cost to maintain a horse

[TonyC]

From a laymen's point of view... My neighbor raises and shows American Saddlebred horses and shows and sells them. At the moment she has about 14 of them, which I know is more than you plan on. Before they moved next door about 15 years ago, I knew little about horses. What I have learned is that they are very expensive to maintain in all aspects. More surprisingly, they are not as robust an animal as I had thought. It may vary between breeds but I am amazed at the medical problems they have. There is either a farrier or vet there all the time. My neighbor is skilled and capable of normal medical maintanance including shots etc. She also does her own breeding and birthing. Still the bills keep coming, not to mention several have had to be put down. If they eat too fast or too much or mildewed hay or God know's what, they get colic which at the least is costly to treat and at worse is fatal. I'm not trying to sway you from becoming a horse owner, but any thoughts I had of owning one has long since dissipated. I love animals but I'm sticking with the 3 dogs and 3 cats we have now...their vet bills are high enough! Either way you go...Good Luck!

 

[MikePA]

TonyC raises another good point. Horses have a delicate digestive system. Lush, green grass in spring can cause problems. Switching grains can cause problems. For someone like me who was used to dealing with dogs and cats, this was surprising.

My comment about PeptoBismal was related to a constipated horse (leopard appaloosa). The same horse has also had the opposite problem. You ain't lived until you've seen a stall where a horse with the runs was kept /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif. Believe me, you don't want to borrow any of my drywall taping knives! We searched the pasture for plants that might have caused the problem but couldn't find anything. Plus, none of the other horses were affected. Apparently, this horse is just more sensitive than the others.

Hopefully, we have not discouraged you from buying a horse, but forewarned is forearmed.

 

[MikePA]

Another good source for information about horses, and one I used extensively before we purchased our first horse (and still use) is the rec.equestrian newsgroup.

 

[cowboydoc]

With relation to horses being sick all the time that depends to a very large extent on how they are kept. Horses do not have anymore problems than a dog or a cat would overall IF you treat them right. Here is the problem. A horse was not meant to be put in a stall. A horse wasn't meant to wear blankets. A horse wasn't meant to come in to a poor ventilated barn every night. A horse wasn't meant to eat the lastest "pretty" feed. Just about everything that we do to horses they were not meant to do. A horse was meant to graze. A horse was meant to have the same or similiar food constantly. A dog is no different. Change brand name foods on a dog and see how much his bowel movements change. No you can't put a horse on dry hay and grain all winter and then when the grass gets green turn him out. You also can't keep a horse in a poorly ventilated barn or they are going to get respiratory problems. A brand new barn can be poorly ventilated. I don't know if we have any horse vets here but if there are they will tell you that you don't go to ranches where horses are kept outside all the time. You spend 90% of your time at the places where horses are stabled. Horses need to be outside and have ALOT of exercise walking and grazing. If not their digestive system is going to have problems and they will be prone to colic. Switch hay, grain etc. and you will have problems, just like with any animal. I have between 30 and 50 horses all the time. In the last 10 years I've had 3 cases of colic. Two of them were my fault as I fed a moldy roundbale of hay that I didn't know. The other one I never did find out. I have the vet out maybe once a year.

My horses though are outside 97% of the time. I have lean-to shelters for them to get out of the snow and cold. I put them in maybe 10 times the whole year. I feed the same hay and the same grain mix from the time they are born. I don't give them every new and latest product that comes out. They grow up just like they were meant to and do just fine healthwise. They are in good flesh and healthy. They don't develop bad vices either like stalled horses do. Most of the problems with horses both healthwise and vice wise are caused by people. Raise a horse like he was meant to be and I can just about guarantee you you will have very few, if any, problems with your horse.

One other wrinkle though that can cause problems is breeding. If you have a horse that is inbred or if you have bred undesireable horses to get a certain trait then you may develop problems. Just like in dogs with golden retrievers and some other breeds they are very prone to hip dysplasia. Other breeds are prone to digestive problems. The same goes with horses. Good healthy breeds that stand up to physical and health labors are mustangs and foundation bred quarter horses. You have to start with good bone and flesh to produce good bone and flesh.

 

[radman]

ejb:
I am a retired veterinarian, and former horse owner. The advice you received is very good and overall very accurate. Cowboydocs, estimates are right on and still you must figure in other expenses such as shelter, fencing, equipment, transportation etc.) Vet bills can be very variable. Horse injuries, colic, and a host of other problems can be costly. I always said there is no such thing as a "cheap" horse. The amount of time spent with them can be excessive even with 1-2 horses (grooming, riding, cleaning stall, building and repairing fence, feeding etc.) Consider them as additional children to the family. It always saddened me to see people with pets or horses who really can't afford them or care for them properly. Don't become "horse poor". Enter into the decision by carefully considering all the advice and costs of owning such an animal. It is a big responsibility. Also consider possible injuries to family caused by the horses. I have broken my arm, lacerated my forehead, been kicked, biten, stepped on countless times, knocked over etc and I consider myself careful and experienced. Many deaths and injuries are caused by horses. Children, especially unexperienced ones, always scare me around horses. If you own a horse long enough there will always be injuries. Fortunately, most are minor. They are beautiful animals, but are powerful and easily spooked. Even the calmest horse can be fightened. They have a "fright and flight" mentality and can hurt themselves or others in a matter of seconds.

 

[MikePA]

I couldn't agreed with cowboydoc and radman more. In the process of buying our horses, we had the pleasure of visting some very nice barns and pastures from which we got great ideas, even if we did not buy the horse. We also visited some places that were pretty bad, "horse poor" people with more horses than they could take care of properly, either because of lack of land, money or both.

In addition to reading the great replies here, get some books that deal with caring for horses and read, read, read.

 

[pdxman]

Cowboydoc and Radman, both of you are right on the mark and so are the rest. Don't remember exactly where I saw it but remember this phrase well and repeat it around my house "Let a horse be a horse". A little rain on their back isn't going to hurt them, they don't need blankets on whenever it gets chilly, etc... They have natural instincts and responses that has allowed them to adapt and survive for thousands of years in the wild.

One other thing worth mentioning...Having horses also can hinder the other things you'd like to do...Like vacations, who's gonna watch them, feed them, decide if there is something wrong with them and call the vet while your gone? Not quite like a dog that you can drop off at someones house or take to a kennel.

As much as all this information, as true as it is, can take a negative tone...it is not a deterrant or anyone trying to talk you out of it. It is simply reality and some people get caught up in the 'vanity' of being a horse owner not realizing what is involved until after they've made the initial investments.

Like everything else should be, if both your family's and horses quality of life is good, then go for it.

 

[Wingnut]

Richard mentioned one way to keep some of the costs down and specifically pointed to buying in bulk. That doesn't just apply to the feed ...
Although we only have little guys (just added a mini miniature (i.e. baby) a month ago) the feed and everything still adds up pretty good. One of the bulk things that I "dicovered" is avoi8ded buying the bagged shavings. I like shavings a lot more than straw fro bedding and, even at sale prices, found the bagged stuff pretty steep.
Checked around the locale here and discovered a sawmill that mostly handles pine and spruce and sells the shavings to horse people. It costs me $12 for a heaped pickup load ... which last me about a month. Storage and shovelling the shavings into my storage space is time consuming ... but has cut the bedding costs to about 10% of what they were.
We also watch for the semi-annual sales on wormers and meds (but watch out for stale dates!) to get our wormers and shots) instead of buying them "as needed". Higher initial outlay but savings in the long run.
When you looking at the barn costs ... don't forget about all the little stuff like buckets (heated), feeders, hay feeders, bucket hooks, fly traps ... etc, etc, etc .... never seems to end.
And then ... if they're pets ... like ours have become ... you need to factor in the cost of treats .... we go through 3-5 pounds of apples a week, same for carrots (this is the best time of the year ... we can get "deer carrots" at 50 pounds for $3) and then $12 a 25 pound bag for hard treats.
Hmmm ... maybe having kids would have been cheaper! HA!

too bad that common sense ain't

 

[dmccarty]

CowBoyDoc and all other Horsey People,

Here is my sad tail, errrrr, tale.....

My wife is afflicted with the Horse Bug. For the last few years she has been taking the riding lessons and all that good stuff. Lots of horse supply catalogs every week. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Since she started hanging around Horsey people she found a horse for sale a while back. What a deal! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I want a horse or horses like I want a hole in my head but after buying the tractor I was not going to win this argument! So we got a horse. The wifey worked out a deal with a stable and the horse is leased much of the time so we pay little or nothing for the day to day care of the horse. But sometimes the horse is not leased so we end up paying.
I think the boarding for the horse is about 250 per month. I guess we average 100-150 per month when the horse is not leased. Pebbles is a quarter horse and apparently is well trained and easily ridable. Supposedly we can sell Pebbles for 2 to 3 times what we paid. Supposedly. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

It seems like we have constant vet/furrier bills. Pebbles had some sort of twitch in her shoulder, sounded like a muscle strain/pull to me, so the horse HAD to have accupuncture.... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Have y'all stopped laughing yet? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I'm sure the wife pays 20-50 dollars a month on vet, furrier, and now accupuncture.

Now the wonderful part of this tail, err tail, is that the wife has ridden dear old Pebbles, not once but twice! I don't even want to think about the price per hour.... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif The wife bought Pebbles before we had our daughter so the wife does not have much time to play with the horse. Told her that would happen but did not win the argument, errr, discussion.... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

We have the land to keep the horse. The problem is that we don't live on the property and the land that will have pasture is still full of stumps and certainly is not pasture. Fate may hand us a house, that is on the lot next to our land, and we might be able to move in a couple of months. In any case we will build a house next year if everything goes to plan.

So here is my questions.... The only thing I know about horses I have learned on TBN. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

- How good of an idea is it to keep the horse in an area that is not pasture? I can fairly quickly stump a bit of land to give the horse good footing but there is not going to be grass.
- The bulk food idea seems like the way to go money wise and I have neighbors selling hay rolls. If we feed the horse bulk grain and hay will that work? I have to check and see what Pebbles is eating currently. I'm thinking that my wifes grandmother might just have a grain bin on the farm. Well, they have a HUGE one that has a fan in it but I think they might have a smaller bulk bin I can get home.
- The only fence I'm going to be able to put up in the time frame I have is electric. Is that really a good option?
- I can easily build a leanto which I have noticed many other horse facilities use here in the Triangle of North Carolina. We seldom get snow much less deep snow nor much prolonged cold weather but what do people do when the temps get below 32 for days on end. This does not happen often but it does happen here. Will a leanto and a blanket allow the horse to survive that cold?
- Water we will have to haul from the well until we can get something more permanent. Its not far and the tractor can move a water barrel for a few months until we get a well.
- Pebbles will need some sort of company. I'm afraid of that answer...... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Does all of this sound feasable for a few months or a year or so until more permanent fences and pasture become available?

The wife is actively trying to sell Pebbles but if fate hands us a house it would be nice to keep the horse. I have been working all summer cleaning up the pasture to be and I think the wife would really like to keep Pebbles. Its just that second horse that bothers me! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Thanks...
Dan McCarty

 

[TerryinMD]

The wife and myself were invited over to a friends housewarming this past weekend. One of our mutual friends has recently acquired a horse for their daughter. This is in addition to goats, emus, dogs, and other assorted animals for their menagerie (sp?). The husbands words not mine! While we were talked about the new acquisition, I brought up this facts past along in this thread. His wife put her fingers in her ears and began to say very loudly "LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA" and walked away. Poor Bob just shook his head knowingly. Understanding fully what they were in for.... /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Terry

 

[cowboydoc]

Dan,
Yes to all your questions. Just remember though you can't feed a horse alot of grain at once or they will founder. You can only feed them 5 lbs. at the most so you will have to feed grain daily. As far as hay you may get into trouble putting out a round bale for one horse. Problem is that one horse won't go through a round bale very fast and they are prone to mold and that causes colic. But if you got a round bale feeder and put it in your lean to you would be fine.

As far as winter goes yes your horse will do just fine and without a blanket! A good three sided lean to will be fine. Just make sure that you line the sides up about 3 or 4 foot so they don't kick through if you make it out of tin.

Electric fencing will be just fine. I wouldn't use barb wire though.

As far as a friend just get a goat. Doesn't sound like you have anything there to worry about the goat getting into.

Finally don't even worry about the land. As long as there is no wire or anything out there your will do just fine. They don't need pasture if you're feeding good hay and grain. Your horse will eat what grass is there and chew on other things.

Good luck.

 

[cowboydoc]

One other thing if you are not going to be there to feed grain you can get timed feeders that will only drop a little bit of grain in the feeder at a time. They are a couple hundred bucks but in your case may be worth the investment not to have to drive there all the time.

 

[dmccarty]

CowBoyDoc,

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately this means we can keep that horse! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Water is going to be my biggest headache. I've been following the threads about the post drivers and I think that will likely be a purchase in the middle of next year..... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Need the post driver if we have horses dear.... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Tit for Tat! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I won't move the horse to the property until we live out there. I have thought about getting goats. Actually in NC there seems to be a decent market for meat goats because of the Hispanic, African, and Middle Eastern populations. The town to our west has a market and meat packing plants.

I'm sure my wife will be happy to hear about all this info from TBN. She really loves the horse and it would be a good experience for our daughter.

Much Thanks!
Dan McCarty

 

[cowboydoc]

Dan,
The best deal I've found on postdrivers is that worksaver from the guy that Hess recommended in the thread on post drivers. You can't even believe the amount of work that one will save you. One of my friends is probably the cheapest guy in the world. This is just an example of how cheap he is. His house burned down a couple years ago and he has been building a new one ever since. Well he's to the finish work and I went over there to help him one weekend. I have all the compressors and nail guns so I loaded them up and took them over there. We used them that weekend and I left them there for him to use. We ran out of nails that weekend and he went to buy some more. Well you know how expensive the nails are for nail guns. Instead of paying the higher price to get the nails for the nail gun he went back to putting it all in by hand! Anyway back to the pounder. He needed some fence put in at his new place. I told him to come over and help me finish up the fence at my place and I would bring the tractor and pounder over to his house to put his posts in for him. Well he just wanted the post auger that i have, he didn't want the post driver. To make a long story short he came over and helped me. We put in 120 posts over the weekend. He was totally amazed at how many posts we could put in and especially at how tight they are when put in. Well he called me last night and said that I didn't need to bring my tractor and pounder over if he could buy my old post pounder! To say the least they are impressive and a tremendous work saver.

 

[joysusan]

I recently moved to a place on two acres so that I could bring home the two horses I have been boarding for three years. Although I have no regrets, I probably could have boarded the horses for the next 15 years and have spent less than what it cost me to have them at home. Of course, there is a BIG difference in the relationship you have with your horses when you are taking care of them every day. It was worth the money. I started planning for the move in February in terms of research and plans. I am so thankful that I took the time to carefully research all aspects of caring for my horses - it saved me time, money, aggravation and gave me the confidence you need to take on the responsibility for caring for horses. I also arranged to help out at a stable in the middle of winter to see if I could get up every morning in the freezing cold to feed and water horses. The experience was a real eye opener and very helpful.

I researched the following areas in books, magazines (Horse Illustrated, Western Horseman), John Lyons tapes, government publications, this site, the web and anyone who would talk to me: (1) Clearing a pasture - landscaping, excavation, drainage (I had to eliminate a swamp and drainage ditch), grass planting (types of grass and planting techniques), poisonous trees, plants and weeds - I spent about $10,000, but I did alot of excavation; (2) Barn building - foundation, types of barns, location of barns, drainage around barns, stall types, material for stalls, lighting, ventilation, stall floors (I chose rubber mats), wash stall materials - I had a 8 stall 36 x 48 barn built (5 stalls for horses, tack room, wash room with plastic paneling and hay room - cement center aisle and cement floor for tack room, hay room and wash stall) for about about $32,000; (3) Well digging (I had to dig a new well for the barn) - location, depth, types of pumps - My cost was $3400; (4) Paddock & Arena - foundation, surface material - about $500; (5) Fencing - Type of posts, post installation (I rented a bobcat with post hole digger for $250 for two days); types of fencing - high tensile, high tensile encased in plastic, electric, flexible plastic, wood ( I chose five strands of high tensile encased in plastic and one electric wire encased in plastic for the pastures and flexible plastic for the arena - the material cost much more than I expected - about $5,000.00 to fence 3 acres and to put up 70 x 180 arena - so I did all the labor to save money); (6) Saddle racks, buckets, shelving, salt holders, cross ties, pallets for hay room, feed barrels, etc. cost about $300.00 (7) Feed - I buy 100 lbs of Tiz Whiz 12% per month for my 12 year old Morgan and 100 lbs of Tiz Whiz Senior per month for my 22 year old Arabian for about $40.00 per month; (8) Hay - I chose a Timothy/Orchard Grass mix, 200 bales at $2 per bale should last about 1 year, (9) Ferrier -For two horses about $600.00 per year, (10) Vet bills - for normal vaccinations and one minor problem per horse per year (upper respiratory infection, scratched cornea) - about $500 per year, (10) Trailers - trailer v. stock trailer, goose neck v. bumper pull - I settled for a transportation special bumper pull for $1200 that I will work on next summer.

Boarding was fine when I only wanted to ride a couple times a week. But now that I have heard them whinny when they hear me walking toward the barn and watched them raise their heads and come running when I call them from the pasture I wouldn't have them any where but in my back yard.

 

[cowboydoc]

Although I have no regrets, I probably could have boarded the horses for the next 15 years and have spent less than what it cost me to have them at home

Oh how true that statement is!!

 

[jims5acr]

I would like to add to the Don't use barb wire fencing. We bought 6 acr and it was all barb wire fenced. We had a plan to replace it but it was low on the list until the thoroughbred got his back leg through it one night. Not to gross anyone out but the resulting wound was 12" long and down to the bone on his back leg. I thought for sure that was the end of the horse but the vet said as long as it does not get infected he would be ok. Well 6 weeks later and alot of hours by me and my wife tending to it the horse is doing fine but the very next day we replaced all the barb wire fence with field fence and electric. A hard lesson to learn. Barb wire fence is cheap but for a horse it can be deadly.