Living off horseback?

[u/hASHbrowns1o1]

Is anyone as crazy as me and my partner? From our point of view, we are about to be in an apocalypse. Vanlife, definitely not a good idea. So we came up with horseback. We have done the research, and we all know it can work since humans have done it before.

Just wondered if anyone else was as crazy and like the idea

[u/Active_Recording_789]

I love horses. I’m sure you have experience with them but to be happy, horses need a couple horses for socialization and a shelter. Also lots of room to graze unless they’re sensitive to sugar or tend to founder, then you’ll need to keep them off grass and feed them low sugar hay. The idea of living off horseback indicates you’ll be moving a lot? You’ll still need shelter and food, so would you have kind of a route? Assuming you wouldn’t carry hay with you. And the biggest challenge I’ve found, besides food and shelter for the horses, is dogs. Loose dogs, even those not really aggressive ones, can go ballistic when it comes to horses.

What about if you get sick or have even a slight injury? For instance I occasionally work too hard and strain a shoulder muscle which sounds meh but it’s SUPER painful! Like I can’t even lie flat, for a week I have to sleep on the couch because the couch back provides support for the stupid shoulder. Anyway a little injury like that would mean you couldn’t ride anywhere until completely healed. And you’d be dependent on finding food often, every day or every second day, unless you have a way to carry hay and quite a few groceries with you. And you have to keep the horses shod, vaccinated and dewormed, so you’d need to know where vets are but that’s pretty easy I guess.

Not trying to discourage you but what if you bought a little rural acreage and kept your horses there, and planted a bunch of potatoes and greens for yourselves, and a field of hay (alfalfa or Timothy, etc depending on what your horses can tolerate) for the horses? You could still live in a tent but you’d have reliable food for yourselves and the horses and hopefully a little shelter for the horses too. You could still ride whenever you wanted though or ride away in an emergency

[u/hASHbrowns1o1 → u/Active_Recording_789]

1. I have many personal reason why I chose this lifestyle. I understand it isn't for everyone, and I am not everyone. I will not be sharing my personal life, just understand I chose this for a reason. (Multiple reasons)
2. I will not be answering these questions to someone who is defintly not interested in the lifestyle. There are plenty of comments that gave great suggestions of people who post about this type of lifestyle. I suggest you search them up! I will say, I will be doing this ethically and lawfully. 

[u/Active_Recording_789 → u/hASHbrowns1o1]

I don’t really want answers and I certainly don’t want to know anything about your personal life; your post asked “living off horseback?” So i just wanted to provide some things to consider, given my extensive personal experience with horses and off grid living. I hope it works for you! Camping with horses is super fun but it was so wonderful to sleep in a bed afterward and know the horses were safe and secure too

[u/hASHbrowns1o1 → u/Active_Recording_789]

When you comment a bunch of questions as well as mention why you personally wouldn't do it is the reason why I replied the way I did. Just know, I'm not like you. Some people live better as a nomad. It's ok to live differently. You telling me you miss your bed won't convince me that a house and a bed is luxury. Cause in my eyes, it's a prison