Owning a horse is never a sensible decision… discuss

blitznbobs

blitznbobs

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I have owned horses all my life and can’t imagine my life without them. I never profess that this is wise or sensible. Yes they give me a reason to get up in the morning and are my version of Prozac but some days they are also the reason I sit in a wet field sobbing my heart out.

So is there any scenario out there where buying a horse is the sensible thing to do?

Discuss
 
I think if your finances allow for it, and by it, for when it can all go wrong too, plus the up front loss of the purchase price, then I see it as being no less sensible than those who sail, have a motorbike etc etc ;)

I could afford to have my own, but I choose not to as I'd rather save the money primarily in the hope I can eventually buy somewhere, however small. I think that probably leans over into being more boring than sensible 😂
 
I hear you and generally I think it’s a mad thing to do… however 🙈 we have an elderly pony on loan. He will be 29 in April and we will have had him 3 years by then. We have 4 others (🫠) but one is a mini with EMS and loan pony is a companion for him, as others are in the main field.

I am considering offering the owner £1 to buy the old lad. I can’t see him ever going back, she doesn’t come to visit and we love him and wouldn’t want to give him up. I feel like taking on ownership in this case IS a sensible thing to do?
 
I don't think it's a 'sensible' decision, but I try and live my life doing what makes me happy and on balance, the horses have made me more happy than sad overall. Its like having children or being a nurse, neither of those are objectively sensible from a financial or free time perspective, but they make people happy so they do it!
 
blitznbobs said:
I have owned horses all my life and can’t imagine my life without them. I never profess that this is wise or sensible. Yes they give me a reason to get up in the morning and are my version of Prozac but some days they are also the reason I sit in a wet field sobbing my heart out.

So is there any scenario out there where buying a horse is the sensible thing to do?

Discuss
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Obviously it's not financially sensible, and they can be a huge tie, but I do think horse ownership brings a number of benefits including mental and physical health. I accept it's a somewhat ridiculous price to pay for those things, but I do believe horses and being around horses is very good for me mentally! I know some will say you can get the same benefits from a loan or a share, but having done those things, and having to deal with ponies being sold on etc when I was younger, I really wanted the security of owning my own!

Although I bought my first house whilst owning a horse, so it hasn't completely scuppered me financially.
 
I don’t think it’s like addiction for me it’s part of me I also have the same feeling about dogs in particular Labradors , I love my cats but if tomorrow I was without them I would not feel I had lost part of my self I would / will with dogs and horses .
Whatever it was that tugged me towards horses did so before I was old enough to remember it I have always been that way.
My mother first noticed it when she saw me spending hours looking at the cart horse in a felt book of farm animals .
 
Clodagh said:
Now that I no longer have them I think you are all insane. Apart from for the truly mega rich horses are just both bank account and heart breaking.
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I totally and utterly agree with you. Each night before I venture out into the cold and wet to hay them for the night I think that I could just sit here with a nice cup of coffee gazing with adoration at the balance on my bank account thinking how well I've done. I feel the same on the nights when I am doing my 2 hour shift sitting in the stables with whichever little darling has decided he would really like to use my debit/credit card to the limit.

If you apply logic then of course it is neither wise nor sensible. Financially it can never be sensible. Your money would earn more interest in even the lowest paying interest account.

However it is a way of life and I can't imagine stopping anytime soon.
 
Good question Bitznbobs. I am not sure that owning horses, or indeed any animal, is exactly sensible, but they do bring a lot to our lives. In past years, when I have had incredibly tough times, my animals gave me a reason to get up every day, and to have at least some hours when I was focused on them, not on other problems. This probably still does not make owning them exactly sensible, but I suppose a lot of the other things that people turn to in such times are worse. Although horses cost money I always feel that I would be filling those hours with something, probably over-working, which I have done in the past, and which had a negative impact on my health. Other things that some of my friends do are eating out often, shopping, or even a couple who seem addicted to botox and similar, which also cost money. We eat in restaurants once in a blue moon, I have never even considered botox or anything else, and I don't really remember when I last purchased any new clothes.

I am not sure that I could ever say that horse ownership is 'sensible', but I do think that in some instances it is better than the alternative!
 
I don't know, it trains you in resilience, responsibility, frugality in every other respect than the horse, first aid, patience and in leadership/ assertiveness skills.

I would be at a loss as who to even be if you took away horses, my whole life has shaped around attachment to them. I wonder how my life would have been had I found a different fixation as a pre-teen. I don't let stuff go or change much so the only time it was a decision, AFAIC, was at the start.
 
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If having 1 horse is bonkers, how about 4..... I have no idea what keeps me endlessly going back for more, but I have been obsessed with horses since I was tiny. I have 4 of my own horses and I still can't go past a horse in a field without craning to look and exclaiming 'horseee!"

I have arranged my career around the horses and plan my riding diary first, then fit work in around that. I also think I will one day give it all up. I am very much an all-or-nothing person and I think I could walk away and not really miss it. But for now, they remain an all consuming passion. And definitely not a sensible one!
 
For me, I'm hypermobile enough that if I don't ride, I have to swim & go to the gym or, as my muscle mass deteriorates, my joints start to sublux easily and I end up in a lot of pain all the time. Then there's the mental health benefits - I wouldn't be able to work as much or as well without the stress relief the ponies provide.

For my family - we're all hypermobile but my daughter is the worst, scoring top of the scale. I have friends who are similar and don't ride and their lives are full of physio, swimming, OT and they are STILL in pain. One of those friends rode as a teen, stopped as a young adult, ended up in constant pain for years until she could start riding again. As a working adult with her own horse she's pain free, enjoying life and happy.

Again, we're all neurodiverse and my kids, when feeling overwhelmed, really need the sensory reset the ponies provide. On Facebook groups for similar 'diversities' people comment how much horses help. We had a tricky switch over from first ridden to 2nd pony this summer for my daughter, and in the weeks before she formed a proper bond with pony no.2 (who did nothing wrong at all, she was more than ready for him) life was not fun! Lots of crying, lots of signs of not being regulated and not coping. We persevered, the shetland helped a bit, they built a bond and he's doing a fabulous job of keeping her happy and able to cope with life. The time we spent this year with my husband being minus a pony was also horrible. He was grumpy and stressed and just not himself at all. The literal second he showed interest in one I was like, 'Yep, looks great, let's buy it now!' On the way home, my kids commented that that they'd forgotten what 'nice Daddy' was like. One pony later, and he was his normal soft, kind, helpful self again.

I literally can't imagine life without them.
 
This year is the first time since childhood that I haven't owned horses. I always differentiated our "personal" horses from the "business" (riding school) horses as I felt I had to keep that distinction mentally as, inevitably, some of the business ones had to be sold on no matter how much I loved them. We lost our last personal horse 2 years ago which was heart breaking but I wasn't well enough to ride enough to justify a replacement. This summer I decided to close the riding school so sold all the horses and ponies, I was lucky, they all got lovely homes and several have stayed here at livery so that helped make things easier. I still have 21 horses here with the livery business so I still get plenty of horse time without the responsibility and costs of being an owner albeit it still with the usual YO headaches. I suppose the next step will eventually be no horse contact at all whether by selling up or letting someone else run the business but so far, doing it in small steps has made things easier for me.

I love having our dogs and I think being without them would be unbearable, probably because they are my constant companions both in the house and outdoors, I would hate to be too old or infirm to have them.
 
Weirdly, I think in some ways having a horse has made me more fiscally responsible in others of my life than I'd be. Like, there's a big part of me that would love multiple four figure hand bags or flashy foreign holidays but I just don't think I could justify spending so much money on other things so saving, investing sensibly etc has become more important presumably to ease the guilt of spending so much money on what many consider a hobby!

Yes, my bank balance would be better without horses but I think I'd still end up spending a large amount on less soul-fulfilling 'stuff'

For all the heart ache, far too early mornings and expense there's a rhythm, peace and appreciation of the little things that horse's bring too to my daily life too. Like, how many other people really get to experience sunrise hacks before work? Or sit quietly in the middle of a field after a busy day of meetings with their horse and just really 'be' with their horse?

I tell myself that priceless (and I do geniunely think that it actually is).
 
Ample Prosecco said:
If having 1 horse is bonkers, how about 4..... I have no idea what keeps me endlessly going back for more, but I have been obsessed with horses since I was tiny. I have 4 of my own horses and I still can't go past a horse in a field without craning to look and exclaiming 'horseee!"
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I do the same with "Greeeeyyhooouund!" which only started after we got our first dog. I don't know why it's so much more exciting to see some random Greyhound walking along when I'm driving when I have one at home. Maybe it's because it makes me think of her. Obviously also do the "horsey" thing too. Does anyone not?! :D


I am a bit concerned that no matter how much I read on this forum that by logic should put me right off, the dream of having my own horse won't die for me. Like @Wishfilly I do still think a share is not the same (different problems I guess!) Even when I'm having an absolute confidence crisis, I just cannot let horses and riding go, I'm hungry for more and don't want to give up. Like @Ample Prosecco I hope I can make my work/life balance come out in favour of as much horse and dog time as I can.
 
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