Before you read this, please accept this as my opinion only and that with horses, a lot of people have a lot of different opinions than those stated here. This is like the editorial page of the newspaper and it is only my thoughts and these come from a lifetime of loving what I consider one of God's finest creations.
There are a lot of horses in our great country; pleasure horses, show horses, work horses, race horses. The list goes on. The horses here at Faithwalk Farm fall in the first category. They are pleasure horses first and foremost. The Tennessee Walking Horse and Spotted Saddle Horse breeds have brought so much joy into my life, it is my pleasure to raise them and share them with people who we hope will love them and care for them as much as we do.
Buying a horse is a commitment. We have domesticated them and put them to our use and in that process made them totally dependent on us, their caregivers.
The first thing at Faithwalk Farm that we need you to know is that the initial investment you make in the horse, especially a foal, is only a very small portion of what it will costs to keep him or her. You will spend much more on shelter, food, veterinarian fees, shoeing and trimming fees, training and all the equipment you will purchase.
At Faithwalk Farm our foals are very reasonably priced considering the investment we have made in our breeding stock. Please do not tell us you can't afford the price. It only makes us think that you can't afford to take care of him or her.
You must know economically how much it costs to care for one of these beautiful animals, especially in today's world of rising prices of fuel, hay, feed and all those other things I mentioned before. Please know that we are not in the horse business because it is a great moneymaker. I raise horses because I love them.
At Faithwalk Farm we only have a few so that I can take care of them the way I
consider best. And I can go to sleep at night, knowing I have provided the best care I possibly can for them. I consider the babies here at Faithwalk Farm to be God's designs. Even though I choose the mare and the stallion, He is the greatest designer of all and I am blessed to be able to do what I love and participate in His creation.
My greatest joy is in the spring when the babies are born. I have said it is a lot like Christmas morning for a child; the excitement, the anticipation and the endless waiting. A mare carries a foal roughly 340 days and the whole time I'm taking care of her, I wonder and speculate what she is carrying.
As the time draws nearer for her to foal, I start a new schedule of barn check.
Everyone that knows me has at some point laughed or questioned my nightly routine of "barn check" but it makes me happy so that's reason enough to do it. At Faithwalk Farm, we believe that good quality hay and fresh water 24/7 can prevent a lot of colic. We make sure our horses always have both.
If there is a problem, it's better to catch it early than waiting until the next morning to find it. If a horse has not eaten his feed or drank water, something is wrong. A healthy horse always eats. Their digestive tracts are made to be grazers, meaning they eat all the time between rest breaks. If you have a stalled horse, it's better to feed smaller meals more often than loading it all up in one big meal. If your horse is on pasture, make sure there is edible grass for him. A lot of weeds are toxic to horses and they know better than to eat them but will if there is nothing left in the pasture for them to eat.
In the winter, unless you live in a climate where grass can grow, they need hay during the day. It provides the energy for them to stay warm. Grain feeding horses is a man made way of compacting their food and making it easier on us, not them. The hay is the more important of the two and it must be good quality, fresh hay. I believe in hay; if your going to overfeed your horse, overfeed him hay, never grain. A good rule of thumb is 1% of his body weight in hay twice a day. For a 1000-pound horse, that's 10 pounds of quality hay in the morning and another 10 pounds in the afternoon. Of course, if it's old or not good
hay, it will take more than that. Don't think you save money by buying cheap hay. Old hay loses its food value and it dehydrates and becomes only roughage. If you offer hay to your horse and he doesn't eat it, chances are it's bad, possibly moldy or full of dust or weeds. Horses are pretty smart when it comes to what they will eat, given a choice.
Please do not believe those feed sacks that say that pellet feed has all the roughage a horse needs,
or that you can feed him a whole bunch of that and he won't need hay. Feed manufacturers are just trying to sell more feed; they want to make a profit like everyone else. Horses need hay or grass; it is the way they are made. If you are feeding your horse pellets, it is so very important that he have a constant supply of water. Choke and impaction (which causes colic) can both result from feeding pellets without enough water.
Here at Faithwalk Farm we like to feed alfalfa to our foals, brood mares and stallion. We buy hay that has been protein tested and a good alfalfa will be 20 to 25 percent protein and feed the foals alfalfa until they are grown.
Did you know that most horses are not full grown until they are at least 5 years old? If you have a horse that is growing, working or producing for you then feeding a higher protein is a good thing. If you have a pleasure horse, a mare or a gelding that you just have for a pleasure ride now and then, they don't need that much protein. It is so important to maintain a good weight on your horse. Hay and feed with 10 to 12 percent protein is fine for a horse that is not working or producing. An overweight horse is at risk for founder and many other ailments. And a too thin horse means that something is lacking in your program and of course they are more at risk for a myriad of health issues.
Guess what? Horses like fresh, cool water in the summer and a nice drink of warm water in the winter. Most of all, it needs to be fresh. Clean water buckets and troughs are a must. Horses are sensitive to the smell and taste of water and they don't like it if it's stale or has bacteria or algae growing in it. If you have automatic waterers, check them everyday to make sure they are working. A horse can colic and die without water and faster than most people think. A normal horse in normal conditions will drink about 20 to 25 gallons of water a day. In hot weather they will drink more than that or if they've been worked or ridden hard. A mare nursing a foal, will drink twice that much. Electrolytes are just as important to horses when they are stressed as they are to us. Consider them the "gator-aid" for horses.
At Faithwalk Farm we offer our horses a mineral block which is 100% minerals. It is different from a salt block and different than the brown salt blocks that say mineral salt block. The mineral salt blocks are only about 3% minerals and 97% salt. I have found that horses will eat the mineral block as they need it. They instinctively know what they need when it is offered to them. So if you are thinking you need to feed a grain or pellet for the minerals, you can offer them the mineral block, a salt block and plenty of good hay and know that they are getting everything they need.
Worm your horses every 6 weeks. Yep, you read that right. If you use a paste wormer, use it every six weeks. It will prevent a lot of colic and will also make your feed bill lower because you won't be feeding worms. If you use the daily wormer (a supplement that you can add to their feed) it is still wise to worm them with a paste wormer or have them wormed by your vet twice a year. This is the big secret to success in growing a colt or filly; worm them every six weeks. There is a gauge on the tube of paste wormer according to their weight and it will also say on the box if it is safe for the age of foal you are worming. At Faithwalk Farm, we don't start worming them until they are weaned from the mare and that is usually at 5 or 6 months of age.
In case you want the condensed version of what I've written so far it is this:
My first point was that the initial price of the horse is just the beginning of the expense. If you think you can't afford the price to buy him or her, chances are you can't afford the upkeep.
My second point is good, quality hay; fresh water, a mineral block and wormer are mandatory.
