TIPS FOR NEW HORSE OWNERS: Essential Beginners Guide

hey everyone so if you've just bought your first horse or maybe you're planning to get one soon this video is for you i'm going to be sharing some helpful tips for new horse owners today real quick if you have yet to start looking for your first horse there's a few tips i'd like to cover that will help you find the best horse for you so when you start looking for your first horse it can be really overwhelming just because you may find a lot of different horses out there so it's important to know exactly what to look for in a horse that will best suit you so one of the first tips i want to share is look for a horse that will fit you in size and also one that you can grow into if you're not done growing yet so i took her here he's a little on the short side he is 13-1 hands high i got him when i was done growing so i'm about 5'3 and i knew that i could ride ponies a lot and i wanted a pony and so tucker happened to be perfect for me he's also kind of more stocky than a lot of other ponies so i knew that his size would be a good fit for me personally so another thing to think about before you go and purchase a horse is what your long-term riding goals are and what disciplines you want to do so you want to pick a horse that will help you meet those riding goals and also will be able to compete in the disciplines you want to do for me personally i actually didn't have any real goal when i got tucker i just got him because i wanted a project pony to work with and i didn't really know what i was going to do with him afterward but over the long grand scheme of things he's turned out to be a great pony for me i can just do about everything with him so it works out well so when you're going to look at a horse or going to ride a horse and try it out i highly recommend you take along an experienced horse person especially if you have an instructor or someone who's kind of been guiding you through your riding and helping you improve taking this person along can help you get a second opinion and they can give you feedback as to whether they think that this is a good horse for you and whether you're a good fit or not before you bring your horse home or before you even go to start looking at horses one tip is to go and tour boarding stables if you don't plan to keep your horse on your own property when you're looking at boarding stables to keep your horse at you want to make sure that it has the facilities you want to use and also like the living arrangements you want your horse to have so one thing that was important to me is that there would be a pasture where tucker could be turned out 24 7. i like to keep him outside just because it's the most natural thing for a horse i also wanted a barn that had a lot of riding trails because we love trail riding and also just a nice arena where we could work and play and maybe jump if we wanted to really something that had the versatility that i wanted so whatever i felt like doing i could do another thing you're going to have to look for in a boarding stable is something that meets your budget some boarding stables are obviously going to be way more expensive than others or there's also certain boarding packages that may be more expensive so keeping your horse in a stall may be more expensive than keeping your horse out in a pasture one thing that i've learned when it comes to getting a new horse or even just moving your horse to a new stable is it's a good idea to give them plenty of time to get used to their new surroundings for me this looks like giving the horse maybe a week to adjust and in this week i'm not riding them i don't have any expectations for them to do anything i'm just letting them get used to their surroundings and maybe the new horses in their fields and also just being around me in general traveling and moving can be very stressful for horses first of all they're usually being taken away from their other horse friends that they've gotten to know and that were in their herd and now they're being put into a new herd which is totally different for them and so they're having to meet all these new horses and establish themselves in the pecking order of the field now and so that in and of itself can be very overwhelming to them travel can be very taxing on a horse's body and they're known to lose a lot of their body weight over traveling periods when i moved tucker here we actually moved across the country and so he spent about three days in the trailer which is a very long time so i definitely gave him time to just readjust and relax in his new surroundings it took him about three months to adjust i noticed just his behavior was different and he had lost a lot of his muscle so over the course of three months he was able to adjust and gain back that muscle so that just shows you the stress and the physical toll that travel can take on a horse and even just moving stables so that's something to be mindful of so in the adjustment period of your horse arriving at the new stable and they're getting to know you they're getting to know all the horses out in the pasture don't worry if their behavior seems a little different this is normal for them and once again this is a very stressful situation for them probably so it they may exhibit behavior that they wouldn't otherwise exhibit so that's why it's important to give them time to settle in and adjust another tip i have for new horse owners is getting all your supplies before your horse arrives so i've been in situations where i needed like a brush or a thermometer or something for my horse and i didn't have it so then i had to run and go get it and come back and it just made the situation overwhelming so it's a good idea to get all your supplies before you get your horse so here's some of the supplies you will need for your first horse first and foremost you're going to need a halter and a lead rope so you're going to be able to catch your horse and control them and take them places and all that fun stuff secondly you're going to want a grooming kit with a bunch of brushes so you can make sure your horse is nice and clean brushing your horse is part of the daily care that horses require it gives you the opportunity to number one clean them number two check them for any injuries they may have and also to take care of their feet make sure they don't have any stones or uncomfortable debris that could cause them pain in their hooves so these are just two items that come in the grooming kit so you're going to want to make sure you get a full grooming kit that includes all the brushes you'll need to care for your horse you're also going to want basic medical supplies for your horse so here i have vet wrap and some zinc oxide ointment that can be used as an antiseptic having extra gauze and wraps on hand can be great for when you need them unfortunately horses usually get injured by accident so there's no way that you expect them to happen they usually just randomly happen so being sure to have this stuff on hand can be very helpful knowing all the supplies you're supposed to get for your first horse can be overwhelming so i actually have an article on my website that has a complete list of items you can get and also the links so you can purchase them so i'll put the link to that article down in the description when you purchase your horse you're also going to need riding tacks so a saddle a girth saddle pad bridal all that stuff and that's usually overlooked because you may be using your instructor's tack and then when you get your horse you suddenly need to have your own tech so it's important that you find like a saddle and a bridle and everything like that and make sure it fits your horse correctly so that it gives your horse comfort but it's also comfortable for you one of the best things you can do when you first get your horse is just allow time for you to get to know each other when i first got tucker he wasn't even started under saddle so we spent about a whole month or two just working on groundwork and spending time together and i really do think that that benefited our relationship a lot so when it came time to actually start him he was easy peasy some of my favorite ways to spend time with my horse and get to know my horse is by brushing them so that teaches your horse that your touch is good and that they can trust you so if they learn that your touch is bad they're going to think i don't want to be around this person so another way you can spend time with your horse is through groundwork and groundwork really helps to solidify your relationship and this is basically just any training you do on the ground with your horse so what this does is it helps you establish yourself as the leader in the relationship and this isn't a bad thing horses are herd animals so they naturally look for a leader to show them what to do and see whether or not they can trust the situation and so by doing groundwork you're setting yourself up to show your horse that you're a good leader for them other ways you can spend time with your horse is by hand grazing them or maybe just going in their field and standing there as they graze you can also lead them on trail rides i love doing that because it helps me get exercise as well as my horse it's important in the beginning when you first get your horse that you really have low expectations in terms of you know making your horse work hard and having the expectation for them that makes them feel more stressed it also makes you get frustrated way more easily and with your new horse you're just really trying to show them that you have a calm presence and so what i like to do is i like just to allot a really short amount of time for myself to spend time with the horse in the beginning so i may just spend time with them for like 10 or 20 minutes throughout the day and then i'll just gradually increase and add riding and working into that one very big mistake i made when i got my first horse is that i stopped taking riding lessons when you're working with a new horse especially your first horse it's very important that you have consistent training and you have someone that you can go to with all your questions or maybe if you're having a problem they can give you advice on how to handle the situation so for all of these reasons my biggest tip is to continue to work with an instructor even after you've gotten your first horse just because you have a horse now doesn't mean that you need to stop trying to improve there's tons to know about horses and you can study them your whole life and still have more to learn and that's why it's important that you have an instructor that you can work with who can help you to continue to grow and also help you work better with your horse being able to properly care for your horse is one of the biggest things you should know before you go and get your first horse so we have a video that's completely dedicated to this topic and i'll put the link in the description so you can go and check that out if this video was helpful to you please be sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel to check out our new horse videos every [Music] week you

Channel: Equine Helper

Views: 19,071

Rating: 4.9817214 out of 5

Keywords: Tips for new horse owners, new horse owner tips

Id: TF8u4QKb0S0

Length: 10min 19sec (619 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 26 2021