We keep ours at home. We have 2 horses and a pony.
Horses usually do not do well apart from other horses. Having horses at home usually means having to get a companion horse for the first horse.
Many places you can not keep horses at home - or if there are homes/subdivisions nearby, you have to prepare for a LOT of complaints from neighbors...it can be a miserable experience if you are struggling to keep horses on a small property.
Re-curring costs.
Shoeing - 250 every 6-7 weeks - about 2000 dollars a year.
Bedding -one bag every other day for each horse - works out to 1500 dollars a year.
Feed - about 1200 a year(this might be low).
Hay - About 3500 a year.
Routine Veterinary care - about 400 a year per horse for routine items (worming medication, vaccines, coggins tests, etc).
Haul off manure periodically - about 1500-2 thousand dollars per time, we do once a year.
That's about 9200 dollars a year (3 horses) - about 3000 a year per horse.
That doesn't include fly predators, fly spray and incidentals.
That doesn't prorate out the price of purchasing the horse, either. That is a separate expense.
That does not include riding clothes, helmet, tack, tack repairs, riding lessons, registration fees, trail ride, clinic or show costs (including transport costs - mileage on your truck/trailer), or my expenses during an event. Riding lessons are between 50 and 125 dollars an hour. Most people need riding lessons - especially first time horse owners.
Does not include annual maintenance on truck and trailer or their repairs.
Does not include costs of installing fence or maintaining it annually.
Emergency care budget - after 7 months of this year, we have spent about 1200 dollars on emergencies(works out to about 2050 a year). Some years are bad, others we have no problems. We have 6000 set aside for emergencies - but we need more to have a reasonable amount for a disaster fund - our buildings destroyed by tornado, for example, we would spend 10,000 dollars in a few months if we had to board all 3 while property is repaired.
Other costs to consider -
Cost of building barn.
Cost of building storage building for tractor, horse trailer, truck.
Cost to build manure storage bin (required by most communities now) or to pay someone to haul manure off your property.
Cost to have pasture land cleared and ground prepped for seeding.
Cost for pasture seed, fertilizer, lime. Pastures have to be disked and reseeded periodically, lime(needed in many areas) and fertilizer applied annually.
Cost of excavation to provide proper drainage to pasture, riding area and buildings. EPA and other government agencies get involved if your property has muddy or manure-tinged run off.
Cost of fence - purchase and annual maintenance.
Cost of truck.
Cost of trailer.
A truck and trailer are necessary for emergencies when horse needs to be transported to veterinary clinic. A truck and trailer are nice-to-have to be able to get to trail rides, clinics and shows.
Changes to property tax
Changes to vehicle insurance costs
Emergency fund maintained for emergency treatment for 3 horses, emergency boarding, etc.
Cost of sand or other footing for riding area - periodically has to be redone.
