huskyhiccups wrote:4V0C4D0 wrote:huskyhiccups wrote:snip
hey there!
first of all, please, please don't jump right into ownership/leasing !! most barns i've seen will ask for previous experience, before leasing, for a good reason. i would recommend going into lessons first to make sure you can be around the horses. you'll want to be able to catch, groom and tack like the back of your hand. going into an ownership will be really expensive, and you definitely won't enjoy it if you aren't 100% sure with what you're doing. learning about ownership/ leasing through books, videos, etc. just isn't enough, you'll need your own firsthand experience. taking lessons generally is better and i'd recommend at least a year or two of that, so you get to learn how to ride and handle different horses.
when i came to my barn, i met kasha, a 26 y/o mare. we took two lessons together before i asked if i could lease her, mostly for the purpose that the lessons weren't teaching me anything and i needed my own time to really learn her. that was two years ago, now i'm going to be taking lessons again in order to learn to ride a different trickier horse. however, since then i've ridden at least four different horses at the same barn, and before that, i'd already had four years of experience with probably over 10 horses, at the minimum. point being is take your time !! leasing and owning is fun as long as you have the appropriate experience (and definitely work your way up to ownership ! owning a horse is NOT like owning a dog or a cat, and it's not to be taken lightly.)hiya!! don't worry, please! I'm following the advice I got on the previous page(s) & from the FB group I mentioned before. I did not realize how silly (to put it nicely) it actually would be for me to just jump in to owning/leasing. I guess my mind just jumped to that extreme because of the lack of options in my area (extremely rural).
Also, like I mentioned in a previous post, I'm familiar with catching, grooming, tack, anatomy, etc. (I did leave a few of those out on my previous post but I sorta hinted at it) when I was at the horse camps. We were responsible for waking up early with the staff, catching the horses, cleaning/mucking stalls, feeding (measuring, etc.), grooming, and tacking! One of my favorite memories was learning to properly clean and trim hooves. I'm not sure the proper words so bear with me here, but they never let us actually "trim" the hooves (just showed us tools, explained why/how they're used, things to look for, and so on) since they were already neatly trimmed, shoed, etc. but we did get to use picks and such to clean out mud, grass, etc. c:
We were all pre-teens or early teens and had the staff there to help educate us and make sure everything was done right, but it was such valuable lessons and I look back on those moments very fondly. It's a huge reason as to why I would want to own/lease one day, but you all make a very good and clear point that I need the experience first, and I promise I'm taking it to heart!! <3
very cool! also, it's cool that that horse camp taught so much. not sure what camps were like, but even at my 1st barn, they would never teach us how to bridle them altho we did groom, pick and saddle. and i was placed in their advanced class by the time i left!
but yes, any experience with horses is so lovely. i don't blame you for thinking of jumping in right away! there's def a lot of things from the surface that aren't really thought of, hence the big big reason why working up is such a smart thing to do. good luck on your horse journey! def hmu any time if you wanna talk about horse stuff. i need more horse friends !!
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