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Horses can be great pets, but they’re a little bit unconventional. These aren’t the sort of pets you’ll welcome into your home to curl up on the sofa and have a nap with you. They’re more suited to open spaces, which means you need to make sure your home is equipped to deal with the presence of a horse, or two.
Not every property will be able to have a horse, but here are the main things you have to think about.
Horses Need A Lot Of Land
There’s a reason you tend to only see horses at luxury homes and vast estates: they need a lot of land to live comfortably. A general rule is to have 1-2 acres per horse, so if you don’t have that much outside or around your home, then this is already an unsuitable idea. Your horse needs this space to wander around and graze – but you also need to maintain it so it’s usable for your horse. This means there has to be ample grass everywhere and there needs to be a few areas that are suitable for use even if it rains.
Safe Fencing Is A Must
You can’t let your horse roam in an open field with nothing around it. They’ll likely roam out of your field and create safety problems for themselves and other people. Horses are big animals, so you don’t want one wandering out of your field and finding a busy road or making its way into a nearby town/village.
Proper horse fencing is a must to create a barrier around your horse fields. You can even use it to separate two or more fields, which is a great idea to improve maintenance. Keep your horses in one field for a few days before letting them through to the next one – it stops them from eating all the grass and leaving you with a muddy field to deal with.
Build Shelter For Your Horses
Horses are naturally outdoor animals, but this doesn’t mean they should be outside all the time. They need protection from the elements, just like you do. If it’s rainy, windy, or excessively hot and sunny, your horses should be in the shade out of harm’s way.
Of course, this means you have to build them a proper shelter. It should be large enough to keep your horses in comfortably – with a bit of room for them to walk around a bit. The idea isn’t to keep them in this sheltered area for too long, but you never know how bad the weather will be. So, don’t just erect a small barn that’s big enough for a horse to stand in, almost like a stationary horse carrier – it needs to be spacious enough so your horse is comfortable.
If you dream of having a horse, then you need to make sure your home is ready for one. There must be enough outdoor space for the horse to roam freely, and this should be made safe with secure fencing. You also need a stable or some type of shelter to keep the horse in from time to time.