Irresponsible brother wants a HORSE???

[dianneS]

My brother contacted me two years ago when I bought my farm and asked if I would board a horse for him. (I think that he thought he could get cheap board through me or just get away with not paying me at all, since there are many more boarding stables much closer to him, I live an hour and a half away from him!) Now my brother knows nothing about horses, how to ride or how to properly care for a horse. He's never shown any interest in getting a horse prior to this (he's 50 years old) other than buying a horse at auction when he was 13 and only keeping it for one summer because he was scared to death of the thing! I told him regarding the boarding issue, that I would absolutely NOT board for him. HE GOT OFFENDED!! He wouldn't even see me that Christmas time because he was still in a snit about the horse thing!

NOW, he has an opportunity to get a horse from a guy who owes him money and doesn't have the cash to pay him, so he'll give him a horse as payment. This idea is completely ridiculous since my brother doesn't have a barn, pasture or anything else needed to keep a horse. He lives on a developement on a 1/2 acre wooded lot and his wife thinks they can "build a shed in the backyard" for the horse to live in... like its a dog or something!! My mom suggested that he take the horse and sell it, but he refuses since he "wants a horsey" all of a sudden.

My brother can't afford a horse, not even to board one somewhere (that's why he wanted to board one with me, thinking he wouldn't have to pay me!) he's had financial problems and still has to borrow money from my mom to keep checks from bouncing from time to time. How does he think he's going to pay for a horse?? I gave my mom the statistics (including the amount of poop one horse produces!) so that she can counter his arguments intelligently since I can't talk to him about it directly since the horse thing is a sensitive issue now, because I "offended" him in the past by setting personal boundaries and saying 'No' to him.

Anyone else have any statistics or retorts for why it would be a terrible idea for my brother to take a horse as payment for a debt in this situation? My mom is the one who will have to do the arguing, since I can't talk to him at all now that its a sensitive subject. Hopefully he'll come to his senses and realize that its a terrible idea!

 

[michickenwrangler]

I would go on and on about HOW EXPENSIVE it is, and vet bills and farrier bills and dewormer and equipment and upkeep and how tired you are at the end of the day and how you never have enough time to ride and complain about HOW HEAVY hay bales are and how much room it takes to store hay and HOW EXPENSIVE hay is (actually, in our area it's pretty cheap) and grain and fly spray and he'd HAVE TO GET ANOTHER HORSE to keep this one company and ... it doesn't even sound like he's ZONED for a horse. Bring that up too. A 1/2 acre is not enough for one horse, let alone 2.

 

[patandchickens]

And that he probably *wouldn't* be able to sell it if he wants the money or if it gets too expensive/inconvenient to keep, since selling a horse these days is awfully hard (after all, if the CURRENT owner could sell it and get the cash, I'm sure he WOULD) so you can end up with a critter costing you considerable ongoing expenses that you can't "cash out" and would have to *pay* to euthanize and haul away if you truly can't keep it.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[dianneS]

That's what I was thinking. If this horse was worth anything why wouldn't this guy sell it and pay my brother the money he owes him?

The reality of it is my brother is in love with the novelty of having a horse and this guy knows it. It seems like a win-win situation for the debtor. He gets to unload a costly horse that no one would buy and be forgiven of a debt at the same time.

If my brother goes for this arrangement, he is going to look like one big sucker.

He is not technically zoned to have a horse at all, but my mother owns the developement he lives on, so he thinks he can get away with it. If neighbors complain (and they will complain to my mother) she will have to take action against him and make him get rid of the horse. One more potential ugly situation.

 

[Mea]

He is not technically zoned to have a horse at all, but my mother owns the developement he lives on, so he thinks he can get away with it. If neighbors complain (and they will complain to my mother) she will have to take action against him and make him get rid of the horse. One more potential ugly situation.

Ah... but at least this time it would not be on You !!!

 

[Bossroo]

Run this gem past your mother. Cost of wild feral horse from BLM is $25. Minimum cost to keep a horse is $100 per month. Then there is the add on costs of training the wild thing of at least $500 -$800 per month for 3-to whatever if it even can be broke to ride. In this economy there are many a free horse in most areas because the owners can't afford the minimum $100 per month upkeep. Someone dumped one of these free totally useless wonder horses on my property... cut the fense, let a 2 yr old, badly injured, not even halter trained colt onto my pasture with 4 open mares in it. Sherriff and police didn't do a thing other than take a report. No horse rescue would take him . No charitable oganization would take him as a donation. Cost me over $400 in Vet bills to heal his wounds, 5 months at about $100/ month to feed him, I had to halter break the stubborn @*&^% ugly thing which took over a month and at that point I had to mostly drag him by the lead rope. Legal fees, posters, newspaper adds, fence repair, etc. . So all in all it cost me over $2,000 to GIVE this colt away. A friend owns about 10,000 acres of open range cattle ranch in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He now is the unproud possessor of 29 dumped horses running loose on those acres among his cattle. The do gooders now call these feral horses (gasp!!!) mustangs. All this because the do gooders of this world got the Government to close the slaugter houses.

 

[ksalvagno]

He better find out if he can even keep a horse in his development. Most developments won't allow livestock. I just can't imagine that they would allow a horse. What is he thinking?

 

[ducks4you]

My brother contacted me two years ago when I bought my farm and asked if I would board a horse for him.

NOT A CHANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just say, "No."

If he tries to be tricky, and drop the horse off on your property, take it to an auction and sell it IMMEDIATELY.

 

[the funny farm6615]

we helped a friend take a 2 year old horse to sell at auction. in the 6 days before the sale it stayed at our house, this is the expenses from the start of those 6 days:

$35.00 for hay
$12.00 for a cheap halter
$12.00 for wormer
$10.00 for lice dust (didnt see any but...)
$60.00 for gas- round trip (2 hour trip each way)
$35.00 for a coggins test at sale barn
$25.00 for feet trimed
not sure what the sale barn charged him
TOTAL=
$189.00

and i did not charge for my time those 6 days to feed and water him. and i did give him some grain, but didnt charge for that either, or the straw for his stall.

he got $10.00 for the gelding.

makes you stop and think!!!

 

[Bunnylady]

An old bit of wisdom holds:

"Never accept payment in the form of anything that eats."

There may be nothing wrong with this guy's horse, but there probably will be by the time your non-horsey brother gets done with it. We all know that there isn't any magic to caring for or handling horses, but it can look that way to people who aren't aware of all the little details that go into keeping a horse sound and sane.

I have seen several people around your brother's age suddenly look at the date on the calendar, and decide to realize a childhood dream of owning a horse before they hobble off into the sunset. A lot of people get into miniature horses at this age, because the ground doesn't get softer even though your bones do!

Zoning is a matter outside of your family members' hands. If the area is not zoned for livestock, it is illegal for him to have a horse on his property. It won't be a matter of whether your mother will have to act if the neighbors complain, they will be complaining to whatever local authority (town or county) has jurisdiction in that area.

A half acre parcel is not enough to keep a horse in, particularly not with neighbors. The flies, the smell, whatever damage the horse may do if it gets out, all of this will have direct impact on the neighbors' property. A lot of areas consider horses "attractive nuisances," which will mean your brother will need to make his place secure against any child that might be tempted to sneak in to pet the horsey (heaven forbid that the horse should hurt a child!) "No Trespassing" signs won't be enough.