What do people who don't have horses do?

The OH and I often wonder this! I guess more free time, more money, I have thought that'd be nice to have a bigger house, nicer clothes etc, more free time, but what would I do? Sit around in my bigger house, nicer clothes doing nothing! Most of friends have horses so its not like I'd see them more!
 
During my last break from horses I jumped out of an aeroplane 46 times!

I bought clothes, and shoes and books and a house! But I missed the smell of horses and the whinny of greeting when I arrived at the paddock. I now have my forever equine. It's now a race to see who outlives who.
 
I missed competing and training so started Fly ball and Agility with my dogs. To satisfy my horseless existence I volunteer at my local RC, help at BRC Champs and Area level, fence judge, dressage write.
I also backstop for a friend who drives a pair at driving trials and help her with training.

I'm busier than ever without a horse, but wouldn't change it for anything.
I am retired so do have more free time, supposedly............
 
I have a very full social life and I go shopping and out for lunch/dinners etc. aswell as still having loads of horses. There are short bursts of time during the year (foaling, breeding and haying) where I have to curtail some of my off-farm activities but for the majority of the year I do the same things my non-horsey friends do. Most of my friends are doer- type people though so they're always up to something. I'm a fairly lazy minded person though so if I had no horses I'd probably just blob around lol!
 
Spring Feather said:
I have a very full social life and I go shopping and out for lunch/dinners etc. aswell as still having loads of horses. There are short bursts of time during the year (foaling, breeding and haying) where I have to curtail some of my off-farm activities but for the majority of the year I do the same things my non-horsey friends do.
Click to expand...

Always has to be one smug show-off, eh?! :D
 
get bored?

honestly when i did not have my own horse I walked even more than I do now.

tonight I am torn do I pop to the yard and turn out and come home to relax in a warm candle lit, bubble bath and then shave my legs etc, and read a book and drink wine and eat a good home cooked meal before ten pm or do I go to yard groom horse work horse do cousins horse then trim mine up including re-hogging mane in preparation for a friend who is coming to take yard/horse photos for me on sunday, and eat a sandwich before bed when I get home about ten ish?

off to the yard it is then
 
Last edited:
Illusion100 said:
As in someone who manages to look after multiple horses including breeding stock, run a farm, with all the hard work involved yet is organised enough with their time management to enjoy the same style of social life that non-horsey people do!
Click to expand...
Oh right. No I don't think anyone running this farm could be a disorganised or it would lead to problems, and I do not like problems lol. Thankfully if there's one thing I am, it's being a very organised planner ... and I like my social life a lot!
 
Spring Feather said:
Pardon?
Click to expand...

I think that might have been tongue in cheek SP ;) The only thing I find different now is before when OH and I were working full time with a small child it was such a slog. Very, very early mornings/late evenings. Now we have our own place and I don't have to work - have another young child though (9), but I don't have to rush around like a chipmunk on speed anymore! Do have chickens and goats, and I'm in the middle of a glut of apple preparing so I can fill up my time, lol. I only have a retiree and a youngster though so it's not that I have to fit in riding time.

ETA - crossed posts with Illusion
 
Last edited:
Spring Feather said:
Oh right. No I don't think anyone running this farm could be a disorganised or it would lead to problems, and I do not like problems lol. Thankfully if there's one thing I am, it's being a very organised planner ... and I like my social life a lot!
Click to expand...

You sound like my YO. She runs a large hunting and showing yard, has many horses (all immaculate) and other livestock. The yard is totally organised and spotless and she has a very busy social life that would leave me gasping for breath.
I'm quite envious of both of you. Twenty years ago I might have given you a run for your money, but now I like dawdling and being as reclusive as I can get away with. Perhaps I need a kick up the bum.
 
My horseless colleagues seem to work ALOT! Hours and hours of overtime, and can't understand why I don't/can't do extra hours....I mean, how can a person with horses afford to only work 40hrs a week?!! And if I cant afford a night out with them I get the 'extra shifts' lecture....because going out and getting drunk and going on girly holidays is the be all and end all clearly!

I do bitterly miss spending £100 on getting my hair done, hundreds on clothes every month and going out as and when I please, but not enough to want to not have my horses. And certainly not enough to want to work over time so I can afford to, that's provided I could find the time! 😋

There is more to life then work...horses for example ;)
 
They have extra/disposable/non-accounted-for money . . . but they don't get to experience that deep nicker of joy when their horse first sees them of a day . . . my boy doesn't nicker - he screams like a girl, but there is no sound like it . . . it means he is happy to see me . . . and that makes me happy. I do, however, wish that he wasn't quite so expensive . . . the cold, hard reality is that having a horse means (for most of us) doing without elsewhere . . . we haven't had a family holiday for four years . . . that's partly due to the cost of having Pops, and partly due to the time commitment, and partly due to me not wanting to leave him . . . I wouldn't trade having him for all the tea in China, but I'm not sure my long-suffering family feel the same way . . .

P
 
Last edited:
I was horseless for 25 years and I basically just worked. I still work full time but spend all my non work time with the horses. Before i got back into horses, I spent all my non work time either working anyway or looking after my children.

Now I have got out of the habit of working all the time, if I didn't have the horses I would just sit at home, eat biscuits and watch TV. Those guys aren't going anywhere!!
 
tallyho! said:
Aaaaaand how do I go about acquiring such an income?

I'd do overtime most definitely... :D
Click to expand...

No longer own a horse? :p

I'm lucky in that I get an OK student loan, monthly money off each of my parents (they're divorced), and have a job that pays me around £600/pm without needing to do mental hours. OH is a contractor though so he can go 9 months without work and then have 2 months of work at a large amount of money a week - I really dislike the uncertainty of his job but's the nature of the beast.

If you're looking for a legitimate work-from-home job you can do in your spare time, and you're proficient at computer use then PM and I'll direct you to my employers :) (I swear it's not a scam or a pyramid scheme, you work for a really well known international company).
 
dogatemysalad said:
I'm quite envious of both of you. Twenty years ago I might have given you a run for your money, but now I like dawdling and being as reclusive as I can get away with. Perhaps I need a kick up the bum.
Click to expand...

Don't be :) If I didn't have this farm and all these horses I'd probably be a lazy hermit! The area I live in is very farmy so a lot of our friends are farmers too but all of them are like us in that they socialise a lot especially when it isn't calving or harvest time. All our farms are incredibly close to the town so it's sometimes just too easy for our friends or us (we're just as bad) to say let's meet up for lunch/dinner at whatever restaurant in town. My life is no doubt a much slower and more laid back though compared to your YO; everything works at a slower pace of life here :)
 
fatpiggy said:
What do we do? Live a normal life! My girl has been gone nearly 2 years now and it was only after she had gone that I realised just how much she was taking out of my physically. I used to spend a minimum of 3 hours a day driving between home, her and work, and back again. I was never home before 7.30pm and used to leave in the morning at 7am at the earliest. Somehow I used to fit in my other hobbies but was permanently knackered without realising it. I play in 3 orchestras and have to practice 4 instruments plus my singing ( a choir rehearsal and a lesson every week). The only evening I'm not out is Friday. I shop, cook, clean the house and sort out the garden single handed. I didn't used to have the money to go out socially, and had to be up at 6 anyway but now I can go to the theatre or a concert if I choose to. I still get up at 6 and go to the gym for an hour before work and my days are still very long but I can have rest periods before I go back out. My back is happier and I have the time to go walking or cycling at weekends. I have more money than I know what to do with, having got used to living on the breadline for nearly 2 decades.
But I still miss the silly old fool every day and would give it all up to have her back :(
Click to expand...

i would have a LOT more money! and loads of time, but what would I spend the money on or all the time (well we are trying to save for a mortgage but we will get there just a little slower!) This morning I could only have a car before 6.50 am to get to the yard (mine is in the garage- OH dads so it is cheaper, but they don't rush as doing a favour, so had to borrow OHs car) so at 5.15 am I was trying to persuade my friends 17'2 warmblood youngster to go through a slightly boggy gate way to come in... Both my horses are currently injured- 1 on box rest for a few months for tendon, then the other came in yesterday lame having tweaked her fetlock joint. So I have had a few lows recently and more vet bills! But would I get rid of them.... never!

I try to socialize, although I count coffee at the yard with friends and group hack! go out with friends from work sometimes, at least lots of them have children so they are also busy. But yes I am tight on time and money. I have 2 jobs, 50 hours a week in total, plus I am a groom 3 days a week for someone for extra money and do extra care work.

there are lots of other things you can do if you don't have horses, but I like my life. always busy, always broke, trying to turn up at work without mud, horse or dog hair on me!!!
 
One of the advantages of getting my girl was that it gives me a good reason to leave the office. I was working stupid hours (unpaid, the joy of a 'management' job!). Now I can head off and de-stress on the way home. Love it. My garden is suffering though, and OH moans about reduced socialising during the week (I've never liked going out on a school night).
Most of the non-horsey people I know either are slaves for their kids, or have equally time consuming hobbies. Such as keeping fit.
I think if you love something it is always possible to find time to fit it all in, it's when it stops that you wonder how on earth you coped before!
 
I'm pretty sure that when my boy was on loan for a year a long time back I just became fat and lazy!

Now we have four horses (hoping one sells so that would be three), five dogs, three low maintenance sheep and myriad poultry to care for each day, and the shooting season is nearly upon us which will make OH very happy. We don't socialise much, we do work a lot, the pros and cons of being self employed.
 
Socialize, go on holiday, stay warm and dry, have time to do things for themselves, go to museums/shows/fairs/general attractions....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top