Free Horses!

[Cindlady2]

I saw this in one of my other forums......

Linda Vernon
some for free here...52 thoroughbred horses need homes. Will go to Sugarcreek this Saturday for slaughter. Gentleman died and his son wants nothing to do with them. Most broodmares are broke and some are in foal weanling, yearlings, 2 yrs and 3 yrs old.. most are gelded. FREE and papered. Friend of the deceased is trying to find homes 440-463-4288 Barnesville, OH.

 

[Denim Deb]

This is old. It keeps resurfacing every year or so. All the horses have found homes. http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/horses.asp

 

[k15n1]

For a while there were lots of horses that had been dumped by their owners. It was during the recession. That got me thinking about how much it costs to keep a horse. My little survey (N=2) came to about 1,000 $ per year if you have your own land and barn. Boarding is another story. To put that in context, we found that the cost of upkeep of a car, including initial price is something like 1,000 $/yr. Usually more. That's over 10 years or so, again, N=2 because we've only owned those 2 cars.

Anyone else thought about the cost of keeping a horse?

 

[Hinotori]

I assumed that it cost more to keep a horse.

We like horses and I want to build a small barn, but it's the cost of keeping them that has stopped me. People get one cutting of grass hay here if it's a dry year. If it's a wet year, forget it. We've thought about the transportation aspect if there was no more fuel. Horses can also pull a plow if trained to.

 

[Icu4dzs]

I assumed that it cost more to keep a horse.

We like horses and I want to build a small barn, but it's the cost of keeping them that has stopped me. People get one cutting of grass hay here if it's a dry year. If it's a wet year, forget it. We've thought about the transportation aspect if there was no more fuel. Horses can also pull a plow if trained to.

I can shed some light from my experience on this one. I built a nice barn for horses from 2003-2006. Took every minute of my free time for that whole period. It cost me $25,000 at least plus what ever my time should be worth.

Since then that barn has housed a "rescue" thorobred mare whose great Grandfathers are Northern Dancer and Secretariat. (good horses in the racing industry). However, since she is "rescued" I can't breed her or get a foal from her for my own. That is kind of annoying. I am allowed to keep her, feed her house her and if I choose, ride her. I pay for her vet bills, shoeing and other grooming needs and all of this costs considerably more than $1000/year. Anyone who tells you it is only $1000/year is underestimating.

To complicate this of course is the need for space to walk and general care every day. Frankly, a horse is really just a "BIG NEEDY DOG" when it comes to the issues of "owning a pet".
While in an emergency, riding the horse may be "possible", it may or may not be practical. Riding a horse requires a level of rapport with the horse among other things and that requires a lot of personal time and patience.
To complicate this, no thorobred horse is going to pull a plow. Trust me. To get a plow or other vehicle pulled you need either a Fresian, Clydesdale or one of the "draft horse" breeds.

I am also aware that in years past, I was paying in excess of $400/month just to "board a horse" at someone elses "barn" which turned out to be a snooty club for wealthy women. You still had to pay for and administer your own feed, mucking the stalls and care of the horse. The $400/month was JUST rent. So, that was a very expensive lesson in "pet ownership."
YMMV

 

[DeniseCharleson]

I'm sensing several parallels between horse ownership and what I used to hear from physicians in coastal southern California regarding boat ownership. There, it was fairly common for successful physicians to demonstrate their success by buying a boat. I heard more than one acknowledge later that the second happiest day of his life was the day he bought his boat. The happiest was the day he sold it. There were just so many hidden costs, hassles, and time-wasters involved in boat ownership.
Caveat emptor.

 

[baymule]

Horses are a hole in your pocket you dump money into. I have 3 horses, a mule and a donkey. I love them madly and they keep me as close to sane I will ever be. I don't show, I feed them and ride when I can steal time to do so. (I have my 90 year old mother living with us and care for her) My style of riding is Western Schlump, I just schlump around for my own enjoyment.

The boat analogy: A boat is a hole in the water you pour money into.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'd spend a lot less on the horses if I had them at home! And, my life would be so much easier.

As for the post that started this, I checked my e-mails and found one w/the same story! So, apparently, it's making it's rounds again. I normally see it pop up every few months. But, it's good that people are concerned enough to try and find homes for the horses.

 

[Cindlady2]

DD.... Thanks for checking it out! I had not seen it before and since there was a phone number I thought it might be true. (Perhaps it was at one point) I normally check stuff like that out too, but the way the economy is now days, and as strange as some people are.... well, it got me!

 

[Denim Deb]

It was true to a point, the guy did die and they needed to find homes for the horses, but the original poster says she never said they'd go for slaughter. I think it took them 4 days to place all the horses.

ETA: I've seen this on almost every forum I regularly visit as well as getting an e-mail about it this past week!