Horse Agistment - How To Choose The Right Property

By Michelle Rudge

Back in the old days in England, the King would receive money from his people in exchange for allowing them to graze their cattle in his forests. It was from these agreements that the term Agistment was derived. Things have changed slightly since those days, however, and the term now refers to when an owner of a horse pays someone who owns land, to allow the horse to live and feed off the land owners property. These types of agreements vary greatly, depending on the contracts signed by both parties.

Many horse agistment properties offer excellent care and services for horse and rider, ranging in services from spelling agistment, riding agistment and small group agistment through to agistment with full care. When looking for somewhere to place your horse, you should be sure to consider the following: are the paddocks large enough to accommodate the number of horses, will your horse be kept on improved pastures that are weed free, regularly rotated, slashed, fertilised and irrigated where required. As an extra, are winter active grasses sown to ensure your horse has feed all year round saving you from expensive feed bills. Does every paddock have horse safe fencing that is either post and rail or post and plain wire fencing only and are all well sheltered with either natural windbreaks and shade trees or quality man made structures.

Quite a few horse agistment land owners will request that your horse be kept worm free prior to and during its stay so you need to also look into having that done on a regular basis. The land owners themselves will often carry this out for you as part of the contract. Likewise for things such as the horses dentistry and the like. So when it comes to horse agistment, factoring in all these things can take a huge burden off the horse owner, and if your lucky enough to find one, some horse agistment operators even offer some fun services to get the most of out of owning a horse. These include things like riding days where you can take your horse out for a ride with others.

It is ideal for you to visit the property first and inspect the facilities. It is also beneficial to know if there are experienced staff on site who can offer help and advice where needed. Do they have a passion for horses like you do and can you be confident that they will offer your horse the best care while you are not there. Many great properties adjoin forests or national parks where you can enjoy many riding trails, these are popular choices for horse owners.

Whether you are agisting someone's horses on your land or agisting your own horse on someone else's land, there are some important things you should consider. These include the responsibilites of each party in the agistment agreement, terms and amount of fee payment and contingency plans for disease, illness or injury of the horse, and for emergencies such as fire or flood. - 29954

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here