I was just thinking about those who look after horses on their sits. I don’t think we see as much of that on the Forum, and I’d love to have a thread with some experiences, tips and advice!
For those of you who look after horses, whether as sitters or owners, what do you think is most important when it comes to horse sitting?
Any lessons learned, routines that work well, or things you’d wish you’d known earlier?
Please share your experiences, go-to practices, or any dos and don’ts you’ve picked up along the way. It would be great to gather a range of perspectives in case it could help someone in the future!
I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Jenny
PS. We also have some blogs about horse care, here’s a few links that might be useful to anyone considering a sit with horses!
I would advise don’t do it unless you already have extensive experience - whatever the HOs say. Horses are wonderful but are also:
accident-prone. If a horse can hurt itself on something, it will!
able to develop serious health conditions very quickly so you need to know what to look for
large, strong animals (yes, even the small ponies) that don’t always cooperate and have prey animal instincts, so there’s a risk of injury to you or them if you don’t know what you are doing (and sometimes even if you do know what you’re doing)
I’ve watched horses several times and have another scheduled. I agree with @UKSITTER1, it can be a challenge and shouldn’t be undertaken lightly — a lot can go wrong and, in my experience, often does.
I also read over the blogs you linked. As written, the responsibilities don’t strike me as the purview of an unpaid sitter (groundwork?).
I looked after four once on the edge of Dartmoor. It was great as went out for a ride with the owner prior to her departure. Biut they were out at grass on several acres. All I had to do was make sure a huge bath was filled with water and sweep the yard. And just genreally check they were alrtight. I did sit somwhere else with horses but they had made arrangements for other people to come in and tend to them.
I have seen other sits advertised though that do sound like hard work, as they have several horses want you to muck out stables and collect all droppings in field etc. And on top of that fill hay nets and prepare other feeds. + grooming. They have also had dogs that require walking etc. Have not applied. And there was one once that didn’t even mention a horse in the listeng but had ex[pected you to drive half hour there and back again, each day to feed a horse. I declined.
Some sits with horse s can be quite easy if they are out to grass, but not if several and all stable kept etc.
I’ve only had 2 horse sits and wouldn’t do another if the horse responsibility was mine. Looking back it amazes me that folks ‘trusted’ me with their horses.
My first was with a horse who lived outdoors, rain or shine. My tasks were to make sure his troughs were filled with food and water and open a gate so that he could move from 1 pasture to another. It was a short sit and the HO and I had a long conversation about my lack of horse experience. It went just fine, and the horse was okay - but he was a very calm and relaxed horse - actually was a civil war reenactor horse so was familiar with loud sounds and such.
The second was with a pair of minature horses who lived in a standard city sized back yard - maybe 50 ft by 150 ft - covered with pea gravel and had a shed to spend the night in. My tasks were to feed them, get them into their shed at night, and shovel their manure into a wheelbarrow and then to a pile on the edge of the property. Was about a week long as wasn’t too difficult, the horses were pleasant and seemed to like hanging out with me when I’d read in the back yard. The HOs had only had the horses about six months and I see their listing now shows only chickens so maybe they decided miniature horses didn’t really make sense in the city. Shoveling and disposing of the manure wasn’t really too much different than sitting some big dogs and disposing of their waste - some ways easier because we weren’t out and about and I could use a shovel and wheelbarrow.
I don’t really look at sits for horses (or any other farm animal now - except chickens and ducks).
I have always loved horses but have not had close contact with them since I was a teen and my hubby has no previous experience at all.
Despite that we’ve done two sits with horses- both of which went very well.
The first one we just had to give the 2 horses hay and pellet feed twice a day- easy peasy & only 3 days..
The second one was a 3 week sit in rural France for first time hosts. We took care of several hens, 2 cats and 2 horses. We really enjoyed the sit - lovely home with gorgeous pool- even though it was quite a lot of work with the horses. We overnighted with the family before their trip so were able to run through the evening and the morning routines.
Our daily tasks were;
to fill hay nets for each horse twice a day and feed them pellets in a bucket,
fill up their water buckets daily,
Let them both out to graze for the day and bring them back in at night
Mucking out their stalls and poo picking around the stables (at least one wheel barrow full daily)
Hoof picking when needed (which was most days)
Light grooming.
Both horses were elderly rescues and very gentle but in retrospect it was a risk, with so little experience, to be left in charge! The hosts put a lot of trust in us! Anything could have happened! But we rose to the challenge.
The chickens were sometimes time consuming too- letting them out to roam the large property by day and trying to get them in at night- in June- when its very long light. Sometimes it took till 10pm!
Also collecting eggs, feeding and cleaning their coop.
The cats were no work at all!
Fortunately they took the dog with them!!
This was all a great ‘one off’ experience, and the hosts are lovely people, but I would not repeat this sit- too much work- even though they gave us a fabulous review and have invited us back more than once!
However we did visit them again last year when on another sit nearby (with one little cat!)
@jenny, we completed a housesit on a Calgary ranch that included four horses. Really lovely location and thoroughly enjoyable experience. My spouse has horse experience. That said the Pet Parent was extremely upfront during video call - our horse responsibilities were framed as ‘every couple days then go and count their legs’. Really. Anything beyond that, contact the neighbour. For context, Pet Parent primary concern was that a horse somehow fell over and could not stand up (hence counting legs). Horses had ample food, automated fresh water and spent their days wandering Pet Parent fields. No riding, mucking out or other responsibilities. Horses were lovely. When we walked the fields then the horses sometimes followed behind us … sort of a walk ?! Cute.
I just had a sit for two horses. I wish I knew about one of the horse’s condition. He has chronic lung problems I didn’t know of and he had a crisis with me.
I’m always on the hunt for horse sitting opportunities as these beasts were my first animal loves !
I would encourage those interested in caring for horses to volunteer or get a good amount of experience BEFORE taking a sit with horses. They require diligent and observant eyes which can pick up on behaviours and/or changes which may indicate problems. Someone with little or no experience cannot do this even if told by the owner what to watch out for (and I’d have serious concerns about a horse owner who would leave their horses with someone lacking the experience and skills to care for them).
Further, even as an experienced horse person, I require an on-site, face-to-face introduction to the animals and insist that the owner and I go over each horse physically so that I am aware of any concerns.
Sure, they’re beautiful and fun and all of that. They’re also a great responsibility which, in my opinion, is not for the inexperienced in this context.
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