I don't know if this has been brought up before on the forum but I think the troubled economy is really affecting a lot more than just people. Anyone else notice how many cheap, 'free' and under priced horses there are on places ike craigslist.com? It is unnerving to me. All the years I had horses none were ever cheap. I paid good money for a horse and feed, farrier and vet care was never cheap.
I sold out when shoeing went to $160 and a bale of hay went to $4.50. Way too much, I got priced out and that was three years ago.
I inquired recently at Agway as to the price of a bale of straw. That commodity is not normally grown in Vermont but is plentiful in nearby Quebec. Agway says in a very unashamed voice, $8.99 a bale! A 50 # bag of oiler sunflower seeds to feed the chickadees is $30!
Last spring (spring 2008 just a few months ago!) I paid $5 a bale for straw and thought that was excessive.
I mentioned to my mother this trend of cheap horses and she said people in Michigan were trailering their horses to State land and dumping them there because they cannot afford to feed them!
This is awful and I think the trend is going to get worse.
I sold out when shoeing went to $160 and a bale of hay went to $4.50. Way too much, I got priced out and that was three years ago.
I inquired recently at Agway as to the price of a bale of straw. That commodity is not normally grown in Vermont but is plentiful in nearby Quebec. Agway says in a very unashamed voice, $8.99 a bale! A 50 # bag of oiler sunflower seeds to feed the chickadees is $30!
Last spring (spring 2008 just a few months ago!) I paid $5 a bale for straw and thought that was excessive.
I mentioned to my mother this trend of cheap horses and she said people in Michigan were trailering their horses to State land and dumping them there because they cannot afford to feed them!
This is awful and I think the trend is going to get worse.