Rant #421: Spending lots of money does NOT a good horse owner make

I promised this was coming...

I work at a barn. Big surprise. There are a small handful of boarders year round, but most of the horses are school horses for the college program and seasonal boarders who come in the colder months and take their ponies home during the spring and summer.

The boarders who are there year-round are mostly show horses, gone large chunks of the summer to various parts of the U.S and Canada.

What does this all have to do with the title of my rant?

Having lots of money and being able to spend said money on your horse does NOT make you a good horseowner or horseperson. In fact, in many cases it makes you look like an idiot who, if you'd taken simple, logical measures to protect your animal's health and wellness, probably wouldn't have had to spend all that money to begin with.
I obviously cannot and will not name name's, but we have two owners with horses, both of which have suffered injuries this summer. Both horse's care has been dumped on the staff (AKA me and my two supervisees), the owners generally don't come out more than 3 times a week to see their animals, and both have spent exorbitant amounts of money on the horses when ALL that was necessary was for them to put aside their personal needs and wants and give their animals down time and proper rehab. When you pull a horse who has essentially been on stall rest for three weeks with an injury (which has more or less been diagnosed, but you refuse to buy into the diagnosis) ride him lightly for two days, take him to a four day show and he comes back lame again, WHAT do you think is the problem? Could he have perhaps been pushed too hard, too soon, and not been allowed time to come back into proper condition? What a crazy idea!

I know. The horse world is rank with this crap. People treating their horses like motorcycles, expecting them to turn on whenever they are called upon without proper warm-up, conditioning and care. A friend of the BO overheard us griping about this very topic earlier this summer, and her response? "Everyone in the horse world has their own motives, to each his own". I REFUSE to buy into this. We aren't talking cars or motorbikes or speedboat racing: we're talking about LIVING, BREATHING BEINGS. These animals require every bit of conditioning that human athletes do, and just as much if not more care paid to them.

My approach to keeping my horses has evolved for the better, I think, as I've gotten older and accumulated some knowledge, and began to form my own opinions. I will stick with this approach for the rest of my life, because I believe in it and see it work every day: spend money NOW to avoid spending more money later. I am a huge fan of preventative care. It doesn't mean I drop thousands of dollars on ridiculous things my horse may or may not need. It DOES mean I always shell out for quality basics, and examine each aspect of my animal's health and performance on a regular basis. For example, I can guarantee Stella will have joint issues, especially in her hocks, later in life. She's slightly sickle-hocked with a long femur, not great for soundness if she's pushed too hard. I've set-up a fitness program that allows for more than enough time to develop her muscles and joints properly. I don't push. I allow for lots of long and low and working in a longer frame, and only ask for some more collection if I feel she's nice and loose.

I always, ALWAYS buy the best hay I can afford. You end up wasting more money in what the horse doesn't eat (or vet bills from eating the yucky stuff) than if you just shell out for a nice, quality hay. I prefer a nice, soft, grassy first cut myself. I don't believe in feeding only second cut: a mix is one thing, but feeding out only second, in my experience, leads to digestive issues. Too, horse's teeth are meant to GRIND stuff. 2nd cut is hardly a challenge for their teeth...

I've cut out all of Stella's grain rations: she only gets a 1/2 lb of alfalfa pellets per day and a pelleted ration balancer to give her everything she needs. She doesn't know the difference, and it takes out one more un-natural tendency people have when keeping horses.

I could go on forever about what I do, but ultimately, the greatest thing I do for my horse is as follows: if I feel in my gut something is not right, I don't get on. If I do decide to, I proceed with extreme caution. I watch, feel and observe like a hawk. None of this "Oh, he'll probably work out it" nonsense. It's just not worth it in the long run. I learned that the hard way with Ernie: he was put back to real work too fast, too soon after the first suspensory tear and we ended up with another one, setting us back almost 1.5 years total.

So, I go to work, and I care for these broken down horses, who are far too young to have these issues. There's a 6 year old who was a champion under-saddle as a 2 year old at the national level. Now? He's been stuck on stall rest for TWO YEARS, after a bone chip fractured and caused serious issues in his hock. He's got hip issues as well. No horse that young should have those issues...

When it all comes down to it, money is not what matters when it comes to taking good care of your animals. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't turn it down if it was handed to me, God knows I've got bills to pay. But you see plenty of people who keep horses on a budget, and those animals are as healthy and happy as can be. It's all about the preventative: if you can prevent it outright, why not?