Thinking of getting a second horse...

milesjess

milesjess

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Well I've had the thought for the past few months of getting another!

Financially I could afford it and there are stables at our current yard and as my horse is turned out alone so they'd be able to share the same field :) plus they'd live out most of the time.

I currently have a 15.3hh gelding so looking at maybe a sec C/D.

How did everyone decide to take the plunge and get another??

Someone talk me out of it please haha.
 
my first horse wasn't able to teach us how to jump over 1m so my dad bought himself one that could. :rolleyes:
It wasn't a problem financially - it just meant that we had twice as much "work".

We're thinking of getting a third if we retire my boy next year :D
 
If living out most of the time then it's a bit better but think changing two sets of rugs, emptying two barrows when they're in, mucking two out, lugging two or four water buckets. Filling 14 haynets per week instead of seven... Or 28 if they get two nets a day!! 28 feeds a week... Etc etc!

I currently have three (against my own free will!!) and god I'd love to be a one horse owner!!

(Can you tell I'm having a bad day!!) ;) :D
 
I bought a 2nd when Lottie started to get old. She semi retired and I missed having 2 to ride so I bought a 3rd (fell for a foal though). 2nd got ill, prognosis not good for remaining in work, so I bought a 4th as foal not ready to back. 2nd got well so I got a sharer for 4th. Circumstances changed so I had to sell 4th, sharer brought Lottie back into more work and rode 2nd occassionally. Lottie became terminally ill and 2nd has COPD so out of work for about 2 months each spring, I backed my youngster (3rd). Sharer now far too tall for 2nd or 3rd, we took on a 4th for her on loan, we share duties, I rarely ride it. Youngster (3rd) and I sadly not suited, both unhappy, so sent her away to gain dressage experience ready for sale in spring.

Missed having 2 in work again so bought 5th

Slippery slope, DON'T DO IT!!!!

I also only have a 2 horse lorry but 2 horses to take places plus sharer's horse, doesn't work!!

Sharer taking more responsibility for 4th time and finance wise so should be down by one in a couple of months when she gets her transport on the road. 3rd is away on loan and hopefully being sold in the spring so I will be down one then too. That will leave me with 3, the original 1 and 2 plus new boy number 5.

My ideal would be 2 but I don't want to sell new boy, he is too screwed up to find a sharer for and I am in no hurry to part with Lottie, she will only go when she goes to rainbow bridge and I would rather be skint and in a permenant hurry than send her there any earlier than necessary.
 
Well its naturally double the work, especially poo picking, and double the worry. However I have had two for several years and found it especially comforting when I lost one last year but still had the horse things to do, I would have been totally lost otherwise. But I always like to have a spare everything,(not OH though) got a spare dog and two guinea pigs.
 
I got horse number two about three months ago, after his first two weeks of being an angel, he has acted like a rodeo horse for four weeks until i discovered he needs riding EVERY day or turns into a loon, he always has a new 'trick'...last night untying himself and galloping across the fields in the dark followed by me and my bucket of nuts was his idea of fun before cantering back to my mare in her stable! Mare is still sedated from shockwave therapy (suspensory ligament done 5 weeks ago!) and is too dopey to care whats going on!

Two horses are great but not last night - or any other night im in a rush! x i love taking them both to a show together and jump one, then get the next one warmed up ready and compete them against each other! I think if my gelding had a bit less 'character' it would be easier and if i didnt have to ride everyday to avoid him turning into a loon! x two horses are great unless you have my one!! :D x
 
Literally double trouble. If your happy with having all your stresses that come with owning your one horse X 2, then go for it :).
 
I have 4, although 1 is out on loan. As nice as it is having more than one it is hard work, not just the yard duties, but riding them. If you have the time & money then go for it, but as others have said its double the work, the nice thing about have 1 you can pamper them more, spend more money on them (as my problem is if I buy something for 1 I want to buy the others something :rolleyes:). Let us no what you decide :D
 
The best piece of advice that my dad gave me was: 'sometimes you have to jump into these things feet first!'

I have two horses for the last 2.5 years, before that I only had one horse for 13 years, with a short period with having a second on loan. There are pro's and con's to it, like everything else.

We have a yard rule that no horse is allowed to be left out in the field on its own, it has to have company, or brought in. Before when I just owned Sammi, I was always first and last up to the yard - and I would have to organise/ask if I could turn someone elses horse out with him - or one be left out with him for when I brought in at night. It was a faff at times, and obviously, I was part doing two horses anyway...

Now I have two horses in the same field - I find it much easier work and less hassle. Turnout is simple, and so is bringing in. I don't have to worry as I know they keep eachother company, and I don't have to communicate to every Tom, Dick and Harry to do their horses too!

Mucking out and haying up an extra stable only takes me an extra 15 minutes. Admittedly, the care and handling side takes longer obviously.

If you can afford it, and have the time, go for it! xx
 
I got a second horse recently - she needed a new home and I couldn't say no. Sometimes I wonder why I decided that having two 5 year olds would be a good idea but actually they compliment each other beautifully. Both are the same height so share rugs etc. It also meant that my first horse got a field friend and the difference in her happiness levels is noticeable, previously she had individual turnout with electric fencing.

It is double the cost!! I also constantly seem to be trying to find someone to hack with me, although both horses will hack alone I just prefer company.

I'm still glad I jumped at the opportunity though :)
 
Spotsrock said:
I bought a 2nd when Lottie started to get old. She semi retired and I missed having 2 to ride so I bought a 3rd (fell for a foal though). 2nd got ill, prognosis not good for remaining in work, so I bought a 4th as foal not ready to back. 2nd got well so I got a sharer for 4th. Circumstances changed so I had to sell 4th, sharer brought Lottie back into more work and rode 2nd occassionally. Lottie became terminally ill and 2nd has COPD so out of work for about 2 months each spring, I backed my youngster (3rd). Sharer now far too tall for 2nd or 3rd, we took on a 4th for her on loan, we share duties, I rarely ride it. Youngster (3rd) and I sadly not suited, both unhappy, so sent her away to gain dressage experience ready for sale in spring.

Missed having 2 in work again so bought 5th

Slippery slope, DON'T DO IT!!!!

I also only have a 2 horse lorry but 2 horses to take places plus sharer's horse, doesn't work!!

Sharer taking more responsibility for 4th time and finance wise so should be down by one in a couple of months when she gets her transport on the road. 3rd is away on loan and hopefully being sold in the spring so I will be down one then too. That will leave me with 3, the original 1 and 2 plus new boy number 5.

My ideal would be 2 but I don't want to sell new boy, he is too screwed up to find a sharer for and I am in no hurry to part with Lottie, she will only go when she goes to rainbow bridge and I would rather be skint and in a permenant hurry than send her there any earlier than necessary.
Click to expand...

I've read this 3 times now and still not sure I can keep up!!!
Well Done.
 
I went from one to three pretty quickly (long story) and I love it but I don't know if I'd be able to cope if I was on most normal yards (not keen on the idea of mucking out 3 stables everyday on top of working full time- i'd have to go for part livery for one or more).

All of my three currently live out. One or two might end up coming in if weather gets bad but I do get help with turnout as part of my DIY livery so I'd still only need to come up once a day but it would probably take me about 30 minutes longer and I'd end up with a bit less quality time with them (or less time with my husband...).

In the summer when I can ride 2 of the 3 it is hard work fitting rides in on both of them in the week (especially as one needs a lot of work) and my weekends are precious to me as I can ride both horses both days which is great!
 
I think having more than one is lovely and definetely improves my riding as my lot are all so different! The difference between 1 and 2 is noticeable as it seems double the work but then the 3rd and 4th dont seem any more work really :D! I too am on a slippery slope and although Im lucky enough to keep them at home, they are stabled through winter and I am DIY. I started with my old "pony" who has a home for life with us on account of giving us so much and we are grateful we decided to as shortly after buying my 2nd he came down with cushings, severe laminitis and is now unrideable so who knows where he would have ended up! Hes more work than all of them put together as all year round hes stabled and only out a few hours each day to help prevent laminitis :(. Then after my 2nd horse decided that he was actually a dressage diva not an eventer I bought my first project who has proved so fantastic that she too seems to be staying put! She came with a freebie companion (ex race) for my old boy. Now Im having a filly vetted next thursday so that will be my 5th!!

It seems like a lot, however old boy is unrideable, ex-race goes footsore a lot so tbh Im not entirely sure I will bother to reback him again next year, Dressage diva is hopefully off to a fabulous new home in spring next year and filly is only 2 so will not be having too much done with her! Im hoping essentially by next summer to be just riding my mare and the filly to be starting doing a few bits and bobs :). The problem is once you get 2 they become addictive!! Point being though, Im a student and I work and I still have time for them all :) (though Im a very anti-social student! :p) my mum does the mornings and I do the evenings as she insisted on keeping old boy and having freebie so they are hers so essentially atm we have 2 horses each. I think if you want it enough, dont mind some extra work and have the finances in place then go for it :) there are a lot of benefits to be had out of having more than one to ride :).
 
I am another currently looking into getting my second horse. My old boy is now semi-retired but i still want to get out competing which was very limited with my old boy any way even when he was in work :rolleyes:

Means I wont be able to eat but hey ho... who needs food :D ** joke (before anyone jumps to conclusions) :rolleyes: **

Basically you have one horse then double everything - thats what i am expecting it to be anyway. So double mucking out / double haynetting / double poo picking / double the money / double the hard work. But also double the FUN :D

I can't wait till i find my new equine friend :D:D:D:D
 
Have to say although as a family we have four, this winter I'm back to mucking out just one instead of two. My mum has started looking after the oldie. It's great just having one to muck out. It frees up time to actually enjoy my youngster!
 
We're on DIY. We were going to get a 2nd about 18 months ago. As it happened a lovely fella on my yard came up for part loan so we took him on instead. This works well for us and also makes us realise that having a second full time just wouldn't work!
 
I'd say go ahead and do it. I initially had 1, then I got one as a project, then I ended up with 3, now I'm back down to 2, lol. I have my mare who I compete now and I have a 3 year old that Im going to bring on/ back etc slowly and hopefully do some serious competition with him in the future.

So go head with it!!!! Its fun and keeps you on your toes :)
 
Do it! :p I went from 1 to 2 then got a weanling.....its the slippery slope, I now have 6 and a full time job.
I don't think going from 1 to 2 necessarily does double the work. You are already having to fill one water bucket, one more doesn't make that much difference. If you are already hunched over a bale filling one haynet its not that much hardship to fill another while you are there.
But then...I am biased!! :D
 
If you have the time and the money, should be ok. But speaking as a current 2 horse owner there are times I think it would be much easier with only 1, but then I think I'm lucky to have 2 so enjoy it! Both of mine are retired, 1 much earlier than expected so I'm in the position of having 2 horses, but no money to afford a 3rd riding horse and really, no time to properly look after a 3rd even if I did have the money.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Think I'm gonna look at trialling it or maybe taking on a full loan initially to see how that goes.

I must be mad! :) haha
 
I've begun to think about another as I've just retired my lovely TB, through soundness issues.
When my financial situation improves, I'd be looking for a nice youngster to SJ/low level eventing and dressage.
But again it's the time aspect. With my boy now retired (currently on box rest again!) I don't need to ride but it's the other bits (dee pooing, mucking out etc). Been offered rides which isn't all bad :)

There's also rehoming one from a charity, which is something I'm considering. But again that's not something I'm doing just yet.
 
Go for it!

I bought my second horse 3 months ago wasn't really looking for specifics but just knew when I seen her I had to have her. She costs me a fortune and is filthy in the stable also a 2 year old so more work but is worth every penny and second of my time.
 
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