a trip to the farm :)

occasionally i go the hour drive to blairsville where theres a farm i worked on last year. everyone there is like family, including the horses. im really hoping the transmission in my truck is okay, because if it is, i may be getting the colt i raised since birth last year :3 i finally found a place to keep a horse about 30 minutes away that wont charge me an arm or a leg.

this is the stallion, diablo. he is a foundation bred quarter horse with a puppy dog personality


this is diablo's second born son. his first drowned in the pond. this little guy's mom gave birth to him on the pond bank and he fell in while he was trying to stand up, luckily someone saw and saved him. his name is lucky


lucky is my boyfriends favorite horse. sadly, he cannot afford to have him


here is my favorite colt, jigsaw. he likes to run up to greet me seeing how ive raised him since birth


diablo and his second born filly, who was born this past spring.


this is diablo's first born filly, born last fall, her name is elsa ...she hates people because i wasnt there to work with her when she was born :/

Nice trip you had, Manda. Nice place, and beautiful horses. Did you get a horse ride that day?

Since it's close to where you live and they don't charge a lot, have you considered to get your old horse back or do you plan to get a new one?

(08-01-2012, 12:04 AM)Thor Wrote: Nice trip you had, Manda. Nice place, and beautiful horses. Did you get a horse ride that day?

Since it's close to where you live and they don't charge a lot, have you considered to get your old horse back or do you plan to get a new one?

i cant get my old horse back, but im trying to get the white colt i raised. i still need to find out if my transmission is ruined, and if it is, then i cant get any horses. but if it is not and i dont have any other major bills to pay, ill get the colt and no horse rides that day :/ its a breeding farm, so they dont usually take the time to train the horses to be able to ride...

Very fun trip Manda! You need to get another horse at some point. You obviously love them, and have a passion for them. I wouldn't stress too much if you can't do it now though. I'm gathering your young. You have time, and the most important thing would be to take care of yourself, and set yourself up for long term success. That will enable you to be able to be able to care for the horse more easily whenever you do get one, less headaches and more time to spend enjoying him/her.

I'm not trying to be imposing with advice, just the opinion of an old man who understands.

This is something that I have been wanting to do for a long time every since I saw my first horse. Besides the question of space, what is the cost of feeding a horse? Where I used to live, I have seen some people keeping horses much the same way they kept their cows. I mean they let the horses eat grass just like their cows did. Does it actually work that way?

(08-01-2012, 04:00 PM)Victor Leigh Wrote: This is something that I have been wanting to do for a long time every since I saw my first horse. Besides the question of space, what is the cost of feeding a horse? Where I used to live, I have seen some people keeping horses much the same way they kept their cows. I mean they let the horses eat grass just like their cows did. Does it actually work that way?

it depends on the horse, if you have a horse that keeps weight up easily, and you have a fair amount space with enough grass for all the animals, then the horses can be kept out all the time and wont need grain. in the winter they will need hay because the grass will be hidden under the snow and they work harder to get it. a round bale will usually last the herd for about 2 weeks and they cost $20. if it was a single horse, it would probably last a month or longer. alot people argue that horses need special care all the time, and "need" a stall and all the other expensive things people do to them..but they dont. they need enough food to keep their weight up (not ribby looking) a vet check once a year, and feet trimmed every other month. its actually cheaper to keep a horse on your own land if you have alot, than to board :/

just got news about my truck!!!!!! the transmission is fine! woohoo! got a new engine, gaskets, and belts, all i need to worry about is, how much he is going to charge me O.o already paid for the engine, so thats $450 out of the way...he is a really really nice guy so i hope he doesnt charge too much for the labor...i really really want my colt :3

isnt he cute? this pic was taken last summer, the big horse was my old one, and the colt is the one i want. i miss my old horse, but she was a little nuts in the head from whatever happened when she was young, im glad her new owner is actually taking the time to get he rover her fears, even if it involves him being crushed :/ (which did happen, he's okay though).

(08-01-2012, 11:05 PM)amanda509 Wrote: it depends on the horse, if you have a horse that keeps weight up easily, and you have a fair amount space with enough grass for all the animals, then the horses can be kept out all the time and wont need grain. in the winter they will need hay because the grass will be hidden under the snow and they work harder to get it. a round bale will usually last the herd for about 2 weeks and they cost $20. if it was a single horse, it would probably last a month or longer. alot people argue that horses need special care all the time, and "need" a stall and all the other expensive things people do to them..but they dont. they need enough food to keep their weight up (not ribby looking) a vet check once a year, and feet trimmed every other month. its actually cheaper to keep a horse on your own land if you have alot, than to board :/

From what you have said, then it's not really very expensive to keep a horse. Where I live, we don't have the problem of winter at all. So the horse can graze the whole year round. Now how much land planted with grass is needed to feed a horse?

(08-02-2012, 04:43 PM)Victor Leigh Wrote: From what you have said, then it's not really very expensive to keep a horse. Where I live, we don't have the problem of winter at all. So the horse can graze the whole year round. Now how much land planted with grass is needed to feed a horse?

its supposed to be one acre per horse, but the more, the better, horses eat grass pretty fast, and if they dont have enough space, they will destroy the pasture by eating all the grass and letting the weeds take over. the farm i was visiting leaves about 25-30 acres to 14 horses.

One acre per horse? That's quite a bit of land. Maybe it can be modified by supplementing the diet with processed food. I have seen some people feeding their horses with something that looked more or less like what is fed to cows. Horses and cows eat similar things, right?

(08-04-2012, 07:33 AM)Victor Leigh Wrote: One acre per horse? That's quite a bit of land. Maybe it can be modified by supplementing the diet with processed food. I have seen some people feeding their horses with something that looked more or less like what is fed to cows. Horses and cows eat similar things, right?

kind of. you can supplement with your own grain or other feeds, but if horses cant get what they need through grass, they need feed made specifically for them, which is very high in vitamins and minerals. cow feed just doesnt make the cut because cows arent as active as horses are. but the reason for the lot of land is, when horses eat, they sometimes pull the grass by the roots, therefor making that spot a grassless one, it takes time for grass to grow back. if you dont have enough space, the horse will eat all the grass in that area and it wont grow back :/