You, You, You, You, You...
YOU'RE looking for a trail horse
You found the perfect horse! He’s 8 years old, well broke to ride trails and impervious to new sights, sounds and smells. Congratulations! But your horse may live to 30 or 35, and he may not always be a fit trail horse. What’s your plan for him then?
You want a smaller horse for your child
Livestock auctions are brimming with smaller horses that were once the perfect fit for smaller riders. Then the riders grew up and outgrew the horse. Do you have a plan for the smaller horse when your child is ready to graduate to a more challenging ride?
Your boyfriend got you your first horse
What a cool gift! But 99.9 percent of relationships are temporary (gasp); and as much as you love and adore your man and all his land today, what will you do with this special gift if things with the boy don’t work out?
You never really liked sorrel horses
Go away.
You barely scraped together enough money to buy your horse
Saving enough money to buy a horse is no small feat; but too many new horse owners get so enamored with the idea of having a horse, they fail to plan for actually having a horse. Horses are incredibly expensive, and anything that can happen, generally will happen when you own a horse.
You want a mare because it would be so fun to have a foal
Depending on where you look, there are anywhere between 100,000 and 200,000 unwanted horses at any given time in America. Irresponsible breeding is just part of the equation. Baby horses are fun and adorable. They also can live to be 30 to 35. Where will you be in 30 to 35 years?
Would you want to be traded for a newer model?
If you’ve ever been married, you know how much time and planning a wedding takes. We spend months obsessing over which guests to invite (and not invite), what kind of cake to buy, the venue, the time of year, the perfect flowers and dress and shoes…
How many of us wish we would have put as much time into planning the marriage as we did into planning the wedding? It can’t just be about the wedding and honeymoon. It has to be about everything that follows – in sickness and in health, through thick and thin, when you’re wrinkly and overweight and passing gas in front of each other.
The same is true for the decision to buy a horse. Like a marriage, horse ownership is more than just a romantic idea. It’s a huge responsibility to take the life of another creature that will live for decades into your hands.
While a horse may seem like everything you want today, what’s your plan for the horse once your tastes and circumstances change? Because he (or she) will still love, honor and cherish you exactly the same as he did the day you committed to each other. How often can you say that about a companion?
