New Horse Owner, Any tips would be welcome!

[ChickyMama229]

putting them somewhere will cost a lot unless you want them to be a lesson horse which i wouldnt because the students can mis treat your horse

Oh yes I would never rent out my horse unless it was someone I knew and trusted. There is a lot right next to us owned by our landlord, we just have to ask him if her would rent out the lot to us, or let us use it.

 

[res]

The purchase price of the horse and tack/supplies is the smallest cost of owning a horse.

You really need to run a long term budget, and include board (which would be renting the lot from your landlord), hay, feed, farrier (every 6-8 weeks year round), vet for twice yearly vaccines and coggins, dentist, etc. It is also almost a requirement that you have a good sized "emergency fund" when you own a horse, because when something goes wrong, it can get spectacularly expensive very quickly.

An example; my costs:
Farrier every 6 weeks: $40 per horse
Semi-annual vaccines: $150 per visit, per horse, including farm call
Coggins: $95
Dentist: $70 annually ( I have an incredibly CHEAP dental cost, "volume discount". Typical dentists in this area are $300+ per horse!)
Hay: $250 per ton (lasts about 6 mths - again - super cheap. Most local hay is $500 per ton)
Feed (Triple Crown Senior): $25 per bag, lasts 3 days
Feed (Triple Crown 30): $30 per bag, lasts 1 month
Supplement (Smartpak SmartCombo Senior Ultra): $95 per horse, per month
Supplement(GastroTech): $30 per bag, lasts 1 month
Fecals & Wormer: $50 every 4 months, as needed, frequency dependent on housing situation of horse.

You can do some things cheaper, such as giving your own vaccines vs. having the vet administer them. I have to use a vet due to the colic insurance on the horses. You don't have to give supplements, but my horses are older (40+, 22, 22 and the "baby" is 10) and are still ridden, so the supplements really help keep them comfortable. You don't have to feed "expensive" feed, but there is DEFINITELY a difference in quality of feed reflected in the price!

 

[Folly's place]

Here, every time there's a problem needing the veterinarian, it's $200.00 or more. Real illnesses, and/or surgeries, WAY more. Thousands. Health insurance could pay off, depending. Having a safe environment and good care limits unnecessary problems, but as someone else mentioned, there's always a way for a horse to find trouble! Mary

 

[ChickyMama229]

The purchase price of the horse and tack/supplies is the smallest cost of owning a horse.

You really need to run a long term budget, and include board (which would be renting the lot from your landlord), hay, feed, farrier (every 6-8 weeks year round), vet for twice yearly vaccines and coggins, dentist, etc. It is also almost a requirement that you have a good sized "emergency fund" when you own a horse, because when something goes wrong, it can get spectacularly expensive very quickly.

An example; my costs:
Farrier every 6 weeks: $40 per horse
Semi-annual vaccines: $150 per visit, per horse, including farm call
Coggins: $95
Dentist: $70 annually ( I have an incredibly CHEAP dental cost, "volume discount". Typical dentists in this area are $300+ per horse!)
Hay: $250 per ton (lasts about 6 mths - again - super cheap. Most local hay is $500 per ton)
Feed (Triple Crown Senior): $25 per bag, lasts 3 days
Feed (Triple Crown 30): $30 per bag, lasts 1 month
Supplement (Smartpak SmartCombo Senior Ultra): $95 per horse, per month
Supplement(GastroTech): $30 per bag, lasts 1 month
Fecals & Wormer: $50 every 4 months, as needed, frequency dependent on housing situation of horse.

You can do some things cheaper, such as giving your own vaccines vs. having the vet administer them. I have to use a vet due to the colic insurance on the horses. You don't have to give supplements, but my horses are older (40+, 22, 22 and the "baby" is 10) and are still ridden, so the supplements really help keep them comfortable. You don't have to feed "expensive" feed, but there is DEFINITELY a difference in quality of feed reflected in the price!

Yup, we have some money set aside for this stuff too. I am going to see if either of the vets in our town can also do the farrier and dental deals along with annual visits and vaccines. The hay is pretty cheap here too. It is $25 per big round bale. And we found some cheap yet good quality feed, I am not sure if we will be giving the horse feed, they were made to eat grass! But we might if the grass quality isn't good enough. That was one of my questions. If the lot has good grass, and the horse is turned out pretty much all day, would we still need to feed grain and hay as well? Thanks for going into detail!

 

[ChickyMama229]

Here, every time there's a problem needing the veterinarian, it's $200.00 or more. Real illnesses, and/or surgeries, WAY more. Thousands. Health insurance could pay off, depending. Having a safe environment and good care limits unnecessary problems, but as someone else mentioned, there's always a way for a horse to find trouble! Mary

Yes, horses are very expensive. I found this channel on youtube, called Becky's Homestead, I love her. I believe she just gives her horses, mules, and donkey, crimped oats, hay, and she only feeds grain as a treat and to mix the wormer, D.E, in. She said she has owned horses for 20 years, has never had a sick one! That will definitely save money! I want to save money, but I definitely do not want to be skimping on feed or health/ vet deals.

 

[Zoomie]

As far as grazing goes: just how big is that lot next door to you? If you say, "40 acres" then yeah, you could just graze the horse in there for a lot of the year, and be fine. However... a horse can dry-lot a piece of ground pretty quick. So if your piece of ground is more like, 1 acre, well, the horse will go through that, eat all the best parts, and not touch the weeds. Pretty soon, all you will have is weeds in there. Any horse pasture benefits from being mowed, because the weeds have a hard time competing with the grass and mowing favors grass, but if it's not big enough, you are going to run out of grass. There is no rule of thumb here, I have no idea what part of the country you are in or what the ground there is like, how much rainfall etc. Here, I have to irrigate.

Now, I DO have 40 acres. But I still have to pull the horses off every now and then and give the grass a chance to grow back (i.e. rotational grazing). We mow what we can (some parts are too rough) but guess what, I still have to fill my barn with hay every year. I feed hay every single day of the year to at least one group of horses or another (most of mine are minis). Don't rely too heavily on that grass. As for those cheap big bales? Again, I have no idea where you live or what is in them, but around here, those would be hay for cattle, and cattle can get by with stuff a horse just can not eat. Plus let me tell you, they are about impossible to use for feeding a small amount twice a day with. I've done it, I'm not just guessing. Do you have a tractor to pick them up and move them? Do you have a place to store big bales like that?

I know it sounds ridiculous but you do have to think about stuff like that. Small bales might cost more, but holy cow, they are SO much easier to move and store. I'm not guessing about that either; we are currently in the process of putting up 400 bales of hay in the barn. And... you DO have a barn for storing hay, right?

 

[Magicque]

Thank you! I had an account before, but I had to make a new one. I absolutely love this website. Wow! I love paints!! This mare is a beautiful paint. Me too! I love drawing horses. My dream horse is actually a Friesian, but they are very big and expensive!

 

[ChickyMama229]

Also, my mom thinks that we need to know what to look for and what to ask.

As far as grazing goes: just how big is that lot next door to you? If you say, "40 acres" then yeah, you could just graze the horse in there for a lot of the year, and be fine. However... a horse can dry-lot a piece of ground pretty quick. So if your piece of ground is more like, 1 acre, well, the horse will go through that, eat all the best parts, and not touch the weeds. Pretty soon, all you will have is weeds in there. Any horse pasture benefits from being mowed, because the weeds have a hard time competing with the grass and mowing favors grass, but if it's not big enough, you are going to run out of grass. There is no rule of thumb here, I have no idea what part of the country you are in or what the ground there is like, how much rainfall etc. Here, I have to irrigate.

Now, I DO have 40 acres. But I still have to pull the horses off every now and then and give the grass a chance to grow back (i.e. rotational grazing). We mow what we can (some parts are too rough) but guess what, I still have to fill my barn with hay every year. I feed hay every single day of the year to at least one group of horses or another (most of mine are minis). Don't rely too heavily on that grass. As for those cheap big bales? Again, I have no idea where you live or what is in them, but around here, those would be hay for cattle, and cattle can get by with stuff a horse just can not eat. Plus let me tell you, they are about impossible to use for feeding a small amount twice a day with. I've done it, I'm not just guessing. Do you have a tractor to pick them up and move them? Do you have a place to store big bales like that?

I know it sounds ridiculous but you do have to think about stuff like that. Small bales might cost more, but holy cow, they are SO much easier to move and store. I'm not guessing about that either; we are currently in the process of putting up 400 bales of hay in the barn. And... you DO have a barn for storing hay, right?

Ummmm, there is a lot right next to our house, it is half an acre. But I am asking around to see if there is a bigger lot somewhere close by. We do have a mini barn to put the hay and feed, tack, etc. in. It is actually more like a carport that we are going to add sides to to make it into a barn it is a nice size. I read somewhere that horses should be fed 2%of their body weight divided into two feedings. Is that correct?

 

[ChickyMama229]

Gorgeous!!

 

[ChickyMama229]

Also, I am making a list of things to look for, and things to do, and questions to ask the owner. So far-
Things to look for- no limping, no spooking when lunging, tacking up, and mounting, etc., no problems eating, no problems switching into a different gait, takes a bit, no bite, buck, rear, looks alert, not in a daze, ears not pinned back, friendly, leads good, ties good, stands still for grooming, tacking up, and mounting/dismounting, no sores or cuts, especially on legs and hooves, hooves not hot, etc, what can I add?

Things to do- lunge, tack up, ride in all gaits (walk, trot, canter, gallop, etc.) mount and dismount, feed, give treats, groom completely, lead around, tie up, pet, load in a trailer, back out of trailer, etc. what else can I add?

Questions to ask- ever had foot problems? utd. on coggins, wormer, dental, farrier, vet visits, vaccines, etc.?,

And I will make the owner do all this stuff before I do anything, cuz if she won't do it, then there is a reason, she may be scared of the horse, or she knows something is wrong but isn't telling me.

That's all I got off the top of my head, I will probably think of more after this, lol. Please feel free to add to my questions and things to look for and do. Thanks!