Horse Education (for inexperienced owner)

[Wehner Homestead]

Okay all y’all enablers! DH has agreed to a horse or two once things settle down a bit. Maybe sometime next year.

This leads me to having no idea where to start. I’ve ridden a few times but would classify as a beginner and so would DD1.

I need info on breeds, genders, size, age, tack, feed, hay, space requirements. Teach me!

@Baymule @promiseacres

 

[Baymule]

I favor Tennessee Walkers for their smooth gait, but they can be spirited. I also like Quarter Horses because they just have common sense. I love Appaloosa horses, if I could get a gaited black leopard spotted Appaloosa, I would think I died and went to heaven.

Registered horses are nice, but not required. You can't ride papers and they generally cost more.

Breed is not going to matter as much as temperament and training. An older horse can be the best for a beginner. I learned to ride on an 18 year old Palomino mare when I was a kid. Can't count the times I fell off her, LOL. Don't be afraid of buying a senior horse, they have been there, done that. The years spent with an older horse can be the most valuable start in learning how to ride.

You don't want a young, inexperienced horse. You don't want a "spooky" horse, that means one that is scared of everything and jumps out of it's hide every time the wind blows a plastic bag in front of it. A spooky horse can be any age. I don't ride my 31 year old Tennessee Walker mare anymore, but I guarantee you, if I saddled her up and went riding, she would be hunting boogers all the way. Culvert monsters, car/truck monsters, barking dog monsters, goat/cow/sheep monsters, kid on a go cart-anything and everything. Once she spooked at a bird, jumped sideways, dumped me and ran back home. So you need a CALM horse that is unfazed by "monsters" LOL.

Geldings are not thinking about sex. Stallions are out, period, don't EVEN consider one. Mares come in heat, some are just fine, some get cranky, some flirt shamelessly with geldings and neigh if there is a stallion in the neighborhood. That doesn't mean that a mare is not a good horse, just letting you know that they can have their "days" LOL.

Size is determined by measuring the withers, the top of the shoulder blades to the ground. It's that little hump between the neck and back. Horses are measured by hands, a hand is 4 inches. A small horse or large pony is 12-13 hands, a medium horse is 14-15 hands, a large horse is 16-17 hands and anything over 17 hands is probably a Clydesdale or Shire. The mare we just bought is 14.3 hands, that would be 14x4=56+3=59 inches or 4 feet, 11 inches at the top of her withers. If you are tall, you might want a 15-16 hand horse. My old gelding Joe (my avatar is his blue eye) is 16 hands, with my crapped out knee, it is a struggle to get on him. He is retired now, so it is a moot point. For your DD1 I would say get a 13-14 hand horse, small enough for her, but big enough for you. For you and 14-15 hand horse.

Tack; riding English or Western? For your own pleasure or going to show, compete? I call my style of riding Western Schlump. I just schlump around for my own enjoyment, don't care about competition or showing.
You can find tack on Craigs List, classifieds or sometimes the person selling the horse has tack to sell too. It is good to know what bits the horse you are buying is used to and does the best with.

Feed; I feed a 14% protein all purpose pellet. "Sweet" feed has molasses on it, horses like it. But some horses get a "sugar rush" on sweet feed like a little kid that is ADDHD and bouncing off the walls. Ask the seller what feed the horse has been fed and ask for enough for several days feeding if you are going to feed a different feed so you can mix it and switch slowly. Suddenly switching feed can give a horse colic. Colic is an upset tummy, horses cannot vomit, so the gas builds up, their tummy hurts, if not caught and treated, the horse can die. For a colic case, drench with mineral oil and walk the horse. Walk some more, You want to hear farts, you want the horse to poop, keep walking. I got off the feed issue...…

Hay; we feed a grass hay. Other parts of the country have other hay types available. You cut hay, so you know what is good hay or not. Horses are not ruminants so require a better hay than cattle.

space; I have 3 horses on 2 1/2 acres. It is mostly wooded, so no grass. We keep a round bale out for them.

Ride the horse you want to buy. Is it easy to catch? Does it try to bite? My old gelding Joe played a game when I tightened up the cinch, he turned and tried to bite me. I shook my finger and AAAHHHNNNTTT! he'd squint his eyes, toss his head up like I hit him, game over. yeah, he was/is spoiled rotten. But you really don't want a biter, it hurts. Does the horse kick? Buck when you first get on? Is it healthy and will the seller agree to a vet check before you purchase it?

 

[promiseacres]

@Baymule has a lot of good to say.
There are a ton of good horses out there, different breeds. But yes I agree a nice calm aged QH is great to learn on. (not all lines of QH are calm) For kids you need something forgiving and not flighty, undersaddle and on the ground. While I don't see my kids being able to handle our Morgan riding on trails he doesn't kick or act stupid around them. They can feed and have even rode him at home. He's just head strong and tests his riders, especially women... no buckin or rearing just tests you and does what he wants at times. He's 19... so age doesn't always equal calm and easy going. My halflinger, Richie is a sweetheart, loves attention and food and has excellent ground manners (honestly that's the reason I brought him home as he didn't ride great for me that first tme). He's 10. He took awhile to trust me. He "started" often our first summer of trail rides. Mostly a pause and a small response to everything from chipmunks to me zipping my zipper. He didn't do that at all this year. Now Daisy our grade QH mare has started, lightly spooked once... in about 20 rides. The kids can catch her, handle her anywhere. Worse thing she'll do is eat grass... She's 14. So look for a good horse, not necessarily a breed.
In fact I would suggest some lessons for your daughter before you buy. Yes it's an investment but if you can find someone with a good lesson horse, to see if your daughter likes it enough to pursue it longterm. She can learn the basics and most instructors know of many good horses for sale. You might look at a lease also. I knew after John rode Daisy for 20 minutes she was awesome, but we did "lease" her prior to being offered the chance to buy her. (we got lucky and "free" leased her, meaning we were responsible for her care while we had her, but no money exchanged hands).
I will say plan on 2 also. It's not as fun to ride by yourself (or as safe if you're riding around the farm). Which is one reason I got out of riding horses for a good 15 years. Plus horses are herd animals. I do know of some that do just fine by themselves and it's a good thing for them to know. And I don't reccommend a "rescue" horse for a first horse, just too many times you don't know their history. Get a been there horse that needs a "semi" retired home. And if you want to trail ride get one that has done that, if you want a show horse get one that has been shown, basically don't get a horse without experience in what you want to do and then need to train it. Not all horses make great trail horses or show horses.
We currently have just under 2 acres of pasture, orchard grass and red clover planted last year. I have lean tos and dry lots which is where they stay most of the time and during the grazing months they get 4-8 hours pasture. Ponies and halflinger get less as they're very easy keepers and Richie the halflinger did founder prior, he's one of those sensitve to the sugars. So we do keep grass hay around for him all the time. In the spring I start them on pasture once it's 5-8" tall and gradually increase the time they on on it. My Minis never have had issues doing it this way. The minis and Richie get a grass "balancer" it's not a grain but a minerals and vitamins in a pellet form. Daisy and Duke (morgan) are on a senior pellet (I don't feed any feed with molassus) Forage based diets are best in my opinion and many horses don't get grain. In fact Daisy didn't get any before coming here.
I give my own vaccines, they are usually 40-50 per horse per year. We don't shoe, but they get trims every 8 weeks. 20 for the minis, 35 for the riding horses. Just got Daisy and one Mini's teeth floated, usually around 100/head and their teeth should be checked annually. We rotate paste dewormers, every 3-4 months.

 

[Bunnylady]

Gads, there is so much, and I'm too brain-dead this morning to think of anything to add to what @Baymule and @promiseacres have already posted. Lessons are a great idea for you both - and kudos to you for admitting to your level of experience (or rather, the lack of it). Too many people get in over their heads by buying more horse than they can handle, and wind up with a piece of walking yard art (and maybe hospital bills).

You'll have to forgive me; I've been bingeing on YouTube horse training videos while nursing a cold (never stop learning - your horse doesn't!). So at the moment I'm chock full of quotes, and may break out with one at any moment.

Warwick Schiller (Aussie clinician) tells of a friend who is a training-level dressage instructor, who admits that if you put her and a Grand Prix-level dressage horse on a desert island together, at the end of a year, you'd have a very nice training-level dressage horse (that's a major decrease in performance level, in case you hadn't figured that out). Horses constantly adjust to their environments, and that can be good or bad. Whatever a horse is like when you buy it, it won't stay that way unless you have the skills to keep it there (or even improve it). Whether they realize it or not, everyone becomes a horse trainer the minute they buy a horse, because the horse will be watching and learning every minute they are together.

What you need is "been there, done that," with breed being far less important than temperament. That said, I'd stay away from any of the "hot" breeds like Arabians, Thoroughbreds, etc. I have known a couple of Arabians that have been used as lesson ponies, but generally speaking, they are a bit too reactive for beginners. I'd also avoid anything less than maybe 8 years old. Younger horses can be wonderful, but they are often not very kind, and tend to figure out ways to take advantage. Once learned, it can take a long time for a horse to "unlearn" bad behavior . . . on the other hand, it's very gratifying when they do!

 

[Amelie the Bee Keeper]

I would say, no hot bloods (they are more race horses) so Warmbloods are good (more meant for jumping if interested). One type of horse I don't recommend for beginners are Arabian Percherons crosses as they are fast man, like really fast

 

[Wehner Homestead]

DH’s boss has two horses that he will give us...his daughters rode them in 4-H. They are off to college now and don’t ride often. He’d like for them to be more than pasture ornaments.

Trying to be patient but looking like it’ll be next summer before we could get horses. My biggest concern is finding something that is a true beginner horse and someone not just pulling a quick one on me. More for the kids’ sake and safety!

How do you make sure a saddle fits right?

I leased an Appaloosa gelding from a vet for 6 mos once to show. I learned about leading, saddling, and basic care and riding. I wish I could’ve done more!

DD1’s lessons have been on a QH mare but she isn’t mareish. There is a high-strung barrel horse there so the kids have learned that not all horses are safe.

They also have to ride with helmets. I haven’t but will so that they don’t think it’s okay not to. Lol

 

[Amelie the Bee Keeper]

DH’s boss has two horses that he will give us...his daughters rode them in 4-H. They are off to college now and don’t ride often. He’d like for them to be more than pasture ornaments.

Trying to be patient but looking like it’ll be next summer before we could get horses. My biggest concern is finding something that is a true beginner horse and someone not just pulling a quick one on me. More for the kids’ sake and safety!

How do you make sure a saddle fits right?

I leased an Appaloosa gelding from a vet for 6 mos once to show. I learned about leading, saddling, and basic care and riding. I wish I could’ve done more!

DD1’s lessons have been on a QH mare but she isn’t mareish. There is a high-strung barrel horse there so the kids have learned that not all horses are safe.

They also have to ride with helmets. I haven’t but will so that they don’t think it’s okay not to. Lol

Make sure the horses aren't green (less than 5/4(the age is arguable) as they have just been broke. If possible, I would see if a trainer in your area could give you a few basic lessons or even the girls if they are home from college. Get books! Books are such a great training tool that is under used.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

soooo happy hubby said yes !!!! I spent two wonderful years with friends who had QH....what wonderful times we had....

 

[Wehner Homestead]

He said yes but he’s still not thrilled. Hoping he’s more happy with his decision as we prepare for them.

I’ve tried reassuring him that they don’t have to have a million dollar set-up.

 

[goatgurl]

yup to what the others have said. i've had QH, paints, an American saddle horse and Arabians. I can honestly say that one of the best horses I've ever had was a little arab mare. she was horribly 'horsey' and mareish on a monthly basis and a real pia to deal with until i found out she had cystic ovaries and had her spade. she became the best, smartest mare/gelding I've ever owned. str#1 had an arab gelding and we put thousands of miles on them riding the mountains of Oklahoma.
10-12 years old is a great age. hopefully DH's boss will let you ride the horses before you fully commit. and bunnylady is so right, it can take a long time to undo a bad habit i'm so excited for you