There is nothing more beautiful than a child interacting with a horse. It's no secret that children and their horses form a special bond. If your child has been asking and asking for a horse and you feel yourself thinking, "Well how much work could one horse be?" Unless you truly have the time and extra money for a horse, take your child riding at a local stable as you aren't ready for horse ownership.

Some children are more mature at the age of nine than others are at the age of twelve. You will have gauge for yourself how ready your child is for the responsibility of caring for a horse. Horses require a lot of work and interaction. They are herd animals and get lonely if left to stand in a stall not to mention they need exercise and lots of it along with good food.

If you have the room and the time and money for a horse, consider adopting a rescued horse, they are wonderful animals who have committed no wrong except they were owned by people who either didn't understand how to care for them or they were outright abused. Others were pegged for slaughter to become steaks in Europe where horse meat is considered a delicacy.

Take stock of your lifestyle at the moment, if your finances and time will allow room for a new companion animal in your life, take a look at the horses that are ready to go to good homes and you might have a former race horse as a new family member or perhaps a horse that needs to learn that all people won't hurt her. Either way, your child can learn the value of good care, patient training and wind up with a loyal horse companion for many years to come.

Once you are the owner of a horse, it is very important that you give him the proper amount of exercise to keep his strength up. Horses need to keep their muscles loose and limber and daily walks and rides are a great way to do it.

Many horses do not get enough exercise and on the occasions that they do, they get over-exercised which can lead to torn ligaments and bowed tendons. Also, all horses need different amounts of exercise. Young horses need more than older horses and the older horses need a little warming up in the form of walking before they are exercised.

Most importantly you need to design an exercise program for your horse's individual needs. Be sure not to overwork your horse. If he has been standing in a stable for the better part of a day, you don't want to run him immediately, start off walking and then trotting to get him warmed up. Horses that have been stabled or corralled for a number of days; they to will need warming up.

Work your horse daily and if you can't, find someone that can work with your horse for just a short period of time when you can't. Even an hour of brisk walking will do most horses good and work to help keep them fit and their muscles in good shape.