In Goddess We Trust: What should I ask when getting a horse and arranging a boarding pasture?
I have had a horse before but this is the first time I’m going through the adoption process. I do have a boarding pasture that I want to take my horse to (whenever I find one) but I don’t really know what to ask them to make sure he/she’s being cared for properly.
As for getting the horse, I am looking at rescue organizations as well as newspaper ads/online ads. What questions should I ask about the horse so I know what I’m getting and what to expect?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Karin C
Does the boarding pasture you have include a shelter for the horses? Are the horses ever brought in to a stall?
My knee-jerk reflex feeling is that if you’re getting a rescue horse, you don’t want to have it pasture boarded. You want it in a stall. The reasons for this:
1. Many rescue horses have physical issues relating to their previous care and need close oversight to assure they recover from neglect or abuse. It’s hard to provide that kind of oversight in a pasture.
2. If your rescue horse has a history of abuse, you’e going to have a heck of a time catching her in pasture.
3. The rescue organization you work with, whichever one you choose, is undoubtedly going to want to see the physical facility where you intend to keep the horse before they let you have one. You may have trouble finding an organization that would let you have a horse if all you can provide is pasture board.
If I were you, before you go any further or waste time spinning your wheels, I’d contact some of the rescue organizations you’re thinking of getting a horse from and ask them what kind of facilities they require/recommend for adopters.
That said, the things I would consider when looking at a pasture board situation:
1. What kind of fences do they have? I’d want to look at the fences myself and if any of the fences were wire, I’d go somewhere else. Are the fences in good condition?
2. Will your horse have the pasture to himself? Or are there other horses in the pasture? How will your horse be integrated in with any existing herd? What will be done to assure that other horses don’t pick on him?
3. What are the sources of water? How frequently does whoever is in charge check the waterers? Is the water source clean, and in winter is it kept from freezing?
4. What is the condition of the pasture grass? Is it scanty and obviously overgrazed, is it long and lush? Are there a lot of weedy-looking plants growing in it? Is it harrowed frequently to spread the manure? Is it ever mowed?
5. Are there trees in/around it, and if so, what kind? Some kinds of trees are toxic to horses. Do any of the trees look like they’ve been blasted by lightning? Is the area where the pasture is located an area where there are thunderstorms? If so, what is done to protect the horses from lightning strikes?
6. Here in Southern California, brush fires during the summer (and spring and fall and winter, nowadays) are a problem. Is the area where the pasture is located susceptible to fires? If so, what are the evacuation plans for horses?
7. How often will someone be out to check on your horse, and how closely will they check? I know of someone whose mare lost an eye because the “oversight” provided by the farm where she was boarded was just to count the horses at night when they gave supplemental feeding and to quickly eyeball the horses for problems from a distance of 20-100 feet. This mare was shy about approaching the fence, so nobody got close enough to see her eye was infected until it was too late to save it.
8. Will supplemental feeding be provided, and if so, what will be provided and in what way? If hay is provided, is it just thrown down for horses to duke it out over, or is some provision made to assure that all horses in the same pasture have access to feed?
9. Are there any problems with packs of feral dogs? At Texas A&M while I was there, every year at the end of term the horse center (and the other livestock centers, too) had problems with packs of feral dogs that formed when students leaving for the summer or at graduation would dump their dogs out in the countryside. One year while I was there one of the weanlings had to be destroyed when dogs chased her through a fence and she broke her shoulder.
These are the questions I would start with. But before I would start with those, I would verify with the rescue organizations that pasture board is acceptable.
Answer by sk8terboisdreamgirlI bought my horse from online, my biggest tip is DO NOT BUY THE FIRST HORSE YOU SEE NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH IT.
the first horse i viewed ended up being crippled and if i bought him i would have a useless horse.
1. how old
2. what are his vices
3. does he spook
4. what kind of family/home had he belonged to previously
5. are there any mental/emotional wounds that you can tell from previous owners caretaking?
6. what discipline did they ride him in before the horse was brought here
7. how long has he been at rescue?
8. is he bombproof, kid friendly, dogs, atvs, tractors, etc (you wanna ask them about these things because they’re loud and startling)
9. does the horse have registration papers?
10. do you know the breeding?
Please do not jump headlong into a rescue adoption or any horse sale without seeing the horse up close and personal. the people who are selling him may send you pictures or videos on the horse on a good day and the horse may be perfectly sound and the next day completely lame. be careful because rescue facilities tend to have the poorer quiality of horses. i would highly encourage adopting a mustang but the requirements are very high. 6-12ft high encircled fencing so they cannt jump out, etc. any how i hope the horse hunt goes well.
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