How to get rid of horses?

[buckeyefarmer]

I love looking out my window and seeing the horses in the field, love to watch them run around.

Love to watch the neighbors who own them feed them, take care of them, maintain their fences..
I get to watch the field ornaments, without the expense.

 

[arpt209]

Eddie,
God Bless you and your wife. I hope her recovery is as full as my wife's from lung cancer.
I'd check with locals, feed stores, sales barn, farrier, saddle maker, riders at rodeos, FFA Chapter, 4H, etc. I'd be on the lookout for the teenaged girl going through what I call "equipause" terrible disease that affects primarily teenage girls. Find the right one to come over & take care of the horses and work with them & in payment she can ride them but she has to do all the "ground work" (getting them used to being handled, feet picked up, stand tied, being led where they may not want to go, no biting) first. Then she can ride. Maybe after seeing her success your wife might actually want to gift her with a horse. Slow but it might work.
I also like the suggestions of hiring the training done. Can you say barter? "I'll give you two untrained, slightly spoiled, papered Quarter Horses" and at the end you give me this one back, finished & ready to ride. Easier to sell finished horses. The problem here is getting the bride on board but she may be receptive to trading two for the new & improved return model.
At three years old they're not too old to learn. I started & finished a 7 year old quarter horse that the nice lady who gave him to me had spoiled horribly. When I got him he had never been shod, haltered or anything other than handed treats, he'd bite & kick and actually charged me ONE time ears laid back & teeth bared like an alligator. Ended up selling him to a fellow with 3 little kids & over the years he showed me pictures of the horse with kids on board. As the kids grew they went from all 3 riding at the same time to having to take turns. God Bless & Good Luck. Wish I was in the vicinity to try to help you out.

 

[Creamer]

I love looking out my window and seeing the horses in the field, love to watch them run around.

Love to watch the neighbors who own them feed them, take care of them, maintain their fences..
I get to watch the field ornaments, without the expense.

I like them this way so much I will even go over and pet them and give them snacks.

 

[Wakey]

Eddie I'm really sorry for what you and your wife are going through but it is good to hear that she's doing better.

I would not for a minute consider sending these horses out for training, you will be bled dry by the cost.

We had 27 horses, half were ours, the other half or so were boarded.. I always asked new arrivals if they had bad habits. Biting is easy to fix. Don't punch, SLAP. Right on the nose. We do not possess the strength to hurt these animals, I assure you. The slap makes a noise that gets their attention and it might stun them for a second also.

The one that has bit you, slap the fire out of it next time it walks up. You need to make yourself the leader of the herd.

Never let a pushy animal invade your space, gentle ones are OK if that kind of thing does not bother you. When a horse is moving too close to you, wave a hand in its face and make a high pitched "ssssss" noise... all one motion.. That works every time.

Perhaps you can find a young horse lover that you can pay to longe the pushy horses but you would need to build a round ring. Cranky horses need a job, a tired horse is a good horse!

If it were me, I'm not sure I'd make a move while your wife is sick. See if there is a way to get some assistance with feeding and turning out. Horse lovers have a "sickness", the young ones will work cheap just to be around those beautiful animals.

 

[Wakey]

Eddie,
I'd be on the lookout for the teenaged girl going through what I call "equipause" terrible disease that affects primarily teenage girls. Find the right one to come over & take care of the horses and work with them & in payment she can ride them but she has to do all the "ground work" (getting them used to being handled, feet picked up, stand tied, being led where they may not want to go, no biting) first. Then she can ride. Maybe after seeing her success your wife might actually want to gift her with a horse.

Eqipause LOL Spot on comment. Pick a pretty one, that will get your wife back on her feet! ;-)

 

[Groo]

my greatest fear is my daughter realizes that we have enough land for a horse.

 

[MossRoad]

my greatest fear is my daughter realizes that we have enough land for a horse.

Mine found out we had enough land, so I sent her to volunteer at a therapeutic horse riding facility. That cured her. She got enough interaction with the back end of the horses and everything that comes out of them, cleaning, feeding, taking care of the tack, etc... we got a cat. :laughing:

 

[k0ua]

we got a cat.

Good move. A little food/water, a litter box and pet them once in a while. If they are outside kitty's, they don't even need the litter box.

Much easier and cheaper than a horse.

 

[bindian]

Oh wow Eddie, just stumbled across this thread. So sorry to hear about your wife.
Back in high school, our ag teachers would not let us have horses for our project show. They stressed making a profit from our projects and said horses wouldn't do it. So an old joke comes to mind...........How do you make a million dollars with horses? Start with 10 million dollars!

I pray Y'all work through this horse issue together.
hugs, Brandi

 

[Jstpssng]

I love looking out my window and seeing the horses in the field, love to watch them run around.

Love to watch the neighbors who own them feed them, take care of them, maintain their fences..
I get to watch the field ornaments, without the expense.

I wouldn't want to do it full time but used to enjoy taking care of friend's 5 horses when they went away for the week.