BIG BIG PROBLEM

Hey y'all its me again and I got abit of a situation I am in. Ok one of my moms best friends is wants to give me a horse completely free (as my mom dropped the hint to me today). Well as much as this excites me it also raises abit of a problem and I need some guidance. Ok well first thing that pops in my head when I was told this, is of course "does it come with all the tack?" and a big one came to my mind is " A place to keep the horse... AND Medical for the horse includin: Trimming, vets bills, etc.

Now all of my heart wants to take this horse, but my mind wants to get some advice and not be jumpy.

I need as much advice as I can get, so please, any advice relatin to this would greatly be appreciated..

I would be the most happiest guy alive if I got this horse and was able to maintain him.

THanks,
Brandon

That's so awesome. I wish someone wanted to give me a horse for free that didn't have health problems!!

First off, I want to give you a huge THANK YOU for being a responsable potential horse owner. That's awesome!!

Chances are if they're giving away the horse for free, they won't be giving tack away. But you can usually pick up good used tack for pretty cheap (I got my last saddle - english - with irons, girth and leathers for $900 - but you can sometimes pick up a whole set (bridle included) for around the same price.
-You'll have to look into boarding (Good places are usually around $300/month, at least here in Canada)
-Farrier is every 8 weeks, give or take, but not by much.. you can call up local farriers for their pricing
-Vaccinations and wormings. If you know how to vaccinate and worm, that cuts down on cost, but if you have to get a vet out to do it, that will add up - again, call up local vets and ask them for quotes
-Some horses do need need emergency vet care - can you save up a fairly large sum of money to hang on to just in case you need to spend it on emergency vet care?

Good on ya for wanting to know as much as you can about this before jumping in!!
Please feel free to PM me with any questions!!

Trust me, it is my dream to have a horse, a big peace of land, and just really grow a bond with me and my horse.. I already got a name for him lol, well kinda its more of a all out war in my head for a name..

Anyways, I am definantly not going to jump into somethin without makin sure I got it planned out.. I am also have doubts, because of college comin up soon and I will be a freshman so that means I don't know how my schedule is going to be like.. I want to spend as much time as possible with my horse if I get him.
I would think they would give me the tack for the horse because some tacks are custom fitted for THAT horse, but I don't know all the details just yet. When I talk to my moms best friend about it, I have already planned out the questions I am going to ask.

BTW... I am takin lessons right now in Horseback ridin (includin barrel racin) and horse care lessons.. I want to be as prepared and knowledgable as possible..

My career is going ot be in Equine, so this stuff will only benefit me.

Thanks,
Brandon

Brandon

Before you accept the free horse, have a vet check it to make sure its healthy and sound.

Being a first time horse owner, you definitely do not want a horse that will cost you tons of money for vet calls in the long run.

Good luck

There is a farrier school in OK someplace. If you are close you could look into having the school do the trimming. I'm sure that would be cheaper than regular farrier costs which is around $25-30 here and I'm about 40 miles north of Ponca City. Pawn shops are a good place to look for tack too. I'm sure its pretty common in Oklahoma to have a saddle or 2 in a pawn shop, I know it is here.
OK state has a vetrinary school in Stillwater another place where vet services may be had more cheaply.

You can also get some cheap tack on ebay.