Now i am desperate for my own horse again :(

[suzanne7575]

For the past 10 year i haven't ridden regularly due to having kids, going to uni, getting married, all the usual stuff. I've not thought that much about it or missed it all that much but have always thought that I would love to have my own horse again one day.

Anyway, now that i have started back having lessons i have realised how much i have missed horses and i am loving my lessons so much, but after having my own pony as a child and knowing what that bond feels like i am now desperate for my own again and i know realistically it is going to be a while before i can get one as i want my youngest to be at full time school first which doesn't happen for another year. Also financially it is not really a possibility at the moment as i only work one day a week, and whilst i don't need to work the money i earn goes into the savings pot which is paying for our big holiday to florida in may. I am thinking once we are back from our holiday I could start saving to buy a horse and increase my hours once daughter is at school to help pay for the horse without leaving us skint, but again this

My other hurdle is my hubby, although he is happy for me to go riding I'm not sure he would be convinced about owning a horse so i'm going to have to work on him for that, any tips???

Has anyone else been in the posistion of having had horses before then going back to lessons only and really craving ownership again?

[No_Angel]

have you thought about a share horse?
you could have more contact with horses, but not the commitment or financial burden full ownership brings.

[Stormin]

I sorta had that problem.
My horse was sold when I was finishing Uni.
I moved away, settled down, found a job and started riding at the local riding yard. Negociated a share horse very quickly and realised how much I missed horses, and a horse of my own.

To cut a long story short, today I'm lucky enough to say that I have a job which pays for 2 horses at home and my OH who is one-of-a-kind. He was not at all horsey at the beginning and also admitted to being a bit scared of horses due to a childhood incident. But he's responsible for all of the "horsey infrastructure" here at home (renovating old farmhouse).

Maybe a share horse could be an answer for you - share the time commitments, the cost, the responsibilities and I know I had a super show jumping mare that I would never have had the money to buy. The owners trusted me so much that they gave me green light to do whatever I wanted to with her.

Hope it goes well for you ! :)

[anuvb]

Me - well sort of. It was a bit complicated at the time and not worth going into much detail here, but to keep it short, my boy was an older horse and although in regular work I couldn't afford to keep him with me while I was at Uni.

As a result I wasn't riding very much over that period and I was getting pretty fed up only riding when I went home to visit the parents once or twice a year. To get over it I started taking lessons locally, which actually made it worse because I knew what I was missing! :) But I was lucky enough to be on the right yard at the right time and because I'm happy schooling difficult or poorly trained horses I often got 'asked' to ride other peoples and it built up from there. Eventually I was riding up to 3 different horses, 6-7 times a week during term time and got offered some really nice quality horses to ride and compete as well - which was more than enough to keep me going. It continued even after I'd graduated moved to my University town permanently and brought my horse down to live with me... so there is light at the end of the tunnel! :)

If you haven't already I'd certainly look into the possiblity of part-loaning something if you can afford it - just to get yourself and the family back into the routine of looking after a horse without all of the responsibility at this point in time. It would help get the family used to the idea of you being involved in horses and allow you some flexibility in relation to frequency of riding and looking after your children.

[coverblown]

weigh it all up carefully - I learn different things from riding RS horses - than I would from having my own, but I am glad I am not rushing into horse ownership (although it still remains a long term aim).

I think I could ride at our school (and its not cheap and nasty) about 4 or 5 times a week before the costs were comparable with the costs of horse ownership (no lessons). As I become more experienced the school trusts me more with aspects of horse care so I am competent to catch, hack, tack up and untack and turnout etc. And to hire a horse for shows.....

After a recent serious riding injury I did not have the responsibility of my own horse to see to (or arrange for others to look after) until I was fit enough to return.

Its a big commitment, no doubt really rewarding, but do go into it with your eyes open.

Btw I am stunned by your progress, keep it up.
A.

[suzanne7575]

weigh it all up carefully - I learn different things from riding RS horses - than I would from having my own, but I am glad I am not rushing into horse ownership (although it still remains a long term aim).

I think I could ride at our school (and its not cheap and nasty) about 4 or 5 times a week before the costs were comparable with the costs of horse ownership (no lessons). As I become more experienced the school trusts me more with aspects of horse care so I am competent to catch, hack, tack up and untack and turnout etc. And to hire a horse for shows.....

After a recent serious riding injury I did not have the responsibility of my own horse to see to (or arrange for others to look after) until I was fit enough to return.

Its a big commitment, no doubt really rewarding, but do go into it with your eyes open.

Btw I am stunned by your progress, keep it up.
A.

thanks for that

I think i would need a small mortgage to have 4/5 lessons per week at my riding school and it would definatly be cheaper to own a horse, actually maybe not....lol

As you say though it is not something to jump into and i want to be sure that i have the money available, the time available and the support of all my family, but i do think when you have the experience of being a horse owner once it is difficult to go back to being a riding school rider, but I am enjoying my lessons and the instructors are already asking me to lead ponies back to the yard, tie them up, untack them etc, so hopefully that may build up a bit too.

[doolally_tap]

Hiya - I've read all your threads with interest in the replies over the last few weeks as your situation is so similar to mine.

Have you ruled out the possibility of finding a share or part-loan horse? I know it was something you asked about in a couple of your earlier threads.

I would highly highly highly recommend this. It wasn't something I'd ever considered before, but since I've been doing it I can wholeheartedly say it works really well for people in similar situations to yourself and myself.

With a share horse you still get to bond (my horse whinnys for me now and canters to me when I go to catch him); you still get to treat the horse as your own on the days you have him, you get to ride several times a week (the owner of my share would let me ride every day if I wanted to), you get to do all the ground work that you would do with your own horse - with the added benefits of having someone to turn to for advice (ie. the owner), not having the full responsibility every day of the week (believe me winter time is no joke), not having the full financial commitment that goes with horse ownership. I pay £20 a week - nothing more.

Once you've done this for a several months - if you find you still hanker after having your very own horse then go for it - you'll have learnt/remembered loads during your time with the share horse and will be ready, able and fully prepared for horse ownership.

[blues mum]

As a working mum who has finally bought her own horse after sharing , loaning, borrowing, begging and stealing ( all right not the last one, but nearly ) I would say the biggest strain is not really the money but the time.
Every time ( esp in the summer holidays ) i take time for a good long ride, i am aware that it is time i could be spending with my son. every time i spend time with my family i feel guilty because i would rather be gone up on the downs on the horse !
Husbands are esp good at guilt trips " what he needs riding, shoeing, more food, new rugs AGAIN ! "
tip that im sure you all ready know, half the price of every thing you buy when telling OH the price
good luck, and nothing beats having your own

[vonandiz]

I started riding in February, what started as an half hour lesson once a week snowballed rapidly into more lessons, hacks, then longer hacks and even more lessons. It didn't help when I started visiting Rarah (yes it's all your fault:D) to learn about stable management type stuff - I then started to hanker after a horse of my own. (read NEED one!)

Time wise and experience wise owning my own horse is a no go area at the moment but the plan was to start looking for a share towards the end of the year and to carry on riding and learning as much as possible until then. Then I got lucky and a the possibility of a share cropped up unexpectedly. So from September 2nd I have a horse 3 days a week.

I really echo what everyone above has said re looking for a possible share. Its a start and should ease you in. :)

[suzanne7575]

i would love a share horse and keep checking all the online sites, but haven't placed any wanted ads just yet as hubby is in the process of possibly changing jobs so i want to wait until he knows where he is at etc.

I would also be quite happy just helping out someone with caring for their horses even without riding, but a proper share for so many days of the week would be more then perfect for our current family situation

Thanks everyone for your replies

[fairlady]

Hi Suzanne,

Truth is once you are into horses I don't think it ever really leaves you:)

Just back into riding myself after a long long break, have bought myself a 2 year old. Did think of part loaning, but to be honest because of the way I work it could have caused a few problems. However, I would certainly recommend part sharing initially, especially if you have a young family and also it gives hubby time to 'acclimatise' to just how much time horses are gonna take up in your life if you then go on to buy one.

If you manage to find the right one (horse and owner:)) its a fantastic way to start back. Financially you may be able to think about this sooner rather than later. Just put a few feelers out at the Riding School or advertise in a few tack shops.

Shame you are not down this end of the country, I would more than willingly
let the right person come and help me out with Morse on the days I am working my late shifts.

Its funny how some of us manage to put 'horses' sort of to the back of our minds for years and carry on with life and then we make the fatal mistake of 'getting on' again ...... and we are back there totally hooked:)

[doolally_tap]

Its funny how some of us manage to put 'horses' sort of to the back of our minds for years and carry on with life and then we make the fatal mistake of 'getting on' again ...... and we are back there totally hooked:)

Very well put fairlady - that's exactly what's happened to me too.

[suzanne7575]

Very well put fairlady - that's exactly what's happened to me too.

Yep me too, i blame my husband!!!! i was doing ballet and jazz classes once a week but due to hubbys job it was lookinh like he would be away every wednesday so decided not to go back after the holidays, was feeling really sad as i enjoyed my me time, so hubby suggested i should maybe have some riding lessons intead......he has no idea what he has done :D

[blues mum]

Very well put fairlady - that's exactly what's happened to me too.

yup. me too !:p

[bicky]

Tell him you've loved horses for a lot longer than you've loved him!! Works every time!! LOL :)

[clarabella_78]

Very well put fairlady - that's exactly what's happened to me too.

..and me! :p

[buffy2202]

I gave up for 14yrs and decided this year when my three boys were at school that I would like to start again. To have lessons in a riding school wasnt enough, so I bought Louie. Trouble is, I havent told my husband! Lol. I work for him part time, so I am able to pay for part livery myself. The time is the most important. At least on part livery, I know that if I cant get up to see to him, he will be sorted.
I think a share is a very good option for you, good luck with what you decide.:)

[essexgirl]

I have had this more or less exactly. I had my own horse before I met my husband, then after having my second child I didn't have enough time for my old boy - I was lucky enough at that time to have a wonderful sharer who bought him.

Once my children were at school full time I started having the odd lesson, which increased to regular lessons and then felt I needed more than riding school lessons.

Now my children are 10yrs and 7yrs and only recently have I thought I would have time for a horse. Having thought long and hard, I decided that I wouldn't have time for my own horse so set about finding a suitable share horse. I have this now and this has led to a share horse for my children too (same owner which is really handy). However, my OH is not at all horsey and sometimes resents time spent with the horses. I try to keep my time with the horses to while he is at work as much as possible, but this isn't always the case - especially at weekends (of which I usually do one day).

He did come down to the yard a couple of weeks ago (first time since I have been sharing which is about 3 months now) and he got on my share horse and have a little walk around the field which he enjoyed and i snow talking about buying his own hat. I find that if I try and push him to get involved it makes it worse, whereas if I let him decide he wants to join us then he is more likely to get involved.

I would suggest that a share is a good first option to see how you get on. I am very lucky in the share arrangements I have as it now involves me and the children - and OH if he wants.

[Tiggy02]

Once you have the bug you are caught for life - i had 5 years without horses and then found myself stopping and looking over field gates at horses (how sad) so ended up with Bazil on loan and then bought Tiggy whom I still have 10 years later sometimes its been a real struggle and for the last 4 years she has been on a production yard as she does really well showing but she is coming home next week along with a couple of others we have aquired along the way - will be hard work but looking forward to it - have one available for loan from our yard if anyone is in north devon but she is only 13hh