What do you do with your horse when you go away?

Hey everyone!

I looked around quickly to see if I could find any other threads like this and didn't see any, but if I'm wrong then please forgive me! :)

I'm in the middle of moving from Calgary to Montreal (for those of you who don't know Canadian geography... it's pretty much across the country) and I'm planning on leasing a horse this summer. If everything works out, I'd really like to go back to Calgary for a week to visit my friends during Stampede.

So my question is, what do you do with your horse when you go away? Give him the week off? Find someone to exercise him?

I just give my horses time off if I go to the business trip or on vacation (although latter is not often and not for long). They definitely appreciate it.

Unless your horse is in serious, upper level show training and you need to compete immediately upon getting back, there is typically no real reason not to just give him the week off.

As long as he has someone watching him to care for his basic needs and call the vet in case of emergency, he'll be just fine.

Just to add to SaddleOnLine, and Val ... just be sure he is turned out if stabled and checked on every day. Otherwise I'm sure he will enjoy a vacation too.

One of our neighbors used to have horses, so she comes over and feeds 3 times a day. The horses get the week off.

Week off! I like to give my horse vacations. I give her a complete week off after every competition. Though I don't have any scientific proof, I think it's good their minds.

I don't leave my ponies. When the rest of the family goes on vacation, I'm at home with the horses.

If I did go away, someone in the immediate family would babysit the horses. I've heard too many horror stories to trust anyone else with them. I don't really work my horses either, so I don't worry about that. Making sure they're fed and safe is the main thing.

Heyy I live in Montreal!! I welcome you to my hometown, lol. :) It's a great city... when you exclude all the pot holes and the crumbling bridges of course.

Sounds great...
What part of Montreal do you live in? I think I'm pretty far away from the city...

When we had horses many years ago, we'd have a neighbor keep an eye on them. They were on excellent pasture and had a lovely, clear spring fed pond for water and were fine on their own. Never had an issue.

We got horses again a couple of years ago. Last year, hubby and I were going to go to a family reunion, my mare was due to foal shortly after we got back. At the last minute, daughter and her family decided they would tag along. We were going to be gone for two weeks. Paid a horsey neighbor $100 to feed and water our horses, chickens and goats. The neighbor could also have all the eggs the chickens laid.

We came back to find that the neighbor had taken the $100 and run off to Texas to be with her jailed hubby (he was already in jail when we left - guess she just couldn't be separated from him for another minute!). She left her elderly mother to care for her five kids, her own horses as well as ours.

Thing is, her mother was terrified of horses. Our horses were in our sacrifice lot because we were refencing our pasture. There was plenty of hay and feed for the horses in the carport - it would only take a few minutes to throw hay for them. The neighbor's son had been over to our place plenty of times and helped us feed, so he knew where everything was (so did the neighbor). With the neighbor gone, the elderly mother came over to our place and fed the chickens and the goats. She did water all the animals, but was too afraid to get near the fence to throw hay, let alone their "hard feed."

Do you have any idea how much weight horses can lose in two weeks with nothing to eat? Especially a heavily pregnant mare?

This year, we were supposed to go to the family reunion again. Hubby decided we'd best just stay home - he was afraid that the horses wouldn't get fed again. I didn't mind staying home, though. It was probably the best vacation I've had in years - all we did was go down to our overgrown pasture and cut trees and brush. It was much more relaxing - especially since we didn't have to worry about the horses!