes? Just thought I'd pip that in there. Overall though, I'd way rather be in Tennessee rather than Maine (sorry to any Maine lovers). Where about in Tennessee are you looking to move to? A sneek preview of the properties for us nosy posters perhaps? :D
 
Thank you SF & EI, we've done quite a bit of research with regards to us living there but it's the horses' grazing that's worrying me - they come first when considering this as I know the dogs will settle, but for the horses it's going to be quite a culture shock.

Yes I know about the humidity and the tornadoes/hurricanes, it seems 15 tornadoes a year isn't out of the ordinary :eek: The property comes with a storm cellar but I'm not sure the horses will squeeze in!

Thank you for telling me about Tamara EI, I'll PM her and see what I can find out with regards to feeding the horses.
 
As far as grazing goes I don't think you'll have issues but ask on a place like COTH and even Tamara.

My interpretation from living in both places and information available, I don't seem to think lami is as prevalent. There's a huge bare movement as well which is all diet too. In summer more horses would live out at night and in during the day due to heat and flies so that's done anyway. Spring and fall are danger times like here. People act accordingly. Farming of cattle is mostly big corporations and very few small family operations so not likely horses will be grazing land for cattle. You can also contact Katy Watts of safer grass.org. She can run you through hot weather grasses vs cool weather grasses and what you can expect with moving from the UK to US. I'm not explaining this very well but there are differences which I think contribute to more lami here. And it's not ignorance of either side. Just differences in temps, horse keeping, and land not being so much farm land as here. Obviously it still exists.

Hope some if this helps.

Terri
 
Thank you Terri you've been really helpful. One of mine is a mini and although he's never had lami it's something I'm concerned about when considering the move.

I'll get in touch with all those you've mentioned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top