Any horse people on here?

I grew up on a small horse outfit in Idaho. I was in 4-H until high school, showed horses, went on trail rides, and was all about horses until I got my driver's license. Then I got into muscle cars and never looked back.

My folks still have the property, but are down to one very old Arab mare (36 years old!) and a riding mule mare.

After my divorce, I moved back to the area and rediscovered my love of horses. I went with my mom and her friend on the local Sheriff's mounted posse trail ride last year on a borrowed horse. Loved it!

I found a horse this week that I'm hopefully going to go get this weekend; an 11yr old medicine hat painted mare. Friend at work owns her and wants her to go to a good home, so I would get her for free. I'm going up to the ranch on Sunday to meet the mare and see if we get along.

Any other horse people here?

Here's me on last year's trail ride with Cassie, the borrowed mare...

Been a long time since I've checked in here...

I ended up getting the mare (named Ditto because she was a twin) and she has been a big ball of entertainment. She's like a big dog... She's spoiled since she hasn't been ridden for a few years and was basically roaming loose in the woods around this woman's "ranch". Turns out, the lady was a bit of a horse hoarder and it was basically a rescue.

Sadly, I've only ridden Ditto a couple of times over the Summer due to the extreme heat and smoke we experienced up here in the Northwest. But, she gets along great with the other horses and has proven to be easy to handle and has a great disposition.

Our first Selfie...

Soma Seer said:

And I've heard the stories about horse health issues that can take a emotional and financial toll on human owners. Knowing my limitations, I don't foresee myself owning a horse anytime soon. Alas.

Click to expand...

My folks had a great horse a couple of years ago that developed a tooth problem. She was a papered thoroughbred used as an LAPD mounted police horse. They had a vet pull the tooth, but a small piece was left by mistake. It got infected and the infection spread to the horse's sinuses. They had to go to the local university vet school to treat the problem. After multiple surgeries and treatments, the bill was $8k.

Yes, you read that right; $8,000.00 in vet bills.

They were not able to cure the horse and they ended up donating her to the school for study. She is still alive and produced a couple of foals. But, she requires constant treatment.

That's an extreme example, but yes, horses can be very, very expensive...