How to keep and feed a horse Part 1.

All you need to begin with is a piece of land just big enough for the horse to walk about. Depending on the horse, about 50 m2 is actually enough, as long as you exercise the horse otherwise. Fence it off so the horse isn't able to go places where you don't want it to be. Like your rose garden, for example.

Unless you live in Siberia, just an open shelter that keeps the rain and wind off, should do, because in winter the horse will grow a thick coat. A horse grows fur depending on the temperature its exposed to. One thing we like to forget, is that animals are not human beings. Just because we feel uncomfortable, doesn't mean they do.

It would be good, if you had a place to dump the horse poo regularly, but maybe just ask around the neighbours, who might be happy to use the poo to fertilize their gardens. They might even be grateful, because its actually not cheap to buy. Around here, where we live, there are several neighbours we call the 'poo collectors', because they come here with their wheel barrows every few weeks and clean up the section.

If it is really your front yard, meaning you live right there, its probably okay for you to put a bucket of water there that you can fill up every day. Otherwise its more convenient to install a self watering place.

Under the shelter you put a trough for his pellets and make a corner for his hay. All you need to do now, is source a place you can buy those nearby.

How much to feed to the horse is of course different for every one. Best is to try it out. Start by giving him/her about 1 liter of pellets twice a day and as much hay as it eats. The horse will generally not eat more hay than it needs. feeding too much hay is not a problem, feeding too much pellets or oats can be a problem, because they contain a lot of protein. Too much protein can be bad for horses.

Also, too much 'energy food' (pellets or oats) may have a similar effect on the horse as alcohol on a human being, making them drunk-like and unpredictable/harder to handle.

Hello, got any grass?

(Please excuse any typing mistakes, its a bit tricky with those hoofs on the keyboard.)

My name is Gato, and I am a horse. I'm 26 years old, and I used to work as a Polo horse in Germany, when I was young. One day, one of my stupid riders hit me on the head with his bat and I had to quit. I didn't like that job anyway. Too much stress and noise scaring me. I never got over the fear of swinging objects around me.

After I quit I found myself a new home with a teenage girl, who didn't let me work very hard at all. Brilliant! I just had to take her out once a day for a walk in the bush, which was fun. Something different every day. Like freshly grown grass blades or newly dumped paper rubbish that I had to examine from a safe distance. She (my owner) never did understand how frightening and exciting these changes can be.

Anyway, she took me through a number of stables, all about the same, a small square inside and a big muddy paddock outside (that I had to share with others) during the day. Could have been worse, I guess.

Three years ago, my life took a sudden change, one morning she woke me up and put me into the float again. I don't mind the float. It's kind of fun driving along the roads, but I didn't quite expect to spend the next four days traveling. Admittedly we stopped for the nights in cool new places, but it was a loooong journey.

Apparently I now live in Spain. First I took the drastic change in temperature for Global Warming, before I was told that this country has a hotter climate. People here laugh about my name. Gato is spanish for cat. Very funny. But I really can't complain otherwise.

I've got a space of 300 m2 to myself and an open shelter, where I can walk in and out of whenever I want. But thats only where I spend the nights...During the day that same girl (she's a bit older now, and I still don't know her name, I just know she's the one that brings me food and stuff), takes me out to my paddocks. I've got five of them. Big ones, too.

In spring its all full of really juicy lush green grass. Being in Spain though, that only lasts till June or so. Then it all turns into hay (imagine that: hay that grows directly out of the ground). Not bad either. Towards autumn food gets a bit scarce on my paddocks, I am told I have to wait for the rain falls.