i think it depends on how old the kids are too - I have horses as well,3 of them, and I am definitely planning on taking my kids with me riding when they're old enough. I would suggest a puppy when your family is complete, and the children are old enough to know what to do/what not to do with the puppy - they can be hard to train, so getting one as soon as you have the baby will be double the trouble.... as far as cats go, I'd say go for it - you'll also know about if they have any allergy to them lol... A rabbit is also a great option - we have 1 and she's about 4 - but she's not very social... when we let her out for her runs, she just runs around for about 10 min, then she just sits in the same spot for most of the day... I would suggest a dwarf rabbit, they don't get too big and cost about $45, but you need the cage and stuff too... our cage is about 4ft long and 2ft wide and it cost us just over $100CDN.. the food isn't very expensive- and they don't really eat much, but you've also got to get them hay (not regular hay, you can find this in the petstore as well), I'd say the most expensive part is she shavings that go in the cage - we buy it in bulk and we pay about $30 for a MASSIVE bag that lasts us about a month, you also need to clean the cage about every 3-5 days.
we will definitely be getting another dog when we're done having babies - we have 1 right now and she is the farthest from a farm dog - she is a Biewer Yorkshire Terrier ... she runs around the kitchen and gets tired LOL

I think a dog would be great. They are very friendly and great with kids. Most dogs sense if someone is a kid or not, and are more gentle with them.

I have 4 dogs and 2 cats and a little pot bellied pig too and my children love them.

The only bad part is the responsibility. Are you ready to take on extra responsibilities? Its hard for me when my family and I go out on vacation leaving the pets with someone else.

how bout rats?? i know everyone hates them but their actuallly very clean and never bite like hamsters do. their very very very friendly and are also cheap (most expensive part cage) they only bite if youve given them meat and then they smell your hand and thing meat and bite. i have 3 (2 got free from people that didnt want them and one bought from pet shop) and ive only been bitten once because i had been bumping thei cage to stop them fighting (they play fight and squeak at each other when they have an argument) because my daughter was trying to sleep and then i stuck my cage in and the elder one (i think she was traumatised as a babylol) bit me bacause she thought i was going to attack her. she only put her mouth around my finger and then realised it was me and took it straight back of and came up for a scratch, she didnt even brake the skin (but frightened the hell out of me lol). i would never get mice as they stink like hell and get rats not boys because boys stink more (my one boy smells more than my 2 girls in the same cage) i would also get one as a baby and get 2 of them (same sex) to keep each other company. they are very cheap to feed and if looked after properly will sit with you for ages. my lil one Nely will be happy to explore my deak and lap while i sit one the computer as i have had her since a baby and she knows who i am and trusts me (also like sitting on my shoulder). well sorry for rambling but i had to explain that rats arnt that bad. only other pwt i can think of is a budgie but they arnt as interactive as a rat.

hope i helped
Random Chick

About 1 month ago we brought the boys a kitten each and they are 3 (my boys are not the cats)
and they named them Gary - from spongebob squarepants and Dora - from Dora the explorer. and they love them, great pets

Brieal

A pet is always a nice way to make your kids responsable (even though you'll end up cleaning everything instead of your kids )
I'd suggest an hamster (if your not afraid of it), a guinea pig, or some bird.

gOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN WITH YOUR PET

Thank you everyone for even more comments, My oldest is 4 and he loves to horse ride but supervised obviously and when Dylan,2 is old enough he will probaly start to.
I think i will wait awhile to get another pet,we have 2 to look after and 3 children. We live in a farm house and have 3 pieces of land 1 not very big(we got them because the owner that had them was very friendly with us and gave us a discount).
So im sure we will get a puppy when our family is complete.

Thanks !!