Getting Your Horse Property Ready: A Guide to Bringing Your Equine Companion Home

It’s finally happening, I’m bringing my horses home! And making sure the property is safe for them is priority number one for me. If you have ever had your horses at your home, you know how much fun this can be. If you are thinking about it or have just recently moved to a place where you can keep horses, it can seem overwhelming at first. But bringing a horse home to live on your property is an exciting and rewarding experience. However, it also requires careful preparation to ensure the safety, comfort, and well-being of your equine friend. And I thought I would share with you the process of what you need to keep a horse at home as I get ready to welcome 2 new horses to my home. It’s going to be a lot of fun!

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Assess Your Land and Facilities

Before bringing a horse home, assess your land and facilities to ensure they meet the necessary requirements for keeping your horse safe at home. In fact, before I could bring my new horses home, I had to have someone come out to my property and check to make sure I was ready for the horses and that the property was safe for the horses. Some may find that an invasion of privacy or strange. But I think it’s a great idea. The horses I am bringing home are coming from a Horse Rescue. I found my new friends thanks to Drifters Hearts of Hope. And having them come check out where the horses will be living, well, I am happy to have a home inspection so they feel comfortable with me and my abilities to take care of these incredible animals.

Do You Even Know How to Pasture Bro?

Do you have a pasture? Even having a small area of pasture space available for grazing will be a nice treat for your horses. If you are planning on allowing your horse to graze 24/7, you need to have a minimum of 2 acres of grazing PER horse that will be living on your property. Make sure your pasture area is free from toxic plants and has sturdy fencing to prevent escape attempts, as well as serviceable gates separating pastures from other areas.

If you have a large property, you may want to consider sectioning off smaller increments so you can rotate your pastures. This can help prevent the horses from eating everything down to nothing in your pasture. Myself, well, I have a small property. So I only have one small pasture that I keep for turnout time. The horses will only be turned out for about an hour or two a day in the pasture. So being able to keep them out of this area is very helpful.

Before bringing my horses home, I walked all of the areas the horses will be able to go. I walked in the back pasture, checking to ground for any trash or things that horses could get injured on.

As well as the front pastures. Making sure there are no hazards. I also checked all of the gates and anything that the horses will come into contact with. And even added a little fence to keep them out of between the feed barn and the horse barn. I want to build up this area with dirt, so I am going to keep it off-limit to horses for now.

Shelter

If you have a nice big barn with indoor stalls, I envy you. But your horse doesn’t necessarily need a huge barn with lavish accessories, even though we would love to have them. No, your horse will be happy if he has some sort of shelter to protect him from the elements. It needs to have a roof and three sides so he can get out of the sun, rain, snow, or wind.

As I said, mine is nothing fancy. It’s a loafing shed. We added a center wall, dividing the structure into two separate stalls. And then we added corral panels to each ‘stall’ so the horses could choose to be inside or out, depending on what they choose.

If you are considering building something like this for your own horse, you will want to make sure the structure is large enough for your horse to move around comfortably and has good ventilation.

Before bringing your equine companion home, make sure his stall is clean and free from anything he could potentially injure himself on. For example, this is one of the stalls in my little barn:

Getting Your Horse Property Ready for Horses

I have shared my barn many, many times. I have also shared the improvements I have made over the years to not only make my horses comfortable but also to make caring for them even easier. This has been a trial and error type of process for me. And I almost have everything dialed in. But there is always room for improvement, right? There are just a few improvements I do want to complete, like adding a completely matted floor. That will be happening shortly. I ran out of time. I won’t be able to make this improvement until after my horses come home. And I cannot WAIT to show you what I have found! But in the meantime, I am just making sure each stall is safe for my new friends.

This includes even adding a fresh coat of paint to all the walls. Deep cleaning the ceilings and all of the attachments to the walls, and even having an inexpensive automatic fly control system. I also added a few boredom busters to hopefully keep them entertained as they get comfortable in their new surroundings.

The bedding of the stall is really important. You want to create a comfortable place for your horse to nap, as well as be able to absorb urine and keep your horse nice and dry.

Don’t Forget About the Water

Having multiple water sources for your horse to drink is very helpful too. And making sure you are able to keep your horse hydrated is so important.

Install a reliable and easily accessible water source, such as a trough or automatic waterer, to ensure your horse stays hydrated at all times. And yes, automatic waters are amazing. But if you don’t have the capability to have one, that’s ok too. I don’t have automatic waters in my barn. I wish I did! But I do have multiple water sources.

In each stall, I have a water bucket holder, which is a bucket insulator. This is very handy to have because it makes it super easy to remove the five-gallon bucket that fits inside. And it keeps the water warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. It is not cheap, but to me, it’s worth the cost.

And in between the pens, I have a large water tank that can be shared between the stalls. This is also nice because I only have to use 1 tank heater during the winter months.

Mending the Fences

Appropriate fencing for horses is so important. And after having horses at home for a while, it can be easy to forget about the fencing until something happens. Proper fencing is crucial for the safety of your horse and to prevent him from wandering off your property. There are many different types of horse fencing available, And if you are starting from scratch, you will be able to select the fencing that not only looks good but will protect your horse.

When I moved into my house, I was so excited about the fence – white vinyl 4-rail fencing. It looks so pretty! But vinyl fencing is no match to a 1400 lb. Horse! When my horse Frisby learned that he could push and lean on the fence to get the grass on the other side of the fence, my vinyl fencing wasn’t quite so pretty. After about 2 years of mending the fences where he had pushed through, I decided to add a string of hot wire. This helped him quickly learn to respect the fence.

Getting Your Horse Property Ready for Horses

I still had a few boards to replace or mend, so I made sure to walk the entire fence line so I could make repairs where it was possible or replace boards altogether when it wasn’t possible to repair. And for my repairs – I found the best tape. Yes, tape!

I found this Gorilla Tape Tough & Wide. And oh my goodness, this tape is strong! It is so strong I had to use scissors to cut it as I used it on the fencing. I simply wrapped the tape around the damaged fencing boards, and it looks pretty good, as well as being more secure. And to make it last even longer after I finished with this tape, I wrapped another type of tape over the top of it.

Getting Your Horse Property Ready for Horses

This is Gorilla Waterproof Patch and Seal Tape. And I found it when I was searching for white duct tape to tape together pieces of my vinyl fencing. But this is more expensive than the other tape I bought, considering how much you get on a roll. But it works great to go over the other white tape to add a little more strength and a smoother appearance. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely better.

Time will tell how effective my repair jobs are. But if you are in a pinch, these tapes are a great option in my opinion.

Not long after we had built my riding arena, my two horses were picking on each other through the fence. In an instant, they broke the top rail of one of the vinyl boards of my arena. And removing this board would have been a complete pain in the you know what. And even though it isn’t perfect, it’s a lot better than what it was before. I have no idea how long it will last, but it seems really strong. It’s at least as strong as the vinyl fencing itself. And even though I was super excited about the white vinyl fencing of our property, it is pretty flimsy when it comes to horses. So I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are using hot wire along with it.

A Word on Electric Fences

The hot wire I have in my pastures has been one of the best additions to our property. When we added our back pasture, this was the most affordable option we could find. I used Electrobraid braided fencing rope. But this is really expensive for what you get. Right now, you can buy 1000 feet of it for $221.00 on Amazon. However, there are many more affordable options now. Like Hengtong Electric Fencing Wire. Lynda, this is what you need to check out!

This polywire comes on a spool, and it’s less than $40 for 1640 feet. Now that’s a deal! This polyrope is 2.5 mm – which is less than 1/4″. If you are looking for 1/4″ polyrope it needs to be about 6.35mm. For our back pasture, we have 4 strands of 1/4″ polywire, and the 2nd strand from the top is electrified. It only takes one bump of this wire for a shock, and then every horse I have ever had respects it after that moment. I hope my new horses are the same.

This heavy-duty electric fencing ‘rope’ by Zareba is 1/4″ and looks similar to the electro-braid fencing that I currently have, but it’s a bit more affordable.

We have the same electric poly wire in the front of the property, and again, we use one strand of electrified wire to keep the horses off the fence. It works really well. And it keeps the vinyl fencing looking nice too.

And the wire is just one portion of the hot wire fencing, and you will also need a charger or an ‘energizer’ for your fencing. Getting this set up is a process for sure. But in the long run, it will definitely be worth it.

Ok, enough of me walking around the property and looking for any flaws in the fencing! Back to getting the property ready (safe) for horses!

Having Everything You Think You Need

Or I should say having everything you think you will need before bringing your horses home. If you are keeping your horses at home, you will need a few things to make housekeeping easier. Some of these things are:

• Manure rakes This is the best manure fork ever made!
• Pitchfork (this is awesome and has so many uses!)
• Broom
• Shavings or bedding for stalls
• 20 QT flat-back buckets (for feed and water)
• Grooming Kit
• First Aid Kit
• Hay
• Grain (or feed)
• Supplements
• Wheelbarrow (The Rubbermaid wheelbarrow is the best of the best)
• Halters
• Lead ropes
• Lighting system (I am updating my barn lights with these!)
• Tank Heater (for the winter if it freezes where you live)
• Perimeter fly sprays (expensive, but worth it)
• Hay feeders or hay nets
• Water tanks
• Carabiners (like everything else in this list – so helpful)
• Hoses for watering
• Space for storing all your gear (aka tack room)
• Horse treats

And I think that is about it, for now – but there will be more things you will need for sure. This is just a good list to get you started. I have included links for some items, but you may be able to find them cheaper locally. I can’t believe how the prices of things have gone up! Holy moly, horse and barn stuff is expensive now. It’s not cheap to get all of the things you will need for housekeeping at home. But if you purchase quality items, they will last.

Getting Your Horse Property Ready for Horses

Horses thrive on routine, so it’s important to establish a consistent schedule for feeding, turnout, and exercise. Designate specific feeding times and provide a balanced diet appropriate for your horse’s age, breed, and activity level. Regular exercise and mental stimulation are also crucial for your horse’s well-being, so allocate time for daily turnout and exercise sessions.

Getting Your Horse Property Ready for Horses

Bringing a horse home to live on your property is a significant responsibility, but with proper preparation and care, it can be a wonderful experience. By assessing your land, ensuring secure fencing, providing suitable shelter, and implementing effective pasture management, you can create a safe and comfortable environment for your equine companion. Remember to establish a routine and provide plenty of love and attention to foster a strong bond with your horse. Enjoy this new chapter in your equestrian journey!

I hope this blog post helps you prepare your own property for your new equine friend(s). Best of luck, and enjoy the rewarding experience of having your horse at home!