I had forgotten about this thread! Last November we added to the brood with a 9hh, 9yo Shetland gelding for Miss 2. He was a birthday present for Miss 2 and a companion for our ARP as the QH is now happily plowing through pasture at a friends place down the road - we are lacking in pasture and our friend needed an extra mouth after losing several of her aged horses in the past 12 months. The Shetland is a lovely boy, broken to saddle but we have had to mouth him. Lulu, my kids are a bit older than yours - DD1 is 10 - and so they are able to help with the horses. It's something we do together and we all enjoy it. DD1 and her friends who are familiar with horses are allowed to play with the Shetland with indirect supervision (with their parents permission, obviously), and DD1 is able to tack up her ARP without assistance. We hard feed twice a day and DH usually does the morning feed before work whilst I'm sleeping and in the evening I prepare the molasses and he does the rest. DH picks up the poo with the help of our three kids. I rug and unrug as required during the day. I think we are only able to keep the horses as we all put in the effort. Having them at home makes it far easier, we have friends who agist their horses and the travelling to and from looks like a time consuming nightmare!