WEST LIBERTY — Roger Croll has been a farm boy and horse owner since childhood, when he grew up helping to care for more than a dozen horses and 80 beef cattle on his family’s farm.

These days, Croll, who is 48, says, he’s an “average” horse owner with six horses that his family mostly uses for trail riding and some showing at events.

“We’re not loyal to any one specific breed I guess,” he said. “Every one of them is something different.”

But the basics of horse ownership are the same whether you’re buying your first horse or adding to an already-established herd, Croll said.

Something that concerns him these days is that first-time horse owners often don’t seem to understand the time and commitment it takes to properly care for the animals.

“I see this all the time. People think all you’ve got to do is go out and buy a horse ... but there’s a lot to know.”

For horse owners who don’t have the capacity to grow their own food — hay and grain — for the animals, the first step is making sure you can provide them with quality hay, good water and good grain each day, Croll said.

“You have to make sure you know what you’re buying when you’re buying it,” he said. “We keep things simple at my place.”

Croll feeds his animals a mixture of high-quality grass hay with a mix of alfalfa — basically a Timothy-Alfalfa mix, he said — as well as double-cleaned oats and a mixture of supplements. The double-cleaned oats are important, Croll said, because the process removes more dust from the grain, which is beneficial for horse’s respiratory systems.

For a supplement mixture, Croll recommends first-time owners ask a veterinarian or experienced owner for advice creating their own regimen.

“We have our own mixture, but people out there probably use other mixes they swear by too,” he said.

The final component of any good equine diet is making sure the feeding schedule agrees with a horse’s metabolism, which is much different from other animals, Croll said.

“He’s a grazing animal so he’s better off if he’s just continually munching throughout the day,” Croll said of a horse’s digestive system. “That’s the way they’re set up to run; that’s what helps keep their metabolism going.”

Owners should be sure to feed stabled horses breakfast and dinner, but the optimal arrangement is to have good, fertile pasture for horses to roam throughout the day.

When they’re not in the pasture, Croll said, horses also need a good barn with roomy stalls to accommodate them. He recommends a minimum stall size of 10 feet by 10 feet, but thinks 12-by-12 stalls are far better for the animals.

Owners who can’t board their horses themselves often have many options to choose from, Croll said. They should focus on finding a place that offers daily turnout service so their animals get the exercise they need as well as areas that allow them the opportunity to ride year-round.

Natalie Savannah of Butler, the reigning North Washington Rodeo Queen, has been riding horses for about 11 years and shows her animal mostly in English pleasure competitions. Savannah, 17, also cares for about 30 horses at the Chicora-based stable where her animal is kept.

She said first-time horse owners need to be ready to accept daily care and interaction duties to keep their animals happy. Savannah said she rides her animal about three times a week, but feeding, watering and grooming a horse is a daily chore — as is interacting with the animals.

“Each one has a different personality,” Savannah said. “They’re really smart, and they range from being mood to curious to easily-spooked or brave.”

Croll said the daily care duties quickly add up, and consume at least a couple of hours for him.

“Horses are 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week,” he said.

But the allure has always been there for Croll, who dreamed of being a cowboy as a child and now works at a livestock auction in addition to intermittently judging horse shows. Croll also is the superintendent of the Butler Farm Show’s Horse Bureau, and as ring steward for the Big Butler Fair Draft Horse department.

A farrier for more than two decades, he said another important part of horse ownership is regular visits by a trusted farrier. Croll said that as a rule of thumb, horses should see a farrier every six weeks for hoof trimming and show inspection work.

Depending on how much an owner rides, and whether a horse has developed hoof problems or lameness issues, the frequency of those visits could increase from there.

“I wouldn’t tell anybody not to get into the horse business, but I would make sure they would understand their responsibilities,” Croll said. “And that’s what happens a lot in our industry. People jump in and don’t know.”