The horse I was gifted is a 10-11 year old 14.2HH quarter horse mare. She weighs at least 800lbs when she has the appropriate body score, so I'm not entirely comfortable riding her for long periods of time which is why I'm wanting to buy a second horse that's bigger and stronger. I can do crossrails with her and trails with her, I just don't like to ride her too much just keep it easy on her, she is coming back into shape and is needing to regain a lot of weight because she was out to pasture and we turned out a new horse that put her at the bottom of the herd basically, so, as horses do, she was pushed away, couldn't eat much and lost a lot of weight very suddenly. We're getting her teeth done ASAP and getting rid of the little bit of runny nose she has so she can gain weight. This mare has a ton of spunk so we don't think it was just turning the other horse out to pasture with her and the others, I suspect it's her teeth so we're going to get the vet out or take her to the vet to check them if need be because she also suddenly stopped taking the bit a couple months before this happened, when she had previously had no problems. Luckily, given she's a QH and she kept very easily on just hay and a little bit of grain at her last owners, she should gain weight back pretty quickly.

Once she's up to weight, if she's up to weight by the time I'm supposed to start that job if I get it, she's going over to the camp while I work there so I have my own personal horse to ride rather than borrow the camps.

We could afford two horses yes, it's just with this gelding I'd prefer to have him boarded just because he is very big. Our fence isn't the tallest but it's the perfect height for my mare, so she is the only one I'd be comfortable keeping at my house all the time. She used to be kept alone anyways so I know she'd be okay with having my dog as a friend (she gets along with basically any other animals) especially if I spent time with her every day like I should. I personally believe she might benefit from the one on one time with me while at my house. I know the saddlebred mare we had at our house to gain weight benefited from it, in the sense that she was calmer when ridden and a lot more respectful and bonded to me.