How much does it really cost to own a horse?

[mama24]

Thanks. There's already a big manure pile left by the previous tenant next to the barn, so I assume manure piles are A-OK. lol. I'm not getting horses anytime soon, though. Saving for the kids' educations is the highest priority, and with my dh starting a new job, and moving to a new place, I want to wait at least a year to see how our budget goes before I step into something big like horse ownership. We might get a couple goats, though. Actually if we take this particular place (we're looking at 2 more tomorrow, but right now it's our highest contender) we might already have some. Unless the neighbor, who isn't very close, and has no outbuildings, is borrowing the big nice pasture that the previous tenant kept her horses in, then I think the previous tenant may have abandoned her goats and left them behind.

I saw 2 goats in there under a tree, plus a flock of about 6 guinea hens when I stopped in to look at the fences today. Fences are in good shape.

 

[chickenzoo]

Around here free manure goes like hotcakes..... LOL Some people bag it and sell it, i just post an add in my local CL for someone to come and get it. I get all kinds of Garden Club & master Gardeners coming to get it. Add chicken manure to it and it's gold... LOL I've had people bring me all kinds of gifts for letting them take it.... it's ok, you can have ALL you want - I own the factory.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Just wanted to add that we mow all our pastures 3-4 times a year. This is the best weed control I have ever found. Six years ago we started out with weeds and no grass and now we have grass and no weeds. In the beginning, I seeded heavily with bermuda ($150 for a 50# bag) but lately I seed in the fall with rye ($25 a bag) only and we now have good grazing year-round. I also fertilize twice a year and lime yearly. But regular mowing is what I credit for a good stand of grass.

Oh, and we drag the pastures several times a year to break up any manure and spread it evenly around the pastures. This also helps with the weeds and helps build soil condition.

HTH


Rusty

 

[mama24]

Quote:
I see you are in Mo Co. My dh is from Jenkintown.

 

[debilorrah]

Not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but a horse needs shelter. If you don't have a barn, you will need a corral with two shade sides. Ours was $1200, hand made.

 

[WIChookchick]

I hope this helps you to figure things out
http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-exclusives/horse-expense-calculator.aspx
its a horse expense calculator.
You will need to look at your riding skill, IF you want a horse for children and DH to ride, as well as one for yourself.
You need to look at what you want to do with a horse, and what decision you will make IF that horse turns out to NOT be what you are looking for.
Or if your plans fall through... what if you end up with an expensive pasture pet?
You need to locate a source of hay that is guaranteed, you may need to pay up front, for ALL of it. If you don't have space to store it, you may need to pay
storage.
Also you need to be educated on what hay has the best Daily Nutritional Value, if you purchase 1st crop, not alfalfa, how long will it retain 100% of its daily nutritional value?
In CA, where I got my hands on education, alfalfa was the best as it maintained the highest at 70% by the next year. Orchard/volunteer grass was the worst with 40-50% left by the next year, when they start to cut again.
Does your area have a high West Nile Virus rate? Or other prevalent diseases like Potomac Horse fever, alot of things are carried by insect, bird or airborne.

You need to look if you CAN simply feed pasture a good portion of the year. A client of mine fenced of two sections of an old hay/corn field, there is very little for the horses to eat out there.
If you don't walk the pasture, you can't see the large sparse grassy areas, and sandy loam. IF you simply stare at it, you see a fairly green field.
Can you afford to cross fence, to rotate your pastures, to seed and fertilize your fields.

Do you understand about sugars in the grass in pastures in the spring and fall and the risk of founder in horses. (just published in horse magazines this last year but folks are aware of it)
Are you aware of weeds, plants, trees that are introduced or are native and that can seriously harm horses?
Can you see the warning signs of founder or laminitis in a horse?

These things take time to learn, and having a mentor IN your area, close to you. I have been lucky enough to have a few and I am still learning.
I am 41 and am learning thing daily.
My same client had weeds growing and some grass growing in his pastures and he couldn't understand why his horses were not eating the grass and the weeds...
The weeds needed to be mowed down, and horses will generally NOT eat where they poop and pee.
I have told him he needs to drag the pasture to break up the poop piles and to mow the grassy areas where they poop and pee.
A simple way of dragging, a bit of chain link fence, with bricks on it, burned out mattress springs with weights or bricks on them...
He got an arena drag... it just doesn't do the trick.
Little things, that can add up.

Don't rely existing fencing, or electric only, try to replace barb wire, put GOOD t-post caps on your t-posts. My client cheaped out and got little sleeves for the tops of his t-posts. The horses LOVE to pull them off.
Be aware of prevailing winds if you get snow/ice... another rookie mistake, creating a run in shed that gets snow in it ALOT due to facing into prevailing winds.

1- research feeds, hay, pasture rotation and other pasture management
2- find the best hay you can afford, and have a guaranteed source, many people are now looking because the farmer neighbor ran out, over sold, or had too little to put up FOR sale, or had to hold out for his own animals.
3- get a local mentor
4- try to go with a free lease situation or a rescue (reputable one), so that if something happens and it doesn't work out, you aren't out a lot of money, you know the horse will go back to a safe and caring home ( a good rescue maintains ownership of their horses and you may have to submit a health report by a vet every year).
5- don't assume, you were young when you fed/worked/rode horses when you were in college. Times change and lots of little things you didn't know about can become major things when owning a horse the first time. (Another client didn't know how to worm her horses- she could worm goats, pigs and cows, because those are mostly feed through wormers).
6- set a budget for horse, tack , feed, vet, farrier, if you can't maintain that money set aside for so many months (a set amount of time), if you have to borrow from it to pay for something.. you aren't ready for horses.

I hope this helps.
Carol

*Owned by DH 's horse, unbroke mare, my mare, and 2 ponies- doing self care of them all with limited space for hay, and they are NOT at home...

 

[Peaches Lee]

Quote:
We sold ours and could not keep up with the demand!!! It was crazy (in a good way).

 

[Jasmine1998]

Quote:
I see you are in Mo Co. My dh is from Jenkintown.

We live in Telford, PA now, but my husband is originally from Ft. Washington. That is too funny....guess we have something in common!

 

[welsummerchicks]

Quote:
That would be adequate in some states and not others, as well as subject to inspection, were there complaints.

Last year a gal in Maine had all 6 of her horses confiscated because she did not have what the local AC deemed as 'adequate shelter' - a textile fabric with a plastic frame that had collapsed a year before, or a barn at her neighbor's that she had permission to use, but did not feel her horses ever needed.

The state law DOES allow for the possibility that a natural shelter can be adequate, but at this property, they did not feel that there WAS an adequate natural shelter.

But natural shelter is a possibility in a number of states - and can consist of a wind break or forest cover, or other natural formation. But I guarantee, that anything that is open to interpretation, is not always going to be interpreted as every owner would like. I would not take the chance that some official would find my 'natural shelter' inadequate - I'd build a shelter that state and local law would find adequate.

The GOOD news is that most of the laws of the land consider horses LIVESTOCK - not PETS and not companion animals. So standards for shelter are not hard to meet.

Like it or not, the local and state laws affect what sort of shelter is considered adequate in your locale. Requirements for shelter are often more stringent in areas that are colder or see more snow.

And like it or not, non horse people and inexperienced horse people, and neighbors have a lot to say as to how you keep your horses. Especially when your county is trying like mad to get the area developed into subdivisions that give them more tax money, and doesn't want to ruffle those home owners.

There was even a story going round about a lady who called the police to report her neighbor's horses were ON FIRE....

LOL. The horses were steaming a bit as some snow had fallen on their backs.

When she was told it was 'just snow', the neighbor replied that the horses should not be 'left out in such terrible weather' (a few morning snow flakes).

And besides, the horses were 'being starved to death'.

She was able to look over and see that the horses were not eating constantly, every moment of the day, so she assumed they were being starved.

In other words, she didn't like her neighbor, she didn't like him having horses, and she didn't know anything about horses, so everything he did with them was automagically 'bad'.

There have been stories go around of people being reported because their horse was lying down in its pasture, because it was 'tortured - heavily blanketed in this horrible heat' (the horse was wearing a fly scrim to keep flies off him).

I learned long ago that you cannot fight this. So a part of my concerns in owning, riding and caring for horses, had to be what people who knew nothing about horses, thought I was doing and whether they approved of it or not.

 

[babyblue]

Right now the old horse is at home. On average we spend 100 a month on him. Hay, grain, farrier, vet. This is averaged. The only reason is because I can find good hay cheap and do preventative care on him. The emergency vet bills are the real killer, that can add up to thousands upon thousands in literally mins.


We are moving and will be boarding him again. A decent house with enough land is going to add 50+ to our mortgage. And still I will be doing every ounce of work by myself, have no one to ride with and little time to ride because of all the work.