How much does it really cost to own a horse?

[WIChookchick]

Wels, Holly and Rusty...
we are all just re-inventing the wheel here.
If you read the last 8 pages we have all said this over and over,.. I even provided a horse expense calculator link from horse.com...
What I find funny is how she changes her story.. sort of..at least her time line.

I even stated several time that I don't plan on getting any horses for several YEARS.

I mentioned at least twice in a previous posts that I was not planning on getting horses for at least a year.

Now I am not insulting anyone, but if she wants advice she will read the posts we have given, in good faith not to insult, not to belittle
but to help some one from going through the mistakes we have, from people we know and from sad stories we read on the internet on a daily basis.
We write the posts filled with advice to help prevent the horror stories we have all encountered.

OP
Please keep us informed if you make a decision, and please feel free to ask specific questions if you have any.
We are here to help, not to insult or belittle... you snub us, with this. You asked, you may get repetitive information, but you asked for help
and you are getting personal stories, experiences, helpful advice, and some great downright information.
IF you ever do get the place you want PLS post pics, and if/when you get horses, pls post those pics, we do love to see new horses and critters.​

 

[welsummerchicks]

At least a year and a couple years, the difference between those two, it isn't enough to where it bothers me. I don't think there's any point in picking apart line by line.

The point is that this lady is going about things the right way, she is thinking about it and talking to people about it.

These threads are never for just the OP - the important part of these threads is that they may make MANY other people think, too, and maybe just by encouraging even one person to just think a little bit before they buy, maybe that's all you can accomplish today. That's enough.

 

[CMTSMWC]

Quote:
It is sad that you can't post a specific question and get just the answers you asked for without people "talking at you" like a child. I haven't been a member of this forum for very long but I see this in A LOT of posts. That is why I got defensive myself in earlier posts. So OP have fun researching and volunteering (and I guess some people don't realize how hard you work in college when you are on a team or working with horses). That education helped you a lot no matter what anyone else says!

Even if you are a little rusty on riding you will be fine once you get back into it, I have done it before. Good luck and I hope you enjoy your new place, and can find some less insulting answers to your questions.

 

[welsummerchicks]

It is not about how hard they work in college - they work VERY hard in many cases.

I worked in barns for 42 years, including college, and owning your own place, purchasing one's own horses, feed, bedding, building one's own barn and riding area, all that comes with having your own riding facility at home, simply is not the same as working in a barn or being on a college team. Just not the same in any way, shape or form. It's YOUR place and that makes all the difference. There's a budget, and there's no calling in sick or injured, there's no holidays, and decisions have to be made with neighbors in mind, local laws and good will and practicality, and then there's that budget - no matter what it is, it's not enough for everything.

No one is insulting anyone, too, the OP has to realize, the responses are far more general than personal...and have to address a lot of people who are going at it far less sensibly than her - like the one who brings the horse home and oops! Gee no fence or feed or barn for the horse, no water bucket, well, what does a horse eat anyway?

 

[mama24]

I am only insulted by posts that specifically say "to the OP, I hope you take our advice and do your research BEFORE you get a horse not after." I really do appreciate the great advice. I realize that a lot of the posts are trying to speak to a broader audience, so while I may roll my eyes a little, I understand and skim over. And maybe surprisingly to some of you, I am even more confident after reading all of your replies that I WILL be able to afford a horse sometime in the future.

As a side note, we ended up not even taking the place I was talking about moving to. I thought it was a done deal, but we hadn't signed the lease yet. On my way back from checking something on the property again, I took a different route home on a whim, and saw a GORGEOUS old farmhouse for rent. We are moving in this weekend. The rent is cheaper, and according to the super sweet current tenant, the utilities will be about what we're paying now, so no surprises there. It does not have the nice outbuildings the other place has, but since I am really not getting horses anytime soon, that's fine. It does have 3- 1 hundred year old barns and sheds. All are in bad shape, but the owner told me that one used to be a chicken coop and I have his full permission to do whatever repairs and modifications to use it for that again. It's too pretty to tear down, that's for sure, so I am happy to do some repairs to keep it standing. It's starting to lean pretty badly. (My dad's a carpenter, I inherited his love for wood, and I'm pretty good at building things.) All of these buildings only have 3 sides now. But the chickens I have now will fit in my small mobile coop, and by the time the chicks I'm ordering are big enough, I should have that done. Best part about this house? It has over 40 acres of beautiful well kept pasture. The owner stores a tractor in one of the old 3 sided barns and mows all 40 acres a few times every summer just to keep it up. The tenant before the current one had horses (I think she kept them in the 3 sided chicken coop! I personally think there needs to be a door you can close in bad weather, but maybe she used a tarp or something.) so there is a smaller fenced off area near the house, though it appears the whole property has an electric fence around it. I am hoping to get goats, and work my way up to talking dh into buying a farm when we're ready to buy, one where we can get a couple horses.

 

[Avalon1984]

Quote:
It is sad that you can't post a specific question and get just the answers you asked for without people "talking at you" like a child. I haven't been a member of this forum for very long but I see this in A LOT of posts. That is why I got defensive myself in earlier posts. So OP have fun researching and volunteering (and I guess some people don't realize how hard you work in college when you are on a team or working with horses). That education helped you a lot no matter what anyone else says!

Even if you are a little rusty on riding you will be fine once you get back into it, I have done it before. Good luck and I hope you enjoy your new place, and can find some less insulting answers to your questions.

 

[Gmsg01]

Congrats on your new home! Hope it works out

My expenses, upstate NY, keeping horses at home for about 25 years.

grain, average 50# per horse per month, about $15 per bag.

I figure about 120 bales of hay per horse per year as I have 12 acres of pasture.

Trims every 5-8 weeks, $35 each, shoes $80-120 if necessary. Kept everyone barefoot for several years, but trying out fox hunting, and that mount is getting shod.

Bedding is about 40-50# of pelleted pine per stall per week, about $6 per 40#. My stalls are matted, and the horses are out about 12 hours, so that little bedding works well. In the wet season, or winter storm when in more, bedding cost will go up 2-4 times that.

I do not fertilise or lime, but do cut my field 2-3 times per year (takes me 6-10 hours, diesel, tractor, all that fun) which has been the best weed control yet. I will go out with a batch a round up in the spring/early summer and spot treat for some heavy weed patches. Started this a couple of years ago and it really helps.

I figure I will spend $500-1000 per year replacing or maintaining fences.

Fence lines are weed eaten several times in the year, as well as tree trimmed, etc.

I spend about 45 minutes a day on feeding and mucking, turning out 4 horses. When I ride at home, add at least an hour to that.
Working with the foal, another 20-30 minutes. Cob web detail, which is NOT done often enough is about 1 1/2 hours.

All in all, I really enjoy the time I spend with my horses and other animals. Do it around a full time job, and am hoping that it will help fill the gaps when the baby goes to college this fall (hence the new chickens and fox hunting LOL).

I currently have 3 horses, a 24 year old gelding that I am fox hunting, who will NOT be looking for a "good home" if he can no longer do what I want (OK, my per peeve

), but will instead be pushing up daisies (when his time comes) next to his mom that I lost at 32 last year. A 15 year old mare, who I have had since birth, and her 12 week-old foal. I consider my horses a life time commitment, just like my dogs, kids, and husband- but that's just me!

Oh, for the math whizzes, I take care of more horses then I own because a friends horses live here. She pays a friend rate of $190 per month, and last time I figured it out, adding in farm sitter costs, a portion of the increased taxes and all, I probably JUST cover the expenses on those horses). If I add in depreciation for the tractor, barn, riding arena,....need to charge about $300 per month to cover costs, with no compensation for labor!

 

[mulewagon]

One point I didn't see covered - the horses will eventually die, and have to be buried. This will require a bulldozer and a chunk of land. Or you'll have to pay someone to haul it away and bury it, I don't know who or how much.

I understand that it used to be common for people to sell old or unwanted horses to slaughterhouses, but this is now illegal in the US. It's also often illegal to shoot and bury the horse yourself, you have to get a vet. So this is a point where costs have increased.

One thing you might consider, to save money, is getting mules. They are hardier than horses, get injured much less, and eat less expensive hay (rich food is bad for them). They're also more intelligent, much handsomer, and morally superior

You will want experience with mules, of course, as they often think differently from horses. They are canny and tend not to be as easily intimidated. And they also tend to panic less, which cuts down everybody's medical risk...

 

[Gmsg01]

I am sure I will be royally flamed for this, but I honestly feel that making horse slaughter illegal has been a huge disservice to the horse industry and HORSES themselves. Humane slaughter, using the protein for human or animal consumption, is much kinder for unusable horses that people can no longer afford to keep. There are a very finite number of homes that can safely and properly maintain these animals. Rescues are over burdened, people trying to personally "rescue" horses find themselves in over their heads, and still you see FREE HORSE to good home ads in local papers and CL.

 

[welsummerchicks]

I'm not going to flame you, but I'm sure someone else will.

There are several sides to the slaughter issue and no easy answers.

A person can be 'right' and be on either side of the issue.

The problem is that both sides of the argument seem to ignore certain inescapable realities.

But there is no doubt about one thing - horses are now being trucked to Mexico or Canada for slaughter, and that's a lot longer and more horrible trip with a long hold at the border, and that's a lot harder on horses than a shorter trip.

I think that the anti-slaughter people's argument is often 'because the horse is a noble animal'. What they don't offer to do is provide some other avenue for handling all the unwanted animals. The 'unwantedness' continues, whether slaughter is allowed in the US or not.