My husband and I have never owned a horse before and have ridden only about 6 horses on trails at state parks here in WV. We would like to buy 2 beautiful horses to love and ride on our 60 acre farm and on our neighbors 1000 acres. The terrain; however, is mountainous woods, except for the approx 40 acres of hilly meadows where our cows/bull/calves graze. There are gravel back country rodes near us that if horses can ride on gravel that would be great. There are also some blacktop roads that aren't traveled much, but there are a lot of four wheelers speeding on the black tops. I would like for the horse not to be horseshoed if that is good for them not to be.
We are 51 years old. I love my labradors and would like to take with us when riding trails. We have a small pond that the cows drink and poop in. We only have 2 small run down barns which just give the cows some cover in the winter and summer. So, we would need a barn or are they called stables for the horses? We live in WV. Our veterinary assistant recommended Tennesse Walker-gelding-not saddle trained. I have no idea why not saddle trained. I would need a saddle. I would like the horses to be gentle yet sturdy so that they would not break their legs on fallen trees slippery creeks, displaced rocks, slippage on hillsides. Also, a lot of deer, turkey, raccoon etc. hunting is done around here and I don't want someone to accidentally shoot us while on a trail. We have a few big black snakes and mice. I am concerned about the horse getting scared of gunshot etc. and then me winding up in a wheel chair. I don't want a horse that jumps, like I did as a child, I want to play it safe. At this point in my life, I would want the horses to eat from our pasture and run freely -not keep them in a barn. And, I am concerned about them getting poisoned from plants that I wouldn't know are poisonous. I understand they will die from mold and our cows love moldy hay that we bail from our pasture. We would ride them frequently on trails and through woods. My husband and I am looking into riding lessons. My city friend, 30 years ago, bought a real expensive beautiful horse and could afford to have it boarded etc. They found out it had something wrong with it's legs and they had to put it down. I remember them saying that you should always x-ray a horses legs before purchasing. I have always wanted a horse but my parents couldn't afford the lessons and we lived in the city. Our neighbor has 4 horses that are positively beautiful. He is feeding them hay now due to the severe drought we are having. Do people who own horses ever welcome someone else learning to ride on them in exchange for letting them graze on their land? I just am not sure of how the horse people view city people (like us) and I don't want to offend anyone, especially my neighbors. I have found that horse people generally do not like cows and cow people generally do not like horses. We have only owned our cows for 2 years, they came with the farm when we bought it. My husband enjoys taking care of the cows/bull/calves-they are pretty simple to care for. I think my husband feels he would have to get rid of the cows to let the horses graze due to bacteria in pond and pasture etc. from the cows. If anyone has any advice about anything I would greatly appreciate it. I realize that I have nothing to offer anyone about horses at this point. Thanks for listening.