Comments on: Stable Advice: Bringing Home the Horses

By: Dayna Clemons

Dayna Clemons — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 11:27:49 +0000

You can never have enough gates! Have a gate from the dry lot to the pasture, the pasture to the barn, and the barn to the dry lot. Try to set it up so you can walk an entire circle through every place your horses will be. It will make things much easier for separating them for any reason.

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 14:20:33 +0000

There is a lot of work in keeping your horses at home,but the benefits are worth it. I won’t dwell much on the work aspect but some of the benefits are worth being told and they are as follows: you can visit your horse without having to pay for gas, you can ride without a crowded arena or distractions, your horse will be more pleased to see you when you visit him , you can stick to your own schedule, and there are many other benefits.

By: Anna Porter

Anna Porter — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 07:17:43 +0000

I personally have never had to board my horse at a stable, but I am a pro when it comes to stabling them on your own property. There are extra jobs, but I find more peace of mind in caring for my own horse.
1. You need to regularly check and repair fence. It seems fairly obvious but their is nothing worse than having to run down the road to catch a run away horse, or getting a call from an angry neighbor.
2. Feeding schedules, you have to stick to them. I turn my horses out and they get a couple scopes of grain every other day. you
3. Hay, you might have been aware of the hay prices, but figuring out some one who will sell you hay at a competitive price is an other. I suggest asking your stable manger where they buy their hay.
4.forages, a good green field can be a bit of work horses can easily over eat your field which can result in erosion. You will want to rotate where your horses grazes about every two weeks.
5. water you need to have fresh water 24/7!
6. Shelter, you need to keep a run in shelter in each field and blanket our horse if you need to.
7. You need to stay on top of vet visits, deworming and vaccines.
Keeping a horse at home can be a challenge sometimes but it is equally rewarding.

By: Lisa Downing

Lisa Downing — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 10:37:07 +0000

Im making plans to bring mine home,whats the best footing to put a 2 stall shed row with a run in attached on?Asphalt?

By: Sara

Sara — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 06:10:40 +0000

A few years ago I built a small barn and moved my horses home. I don’t regret the decision, but there have been challenges that I didn’t anticipate; many that have already been outlined here in other comments.
The first thing I’d advise to someone who is moving horses to their own care is to make a clear plan and be as organized as possible. There’s a lot of details to keep in mind. Get it on your calendar worming, seasonal shots, farrier visits. Learn basic equine first aid and nutrition. Plan for emergencies or natural disasters. Being prepared is the MOST important thing. We had a terrible flood here shortly after I built the barn and I had to evacuate 9 horses. It taught me how important it is to have an emergency plan and to have important numbers nearby and easy to find.
The other thing that is vastly different than boarding somewhere else is the social aspect. Suddenly you find yourself riding alone more often than not. I like to trail ride, so I organize a weekly ride and send out emails to others who also participate. Again, planning is key. Find a few good rides that suit your ability, scope them out, and set dates in advance.
I don’t know if I saved money or not by bringing my horses home. I have a ten stall barn so I hire someone to help with the chores, so that labor cost makes up for most of the board that I spent at another barn. But I do enjoy being able to be with my horses all the time – the time I spend NOT riding is not equally as important as the time I am in the saddle. Before I brought them home, a visit to the horses was only to “work”. Now, sometimes I just hang out with them and enjoy a glass of wine while I watch them graze, and I know that life can’t get much better than that!

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 10:51:45 +0000

Congratulations!! All the comments I read are good and I would add that if your pasture is not the correct size to feed your horses, you can put them into corrals during the day. Here in Wyoming, a lot of private as well as boarding stables rotate pasture with a stall or paddock/corral. Some put the horses out at night and some put them out during the day. There are horses that can not regulate their feeding and can founder or colic from eating to much all the time, as well as put on too much weight. If you have easy keepers then this is not a worry, but I have 2 easy keepers and 2 that are not and will eat continually -all day and night long! So I put them out to pasture for 3-4 hours in the morning and again at night, which is about as much time as it takes for them to eat their hay in the winter. This way I can also rotate the pastures so that one is being watered, one is being eaten and one is resting. This way I have grass all summer and you can do this with smaller pastures, say3-5 acres total. If you are very lucky you could also grow your own hay. There are people out there that will “hay” it for you for part of the field (in hay they baled).
Go for it and ask questions cuz you will never know if you don’t ask!! Your vet should know some people that can help you as well. Good Luck!!

By: Philomena

Philomena — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 17:06:34 +0000

I have kept horses at home for as long as I can remember, 12 years at least. Make sure you have a good set-up, meaning facility area, and exercise room (such as a large flat field). This problem happened to me,and it is still in the process of being resolved. One mistake such as this, in the beginning, can really mess one up. I had to learn the hard way. One more important point I’d like to share is: please ensure your horse won’t be in a really windy area, if you have wind. I live in really windy North Dakota, and when we get blizzards in the winter, the fence always gets snowed over and falls down. Sometimes my horse gets stuck inside a drift-wall of snow. I’m sure you will do fine, and keep smiling!

By: Galadriel

Galadriel — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 23:58:42 +0000

No downside to having horses at home but remember you now have sole responsibility and you may not have another set of eyes to notice things.

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 09:22:24 +0000

When keeping your horses at home, it is always helpful to make some horse friends nearby so that you can not only have fun together and share tips, but so that when one of you is going to be out of town that the other can do the others chores for a weekend. Making some good nearby horse friends has proven extremely valuable for me. If one of our horses gets injured and one of us doens’t have a certain ointment, then it is lended, and the favors are always returned. They are there to help with your hay, but you should also be there to help with theirs too. Not only are horsey neighbors helpful, but they make keeping your own horses at home more enjoyable.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 14:03:35 +0000

First, I should say that I’ve always had my horses at home. But, the challenges of juggling horse care, work, family responsibilities are likely to be the same for us all. Here are some things that make my “home with horses” simpler and safer, purely from my own 45 years with horses:
*Dispose of manure downhill and as far away from barn as practical. Helps control flies and odors.
*Automatic waterers are great and I have them, but suggest a MANUAL water trough as well. It helps you judge how much your horses are drinking, which the auto version does not.
*Horses chew down your trees and barns due to boredom. Use slow-feeder hay bags OR feed several small meals during the day to keep them happy.
*Your horse care time is most efficient when you have a routine, and keep your supplies in the same place all the time. BUT!
*Vary your feeding times somewhat. Don’t be so exact that your horses become anxious if you are delayed or early with a meal.
*Understand the social dynamic of your horses for safe handling and turnout. Your boarding barn may NOT have put your horses out together. Watch the pecking order, and when you understand it, remember that when you turn horses OUT to pasture, you go from least dominant to most dominant. Bringing them IN from pasture should go in reverse. Otherwise, the dominant horses will hang around the gate going OUT to pester the others, or they will want to run over the others to come IN first. If you handle according to herd dominance, everyone is safer and happier!