I have no clue

Ladeefire

Ladeefire

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Sep 15, 2016
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image.jpeg we own a 30 acre pasture where some neighbors pasture their horses in the summer. They maintain the fence line and we get to see three gorgeous horses playing along the mountains. We pet them and talk to the, along the fence line and we sometimes go in and groom them. This is our first year living here, last year we had this property rented out. Well one of the owners wants to sell/give us his 19 year old quarter horse who is mainly used for hunting ( we live in Alaska). Me: up I am originally from the east coast so my friends often come and stay with us as we run a bed and breakfast. Every time someone comes up, I take them to a local horseback riding place and we ride the trail horses I LOVE it but I am a novice. I have no idea how to care for, outfit or get the saddle and crap on him. But his owner says he will help me. He describes him as a muffin with an independent streak that would never drop you intentionally. He is trained to pack out moose and bear and be ridden.

Now my DH and I are considering this. We love having them around but smoke would be here alone I the winter until his friends come back out in the summer. He is alone at the owners place too. He is sweet, he doesn't like his head handled but if you scratch his chest he loves it and leans in. He is older (right?) but simply beautiful. He has to see a ferrier every 8 weeks or so because he is particular about his feet but otherwise in good health. He is barefoot now on the pasture but would be fine shoed.

Everyone who knows smoke says he is an excellent horse to learn on but I am 45 yo with three Great Danes (one of which hates the horses) and do I really need another large guy to take care of? I am so tempted, I have ALWAYS wanted a horse, I have always felt they were amazing but I do not know ANYTHING about them.

Here is one of ,y friends posing with smoke (right) and Comanche (left) oh and bye, they are both FAT as they have not been worked at all this summer and just have been eating their heads off.
 
Can you get some lessons locally along with horse care / management experience? Having them at home is quite a responsibility so it would most likely be better if you could get plenty of experience and advice on the day to day aspect first. I am sure you will get plenty of advice on here too.
 
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I shared an old horse but would not buy 19 year old quarter horse nor any horse I had not ridden. If you took some lessons in riding and got the foundations right then you could take a better decision about this particular horse. But a loan arrangement would seem wiser for a horse that age.
 
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I think it would depend on how much time his current owner is willing to put in with you, if he's thinking he will spend an hour showing you the basics and leave you to figure the rest out then it could be trouble brewing, if however he's going to spend a few months getting you off on the right track and even after that be at the end of the phone if you need help then it may be worth considering. Having a horse of your own at home is no task to be sniffed at, its a lot of responsibility and potentially life threatening when you climb on 1200lb of living, breathing animal, and with an older horse a lot of cost to come when their bodies don't keep up with them so well anymore. I would be dubious of someone wanting to give away what on paper sounds like a really good horse who would be of value to most people, makes me think it is his age or something else going on that they are not sharing (cynical I know but sadly its so often true) and living alone is not really ideal for a horse, regardless of if that is what he has been doing, they are herd animals, they need their own kind around them.
 
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He sounds like a nice horse! Have you ever ridden him? Not every horse will take kindly to being ridden by a novice.
There are many things to consider before taking on the responsibility of owning. Especially as it sounds you will be mostly by yourself, not on a yard with experienced people around. One thing that comes to mind is, what would you do with him in winter? I have never been to Alaska, but I gather that it gets pretty cold there. ;) He would probably need to be stabled or at least have access to some sort of shelter. Stabled horses are a lot more work, you have to feed, muck out, turn them out, bring them back in....
 
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Jessey said:
I think it would depend on how much time his current owner is willing to put in with you, if he's thinking he will spend an hour showing you the basics and leave you to figure the rest out then it could be trouble brewing, if however he's going to spend a few months getting you off on the right track and even after that be at the end of the phone if you need help then it may be worth considering. Having a horse of your own at home is no task to be sniffed at, its a lot of responsibility and potentially life threatening when you climb on 1200lb of living, breathing animal, and with an older horse a lot of cost to come when their bodies don't keep up with them so well anymore. I would be dubious of someone wanting to give away what on paper sounds like a really good horse who would be of value to most people, makes me think it is his age or something else going on that they are not sharing (cynical I know but sadly its so often true) and living alone is not really ideal for a horse, regardless of if that is what he has been doing, they are herd animals, they need their own kind around them.
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YES he is a great guy and a friend and would be there to help us with Smoke. He lives just a couple miles up the road. The owner is older, a bear guide, who just isnt able to continue due to health issues with his own back etc. He has been talking about selling Smoke for years but wont sell him to just "anyone" and really would like him to stay here with us since he spends half the year with us anyway. He wants us to think about it hard as it is a huge committment. My hesitation is my lack of knowledge.
 
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Silvia said:
He sounds like a nice horse! Have you ever ridden him? Not every horse will take kindly to being ridden by a novice.
There are many things to consider before taking on the responsibility of owning. Especially as it sounds you will be mostly by yourself, not on a yard with experienced people around. One thing that comes to mind is, what would you do with him in winter? I have never been to Alaska, but I gather that it gets pretty cold there. ;) He would probably need to be stabled or at least have access to some sort of shelter. Stabled horses are a lot more work, you have to feed, muck out, turn them out, bring them back in....
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He is a great horse. I have not ridden him but his owner wants to come down this weekend with his tack and show me how to use it and wants me to stay in the pasture with him, on him so Smoke and I can get to know eachother. We do have a "barn" of sorts, a shelter, that they can get out of the weather with, plus our pasture is very wooded on the back half and they do wander out there when its bad weather. Believe it or not the winters here are fairly mild. Last year we got 4 inches of snow all winter. I know he should be with other horses but I dont feel like we could handle more than one at this time. In april-november they are here (3 of them) together and they are bonded.
 
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If you are happy that you can cope with the winter care then I dont see why not. The current owner seems sensible and a kind horseman who will help you.
Good luck. I too imagined Alaska as being under several feet of snow and needing heated stabling in winter!.
 
eml said:
If you are happy that you can cope with the winter care then I dont see why not. The current owner seems sensible and a kind horseman who will help you.
Good luck. I too imagined Alaska as being under several feet of snow and needing heated stabling in winter!.
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He is a really nice guy and he loves this horse!
 
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image.jpeg Hi there, still here. Mostly lurking since I am very green and have nothing to contribute We bought Smoke today, his last owner came down with all his hay for the winter and we shoved it into our barn. We went over feeding, and he very patiently helped me halter him and bridle him.

We are in the middle of building s shelter on the barn for him to get out of weather. (Although his previous owner never had shelter) and we have secured another horse to winter with him. One of our neighbors that pastures their horses here is leaving the companion horse (broken leg many years ago) with smoke.

Ok, back to lurking
:)

Oh here is your Alaska spam. my garden, the fence got jacked by a bad moose who clipped it when she jumped over to eat all my harvest. She was successful, however the garden fence was lost lol.
 
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