If You Live In A Mostly Cold Climate What Do You Need For Your First Horse?

Question

I need to know the conditions, the equiptment ,and the supplies the space,and the general medcines that you need for a horse.Also anyone that can tell me what kind of horse would be good for a starter horse would be great .I want one for a pet and to be able to ride sometime and good around kids..I just need to know the specifics for new horse ownship.I want to buy a pair that I can keep in a high altitude over 8400ft

Answer 1

The conditions, equipment, supplies and space that you will need for you horse are the same in most any climate. You don't have to have a stall, but a shelter where he can get in out of rain/snow/sun when needed. You will need an acre or two at least if you are wanting to get two horses. Safe fencing. For your water trough you will need to get one of the water heaters you drop into the water(so that means an electric supply to the pasture), and a place to put their hay/grain so it stays dry.

Horses do not really need to be blanketed in the winter 99% of the time. Most horses grow a good winter coat and do quite fine. The problem arises when you want to ride in the winter - if you get your horse sweaty you will need to keep him inside until he dries off(you can use a hair dryer to speed the process if he will tollerate it). If you do blanket him to keep his hair short, thern you will have to be VIGILANT about removing it every day to brush and check for sores; you will need to make sure that you never leave it off on a cold night/day (if he has short hair from having a blanket on all winter he will catch a cold), and you will probably need two blankets to switch out when one gets wet or muddy.

The best option if you have the time/space/money, is to keep the horse in a stall at night, and turn him out durring the day. I had my Morgan in Alaska for 2 winters (40 degress BELOW zero), and he stayed out all year around and did great - he actually seemed to fare just as well as he did in other states.

If you can buy a horse that has already been living in you area/climate, then they will not have to go through an adjustment period, and should do fine. Just ask the previous owners what their care routine was. You will need to feed a LOT of good quality food - that is how horses create the heat to stay warm in the winter. In cold climates horses will need much more food than a normal horse in a warm climate. Normally a 1000 lb horse will eat 25-35 pounds of hay a day, and most have some grain (1-4 pounds). In very cold weather you will probably end up feeding close to 50 lbs of hay a day and as much as 5 to 10 lbs of grain just for the horse to maintain it's weight.

If you live in snow you may also want to consider getting horse shoes with pads to keep the snow from building up in the horses feet (like walking on 4 inches of snow in your boots), and studs that screw in and out of their shoes to give them traction (just watch that you reomve them if the horses are out together so they don't kick/cut each other).

Find someone in your area that has horses and just ask if you can watch them for a day to see how they are doing it and get some tips.

Answer 2

I would suggest leasing a horse first especially if you dont know a lot about horses. There's a lot of work and money involved in owning a horse. But for this time of year your horse should have its fall vaccinations for rhino, flu, and rabies. You should get a thick winter blanket. I would suggest a quarter horse. There great for leisure riding and have a good temperment. Make sure you test ride them first a couple times before making a decision.

Answer 3

First of all you need safe fencing. Horses are remarkably accident prone. If you want them to be able to live on grass during the summer months, you will need at least an irrigated acre per horse. I live at 3500ft. and I buy three tons of hay per horse for the winter. Horses need shelter from extreme wet and wind.

Horses need hoof trims or shoes four times a year. That cost varies. They also need shots, some of which vary from area to area and worming.

You should find someone with lots of experience to find healthy horses with good training.

Here is a good site with horse info:
http://www.horsekeeping.com/horse-training-care-info.htm

Answer 4

the best advice i could give to anyone starting out, is find a horse-"person" to teach you the do's and don't's! shelter requirements, a good farrier, and the rightmix of feed for your area, and so on.
and more importantly call all the vets in your area and ask the same questions, and if they know of anyone?

Answer 5

I would suggest a Fjord. They are hearty little guys with awesome personalities and are quiet and gentle. Good luck! Happy Trails.

Answer 6

Call a vet first.

Answer 7

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