What do you need for your first horse?
Are you buying your first horse and don’t know what you need? Maybe you are loaning but still need to get equipment. Do you think that you may be missing a few things? Well today, I will be going through everything you will need when you’re getting a new horse. This comes down to stabling, rugs, buckets, etc.
I have created a Beginner Series which helps you navigate through being a first-time horse owner with the challenges you may face, and this is the first episode.
Now that has been clarified; let’s get into it!
· Firstly, you are going to need Stabling.
You will definitely need a stable to keep your horse in if they are injured or the weather is too bad for them to be turned out. You might live on a farm with your own land or have to home your horse at a livery yard. But they have their pros and cons, and you can do whatever is best for you. For example, because livery yards have different packages, e.g., grass, DIY, full and part livery, you will have access to certain facilities depending. Look at the chart below to gage which livery package is most suitable for you:
Livery Package | Description |
Full livery | The yard manager or staff will look after your horse whenever and you can just visit them when you have time. The most expensive option but suitable if your parents can't take you before and after school or you can't because you work full time. |
DIY livery | The most common option amongst horse owners which is where you rent a field and a stable with use of onsite facilities but you do all the care and turnout yourself. |
Grass livery | You rent a field to keep your horse on and stable elsewhere. You do all the care yourself. |
Part livery | Great if you need certain days where someone turns your horse out, things like that and you do the other days. Not too expensive and suitable for flexible workers. |
· Next you will need to find a Vet, Farrier, and Insurance.
It is really important that you have insurance for your horse because if you have something like colic – abdominal pain in horses – which is common, it will cost you £1000’s of pounds especially if you need colic surgery. Often, if you don’t have insurance, most vets will not operate.
Obviously, you are going to need an equine vet and ideally you would like to choose one local to you (well local to where you keep your horse.) This is because in an emergency they will be able to get out to you quicker and things like that. If you decide to stable your horse on a livery yard, ask other liveries what vet they use and also what farrier too. Most farriers would rather do more than one horse at a yard or the entire yard rather than travel to lots of different places and therefore bills may be cheaper.
· You will need bedding and hay for your horse to.
Now I have already published a blog all about the different bedding available as well as considering the benefits of each type. If you decide to stay at a livery yard, most will provide you with a bed such as straw as part of the package unless you decide you would rather use something different and as a result you have to buy your own.
You are going to need hay or haylage to feed your horse. Again, livery yards will often provide one or the other but if your horse requires something different due to dust levels, etc then that is up to you to supply.
Some yards can be a bit funny about this so do check.
One thing I suggest is ask the previous owner what they are fed currently because when you are moving your horse and changing their home, it can be a very stressful time for them, so you don’t want to switch up their diet. You want to keep it as similar as possible to prevent causing stomach issues. This also applies to their feed which I will get onto in a bit.
· On the subject of hay and haylage you will want to get your horse a hay/ haylage net.
Although some horse owners prefer to feed hay or haylage on the ground as it is more natural but wasteful, even if that is you, you will want to get yourself a hay net. Some horses will need to eat a certain amount and it makes it easier to weigh as well as store and if you ever travel them in a horse box, they are perfect for keeping them occupied on the journey. Getting a few is always handy in case it breaks, etc.
· Don’t forget feed.
Again, ask the previous owner what the horse is being fed on. Not all horses need concentrated feed. You will be able to change it in a month or so time but for the stressful period of moving homes keep their diet the same as much as possible. If you would like to change up your horses feed later on, I recommend speaking to an equine dietitian. You may also have them on supplements.
· To stop rats and moisture getting to the food you will need a storage bin.
· But you are also going to need to get some buckets to feed it in.
· Should your horse have a minor injury you will need to reach for your first aid kit.
Although you can buy first aid kits with everything in them, you often don’t get a lot of supplies, so I recommend buying some spares or making your own. Some items you will need in it are things like scissors, dressing, vet rap, cut/ wound powder, etc. There are also things like antibacterial scrub, and a thermometer which are good to have to hand.
· Obviously, in order for you to ride and exercise your horse you will need tack.
So, there are lots of different pieces of tack that you will need. There are the saddle and bridle, girth, stirrup irons and stirrup leathers, you might need a breastplate or martingale depending, a lunge line should you need it, and more. You will also need a saddle pad/ numnah. You don’t need to get an extensive matchy matchy collection like you see some people have but getting a few to tie you over is good. I suggest getting a white saddle pad and then a coloured one so that if one is being washed, you have the other.
You may have agreed to buy the horses tack from their previous owner but if you do, make sure to get a saddle fitter out to check it fits correctly and that you are not taking some tack that no longer fits them. Also, you may need to get some overreach or brushing boots for your horse.
· Whilst on the subject of tack you will also want to get some tack cleaning products.
So, you are going to want to keep your tack (which would have cost you a fortune) in good condition. In order to do so you will need a tack soap, leather conditioner and a sponge and maybe like a bucket or tub to keep it in.
· When cleaning your horse out you are going to need some mucking out tools.
You will need quite a few items for this such as: a wheelbarrow, pitchfork if bedding on straw, a shovel, shavings fork if you bed on shavings, and a brush. You may decide to get a skip bucket or a big tidy.
· To keep your horse clean you will need a grooming kit and some shampoos and other bathing items.
Horses typically don’t like to stay clean and to prevent tack from rubbing you will want to brush them. You only really need a few things including the following: hoof pick, dandy brush, mane brush, body brush, hoof oil, rubber curry comb, face brush, and de shedder to begin with. For bathing you’ll need a bucket, sponge, shampoo, and sweat scraper. Sprays you will need are fly spray, mane and tail detangler and stain remover.
· For daily use you will also need a headcollar and lead rope.
· Next up we have rugs.
You don’t need to buy every single rug, but you will need a few like: a fly rug, a dry rug, if you have a something like a thoroughbred, a heavy weight rug or something like a cob a medium weight, and possibly a stable blanket.
I hope you found this useful. You may need to get more products like a fly mask, water buckets or sun cream but that is pretty much it. Horses certainly come with a price, and this is the bear minimum of things that you need.
I’ll leave some good YouTube videos below which suggest similar things:
I would love to know what you thought of it and if you found it useful. Leave a comment. If you would like to give any positive or negative feedback about any of my blogs write it below, I would love to hear it in order to improve. Subscribe as it is free and follow my Instagram to receive regular notifications since I am active on their daily. You are welcome to emailing me blog idea suggestions to: admin@theequestrianblogger.co.uk. Stick around for the next blog coming soon. Thanks for reading this one!
Bye.
The Equestrian Blogger
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