Reality of a Second Horse?

[flying_high]

I have 2 in rehab and ever mounting vet bills..... time wise I pay to have them thrown out in the morning and its about 3 hours a night doing jobs with the pair of them having 30 mins walking every night which is easier as I can do them together but not looking forward to having to separate them and riding both separately. also have to keep an eye on the time every night as have to get child in bed at a reasonable time. Sometimes think should of stuck at 1 but I'm sure most parents think that at some point .

Got that tee-shirt, I had one in long term rehab work, and one in mid term rehab work, and both high cost.

 

[GTRJazz]

I have two and the other half has one but also a loaner, I get to pick up all of the cost but we have got that right down by using 8ft hay and straw bales.
Holiday we all go with all of the horses and dogs normally to Holkham it is nice as said never to have to worry about them been out on their own.

 

[NinjaPony]

It’s almost twice the cost.... I’ve had two for years because one has been retired long term, he’s not ridden but my other is, and I try and make sure he has enough attention too. So it’s not quite twice the time, but having two is certainly more work. The bonus is that when I move, they can always go out together. I have two because I need to- I’d never pass on my retired boy, he is my pride and joy. I wouldn’t choose two again though out of choice, one ridden is about all I can manage

 

[BaaSheep44]

Thanks all, you've given me lots of food for thought. They would both be ridden / competition horses; and like a lot of you have said, i'm more worried about the keeping two fit, rather than keeping two looked after, particularly in the winter.
I wasn't really looking for a second, but been offered an opportunity of a horse who would probably go further than my current one, however, selling the first is totally not an option!

i'll keep pondering!

 

[kathantoinette]

I’ve had two in ridden work for years but am down to one since August. One is fab, so much more time and money on my hands.

 

[Megan V1]

Depends on why you want two, i now have six at home but i don't ride and three of them are minis so find them very easy to care for but if i was riding and having to travel i would prefer just one.

 

[Northern]

Two on DIY and I find it perfectly easy. I manage to ride both of the most days as well, I find if I manage my time well there is plenty of time for everything. Plus I love messing around with two And I know they have a buddy in the paddock.

 

[Greyhorse1]

I would never have more than one ridden horse at a time again.

One is manageable for me, keeping two competing fit almost killed me.

 

[awelshandawarmblood]

Do what I've done, one with me now on local livery & a youngster away from home on youngstock livery - makes me feel less guilty!! haha But in all seriousness, my riding horse is only in work Oct to April roughly due to pollen allergies, so I only need to worry about working 2 over winter & not for a good few years yet! I don't think I could cope with 2 in full work all year round.

 

[Chippers1]

I bought my newer one after my old pony retired, new lived out 24/7 old was stabled so not much more work or cost - until a month later when new pony fell in field and ruptured a tendon! So then I had two stables, twice the cost and work and no riding horse he was on box rest for four months (over the summer as well...) so prepare yourself for every eventuality, I wasn't prepared for that to happen!

Sadly lost my old pony the year before last and I do prefer having one again.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

One horse is easily manageable, 2 horses doesn't take twice as long it actually takes longer than that. I have 3 horses, all on DIY & that takes an insane amount of time, specially when you need to school them (all compete). The old saying that "2 can live as cheaply as 1" is a load of bunkum, they can't & it costs a fortune! I would never sell any of mine, love them to bits, I kind of got the third one by accident, but there is a massive change in your life when you have more than one horse both in time & finances.

 

[Jaybugg]

Agreed double the work time and money.

 

[ycbm]

I am retired and find two in work a lot of work. I have no idea how people with a full time job do it. And I absolutely don't understand what anyone in a relationship with a person with two horses in work and a full time job gets out of the relationship except a night spent sleeping next to a warm unconscious body 😂


If you are going to do it I would say make sure they are compatible physically. If they need different management, that's a real problem. One of the reasons my cob was sold was because he would have needed so much work to keep his weight down this summer that I would have too little time to ride the other. Two with exactly the same exercise, turnout and feed needs are much easier.

 

[{138171}]

I have 2 on diy one ridden and (only just) retired. I work full time although it's shift work. I don't find 2 much more than one in terms of doing jobs, set yourself a specific order to do things and you'll be fine. I have to stick to my routine jobs wise or it takes me much longer. I did have 3 on diy at one point and that was to much.

 

[Equi]

I have 6

Big horse is DIY assisted livery. Minis; I have two at home to drive, two youngsters to get show ready and one retired blob who just farts about getting in my way. Ill be honest in that my big boy get the most attention during winter, the driven ones get a little work to tick them over, in summer it is the opposite and the driven/show ones get the attention and big boy goes out to pasture.

Honestly, i can only do this because i work 24hr shifts thus have a lot of days off. If i worked 9-5 1 horse might even seem too much to me.

 

[Cocorules]

Two in ridden work was doable for me when I worked standard hours in a week, but finished work at 3. Nowadays I work longer hours, want to spend a little time with husband and do some other forms of exercise and that isn't practical without serious sleep deprivation.

The cost of two makes a difference too.

 

[milliepops]

I love having 2, I never ever want to go back to only having one working horse i think you always need a spare
I work from home which means my free time is comparatively greater than when I had a long commute to work. I think that really helps if you are full DIY.

As others have said, it makes management easier at DIY as they always have a friend around, there's no stressing about what other liveries are doing.
The time commitment is not quite double, if they are sensible enough to lead together etc, and making 2 feeds takes moments longer than making one for example. Plus time spent going to buy bedding etc - you're only making one trip still.

I find it reasonably easy to keep 2 in work, I had 3 in work for a spell and that *was* a big commitment on top of a full time job.

I have 4 altogether now but 2 are fully retired and take minimal time, literally 5 mins a day to check they are upright

 

[TotalMadgeness]

I've got 2 and would agree with the other posters. Looking after wise - not too bad especially with hubby helping. Exercise wise - virtually impossible to juggle effectively with work, weather, energy levels etc. Especially now as both were recently diagnosed with lifelong conditions which means both horses need time consuming and consistent exercise plans. The other downside is separation anxiety. Very difficult to deal with when you want to take one to a show!

 

[elliejhb]

I have 2 on assisted DIY so only go once a day, we purchased the mare as our old boy was starting to slow down due to arthritis and doesn't like to travel.
I've found that an extra horse has added about an hour to my day if I only exercise 1 of them. My husband rides the boy when he comes down to the yard (2-4 times a week) or I'll exercise both if I have time.
It is harder work and costs more money but I'm enjoying the differences between them and feel my riding has improved.

 

[paddi22]

I found it impossible to have two horses in proper competition work at the same time. I ended up run ragged with them - if i took two to the one show then i found I was rushing warmups and unfocused, and ended up just doing both below par. When I took them to different shows I never seemed to have a weekend day off at all, and I felt like I was spending all my time driving to shows. It is really tough to have two going at the same time and keep up with lessons, clinics, fitness.

The pluses are that my riding got much better going between the two.

It depends as well what discipline you do. I event, so the time taken to keep two running at the same time was just too hard

 

[DabDab]

I have three at home, up from having one on diy up until 2.5years ago.

Two of mine are in work atm and the other one I'll get up and running this year. If I wanted to event even one of them I think that I would struggle, but schooling for dressage/hacking/general nice riding horse I don't find too much. I generally ride two of a morning before work, and then I can muck the three out and have them in in about 45mins in the evening. If I have to be at work early then they have the day off. If I have a busy week then they have the week off. Such is life - they're my hobby and I enjoy riding them so I take care not to make it a chore.

Money wise it's approximately double for two in comparison to one. And the bill for routine stuff like vaccinations suddenly becomes slightly eye watering.

 

[indie1282]

I have two but would love one! I've had two for 10 years and when one went to be broken in and I was left with one ut was heaven!! I rode him everyday, he was looking fab but trying to keep two in work is difficult tbh. I have rarely ridden them in the past few years as I cant seem to get any enthusiasm at all - I think I dont really have the desire to ride anymore but as they are both homebred there is a strong tie. One thing I have found that does help is to not have them both in work at the same time, so that the pressure to ride both isn't there.

The time spent doesn't bother me but the money does!

 

[Tarragon]

I have had two for a long time now on DIY livery.
On the plus side I prefer it as they are their own little herd so they are settled as a pair and I get more options regarding turnout etc. and I also enjoy the variety of the work as I can pick and choose which to ride and what to do each day. I am now adapt at riding and leading so easy to keep them both reasonably fit. Both are happy to be left behind so that is a bonus.
On the downside, it is double the livery and double the cost. I wouldn't say it is double the work though but am I not quite sure why that would be!
If I had my own land I would happily take on more

 

[Tarragon]

This is quite a timely post I was considering getting a third again but I think that I have had a reality check and I will stick with just the two

 

[nikkimariet]

Two horses is manageable. Three is deffo where the balance tips!!!

 

[paddi22]

If they aren't in hard work its fine, what killed me was double the supplements, double the physio costs and especially double farrier!

 

[AFB]

Personally I hated having two. I constantly felt torn between them and guilty if I spent more time with one than the other (which is inevitable if you want to ride in the week), and financially it restricted the choice of yards I could pick from and therefore facilities to enjoy my horses.

Eventually put one out on full loan and felt a total weight off my shoulders. Could finally afford to move to a decent yard and properly enjoy the one I was left with God knows what I'd do if he ever came back!!

 

[Hormonal Filly]

I have 2, I love them to bits (and wouldn’t sell either) but I wouldn’t own 2 again. It isn’t the time as much, but the funds wise it costs so much more.

Its twice the cost of everything, farrier, bridle, supplements, feed, saddle checks, back checks, physio, jabs, rent, hay consumption etc. All that money I could be spending on lessons and competitions if I just owned one – it must be a good £250 a month plus per horse I spend a month! Excluding vet bills, jabs and odd things. That’s a good few lessons and competitions paid for.. When I owned 1 I was never over drawn and able to afford rugs when I needed them, as I had money - Now I buy second hand and have to be much more careful.

I find it difficult choosing which one to ride when they were both in work and hard work knowing some days I’d have to ride the other when I got back as it was a Sunday and would like a day off riding on the Monday. Guilty how much time I'm spending with one, is one fitter than the other? One not getting as much attention? etc/

To keep both fit in winter was the hardest, I would be riding every day either just one or twice a day meaning I wouldn’t get a ‘evening off’ and would get back late every evening. It kept me fit and in shape, but so tiring with working full time and having 2 dogs to do. When I go away in winter time, with work, I have to pay the groom to look after 2 horses instead of 1 which works out quite pricey.

Time I don’t find too bad, you get used to it although when my gelding was at horse hospital for 4 days last week it made me realise how time consuming 2 is. For example, I was able to muck out and fill his hay net while he ate breakfast first thing, meaning in the evening I had all the time to ride him and even had spare time to groom him and wash his tail! :O Whereas usually I’d have to muck out the second one and fill nets after work, then ride one or 2. When only 1 is in work, it isn't to bad riding wise.

As above, I’d think into why you want 2? Do you really need a second horse? Can you afford 2, work out costs? I bought my 2nd as a rash decision. He was a youngster and reduced a lot online so I could afford to buy him easily, the owner wanted him gone and I’d had my eye on him for weeks so just went for it. I don’t regret buying him, hes a cracking chap and as bad as I sound above, I am trying just to be as honest as possible, I wish I thought over it more as when I work it out having a second really does make a difference and I really didn't think enough about it.