10 Perks To Keeping Your Horse At Home

Some people keep their horse with a trainer, others board them, and some simply just don’t have the space to keep them at home. For those of us who are fortunate enough to keep our horses on our own property. Here are ten perks:

1. You get to see your horse every day.  In the morning. In the middle of the day. At night. At any time of day you can go to your barn or pasture and visit your horse. Sometimes you can even see them out your window!

2. You learn your horse’s habits.  When you see your horse all the time, you can quickly figure out their rest time, their favorite spot to sleep, and you also can catch any illness quickly.

3. You save money.  Keeping your horse on your property saves a lot of money verses having him boarded. When boarding you pay for someone to feed and care for him, and sometimes extra for your use of the facilities. Having your horse at home will also save you money on gas traveling back and forth.

4. You get to make your own barn rules.  When you keep your horse at home you make your own barn rules. Your horse’s nutrition and care plan are all your own. You can go to the barn any time you want. You can even bring your dog to the barn.

5. You can ride any time you want.  When you keep your horse at home you are able to ride whenever you like. There’s no need of worrying about getting there on time, crowded arenas, other riders’ frisky horses, or group lessons.

6. Great exercise.  Keeping your horse at home will give you a great daily workout. Mucking stalls, cleaning water buckets, grooming, turning horses out, moving hay and shavings; there’s no need to go to the gym!

7. Your horse will “talk” to you when you go to see them.  Every time you go feed your horse, whether it be a warm summer morning or a freezing winter day, your horse will always greet you with a soft whinny.

8. You don’t have to worry about your equipment.  When you have your horse at home, you don’t have to worry about your tack getting misplaced or misused (unless you have a horse that hides his fly mask in the water trough!).

9. A peaceful environment for your horse.  Keeping your horse at home will reduce the stress that a horse may get at a boarding stable with horses always coming and going, frequent shows, and lots of bustle, which may also lead to stable vices.

10. You develop a strong bond with your horse.  Most of all, boarding stables have stable hands who do the majority of cleaning and caring of your horse. When you keep your horse at home, you get to do everything for your horse and spend more time with him, which leads to a strong bond.

Although it’s nice to keep your horse at home, whether we keep our horses at a boarding stable, or with a trainer, we are very blessed to have them in our lives.

Written By Malabie Newman. Share this on Facebook if you love keeping your horse at home (or if you wish you had room to keep your horse at home)!