New horse for the winter - am I bonkers?

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flippa_t

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Hi

I lost my horse earlier this year and after 6 months off (1st time in 20yrs) am missing it like crazy. I'm now at the stage of scouring the for sales ads but not yet plucked up the courage to pick up the phone.

My OH (and most sane people I think) think I'm bonkers as I've managed the gorgeous summer without and now am desperate to buy just as the weather is about to break up, and if we have another winter like last year then it won't be pleasant! I'd tried looking earlier in the year but had had a really rough time with my boy and kind of needed a break emotionally so just did normal stuff, saw friends and got out on my bike etc over the summer, but the daft thing is now the weather is changing I'm missing that excuse to get outside amongst other stuff and riding my friends horses isnt quite the same.

So I guess I'm looking for positives to having horses over the winter to help me rationalise my decision as if I try to think logically then I ought to wait till the spring. I work full time and so need only see my horse in daylight at weekends during the winter so just reassurance that I'm not completely nuts and that there are some Pro's to buying a new horse now would be great - or if I am completely nuts then I'll take that too!

thanks
 
quite honestly you could start looking now and still not find one until the Spring. If you do find a nice one - well you would have missed it if you had waited! Also you might get more of a bargain as people dont want the cost of keeping them over the winter. I think its a good idea (I am looking as well!) because you have time to get to know the horse before you want to go out competing... or of course you could go hunting :)
 
I got my first loan horse the week before Xmas last year. I figured if i could do a winter with a horse I could do anytime with a horse and you know what I got out of bed at 0600 every day before work, I was there in the evenings after work and at the weekends for the whole period of having her ... She was an evil ******* and didnt deserve any of it!

This year I have my beautiful new boy (owned six months) and I'm not too fussed about the winter because as far as I'm concerned NO WINTER will ever be as hard as the winter with that loon!
 
When the times right, the times right :)

I took the summer off horses after my old horse PTS, but started riding & loaning over the winter & spring my old YM & good friends horse. I bought again in the summer, but only as that's when I found Pete.

If you feel ready, I'd start looking now - it may take ages to find your right partner & you may find a bargain, as prices tend to drop in the winter anyway.

Good luck!
 
Personally I would keep looking throughout the winter. If the right horse comes along then buy rather than waiting for spring. If you aim to buy something between now and next Easter for example you won't be in any rush and if you find the perfect horse next week you won't mind going out in the middle of winter. Good luck.
 
goodness, I'd forgotten how long it can take to find "the one"! I was quite lucky with my last horse as found him through word of mouth really quickly.
 
Positive no 1 - they are generally cheaper to buy now

Positive no 2 - if you enjoy your new horse when its cold and gloomy then you will really enjoy it come spring :)
 
There are so many reasons to have a horse in winter:

Curling up with horsey after bedding down

Spending the evenings cuddling up to horsey in the stable when its blowing a hooly and peeing it down outside.

Cuddling up to horsey in the stable listening to them chewing on the big pile of hay they have.

Stirring up a nice warm feed when its blimming freezing.

Stirring feed in general (or is that just me)

Thick warm winter horse coats that you can bury your head in and the smell! Yum!

Cold sunny winter morning walks and rides with horsey:)

Need I go on:) Do it!
 
Do it! Start looking, if the perfect one comes up, grab the chance :) There will be many more winters lol, and what's one more if you have a new horsey friend to enjoy?
 
No you're not. I lost my mare beginning of March and my new mare arrives end of November! I didn't plan for a new one but we found each other. She's only 3 and not what I was ever intending to buy when I planned to buy another. Plan for the winter is to get to know and trust each other. Lots of pampering sessions and walking out in hand. No pressure to ride so lovely and relaxed quality time together with lots of snuggling and cuddles!! Also gives me time to get some lessons to brush up my rather rusty riding skills. Come the summer, she's off to be professionally broken in.
 
Not at all - I love winter as you get a lot more 1-2-1 time with your horse than in the summer, therefore the ideal time to bond with a new one.

Good luck!
 
If the right horse come sup then buy! Its the perfecttime to buy as people will take an offer as they don't want to take them through winter.. i always seemed to end up with a new horse just before or during winter.. you'll be facing lots more winters with your new friend so why not start in winter??

Good luck! I keep window shopping.. some really lovely horses about at the moment..
 
Thanks I was using your rationale as one of the "Pros" to starting to look now - that people might take offers and lots on the market as they don't want horses through the winter, then saw the irony and realised that there may be good reason (if I was a sane person), but after 6 months off I seem to have wiped out the 20yrs of freezing cold and pouring rain and constant darkness from my memory! That and the cost of keeping through the winter! But then I've always used the winter before for lots of training and clinics etc so am ready to go in the spring, so guess thats a positive too (although more money)!

Horses just get in the blood don't they, logic doesnt seem to matter!
 
i agree that the time of year is irrelevant really, in the long run you will have them in the winter anyway. also it gives you time to bond when you can ride less. got my first horse i think in November, didn't really think about it really. then you have got to know them for the spring if you want to go out and about to summer shows ect.
at the same time, don't rush it, look around, but also be brave and phone someone! wont hurt going to look, you never know what you might find. quite a lot of horses people are trying to sell to reduce before winter or because of going off to university
 
Last year my new boy arrived 22/09. I sold him in July. new girl arrives tomorrow! My dad thinks I'm nuts but I rationalised in both cases by saying I have the winter to form a bond and get to know each other to really enjoy the summer, be ready to compete etc. If you start looking now you can always comfort yourself if it takes a bit of time by saying that you're only missing out on frozen water buckets and mud fever!

I like winter myself, being in the stables with warm horses eating away peacefully while the rain patters on the roof, watching them play in the snow, thinking about how cosy they will be in that fleecy rug, the hollow ring of shoes on a wet road on that weekend hack you've been looking forward to all week. Lovely.
 
Yes your bonkers BUT you will be happy bonkers and thats what matters :) and as others have said may take you winter to find that right one. Happy searching fingers crossed that its a quick find AND KEEP US POSTED :)
 
flippa_t said:
Horses just get in the blood don't they, logic doesnt seem to matter!
Click to expand...

This^^^^^^ I tried having a break after my loan went all wrong ..... Saw breeze advertised as 10 months old 900 odd quid, kept looking at her advert and it dropped and dropped and all of a sudden I'm andingover just under 500 for a 15 month old in September, with a 1 year old and 3 year old child in tow :) best thi g I ever did...... Have me the kick up the ass to divorce my husband and ow I have a Oreos 3 year old that has been roen by me :) I live horses in the winter even all the hard work......
 
do it, the longer you leave it the harder next winter will be! at least you've not had a winter off yet :) plus you might get a bargain going into the winter, people who cant afford to keep them over the winter hehe!!
 
Not at all, you can get a bargain at this time of year as if people have decided to sell already they don't want to have to keep them through winter with the cost that comes with it. Even if you bought one in spring/summer youd still have to contend with next winter anyway.
 
Don't buy on a whim, but winter is my favourite time of year with horses. I love the "looking after" that's involved in the winter, maybe it's the mother in me, i love to tuck them in, all snuggly, fed and looked after. Sometimes, you can get a bargain, as people don't want to have to stable and look after them for the winter. Happy hunting, lol. X
 
I would start looking too, and for what it's worth, it was the excuse to be outside in all weathers that I missed in the years after I lost my old girl and before I got my dog (the 2 ponies came later). People think you're bonkers going out in the rain to see a horse, but they think you're more bonkers going out in the rain because you want to go out in the rain!! I've just moved fields with my two and am really excited about this winter, I keep trying to think what it will really be like, but realistically I think by the end of the summer most of us can't remember what midwinter is really like, the same as by Jan/Feb we can't remember what it was like to be warm in a t-shirt!! Good luck :-)
 
The time of year doesnt matter to me.
Good or bad weather i ride and am at the yard.

So who cares if its winter or summer?

You enjoy horses and want your own again so dont let other people put you off!
 
Sorry I've not read all the replies. I got my horse in mid October and to be honest I think it was a brilliant time. We had to get to know each other better faster!
If it had been summer he'd have been out in a field and had far less contact with me, however he was in which ment I spent a lot of time with him and helped the new partnership bonding hugely.
 
My story is very similiar to yours. I got my mare at the beginning of December last year after having around 6 months off due to the sad loss of my late mare ...I was also in £'s worth of debt with the vets, let alone with xmas around the corner! But... it all worked out fine and I've never been happier :)

Do what makes you happy! Winters not all that bad, before you know it it'll be spring/summer again.
 
Great thanks, you've made me feel much better! Just need to pluck up the courage to actually look in person now but don't feel quite so terrified that I might actually find something I fall in love with!

And will blame you lot when I have chilblains and no money again :)
 
Two of my 3 arrived December and February respectively...both former owners were keener to offload/make deals because of the time of year. I did already have one so was doing a winter anyway, but like you say, I actually do like the reason to be outside thro the winter, even when it gets grim...so no, I don't think you're bonkers...as others have said, might take a while to find 'the one' anyway... ;-)
 
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