Today is my German Shepherd, Naiya’s, 10th birthday. I decided to write a post in honor of her today and also speak about the commitment of animal ownership, particularly with horses.


I was a bit reluctant initially to get a ‘family’ dog. After much persistence and their promise to take care of the dog, I gave in to my children’s request. On Memorial weekend of 2000, we had a family meeting to discuss what each of us was looking for in a dog. I wanted a small dog that didn’t shed much. The rest of the bunch had different ideas.

We ended up on the phone speaking to a German Shepherd breeder on a farm in Canada called Appleridge Kennels. Three hours later we arrived at the farm and were shown numerous pups. Naiya came bouncing out, the smallest of the group, and ambled right up as curious and friendly as can be. By late evening, she was home with us, getting to know our long time, laid back cat, Snowball.

Naiya has been great fun over the last ten years. She was even on the ‘Planet’s Funniest Animals’ due to some crazy game she played pushing her food bowl around the back yard. My daughter won $100 for that video. We took her to dog training school and continued on with agility classes. When my daughter went rollerblading, she would hang on to the leash and just tell Naiya to ‘go home’ and the dog would pull her all the way back home. The neighbors would get such a kick out of it. She can ‘search’ for any food that you might hide by letting her smell it first, then hide it and tell her to ‘search’. Finds it every time.



But I have to say, as my kids grew up, Naiya became more of my dog than the rest of the group. Although, they still love her just the same, it is more my job to do the care and feeding. What can I say; she is my baby and provides joy everyday.

Which brings me to my next thought – Owning an animal of any kind brings great responsibility and owning a horse is no exception. It starts out pretty exciting and unless you have a passion for horses, it can fizzle away quickly. It is a big decision to take on the care and feeding of such a large animal including the numerous health needs to be met.

Horses can live a long time, many for over 30 years. Often, leasing a horse for first time owners is the best way to determine if owning a horse and all that comes with it is the right path to take. A horse can become the love of your life so much so that the decision is some times based on emotion rather than a financial plan. So it is always good to do some research on how much horse ownership will cost before a decision is made.

Horse ownership far out weighs the daily requirements and long term commitment compared to any other animal. It takes years of time, training and patience, although, the rewards received are immense.

Food for thought – When you bought your horse, did you focus on the long-term financial commitment or was it based more on emotion?

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