why some people have 2 horses?

I've always had at least two, because I usually keep the good ones, or the ones who wont be able to find another kind home forever, and I like to have at least one I can ride and compete on. My 33 year old sadly passed away in May this year, leaving me with just my TB, who I bought 19 months ago after a previous horse of mine sadly had to be PTS.

My TB has turned out to be a dangerous fruit loop when he's out, so I'm going to get another more level headed horse who I can compete locally and have fun on, and keep the fruit loop as just a hack and maybe he'll improve, but there will be no pressure on him or me that way. I still love him, and I don't think anyone else will care for him as well as me.
If I tried to sell my TB I think he would just end up being passed around until he met the meat man, and there is no way I will allow that to happen!
 
Hey Gekko.... do I know you???? I have about 30 as well!!! lol......

Yeh, we are insane..... but you love me and my horse collecting.... lol....

We had ONE stallion.... then sort of ended up with 4.... (I mean really, who NEEDS 4 stallions????? Obviously we do! lol).....

Then of course the boys all have their own 'wives'...... and then theres a few non breeding ones that live here too.....
 
I have 4, I didn't plan it that way:o

The mare had a foal 2 years ago so he can't be ridden yet. I was planning on putting her in foal again at some point but ideally not until I had got the earlier one started, as it happened she went lame with a stifle injury last year and was going to need 12 months off to recover so on the vet's advice I put her back in foal again - so now have a 1 month old foal too.

I also have a riding horse who has gone through a long period of recuperation but is now completely sound and will start proper work and competition this autumn.

I know that at some point I am going to have to sell the two year old, hopefully I can hang on to him until he has done a year of going out and about and proving himself, ultimately having him as a gelding adds nothing to my breeding plans. He is the most beautiful chap though and will be a spectacular show horse as well as being a useful all rounder so a good future home shouldn't be a problem

(oh, and there is another one, but he is out on permanent loan to a lady who loves him to bits, so will stay there forever)

It IS expensive!
 
I have two horses. I have had Sammi for 14 years nearly. A few years ago, I wasn't interested in having two horses, all I wanted was Sammi and just Sammi. He is now 17, and as the years are clocking up, I decided I wanted to ease off competing him, and bought a 10 month old colt last year, Rox. :)

I decided, whilst I brought Rox on, I could still compete as I was for a few years on Sam, and then as Rox comes into competition age, I would be able to start to quieten Sam down, and still have my hand in on Rox! xx :)
 
I have 3 but prefered having 4.

1 big boy who is now old and not going anywhere until he has to and then it will be the big field in the sky, while he is happy he stays with me and we do what we can, 2 shetties, first was brought as a companion then my old mare died and as a "quick fix" got another one to keep the other one company while I looked for another riding horse (just as well because it took forever), got riding horse then few years later got together with a chap who wanted one so got another, then he dumped me and the horse, then ex killed him by giving him a "Christmas Supper" without saying anything... a full bag of comp mix each for teh big boys was a tad excessive and when we went riding out on boxing day it only took 1/2 hr of walk for the dreaded to happen. Was so cross and upset when I later found out what he had done.

Sort of sort of not looking for another. I like having less work to do and more time for the ones I have and I hate buying. I have to say my old boy is gold dust so trying to find another to even try to compare (I know you shouldn't anyway) woudl just not work. So still trying to figure out what I want to do with the next one which I hope will be with me for a good 20 - 30 years!!! ;)
 
We have three.
My wife's paint mare, my new, rather green, gelding and my 31 year old Percheron mare.
The old girl is now semi retired as our instructors "boyfriend safe" horse.
I was not going to send her to auction or euthanize her,as she is healthy and still useful for light riding.
 
I'm up to four now :o

Peri I bought for me, competed her up through the grades to Intermediaire level, she now has her second foal at foot and is preggers with number three.

Tavia was bought to share between C and myself. I took on the ride while C was at Uni and she has become more and more allergic to horses, to the point she cannot go near them unless doped to the eyeballs with antihistamines and steroids. She still owns half of T but I pay the bills. T has developed into my main competition horse with P retiring to stud.

Belle is P's first daughter and was bred to retain. She is now 4yo and am in the process of backing her. Plan is for her to take over as my competition horse when Tavia retires to stud next spring.

Fly is P's second foal but will be sold as my first step into breeding for sale.
If the third foal is a filly I am debating on keeping that one but that depends on finances/space.

Tavia's first foal is already spoken for :D

Now that the kids have flown the nest my plan is to retire from full-time NHS work in 2016, work part-time in private practice/university post-grad teaching and spend some time breeding and producing my home breds while I'm still fit enough to enjoy it!
 
I have 4 but did have 11 at one point, we lost our yard and had to relocate back home in the NW. I have 1 broodmare, 1 pony i have had for years who is out on loan at the min and 2 horses I use for competition. Horses were my business while down south hence having so many, they were either brought on and sold or used to give lessons on. Found great homes for all of them :D
 
:) Pure and simple - because I can.

I have a floating population, last week I had 7, today I have 11, tomorrow I will have 10.

I don't have to fork out for board which makes life eaier. My horses are a business anyway, not just pets. Two are riding horses, one is a companion/foal auntie, I produce (deal in other words:eek:) childrens ponies, and the others earn their keep at stud. There are also a bunch of Boarders here too.
 
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We have 7 though one is on loan, so technically 6.

First we had mum's horse who was 4 (now 18 so not exactly going anywhere!) 15hh Connie X. Mum couldn't ride her anymore so brother got her to ride.
Then when I was old enough I got my first pony a 12hh Dartmoor who was awesome, only 6 at the time but an angel and had a schoolmasters head on his shoulders. He is now on loan to my friend in Wales who lost confidence and he gave it back to her.

When he went I got my connie 13.2hh mare who had more issues than we thought, eventually I grew out of her but due to her problems we've kept her.
Brother outgrew mum's horse so he got a 16.3hh schoolmistress who was 12 at the time and is now 19 and semi retired. Due to him getting this mare, we needed a companion for the 13.2 mare Tanzie, so we got our little mini Shetland: Puzzle!
I ended up riding mum's horse for a bit but didn't get along with her as we clash badly! So that led to me getting a 14.3hh dark bay Standardbred X Welsh D mare, stubborn as hell and a bit quirky to boot but lovely temperament. Eventually I decided she was good for bits and pieces but would never allow me the confidence I had lost throughout the years.
So we got my little blighter; Kodi (Sig) who was 5 years old and is now 6, I've had him 10 months and he's given me loads of confidence jumping, riding on the flat, going out in the field. We just have the small minor issue of my lack of hacking confidence and his issue of bucking me off continually when he goes out.

So thats why we have our lot! I wouldn't pass on the 13.2hh mare as she has problems such as hating the hosepipe, not loading too well (she got walked 7 miles to our yard when we bought her she was so bad), being a circus pony. Also most of the ones that come to us have homes for life in our 5 star hotel!
The 14.3hh mare is in foal and hopefully the foal I get from her will end up maybe either BSJA'ing, showing or as a brilliant RC, however thats a good 4 years off. :D

Well done for making it to the end of our lot!! :D:D We were going to look for loans for the 16.3hh and 15hh mares off our yard but not totally sure having heard some bad experiences from people :(
 
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i have 2 and am looking for a 3rd...

1) My big old dressage horse that has been kind of retired (due to arthritis) but could never sell 1 cos he's done me such good service over the years and 2 cos he's a grumpy git that no one would want.

2) a section A that I bought as a lead rein to keep the above company (But is also a menace to society!)

And a 3rd for me to ride and compete... but can I find him... Grrrrr

Blitz
 
I was never allowed a pony as a child so as soon as I could afford one myself I bought one and then another one - so then there were 2!

I bred from one of the originals - so then there were 3!

then there was this knackered horse that needed a mug to take him in - so then there were 4!

Too many horses.
 
I originally had one but as she was on my own land on her own it wasn't ideal also as I have gsd's as well who roam round the field I didn't fancy having the responsabilitiy for someone elses wellbeing + their horse on my land.

I then decided to get another one as a companion to her also as company to me when I ride out + both my horses drive so can either go out riding or driving together.

Then unexpectedly the second one has now had a foal so now have three 9yr, 4yrs and foal.

Now thinking of driving pickaxe formation at least I have 4 years to learn and I have the space!!!!
 
I have two because I keep my competition horse at home and need a companion and didn't want a livery.

I would like two competition horses because I love riding and competing but I just haven't got the time to do two competition horses justice at the moment.
 
Because my horse of 9 years got arthritis in all 4 legs :s and I don't think it would be fair on him to pass him on and he is still happy so I dont want to pts and quite honestly he owes me nothing and I love him to bits...Then someone gave me a horse instead of shooting it and he's turned out quite nicely and I could search the length and breadth of this country and not find anything more suitable so hes stayed...
 
I've got 2. I bought a foal when my mare got to 21, so that I could bring it on as the other one eased off on her work. So now the old mare is 29 and definately retired, I've had her 21 years, so surprisingly enough she's not going any where.
 
I have 2 - my old boy (27!) who is still lightly hacked but that's about it.

Got my second horse last year because I really missed jumping & competing. He is now 9 and a star in the making.

I had my old boy on full livery for several years, and now have them both on DIY, so although it is expensive having 2, it wasn't such a shock to the wallet after being used to paying for full livery.

I do find it hard to get both ridden, but as the old boy is in semi-retirement, it doesn't matter if I get the time to ride him or not. I am lucky with them both in that they don't go crazy if they have a few days off if I'm too busy to ride.

Once Red goes, I don't think I would have 2 again, it is hard hard work, but it's also very rewarding.
 
I've got one and half. It's just worked out that way.

Archie is mine, I've had him 5 years and did riding club stuff and hacking with him. He is the best hacking horse in the world, literally nothing bothers him but he's forward going enough not be be boring but he never really excelled at the riding club stuff. His jumping could be brilliant one minute and then he'd slam in filthy stops the next. Then the day after one filthy stop he was lame in the field. Cue all sorts of investigations that never really got to the bottom of the problem and six months off work. The stops were clearly bacuse of pain but because he'd always done it from day one (he passed a 5 stage vetting) we just thought it was him. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Although he's sound now he's just hacking. The vet said he could jump low level stuff on a good surface but his problems are conformational so will never go away and he's always needed riding really strongly into fences. Knowing what I know now I don't think I could do that to him - not to mention my confidence has taken a knock from all the falls.

I already had a sharer for him as a few years ago I was doing a masters on top of working full time and planning my wedding and it was all too much. It was originally only supposed to be for 8 months but she was so lovely that we just carried on and it's worked out brilliantly.

At the time all this was going on with Archie, my best friend lost her 3rd sharer in as many years for her perfect gent of a horse. She had them as she has 2 young kids as well as working full time. None of it was her (or his) fault she was just really unlucky.

In the past when she was in between sharers I've always helped out with Monty and was riding him on and off when A was lame so we thought we may as well make it official. He's also an amazing jumper and has thoroughly restored my confidence. I would never have gone looking for another horse but he lived in the stable next door, I knew and trusted him and it was a huge help for R as well. His only fault is he's not great in traffic so I only hack him out in company (usually Archie and my sharer which is lovely as I didn't get to spend much time with her before as she was seeing to him when I wasn't and vice versa)

I know have M five days a week and A 4 days. I joke that I have my competition horse and my hacking horse, although M does hack and Arch goes to the odd dressage comp and I've even started doing a bit of TREC with him just to get him out and about. He now runs onto the trailer instead of a 10 minute battle of wills and is generally so much happier now. Monty is never happy but is perfectly happy being grumpy and is very obliging.

I couldn't do it without my sharer and M's owner being so wonderful (not to mention sharer sticking around while A was lame for 6 months!) I don't think I could cope with 2 full time by myself.
 
same as most people on here - I have a 15 year old mare who i used for showing, i wanted a youngster to bring on and do more with as my mare deserves to slow down a wee bit. She's lame now though and i think without having the youngster to play with i woudl be thorughly fed up!
 
I have three now. Pony for boys, my old (arthritic) and no longer rideable appaloosa and my new boy. They live at bottom of garden. I think I am mad having three, but i've done it now and have to lie in the bed I made!
I do not want a 4th!!
 
Toffee will never leave me until its time to go to the fields of green but she is kinda out grown by me and my sister now and she can only walk and trot and a naughty canter once in a while arthritus .

I have had three other horses over the last three years. I had woody who was for me and toffee was my sisters(woody was my one :( ). Then Winston but we went as far as we could so sold him to a home where I knew he would be happy and now have samba who I might sell as the honest answer is I am just not clicking with her. If I do that I doubt I will have another until I know what I am doing next year.
 
I had 2. My oldie was 22 and in semi retirement, so i bought a youngster to be her eventual replacement. neither require riding 6 days a week, so with the horse walker & the lunge & turnout i rode both about 5 times a week for about half an hour each. As the youngster got older & needed more work, the oldie needed less, so i managed.
I am looking to get horses agin when i move to my own land. I shall have pony for son & Horse for me, possibly a hack for hubby. He helps, so it should all work out ok :)
 
Because I wanted two... and works well when one decides to get broken - or when one is in a strop the other one generally behaves well!
 
I nearly have 2! My new horse im hoping to get in the next couple of weeks and my 14.2 ISH x.
The 14.2 is out on loan as quite simply he is quirky as hell and likes to buck, nap, spin, rear, leap, plunge but is a cracking jumping pony....so he has gone on loan to an old owner of his who is the only person who has ever got on well with him and loves him to pieces. He is on loan for a couple of yrs whilst she saves up to buy him.
 
I bought Herbie in Nov when Lucy was diagnosed with her illness. She was given a less than 50% chance and wasn't ment to live past christmas. My whole world fell apart when i lost Lucy a month ago and i don't think i would be able to ever buy another horse now if i didn't already have Herbie. So i just had an overlap period realy and made shore i had another pony to focas on to help me keep going when i lost Lucy :(
(If that made any sence to anyone)
 
I bought my 8 month old foal Rosie when Charlie was 15 as I knew by the time it came to backing Rosie I would be semi retiring Charlie and would still want a competition horse. As it happened when Rosie was 6 I put her in foal with view to sell the foal. I lost Charlie the week after Bailey was born so I decided to keep him.

I like having 2 as I can compete, do a variety of things, keep each other company and my sis can ride with me.

In the winter it can be a lot of work and can be expensive but its my only 'luxury' Im not one for buying clothes etc

have to sya I love having the two of them and wouldnt change it for the world
 
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