is this the right decision?

So, I finally got a job and I can work up to full time. If not, I can get a second job to fill in the holes.

With this, I have been seriously thinking of being co owner for the tennassee walking horse, chance. We (the festivalk I volunteer at) got him off craigslist for 300 dollars. It was either that or ship him to the meat market.

We have had him for the past year and a half, and since then I've worked with him, ridden him, bathed him, and done everything a normal owner should. I know his personality, and the things he needs work on including all of the things he is good at.

He is a sweet boy, little spooky, little high strung, very go oriented. I can handle his spooking, and he listens to me as a rider. We are getting better on the ground. I know my faults as a rider, but I am serious about learning and growing.

The only problem is, he has a gimp and a scar that opened up, but healed again. It was told to me that there could be chance that he may only be around for a little while before needing to put him down.

I understand that risk, and I am willing to do all I can to make him happy and healthy.

What makes me double guess my want to co own, is the fact that I cannot see him every day. I may be able to see him on the weekends. Where he lives now, he gets taken care of, fed, and has a pasture mate, but he isn't used. I also worry that I may be turned down because my instructor doesn't think he is the horse for me. I want to get him a new saddle, I want to get a vet and a farrier out for his feet and work on his gimp and scar. But I don't want that to feel used for my financial abilities. If I own him, it won't feel like I'm being used.

I would rather adopt him so to speak, than have to get another horse, haul it to the grounds and deal with more herd shifting and potential vet bills. He's comfortable where he's at, he has his place and he's happy.

I love the boy to death, and already got him a halter and lead rope for our ground work together.

So, would co owning him be a right decision?

Why don't you ask the people that own him if you can pay them to have the horse? It already sounds like you do everything for him...

If you were co owning you should only pay for half of his needs. Personally i'd be more inclined to buy him outright if you really do want to keep and look after him, as its less complicated. However its really up to you, you know better than us whether you can afford it. How old is the horse?

Not sure. I was thinking when the vet comes to look at his gimp (my lease owner thinks it may be arthritis) to check his age. Its suspected he's in his teens but we could be wrong.

No. CoOwning gets messy because people inevitably stop agreeing. I think you should buy him outright if you are able and willing to deal with his medical issues and want him. Get him vetted and then decide if you can afford to manage whatever issues the vet finds, if any. Otherwise, lease him but be prepared to accept that his owner may end up with other plans for him.
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I guess that's true. I have a great relationship with the owner, but I don't want to ruin that.

Not only that but it would give some funds to the festival. Do vets usually cost to come out and judt look?

He sounds really sweet!


Personally, speaking from "the other side" (as in, I did a similar thing to what you're considering and made the choice to buy), I might hold off.
I say that because, at least in my case, owning my mare fully was not something I was at all prepared to deal with. I thought I was prepared but once I got in...oh boy. However, I was also 17 at the time...could have influenced that feeling just a bit.

Anyway, owning my mare is probably the best thing that has ever happened in my life to date but it's also the most painful expensive thing that's happened.
I got her sans PPE because I knew her pretty well by the time I paid for her and I thought I knew her issues.
Little did I know that she has an auto-immune disease called ERU (Moon Blindness) that has gradually blinded her. I'm not sure if a PPE would have caught that but it is an unforeseen thing that I never, in a million years, would have seen coming.

She was 23 when I got her and now she's about to turn 28. If she hadn't injured herself in September, we would still be riding the trails together. Hopefully we'll be hitting them again this spring if she's healed satisfactorily.

Basically, the main thing I think you should seriously think about (that I neglected to consider in my excitement over getting my first horse) is that, considering his age, are you prepared to be his last home? Are you prepared to pay the feed bill that will continue to rise as he gets older? Are you prepared to make the hard choice and put him down when his time is up? Are you prepared to never ride him again if his body says it needs that? What if you don't have access to other horses anymore? Are you going to be ok not riding for months (currently I haven't ridden in 4 months due to Lacey's injury!)? What if you lose your job in a few years?

Those are all worst case scenario things but they are things I wish someone had asked me before I jumped into owning Lacey. I couldn't give her up for the entire world because she IS my world, but I do wish I had thought things through a bit better.
For me, I'm a full time college student with no time for a "real" job so I use Lacey to teach lessons to kids on the weekends. However, that only makes about $40 a week which is just enough to cover her feed bill and $10 of gas for my car each week. Thankfully I still have the option of living at home, but if I didn't I would literally not be surviving right now. As it is, I barely cover the essentials and anything extra takes some real $$ maneuvering. However, Lacey is happy, fed, and safe which is the thing that truly matters so I'm content.
THAT's certainly not something I thought about when I jumped into horse ownership! Hahaha

Anyway, just my thoughts.

And yes. The vet will probably charge you to just come out and look. Most vets have a trip fee and most will charge you for a "routine physical" or something similar for a visit like that. I know that when my vet came to check on Lacey after her injury, it was an $112 for the vet to chat with me and make a guess as to what was wrong (of course, I love my vet and gladly pay for her expertise so I'm not bummed or anything). The price will, of course, vary depending on what your vet chooses to charge for his/her various services.

I dunno. Part of me wants to hold off, but another part says if he needs it, why not give it? I'm a sucker.

Like Dancing Arabians suggested, I think I will wait until the vet takes a look at him. If the vet says he's at a good age, no serious health problems and the scar won't cause any terrible damage and as long as I stay preventative if it opens up, I may consider.

Not only that, but when the farrier comes about, I will talk to him and see if there's anything that can be done.

Thank you. I just kinda get tired of him being just a "Horse" that doesn't need any real care simply because he isn't used.

Yes, vets charge us for breathing on in the vicinity of our horse. As they should - they studied 7 years to get qualified for that and need to earn a living!

I think that you should go ahead but only if your eyes are fully open about potential problems and future costs. Also, I'm not quite sure what the Festival is - but is there a risk that even after you have made the purchase, some people will still think they have a right to have an 'expressed opinion' on the horses care?

Good luck with your decision

Ps what's a Gimp?

Festival is a renaissance festival that is pretty much all non profit.

I am aware of potential costs, my only real concern is his leg and age. If that leg goes, so does he.

A gimp is like a limp. But not a limp because he isn't hopping around. He moves normally, but its like his shoulder is hitched.

But yeah. There will be "suggestions" I am sure about his care, but if I go for it, I'm sticking to my vets and outside opinion. As much as I love and trust my horse savvy rennies, I don't trust them enough to look without a blind eye.

I can't help but also feel mama bearish over who rides him. Particularly by a little girl who thinks horses are little toys you can go run in circles to exhaustion... But that's a different story altogether.

If I get him, I will write out a statement of his buying, and a statement of what is to be expected while he lives on those grounds. Does that sound like a good idea?