“Alaska has many horse owners…in fact, where I live we have over 3000 horse owners alone! Many quarter horses, some draft and Arabians, as well as appaloosas.

Our summers are perfect…beautiful lush green fields and mountains to ride in and around. Our temps are high 70’s and some 80’s with 24-hour sunlight….so you can ride, ride, ride! Most days there is a bit a breeze to help with the mosquitoes which are at their worst in June but taper off in July and then we are bug free until NEXT May/June again.

Our winters are very cold, long and harsh. We get down to -45 for days at a time. And of course we have snow! We ride in the snow a lot! We ride till it gets to about 20 degrees then we all stop riding and the horses rest for the winter.

Most horses in Alaska are NOT blanketed…even in those harsh cold temps. Mother Nature takes care of them with a thick, thick coat! And even if they have a free-access barn the horses seem to prefer to stay outside.

Hay is very expensive. We pay up to $24 per bale of grass hay and a big round bale can be up to $300. We also have to use an electric heater in the water trough, usually from Oct to April, so it does not freeze.

BUT when the summer comes, we have thousands of miles of trails, mountains and fields to ride in with gorgeous views, rivers and lakes. We run across moose and bear on our rides. Most of the time…this is no problem! Riding in Alaska is WONDERFUL.”