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[RC] Are three horses better than two? - Karen CasemierWe are currently thinking of adding to our herd of two horses, for multiple reasons. Our current herd consists of Mazzie, my 11 year old Morgan mare (you've all heard about her) and Comet, my husband's 5 YO QH gelding. We are thinking of adding an older, experienced trail/endurance horse to the herd for the following reasons:1) shake up the herd dynamics between these two. Comet is extremely attached to Mazzie and herd bound in general. While these are issues that we need to deal with in training, I think having just two horses intensifies the problem. 2) give my husband a chance to relax, enjoy the ride, and improve his skills instead of constantly focusing on the horse. The gelding is still green, and has some issues that need to be dealt with. My husband is good around horses and can sit a buck well!, but he has never really had a "schoolmaster" to learn from. 3) give me more experience on different horses. I had a horrible riding accident two years ago, and while I've really built up my confidence on Mazzie, I get very nervous at the thought of riding other horses. Comet right now is not a great choice for me to expand my experience. 4) take the pressure off Comet. Because of some different issues we've been having with Comet, I think the best thing would be to take the tack off him and start him all over at the beginning. He has definite holes in his training, and without knowing much about his history, I can't really fill them in unless I start all over. However, because my husband really wants to ride, it's easy to fall into the trap of pushing him faster than he's really ready for (he's very mentally immature). Of course, there are disadvantages as well. The biggest? Finding the right horse. Without a lot of money to spend, I know it is going to be difficult to find a sound, sane, experienced horse that both my husband and I can ride (he's 6'4", I'm 5'3" - Comet is, however, 15.2 and does fit us both well). I see great ads in the classified section, but all the horses I like are located in CA or Oregon or way too far away to be prospects for us (we are in Southern Michigan). We must, absolutely MUST, have a horse that is confident being ridden both alone and in a group. We would be willing to take in an older horse who is slowing down but still has plenty of spunk for 25 mile rides and can teach us both the ropes of endurance riding. 100 mile rides are not in our future no matter how talented the horse, and we have no desire to be front runners either. We just want to go out, have fun, and get some completions. With three horses, and only a two horse trailer (and a three horse is out of the question at this point), there are going to be times when one horse is left at home. We have two goats for companions, but that means we need to find a horse sitter to stay with the critters while we are gone. It's fairly easy to find someone to care for the dogs/cats/goats -- but finding someone who is familiar with horses and comfortable around them is another thing. Time is another issue. Husband is starting vet school in the fall. Three horses are more work than two, especially when one of those horses needs a lot of handling. Of course, we also won't be going out socially very often, we won't have cable TV, etc., so ideally we will spend our free time outdoors anyway. I'm really torn on this issue. I do know that the young gelding is causing us a lot of stress. However, we both really like him and don't want to sell him - that may be an option at some point in the future, but I want to get the basics firmly instilled before I even consider that. He is too nice of a horse to get passed around because we didn't take the time to figure out what he was good at and help him on that path. I feel it is my/our responsiblity to figure this guy out and get him going correctly before we even consider selling him. I'd like to hear from some experienced horse keepers on herd dynamics with three instead of two, on balancing time, etc. I'd be happy to discuss the issues we are having with Comet as well, but because I feel they are manageable with the right approach, I prefer not to go into too much detail right now. Suffice it to say that he needs a lot of consistent, quiet, patient handling, and he is not going to be ready for distance riding for at least another year or two - he may never be a distance horse, but I know he can be a nice horse. Thanks! Karen (and Mazzie, and Comet) _________________________________________________________________ Don?t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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