Article Part 2: Your Access to Horse Professionals and the Horse Community

So let’s say your child has been taking lessons for at least two years. By this time, you probably have a better idea of what’s involved in caring for a horse. Chances are you’ve done more than pet the pony’s nose at this point. You’ve likely had your child come up to you and say, “Hold Sparky for a second, Mom” handing you the reins without noticing the terrified look on your face. This experience should underline the basic need for your child to have access horse professionals and the local horse community. Owning a horse is not the next step up from simply dropping your child off for lessons each week. It’s about ten steps up. Once you own the animal, someone will have to be responsible for holding the horse to have its feet trimmed every six weeks, scheduling and facilitating vet visits every six months, de-worming (and convincing the horse to actually swallow the de-wormer paste) every other month and feeding the horse (preferably twice a day) every day of the year that the grass doesn’t grow. Keep in mind, we’re talking about animal that averages about 1000 pounds.

Horses are controllable by humans for much the same reason that bumblebees can fly. No one told the bumblebee it couldn’t fly and no one told the horse it’s bigger than the human. Furthermore, problem horses are created by unsure handlers. Once the horse senses your insecurity, it may become nervous itself and begin to act up out of its own mistrust and fear. Or, if it has places it would rather be such as dozing under its favorite tree or gorging itself in the feed room and you’re not feeling confident about keeping it quiet for the vet or the blacksmith, it’s probably going to try to escape the situation and go where it wants to go. And the more a horse gets away with disobeying a handler, the more it will try it and the closer it will come to realizing it doesn’t have to do what humans want it to do. Horses can be ruined this way. Far better to be able to count on someone who’s been holding horses for blacksmiths and vets for years. You will likely have to pay this person to assist you, but it’s well worth it to keep your child’s horse as a safe and well-mannered companion.


Tune in over the next few days for the third installment of the So Your Child Wants a Horse original article, "There's No Such Thing as a Free Horse."