Horse, Traffic and Barn Sour?

It really does not sound like you know enough to start a horse under saddle. Firstly, there is a lot of ground work that needs to be done. "Ride her till she's broke" ? How about training her one step at a time until she is broke. Once you start riding, teach your horse what he needs to know (walk, trot, stop, turn, canter) before you ever go out of a pen. If your horse is obedient to your commands, they will be safe to experience traffic until they get used to it. Same with barn/herd sour, its an obedience thing.

1. What are the basic things that you need in a new barn?

Place to store hay, feed room (with trash cans to store feed in and shelves for supplements, etc.), tack room (with wall mounted saddle racks, shelves for helmets and tack boxes, and hooks for bridles, a rack for crops, storage bins for miscalleanous items, and ours has a fridge haha), bathroom (unless you do not mind using a stall or a tree), place to wash horses(our wash stalls are separate stalls outside the barn that have three metal-fence sides and drain into the grass), stalls for the horses (with hooks to hang water buckets, those metal racks for putting hay in, a wall mounted bucket for feed, and a place to tie a horse to: a pole or a hook, etc.), I would also suggest cross ties in the aisle way, and we have an extra metal barn (just a metal roof, actually) separate from the barn to keep tractors and tools under. We store our hay up in the loft, and unless you keep horses in the stalls all day the dust should not cause health problems. Oh yeah, be sure to put in lighting, there will come a time when you are out there at night and flashlights wo not be enough :). Rubber mats work well in the aisle too. You will also want hoses, and hoses in the wash stalls. Be sure to include a place for hay storage as well as storing pitchforks, shovels, and shavings for the floor of the stalls. If I think of anything else, I will let you know! Good luck with the new barn! I forgot we also have a cabinet with a fire extinguisher and first aid kit. We put wheelbarrows under the metal barn or in our extra stall. Where we are we do not need heating, but up north it's probably a good idea.

2. my pony hates two people at the barn?

being a mare and pony they have attitudes is should know.... if your pony doesnt like them i dont blame her she can choose who she likes and if they beat the crap out of her dont let them near her

3. What questions to ask when looking at a new barn?

make sure you ask their experience with horses!

4. What does your barn use for footing in the outdoor arena?

For an outdoor dirt Indoor sand

5. Handling theft issues at the barn?

walk up to her and nicely and say hey my martingale is missing and i noticed you have one similar to mine. do you think i could look and see if you accidently grabed the wrong one mine has a mark on it from and old horse of mine. or talk to people at the barn and see if they know of anything or saw anything. good luck

6. Do horses have to have a barn?

They do need shelter. Dry snow is not too bad, but when it gets wetter (sleet or rain) the combination of cold, wet and wind can be lethal. They do not need a barn, a 3 sided shed will be fine. You may want to consider blanketing for them on the coldest nights if you still see them shivering. Are these horses new? If they have always lived out in a field on snowy nights you may be able to wait till spring, but if they are new or have been used to having a shelter then it would be irresponsible to wait till spring - I know you may need to wait till the ground softens, but do put up a temp shelter for now. You are half way right on the grooming. The natural oils do keep them waterproof and they fluff themselves up to keep warm. Bathing and excessive grooming will strip them of this protection, but you do need to remove mud and dirt. I give my boy a quick curry everyday and a more thorough brushing once a week - but he wo not have a bath till spring! If you leave the mud, you can not check them for injury and also the mud can rub and irritate and make them susceptible to other conditions such as rain rot etc. Sweet feed may not be needed. I hate the stuff for my horse, but then he is an easy keeper. Plenty of good quality grass hay so they can keep their bellies full will help keep them warm and in good condition too.