Do you have a non-horsey boyfriend?

© Tara Heap

By Tara Heap

If there’s one piece of advice I have when dealing with non-horsey partners, it’s never mention the price. Just don’t do it. Now I’m not saying next time you buy that absolutely necessary matching saddle blanket and boot set that you need to lie, I’m just saying let’s not add insult to injury. We all know that horses are like a giant black hole, sucking every last dollar and cent from your bank account into supernova oblivion. Why else is there so much advice going around to “teach your kids to love a horse, and they will never have money for drugs”.

Speaking from personal experience, it wasn’t easy to get my boyfriend, Dave, on board with buying a horse. In fact, I still don’t think he is fully ok with it but the poor bloke didn’t really get much of a choice. The horse obsession began slowly, reassuring Dave I’m only going to get horse riding lessons once a fortnight and making him sit through Darryl Braithwaite’s song ‘Horses’ on repeat daily. The horse riding lessons was an exaggeration of the truth as I’ve definitely spent every weekend for the last year and a half horse riding, but hey, at this stage he was just happy I had a ‘hobby’!

The author and her horse, Nigel.

© Tara Heap

I still remember the first conversation I had with Dave, trying to convince him buying a horse is a good idea. The level of sarcasm was something like “of course you can buy a horse! I was just going to light all this money on fire anyway”. So I guess the difference between myself and Dave is, well, I like to keep my money where I can see it (running around in a paddock and hanging in the tack room) and he likes to save it for a rainy day. We even had the responsible, adult conversation around what happens if the horse gets really sick and needs a $10,000 operation.. He was horrified when I said “umm pay it obviously”.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is, non-horsey people struggle to understand why all our hard earned cash is so easily thrown around like Monopoly money for a ‘hobby’. But then again, that is the other difference – non-horsey people see it as a hobby, where as we see it as a lifestyle.

Tara is a horse lover, horse rider and all round horse enthusiast. She has an 8 year old off the track Thoroughbred called Nigel, whose alter ego (race name) is Naughty Baby. “Horse ownership has so many ups and downs, and I'm here to share that journey with you.”

You can read more on Tara’s blog, Live Your Adventure.

This blog is the personal opinion and experience of the author. You should always seek the advice of a professional horse riding instructor or trainer for your own specific situation or circumstance.

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