Buying a Horse

There is a lot to know about before thinking of buying a horse. First of all, they can cost quite a bit of money, depending on the situation. A lot of people have to pay for boarding their horse elsewhere, which can run up to some money, depending on the facility and location. In places where it snows in the winter, a lot of stables have indoor arenas so horses may be ridden during bad weather as well. That can cost quite a bit of money. If you have a lot of land and can build your own shelter, that helps cut down the cost of owning a horse. Then there is feeding. Horses can survive with grass and water, but it's not the most healthy of options. Horses can also eat hay, grain, vitamins, etc. For hay, most people feed grass hay in the summer and alfalfa in the winter. Alfalfa has a lot of roughage and helps keep a horse warm during those colder months. What grain to feed varies, it depends on what horse you have and what you want. There are grains for a variety of show horses, they also have grain made especially for getting horses to gain weight for the winter, or if they're becoming too thin on what they've been eating. I will soon hope to have some links for finding information on purchasing the correct types of grain and hay for your horse. Horses need vitamins too, just like people do. This also depends on the horse, and I hope to find links about this as well. Horses need to be wormed regularly, and some horses do not take well to this. You also have to realize you cannot use the same brand de-wormer every time, they start to become immune to what you use and the horse could get worms anyway, so that's basically a waste of money. Think that's all? Oh no, there's more to realize. Horses need a constant supply of fresh water. They enjoy getting water dirty. A lot of people use a bath tub to hold water, which works well, but it must get cleaned out regularly or else bacteria and fungus can grow in there and get the horse sick. Horses also need salt. Most people provide this in the form of a salt block, which some with or without some vitamins. Horses also like treats. The most common treat is sugar cubes, but they are NOT healthy for your horse. You'd be surprised, but simple foods like apples and carrots make wonderful, healthy treats, and tend to be found in the kitchen.

Now there can be other costs with horses. First we'll talk about training. Young horses need to be trained if you plan on riding them at all. Some people do the training themselves, others pay to have them trained. Training fees depend on the trainer and the horse. Horses also need to see a farrier every couple months for hoof trimmings. Sometimes other problems occur, especially horses with shoes. Wild horses have hard hooves so they don't tend to need shoes, while most other horses do. You also have the vet. Horses need to go to the vet at least once a year. Horses need shots just like dogs and cats do, for diseases such as Equine Influenza (horse flu). Horses can also develop a disease called Colic. Horses are natural grazers and tend to eat from the ground. Eating from the ground, they pick up dirt and horses have a hard time passing this dirt through. When enough collects in the intestines, they develop Colic. Horses will want to lay down and it's important they DO NOT, they must stay standing, they need to be walked around and a vet must see them immediately. Colic can be fatal if owners ignore the symptoms and don't get a vet to see the horse as soon as possible. I will put up more information on this and other common equine diseases, along with little tips potential buyers need to know to determine if a horse is healthy soon.

If the horse is for children, NEVER EVER buy the child a stallion! Stallions can be very unpredictable, especially when they smell a mare in heat (and boy can they smell them!) and children can easily get hurt. Geldings are the safest choice for children when it involves riding. Most lesson horses are geldings. They are calm for the most part. Mares can be used for those who have some experience riding, but stallions are best left to professional adults when it comes to riding. If you're buying a horse strictly for riding purposes, always bring whomever the horse is for. It's very important they get a chance to ride the horse to see how the horses gaits are, and the general temperament of the horse. If after all this you still would like to look into purchasing a horse, 2 really good online sites are the Internet Horse Classifieds and the EquiSearch Classifieds.