[ali&ajsmom]

I have 3 horses and a pony plus we board 3 more horse it is expensive. If we didn't have our own hay field we would be hurting. another thing the cost of feed is another consideration. my husband might complain it is expensive but he loves to go out and do chores after work. he says that it is his down time. I really don't blame him.

we do have high vet bills but with this many horses what do you exsect. as far as the ferrier we only pay $10.00 per horse. and it is inexpensive to get my mares shoes done. we have and excellent ferrier plus he has taught me a few things.

as for a truck we have a f-150 and my dad has a f-350 so depending on our needs at the time we have a choice. I don't have a trailer yet but we are not far from some horse trails.

we have 19 acres so we have the ability to swith the horse around and we have worked out an agreement with one of the boarders who is also a neighbor to open up their pasture so the horse give other areas time to grow some grass again. right now our horses are itching to get back into the other pasture.

I think it is great that people are adopting rescue horses. I cannot believe how some people treat animals. I watch animal planet and one of the shows is about going to rescue abused animals. Some people are just sick.

[AliceT]

How much time do I have? This is really a long subject and I ramble which makes it even longer.

First and foremost, horse people love to talk about horses. And uh, you did ask...

If I may be so bold, there is one aspect of horse ownership that I feel needs to reach as many new and old timers to horse ownership as possible. Hurricanes. Please, if you are in a position that you have a choice of where to put your horse (pasture or stall) when a hurricane is bearing down, please be kind and put your horse in the pasture. The further your horse is from the barn, the better. Let me explain why that is:

Horses will always turn their tails to face oncoming wind and rain. They put their heads down and wait it out. This is a natural defense mechanism. A hurricane is a whole lot of wind and a whole lot of rain. Horses will stand their ground, heads down, rumps facing the worst of the weather and they do not have a concept of the passing of time. They just turn themselves off until the storm passes. They are fine like that, really! But, if you take them out of their element, put them in a nice, dry barn and put them in a nice roomy stall with a nice big bunch of hay to keep them safe from the storm, they don't know to turn their rumps to the wind and they won't turn themselves off. That means they are going to be alert and hear the lashing rain on the barn roof, against the barn sides, hear the flapping pieces of shingles as may be torn from overhead in the storm. These sounds will be amplified to the horse and will spook him/her. And where is this now frightened animal? In the eyes of the horse, he is trapped in this stall. Something is very wrong with the barn and he is trapped. Some horses will cause injury to themselves trying to escape the stall and then the barn. And once outside, in fright, a horse will run and run and run and not stop running. A scared horse will attempt to run through wood fences, wire fences, pipe fences. They will run blindly onto or across a road. That's what frightened horses do.

I can't tell you how many people had to put severely injured horses out of their misery because they ran in a blind panic out of a barn or stall during a hurricane. It wasn't the actual hurricane that scared them - it was something solid banging against the barn or a hole punched through the roof or a loose board slamming into the side of the barn that did the deed. It was not the storm in and of itself.

The "turned off" horses in a pasture will fare much better than the ones "fully aware" of their surroundings in a barn every time. After the first hurricane did it's deed to my neck of the woods, just about everyone I worked with asked how my horses were. Then they were astounded that my horses were fine and that I opted to let them stay in the pasture rather than putting them in their stalls through the storm. I shudder at what I heard happened to horses that were "trapped" inside barns that began disintigrating around them during the worst part of the storm.

Having said that, I know there are going to be people who declare they kept their horses in the barn and they all came through unscathed. True enough, not all barns fell apart, not all indoor horses were injured. But take your cue from cattle ranchers. Cattle do the same thing horses do. Tail to the storm, heads down and "turn off." They don't turn back "on" until the winds and rain subside. It works.

Plenty of people will be able to tell you all about farriers, stables, breeds, breeding, showing, trailering, training and grooming. I could help you with just about everything except showing. But top priority in my mind is protecting your friend during a hurricane.

[cowhorse53]

I agree with you in theory, but sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise! We did evac in 2004, w/ 5 horses (one in foal) to Macon GA. Frances was a Cat 4 and we were not sure how our place would hold up, we live in a 2000 MH. Husband "over" built the barn but we left anyway! Upon return only a few tree limbs were down, not even a shingle off the home, no damage in the barn, BUT the power line across our pasture was down! Downed powerlines are one of the most deadly aspects in hurricanes. So we stayed for Charlie, and Jeanne and also had not damage, BUT left the horses in the barn!