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My next door neighbor has horses, but I don't think she treats them so good. Her yard is over an acre, but the two horses don't get to walk around in it. They occupy a "paddock" no more than, perhaps less than, 40 feet by about 15 and they stay in it 24-7. They have no shelter of any kind from sun or weather and don't get ridden much. Nor does she seem to muck out that often. At least there's lots of manure and flies in there with them (that come over here some).

She considers herself an animal lover, but I have my doubts.

It is frustrating to see people that don't do all they could do, or should do, for the animals in their care. It doesn't seem like your neighbor's horses have a particularly good life... Although they are pretty all-weather tolerant, I would worry about them with no shelter in your heat and storms. If they look fed and always have water, they will survive it, but not enjoy their life much. If they appear to be well-fed enough, watch their feet. One of the easy to neglect tasks is foot trimming, because it sneaks up. Even people who are not so bad that they would forget to feed may neglect their feet. If their toes get long and/or cracked , it is time to say something.

My goal with my horses is to give them a great life first, and through that I improve my life by having them in it. A lot of people only consider the second part.

I have a friend who wants the pleasure of having them but wants to do the minimum amount of work for them.

Horses do spend a lot of time not being used, and many horses that are worked regularly are kept well in small paddocks. She probably had good intentions and has gotten burned out on the sheer repetitiveness of horse care. You feed them every day, they poop every day.

Most of us don't ride as much as we wish we did. But I try to tell my friend that having a horse is not like having a boat... They may spend the same amount of time as a boat sitting around not getting used. But you can't just park a horse in a small paddock and forget it like you can a boat. (I use that example with my friend because she has both) Having a horse is a lifestyle change, not a part-time hobby.

[sigh] < /rant >