First let me say thankyou for not making the inexperienced newbie feel dumb with the questions I ask. Knowing I had little wisdom to offer made me a bit hesitant to join in but you are a wonderful group of people and have made me feel at home! We are currently looking for property with some acreage. I hope to one day get a horse of my own and the plan is to board with my trainer until the time I am confident enough to keep it at home. What are your opinions on owning a single horse? Everything I read tells me that being a herd animal a single horse will not do well on its own. I've also read to get a goat,donkey etc for company..wouldnt a second horse be better? In the past with various pets my kids have had(birds,guinnea pigs,rabbits etc),I have always been talked into getting two of each to keep the others company...the result being 2 noisy birds, 2 guinnea pigs that fought and well I need not tell you about rabbits!!! Advise???

I faced this question 5 years ago, when someone wanted to give me an old mare that was heading for the dogfood plant; the solution was he also had a Tenn. Walker, retired show horse; that was still young, sound, but crazy. I brought both home because horses do better with a companion.

I am again having to face this issue as the mare is very old and has had health problems of late. My first thought was to get a pony, which are hardy, and don't cost much to maintain. A donkey, would work. We had goats to keep TBs calm on the track and they can be alot of hassle, and you have to watch for stray dogs and coyote's getting them.

My husband's health has been improving and he is expressing interest in a QH, so that may be the way we go when the time comes.

If you plan on riding the second horse, thats the way I would go, but consider how the maintanance cost fits into your budget.

It's a tough situation. A single horse alone is not a good idea if you can at all avoid it. They do instinctively need interaction with other horses in my opinion. There are people looking for "companion" horses for their own or looking to have their horse be a companion to someone's elses. Might be a solution to buying extra horses, although the expense of horses is not buying them, it's keeping them.

kalo...here's just a penny's worth...

What is said about herd animals is very true, horses are mostly very social, & do best with buddies. My Appy tho, is a contradiction...doesn't do real well with herd horses, & probably could care less; might be a little anti-social. Remember, all horses have certain personalities.

That being said, just consider all the angles; health maintenance, feed, any other possible uses, etc. I've seen goats & burros or donkeys make excellent pals.

When Daisy and Dolly were alone on the farm they did really well with the cows to keep them company, but they definetly prefer another horse. ive been told sheep are really good, but trust me those buggers look for an excuse to die - lmao! Goats get into too much trouble. Donkeys are supposedly really good company. Llamas or Alpacas might be something to look intoas well they are a lot cheaper then keeping another horse thats for sure.

I'd say it depends on the animal. We have several horses that don't care one way or the other if there are other horses in their pasture. Even when they are pastured with others they are off by themselves.Now that I think of it they are all out of the same mare!

I think your horse would be okay by itself, as long as it has the opportunity to be around horses pretty often. I also agree with the others that it depends on the horse. Some horses really need another one around, some dont. I have one of both. My gray gelding could care less, my bay is really needy. A problem you could run into with 2 horses (as I also experience) is that when you ride off on one horse, the other goes crazy because he is herd bound. When I ride off on the gray, I leave the bay stalled so he wont hurt himself in the pasture acting silly, but I can ride the bay and the gray is fine without him. While I am riding the bay though, he is whinnying a lot trying to find the other one. It is FRUSTRATING sometimes.
I also agree that a donkey is a good buddy for horses and much cheaper to maintain.

I'm in agreement with everyone else on horses, depending on their personality, do need a pasture mate, and the choices are many. Just wanted to make a comment...
Some horses seem to like to be alone, like they could care less, but take away their buddy and you may see signs of depression or anxiety. It is sometimes hard for us to realize that they may not openly apear to need a pasture mate, but take that away, and you'll often end up with a troubled, depressed or problem horse.
On goats...some horses do really great with them, but make sure they get along. Had a goat that was litterally in love with a pony, while at the same time, hated our saddlebred and would try to gore him with his horns...our saddlebred would try to stomp Zepher with his hooves too. Gave Zepher to another horse owner and they are all doing great. Burros make good companions, as long as the horse doesn't hate burros. But even when using another horse as a companion, there are rare occasions when they don't get along. You might have to be willing to try different ideas until you find the right companion.
Someone else suggested finding a friend or neighbor tgat might want to have a pasture buddy for their horse, this could be a win-win situation.

i had something to say, but i can't find the words to say it. just watch out for losing a lot of money if you don't have enough time to ride both of them. i guess, trust the kid that's got no money to bring that up. in an exaggerated scale, if u buy a world-class reining horse and don't get around to riding him for a year, you would lose a load of money, i don't know if you're concerned about this. so, if you buy more horses than you can ride, you're going to lose money on the ones that you can't get around to riding. I think the overall best situation possible would be a neighbor also wanting to pasture a horse, because you still only own one horse to ride but it does have a friend. Just my personal opinions. Shout out if i'm wrong.

Mike