r/Horses

My friend has 5 rideable horses. 2 are draft crosses, 2 are quarter horses, and the last horse named Pidge is mix, a little lighter boned than a quarter horse, maybe some pony mix.

My friend dealt with health issues which kept her from riding for about a year and caused her to gain even more weight. It's to the point that her bottom hangs over the side of the English saddle. My friend has been getting back into riding this summer. She went from riding every other month to riding for a few hours (walk/trot) 2 to 4 times a week. All of this on Pidge, who like her owner, is not in great condition after basically a year out of work.

My friend is a little bit of a horse hypochondriac. Constantly, convinced her horses have EPM or lymes any time they're a little tired or slow. And now these issues have collided; Pidge is tired from caring around a person who's a little too big for her. Resulting in a very tired Pidge who is also a little muscle sore.

But my friend is SURE Pidge has EPM. I don't know how to tell my friend that she's too big for Pidge now and that Pidge is more than likely sore and tired from carrying my friend.

Just for fun. I'm talking things like color preferences or markings or things like that which are purely personal opinions and have nothing to do with how good or bad the horse is otherwise.

For me, I've known so many horses with two back socks (and no front socks) that I would have a hard time buying a horse with socks like that for myself. I'm also not a fan of double dilutes like cremellos personally.

What about you guys?

IMPORTANT NOTE: This question is asked entirely out of curiosity. I'm not intending to actually buy for at least 5 and possibly as many 10 years, and I doubt I'll buy a mare in foal when I do.

With that out of the way: while browsing horse ads and daydreaming, I've noticed that mares in foal seem to be MUCH less expensive than their non-pregnant counterparts. More than once I've seen two horses of similar coat, age, breed, and conformation, neither of them with a bloodline that's obviously better or worse than the other. But the one that's not pregnant will go for $20,000 to $40,000, while the one that is in foal is only $2,000 to $15,000 in comparison.

Why is that? Is it the cost and risk of caring for a pregnant mare? The fact that a foal is several years of work and expenses before they can be worked? Is it just that mares with the training needed for riding and showing are less likely to be bred?

A horse I’m considering is listed for $15k on consignment. This is not some fancy horse with records and prizes or anything like that. I don’t think she has papers but not sure. But, she is very well trained (and absolutely gorgeous). She’d be my first horse. I’m curious to what extent I might be able to negotiate her price. Note that I am in Colorado and prices here do seem to be much higher than elsewhere based on my searches. I don’t yet know vet exam results (consignor does on all horses) and results may influence but for now, thoughts?

I’m currently on vacation and yesterday I met one of my mom’s friend, it turned out she had horses too and we spent the majority of the morning talking about our horses.

I found out she has a 21yo mare, blind in both eyes (and she still rides and hacks with her), and she has had this mare since she was only 1yo. So they do have a kind of special bond.
When I told her my mare is 16, she looked me in the eyes and suggested that I sell her to buy something younger “if I plan to keep riding in the years”.

Honestly, I can’t understand how that even pops in her mind as it’s the first time we met and she dosent know well me nor my mare. I ofc hope I’ll be able to ride my mare for many more years, but if that won’t be the case I would be more than happy to pony her while I ride lessons horses and things like that. I love my mare, even if I don’t think she is my heart horse, I do genuinely love her so much. I could never get rid of her, especially if it’s for age reasons.

I’ve been crying all day on and off and I just need to vent and write down my feelings.

I love my horse more than anything in the world but I’m.just.burn.out.

I’ve had him for 4 years now and 4 years in…it’s only been trouble after trouble after trouble. He’s what people might call a « problem horse ». When I first got him he had behavioral issues that took a year to fix. He was agressive and reluctant. He hated being ridden. However with work and patience and love I managed to fix that problem. But then came the health issues…for the past three years it’s been one health issue after another. He’s got breathing issues due to allergies, food allergies, bad feet, cervical arthritis due to an accident he had before I bought him…and the list goes on.

He’s been doing ok for the past 8 months now and I finally thought we were out of the woods! I was already thinking about taking lessons with him again, maybe even jump a little again. Last week, he saw the chiropractor (that he sees monthly!) and she told me that he was finally looking great and feeling great muscle-wise. No tension. Looking fit. I was so happy…and lo and behold…the very next day, he rolled too close to the hay rack and got his hind leg stuck in it. He hurt himself but nothing bad. So, for a few days I gave him arnica, showered the leg, applied clay and yesterday he was ok again. I lunged him and he was fine. So, this morning I wanted to ride him and go for a small trail ride (just walking) and well, nope. No riding. He was limping badly! Refused to put any weight on his right front hoof. I picked his hooves. And the feet is a little warm. So, I cleaned it and put on his hoof boots with silicone insoles. It helped and is at least now able to move around. But he can’t wear them 24/7…

So, now I contacted my farrier and she is yet to answer me…over 7 hours later.

I love him. Dearly. But I am just tired. :(