Things that surprised you about horse ownership

How OCD I would become about horse care- the state of beds, stable floors, feed bowls, water buckets etc.

How much I would begrudge having to grovel to get things done on livery and by involved professionals. The sense of not being in control.

I now have a very good fixed smile, 'Oh don't worry about that', when somethings not been done as agreed or been broken. 'Could you possibly.....?'
 
When I first had one, I just found it scary how different they were to a dog (!) and what a shattering level of responsibility it was owning one. I used to be amazed to arrive at the field and see my pony was still alive. Since then I have had one or two that I half wished were not…..but even 30 years later, I still marvel at just how very special they are and unfailingly appealing, and dearly beloved
 
Chianti said:
How much I would begrudge having to grovel to get things done on livery and by involved professionals. The sense of not being in control.
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Oh the yard owner/ horse owner relationship is a constant source of confuddlement. I assumed I was a customer and was paying for a pre-agreed service from a business, which was very silly of me. It seems. 😂

To be fair both my YO have been mostly fine, but some of what you hear!!! 😭
 
How little actual riding you get around to doing, particularly in the winter!

This sums up the swamp of opinions that horse ownership is, and how confusing it can be!
Tarragon said:
I have found that there are as many different ways to manage and work with horses as there are to parenting. Some are obviously wrong, but many are just different.
As you get older, you work out what works for you and ignore the rest. I love this cartoon! Personally, I am the one on the right ;-)
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ihatework said:
How my mood is strongly linked to my horses health and happiness
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I can cope with anything provided my horses are doing ok. If there’s a problem with one of them, my whole life gets affected.
Typically, my horses always have a way of getting weird and wonderful rare complaints that end up baffling the veterinary profession.

I’ve had horses since childhood so I don’t really remember what surprised me about horse ownership. My mum always said that she assumed horses were big tough creatures that rarely went wrong and she was quite shocked to realise that they are permanently looking for reasons to die 😂
 
lme said:
How unbothered I am about actually riding them. I just like the company of horses.
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Same here, especially in winter!
I am rapidly becoming a pony patter, and I’m ok with that.
People keep dogs and those dogs don’t need to be ‘useful’, so what’s wrong with keeping horses and not riding much. Yes it’s more expensive than keeping a dog but it’s my money, my choice.
 
Having had my own pony since the age of 3, I cannot remember a time without them, so nothing about them surprises me. My OH on the other hand did not have anything to do with them until he met me. About 35 years ago he agreed that we should get a donkey, as he said "Donkeys do not need vets", oh dear he soon learnt the hard way that donkeys do in fact need vets.
 
smolmaus said:
Oh the yard owner/ horse owner relationship is a constant source of confuddlement. I assumed I was a customer and was paying for a pre-agreed service from a business, which was very silly of me. It seems. 😂

To be fair both my YO have been mostly fine, but some of what you hear!!! 😭
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A constant source of stress. On one yard in two years I went from being told ' This is a service industry and if you're not happy you must say' to ' you know your standards are too high'. I assumed from that that it was unreasonable to expect people to do hat they'd said they'd do and what I was actually paying them to do.
 
The first thing i panicked about when I got my horse was how little I knew😁 But after a week or so it all came back to me😀
Luckily, she was on full livery and I was never at risk of killing her😈
It was the cost of saddles and saddle fittings that I couldn't beleive. In the books, it just seemed to easy to get a cheap saddle that fitted straightaway
 
I've had horses forever so can't think of any surprises with them but moving from my own field to livery when I was 23 was an eye opener.

The open judging and bitching, 40 year old women behaving like school kids! And the YOs, constantly changing rules, special rule-breaking privileges for people they like, doing absolutely no upkeep.

I guess I also can't believe how much the price of everything has increased. I kept 3 horses comfortably (extravagantly even!) on a 26-year-old's wage, I have no idea how people manage now.
 
I’m just over a year into horse ownership, and I’m still amazed at how much I enjoy the time I spend just hanging out with my horse. Also how very silly mine can be, despite being 19 and having enough experience to know better, but I wouldn’t have him any other way.
 
Like some of you, I have had horses for so long that very little surprises me. Some things frustrate me (i.e. megalomaniac yard owners), but I am certainly not surprised, as that is SOP.

So I asked OH, who came into horses via me, as an adult; he doesn't ride, but he does a ton of the horse care, and he likes being with them, and he's better at handling fractious horses on the ground than (a) most of the yard staff, (b) most owners, and (c) me.

He said that he's surprised by how compliant most horses are. They are huge, powerful animals - even a 12hh pony is stronger than most adult men - yet they try to understand us and get along and generally try to comply with the really weird sh1t we ask them to do. He says he's a little bit astounded by this.
 
That i never want to do it again, largely due to how financially crippling it is

Teenage me would never have believed it, but yes it really is possible to fall out of love with horses and horse owner ship

Dont miss it in the slightest
 
Marigold4 said:
Just how strange non-horsey people think owning a horse is. I try to keep it a secret from most people!
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This reminds me of something.

I once felt quite judged by two people I know. I owned a horse at the time that I barely rode (I was one of those people who can always think of a good reason not to ride) and one asked me why I owned a horse if I didn't ride it much. I said, 'It's a bit like owning a cat.' And I felt the undercurrent of their unspoken thoughts: you're dirt poor; why do you own a horse? It hardly compares to cat-ownership :rolleyes:

I know I've got a chip on my shoulder but I get really quite annoyed when I feel that someone thinks they know my personal business. I don't have a love of clothes or makeup or jewelry so I look like someone who doesn't have a penny to my name.

(ETA: Marigold. that's actually a terrific idea.)
 
the fact that people think you must be a) wealthy and b) live on a farm to own a horse. god if they only saw my bank account they would see the reality of owning a horse. love my boy and all the others i have had over the years - santa, adam, toff, yana, tolly, clippy, tom loved them all and won't have ever done anything different. who needs money when you have horses and of course my beautiful cats. what else would i have done with the money - i certainly won't have been as fit or healthy and happy. money is over rated - great if you have some (my grandmother always said i would be great fun to shop with if i had had money) - we can't all be perfect or fortunate to have lots of money - but i would never, ever have swapped having my horses (or cats) for all the money in the world.
 
Caol Ila said:
He [OH] said that he's surprised by how compliant most horses are. They are huge, powerful animals - even a 12hh pony is stronger than most adult men - yet they try to understand us and get along and generally try to comply with the really weird sh1t we ask them to do. He says he's a little bit astounded by this.
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I agree, we sort of have them fooled (horses, not OHs).
OTOH, we give them nice things to eat and I think that goes a long way. I know when someone gives me something nice that I really want (half a mandarin on a bushwalk for example) I am so happy, it's almost silly.
 
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Caol Ila said:
Like some of you, I have had horses for so long that very little surprises me. Some things frustrate me (i.e. megalomaniac yard owners), but I am certainly not surprised, as that is SOP.

So I asked OH, who came into horses via me, as an adult; he doesn't ride, but he does a ton of the horse care, and he likes being with them, and he's better at handling fractious horses on the ground than (a) most of the yard staff, (b) most owners, and (c) me.

He said that he's surprised by how compliant most horses are. They are huge, powerful animals - even a 12hh pony is stronger than most adult men - yet they try to understand us and get along and generally try to comply with the really weird sh1t we ask them to do. He says he's a little bit astounded by this.
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I am still astounded by this, like your OH, and as I get older I find it less and less easy to understand. They are just so generous. I think they were sent to us by the Great Spirit to show us there is a better way.
 
I’ve had horses since I can remember (30 years ish?) and yet every year I’m still shocked by winter and how hard it is. But yet I still muddle through.

I’ve learnt many things over the years, especially keeping my business to myself and out of other people’s. I have recently learnt how hard having your own place is, especially if you rent it from a complete loonatic. I’ve also learnt how being on the right yard is crucial and just how much I missed the perks of a livery yard. We recently went from our our place back to a livery yard with amazing facilities. No more fixing fences, poo picking, charging up batteries, filling up water troughs etc. the idea was better than the reality for me.

But one thing I have learnt, I cannot live my life without my horses and their happiness is my happiness. Yes they’re time consuming, expensive and stressful at times. But those moments when I’m simply stood in the stable enjoying just being in their company and having little nuzzles off them - priceless to me.
 
Caol Ila said:
He said that he's surprised by how compliant most horses are. They are huge, powerful animals - even a 12hh pony is stronger than most adult men - yet they try to understand us and get along and generally try to comply with the really weird sh1t we ask them to do. He says he's a little bit astounded by this.
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Yes, agreed. Tho I'm not so much astounded that in general they are gentle and cooperative as they were always presented to me in that way, its that many people have never seen that side of them as a species and only see them as a sneaky, lazy, dangerous creature to be dominated and controlled. Sad.

Nocturnal said:
How horses can be simultaneously hyper focussed on survival and also hyper focussed on finding every possible way of ending themselves.
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The phrase "Curiosity killed the cat" is wasted when only applied to cats 😂
 
The diversity of friends i have made through horses - its amazing how you can bond from the common love of horses no matter what other differences age, gender, education dont mean a thing.
How generous some people are with there time and energy to organise and help at events for the love of the sport.
The amazing range of activities you can do with a horse, so much more to try.
How rewarding it is when your horses comes when called or winnies
How weather is so much more important to horse people than muggles.
 
Baywonder said:
I had such a shock at how time automatically slowed down when I did anything with my horse.

Many times I would get home, and my DH would be adamant I had been gone for 4/5 hours - when in reality, I had only been at the yard for 20 minutes......😂🙈😳
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Yeah, it's called time dilation. As per physicists (or at least Doctor Who....c.f. 'World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls'), generally applied to black holes. Time in the event horizon of a black hole, or at the barn, passes at a different rate than time outside of the black hole, or outside of the barn. You have only experienced an hour at the barn, but outwith the barn, it's been five hours.

This is a well-known phenomenon.
 
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