For those who own/owned their own horse/horses , how did you know you were ready for the commitment ?

I did some horseback riding for a total of 9 years, starting when I was 7 years of age. It was a marvelous experience but I had to stop after I moved to a different location.

My younger sister actually motivated me to go with her. In the meantime, she has her own horse and is still riding actively on a daily basis but also does some carriage driving where I occasionally join as it is an activity where it is safer to be at least 2 people to practice.

My wife has three and it’s a major commitment we spend ten dollars a day on feed roughly twogrand on vets yearly,if no body gets sick or injured , one fifty a month on the farrier! Not to mention the maintenance on the pastures and fence! My wife spends about two hours a day doing barn chores most include a shovel! If you want to go away you need someone who is familiar with horses to watch them!

I think it would be wonderful if you had a place to keep it. Some people own horses and keep them miles away where they can only visit on weekends - and not every weekend. Animals need their humans to interact with them on a regular basis.

I hate horses - so I'll never own one...