We are interested in purchasing a horse for my 10 year old daughter but have no clue what kind to get her. We are also interested in information on boarding stables in the Leesville LA area. Thanks.
Answers:
Okay let us try to help you out here. I will assume you know little about purchasing a horse. Horse dealers will rip you off and you will more than likely sell you a horse that in lame in one way or another. So a good place to start is an equine rescue, most equine rescue are looking to place a horse in a forever home, and they will guarantee the horse to be sound and safe. I did do a search on petfinder and found an equine rescue in Texas
Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society
P O Box 4944
College Station, TX 77844
Phone: 1-888-542-5163
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/tx847..
You should be looking for a horse 15 hands or smaller, a Hand is a measurement 1 hand equals about 4 inches, or a Mans hand. A good age would be over 5 but fewer than 16, you are looking for a horse that is quite, and is for a beginner.
My other suggestion is if you child has little to no riding experience, find a barn in the area where they give lesson, this way you and your child can learn about the care of the horse and learn to ride. Many of these places also sell horses. If you buy a horse from a place that gives lesson, make sure you have an equine veterinarian check the horse out before you buy it.
One last thought DO NOT BUY from a horse auction, the people selling them have no back ground on the horses, these horses are bought in one state and shipped from state to state, until they get the price they want to turn a profit. These horses are in many different sale barns. They will pick up all type of sicknesses and you will not know it. in addition some seller will tranquilize a horse, and when you get it home you have a screw ball that will hurt you or your child, and you always here the phrases in the sale any dummy can ride it, and if you can hold the reins you can ride it.
Well I wish you the best, I will leave you with the link for petfinder as there where a lot of other horses in your area I had just picked out the rescue as I know they way rescue operate. As I also do rescue for horses and guinea pigs, (O:
http://www.petfinder.com/
I think you should get a pony! They are very cute and gentle, and they are a very good size for your 10-year-old! Hope I helped.
ir this is your first time getting a horse it can be kinda tuff.. if she has never rode a horse before i would suggest a kina old tame pony. if she has rode before let her come! it would be fun for her to try out the diffrent horses and she could see if she is scared of it before you buy it! have fun!
Well, how tall is she. if she is "short" (really short) get her any kind of pony. If she is a normal size, I would suggest a quarter horse, they are really friendly and are good with riding. Try to get a horse that is around 3-5 years of age. They are young, but they are expieranced in riding.
Get her a rocking horse. Much easier to care for and tens of thousands less a year to keep. A decent pair of riding boots costs around 1200- which she'll need every year until she stops growing. Those funny hats aren't free either, same for the rest of the outfit. Of course if money is no matter, get an arabian.
Oh how fun!!, well for horse boarding places I would look in your local paper and or on the internet. The type of breed of horse that would be good for a 10 year old would probably be of the pony type. A Dartmoor is a good breed. Plus its not too tall of a horse. And if you want her to be into the english/jumping kind of riding then this would be a good horse for her. Also a POA (Pony of the Americas) is a good horse to. You can ride western or english on this horse and they are around 11.2 to 13.2 hands high. These horses are very versatile and I would actully recomend this horse over the Dartmoor. POA's have normally appaloosa markings. If you want more information on POA's I would yahoo or google them. Good Luck!
i would wait until she is older because at this age you will be the main caretaker of the horse. you will have to devote hours everyday mucking the stall, cleaning her feet, brushing her, giving her exercise, feeding her. it is a very big deal to have a horse and you have to be very devoted to caring for the horse. can you see your ten year old doing this everyday?she will be a teenager soon and her interests will shift to friends, clothes, boys, going out to the mall etc and might lose interest in the daily care of a horse. i would enroll her in some riding lessons where you care for the horses afterwards. she will be shoveling the poo and doing all the not so fun part of owning a horse. who will care for the horse when she goes to college? most horses live to be about 30 years old. not to mention vet bills, feeding, equipment for the horse are all very pricey.try starting out with smaller animals like a hamster and see how responsible she is with it. after a couple months if she starts to lose interest and isnt cleaning the hamsters cage as much, playing with it etc you will know that she definately isnt ready for a horse or other time consuming animal like a dog..
Well, it depends how long your daughter has been riding. an older, more experienced horse may be ideal. Quarter Horses and other good tempered breeds are also ideal. You should look for a horse that is advertised as having "no vices" which just means that they have no bad habits.
a pony
Any horse really. Look on a breeder's website, and look for horses that are great with children. I wouldn't suggest an Arabian. they are usually very spirited. Peruvian Paso's are gentle and the smoothest ride you could ever have. Ponies are also quite gentle, but a ten year old will soon outgrow a normal sized pony, so try a larger pony.
Why the heck are you getting your 10-year old daughter a horse? She will grow up spoiled if you do things like this for her. If you do get her one I think you should make her take care of it.
I'd go with an appaloosa. They have mild tempermants, are very reliable, and are quite beautiful, so you'd know she'd like the pretty little pony. They really don't even get that tall, so she'd easily be able to get on and off. If she says she wants an Arabian, that's cool if you find a kind one. Some can be a bit hot-headed.
You should buy her an older aged (18-?), Tennessee Walking Horse, gelding. The tennessee walking horse is the perfect breed for anyone, they are very willing and when you ride them it is like "ridin' in a cadalic", in other words smooth as silk. like floatin' on air. One other horse breed that would be good for her is the Quarter Horse, they are like the the tennessee walker, but they don't havthe smoothness like them. Good luck finding her a horse. if you any other questions just ask me.
I would not look for any certain breed. All breeds have gentle horses. I would look for a senior horse, 15 and up are usually more experienced and more likely to be "bomb proof"
I would also ask a horse friend to help you search. Unfortunately there are a lot of dishonest horse dealers out there just wait to take advantage of first time horse buyers. I will make one more suggestion, before you buy a horse why not pay for lessons for a year. It will give her and you some much needed knowledge about horses and help you and your daughter decide if a horse is really what you want.. Good Luck
Thats so great! I dont think there ever is an "ideal" kind of horse. I have had all kinds and each ones personality is totally different. Try to find those listed as a childs horse and go from there with it.have the owners ride it in front of you and just try to get a gut feeling.good luck!!
first off have her take lessons BEFORE you buy a horse. i took lessons for 2 years before i bought a horse. it is very important to know about them before you buy one. a horse costs about 700- 1,000 dollars a month. they aren't cheap. the tack for them is exspensive, the vet bills, the boarding fee, the farrier, the suplements. it all adds up. know what your getting into before you buy a horse. lessons are a ton of fun. i would even suggest leasing a horse before you buy one.
If you want to get a horse for your daughter, then you need to do your research. Not just about the type of horse to get (though this is important), but about horses in general.
I have a friend that bought her 11-year-old daughter a horse because the little girl rode my horse in a walk/trot class and won a blue ribbon after I gave her a week of lessons. Yes, it was a pretty awesome feat since she was in a ring of 11 other horses and kids her age and a lot of them had ridden a lot more than her, but still..they went about things very wrong. The father brought her home a 2-year-old Paint filly and expected that he would magically figure out how to train it or something. I asked him how he was going to get the horse's respect and he said that he would go out and pet it a lot before he put the saddle on her. Uh.yeah. Bad answer. I did a month's worth of groundwork with her, but I refused to start training the horse under saddle for fear that they would put their little girl (who'd had maybe 2 dozen rides under her belt) on this horse. I only had 1 month that I could work with her b/c it was during the summer when I was home, but after that I was going back to college. They didn't have an arena the girl could ride in, just a big 30 acre pasture.it's a huge mess.
To make things worse, the horse has been injured 3 times since then. The first time I'm pretty sure she fell in a hole, and she screwed up the area around the bottom of her right cannon bone and had to get X-Rays. A few months later she ran through the barbed wire fence and had to get stitched up. And just this month she hurt her other front leg, "the good one", as the other one is STILL messed up after it's been injured for a year. The horse that they got for free for their daughter has cost them thousands in vet bills, and with this last injury it's rather apparent that the filly is only good for being a broodmare.
There was nothing wrong with her when they first got her, she was just too young and she got put in extremely inexperienced hands. They had good intentions, but there is no substitute for knowledge and experience.
My theory is the best way you can get involved in horses is to be "born into them" (i.e. I got my first horse when I was 5 b/c we have a horsey family, my grandparents are well known on the east coast for their Arabians) or to "marry into them (i.e. my dad didn't know anything about horses until he started dating my mother and he bought his first horse from my grandparents). But if you don't have the benefit of this, then you MUST have experienced friends (no less than 5 years of horse ownership) that are willing to help you every step of the way in horse ownership. And you have to be willing to listen to their suggestions as well, it's a two-way street.
So step one, if you don't know about horses, learn. Learn about their basic care, equine body language, and basic things not to do that amateurs don't know that can get them or the horse hurt (i.e. don't tie the horse's lead to the barbed wire fence). Also, you need to find out about their diseases, find a reputable vet and farrier, and figure out where you can find an acceptable hay source.
As far as what kind of horse you want..breed is not important. Bottom line. A lot of people suggest Quarter Horses and say that Arabians are psychotic, but I know lots of horses that are completely opposite of the stereotype. If you are focusing on the breed and not the horse's temperament you could end up turning down a push-button Arabian for a spooky Quarter horse. The main criteria is that you need to have a horse that is calm and well-trained. You need to have a friend that knows horses come and ride the horses for you when you go to check them out to make sure that they really are well-trained (there are a lot of people out there that will try to sell you a horse that's had only 60 days of training and will call it "well-trained". This is not enough for a 10-year-old, especially if she is a novice rider.
I would suggest that you get a horse that is no younger than 10-15. The average equine life span is 25, so that is plenty of years left for her. The younger horses are going to be less predictable and will act silly as a side effect of just being immature. You need a horse that she can learn on, not one that will run away from blowing leaves on the ground and leave her in the dirt. These kinds of horses are fine for older, experienced riders because they can handle the horse and teach it how it should act, but I'm going to assume that this is your daughter's first horse, so she doesn't need something like that.
So basically.the main points are to do research, find people that know a lot about horses and use them as a valuable resource. If you go to look at a horse, take them with you. Have the owner of the horse ride it first, then your horse-experienced friend, then you (if you have experience), then your little girl to make sure that she likes the horse and that they get along well. Some horses are better with kids than adults, my gelding is this way, so do be willing to take that into consideration, but if a horse is trying to buck off the owner or your friend, you don't need to be putting your little girl on him.
If you have any questions, feel free to E-mail me. There are lots of sites you can look for horses online, my two favorites being equine.com and dreamhorse.com but there are many others that can be found for just searching for "equine classifieds".
Good luck in your search!
Three words:
Ask her instructor.
If she dosen't have one, she should get a horse until she has been taking lessons from a certified instructor for a year and the teacher thinks she is ready. Otherwise its to dangerous.
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