Yeah I was thinking of getting an older gelding because I live on a 47 acre farm here. I might do it. Take one off the hands of someone that can no longer afford upkeep. Thats happening a lot now with the economy.

Check craigs list. If you know anyone that has horses or has been around them it is best to take them with you. Call and make an appointment then show up at least an hour early. This way they can not give the horse quiet ease to hide some of his bad traits. I have seen this done many times to make a high strung horse appear more docile.

But please take a experience horse person with you.

I believe I was the first in this thread to mention stallions...was just sharing my experience with my horse(s)...but in NO WAY was I stating that a stallion would be a good choice for a child or someone inexperienced. Mine were 'feisty' when I first got them...gelding them made a world of difference.


When I still lived up in Washington state and was in the process of selling Sage, my other horse...I had a gentleman ask me..."What have you done to this horse?" (<<< meaning Mocha, the Rocky Mountain who was 5 yrs. old at the time)...I said, "Excuse me?"...the man said, "This horse is 5 yrs. old...what have you done to him to make him so calm and gentle?" I explained to the man that Mocha has always been that way, that it is inbred in the breed...the 'puppy dog' temperment I spoke of in an earlier post.

Another site you may want to look at is http://www.dreamhorse.com, I believe you can do local searches through the site also.

My self love horses up till about 4 years ago I had 3 horses 2 of which I had for 17 years. I perfer the Quarter Horses my self and geldings over mares.

During the time I owned horses we were very much into the Barrels & Poles, Events we went to called Playdays, also Team Penning & Relay Races.

If there is one thing I do miss is having the horses and being able to saddle up and go on trail rides ect..

I have always been around horses. Like to trailride .

I love going to dreamhorse and just seeing what is out there. I
If you are looking for a horse that is needing a good home craigs list is the best. The horse on the site are from people that have found themselves in bad situations during these bad economic times. They want to find there horses loving homes. These people have lost there jobs and must give a part of there lives away, part of there family. Most just have an adoption fee.

Where I live things are so bad at the auction houses people are bring there horses and just tying them to the fences and leaving. Instead of having to see them go without food. In some parts of the United States, they are even just turning them loose. It has come down to that!

That is why I highly recommend Craigs List at this time. Adopt one of these horses if you can afford it. Make a family happy, by letting them know a part of there family will have a good home.

Laura first of all I would totally stay away from the rescued horses being a newbie around horses. Most of the time these type of horses have been mistreated in one way or another. For those that are experienced this is not a bad idea but not a good one for Children on their first adventure being around horses.

I would suggest to look in your local telephone book for stables. Call them up and explain to them you are insterested in getting a horse and would like to come out and visit and ask questions about the up keep of horses and what to look for in buying what you need. I have known many that run stables and normally they are more then happy to have others come out and get the feel of being around a horse and have no problem with any questions.

Most horse owners take pride in their horses and would gladly be of any help with those just starting up. And this way you could gather more information on what it takes for the up keep of a horse and you will learn some of the added cost in the long run. One must consider that a horse has to have there hoofs trimmed or shoed about every 6 weeks which the cost could be up to $100 plus the cost of feed and hay.

Maybe this will help you a bit it is best to find out all you can before buying a horse.

Since most of yall r new to horses let me help yall out here with what's what. A stallion-thats a male horse of any breed that has not been cut and that is used to breed mares. A mare-thats a female horse,she can have babys and when u breed her,it takes 11 months for the foal to be born. A gelding-its a male horse who has been cut. A filly-thats a young mare that has not yet had a baby-but you can't breed them untill she gets up in years like say 4. A colt-thats a young stallion.

Hmmmm.... I didn't get that "most" were new to horses at all. Most folks responded very knowledgebly in fact... Some are even obviously near experts on the matter.
And if you're going to define a gelding as a male horse that hasn't been "cut", you should also elaborate what "cut" means to the unitiated beginner.
A gelding is a male horse that's been castrated.
And not all mares can have "babies". Some can not due to past or current medical problems, but they're still defined as "mares".

This isn't an answer to your question but I love Honey! What a sweet darling! Poor thing..our critters have to put up with Santa hats, lol!

I like her.

thank you! I did not have any christmas photos made,so I just bought a hat and I was feeding one day and went in and got it and put it on honey.she seemed to know I was takeing her photo.I have a photo of honey smileing to.

You think the Santa Hat is bad lmao wish I had my new printer/scanner hooked up I have a picture that would surly blow your mind. It is one of me and my horse Black Jack dressed in our Halloween Costume as Clowns yes poor Black Jack was indeed dressed as a Clown and a darn good one at that we rode off with First Place in the contest we were entered in.

I bet that's a funny photo

I love horses, but I hate flies, so I perfer motorcycles.

Sorry, by the looks in this picture, no wonder the horses run the other way. They don't like you, either!

Horses are masters at tuning in to the confidence level of other horses AND humans. If they sense you're afraid, they have a way of taking advantage of that perception in a heartbeat.
My horse, on the other hand, was imprint trained as a foal so I think he actually sees humans as just funny looking herdmates. He'd be fine with Gypsy because he actually prefers females over men. He wouldn't run from her but he'd probably wonder to himself " gee...she's a skittish little thing".