How much does it cost to keep a horse?

allenwrench · Intermediate Crude Joined: Apr 23, 2008 Posts: 728

Hay and feed, other related expenses - what is the monthly cost for keeping a horse?

Ludi

Annual

"Horsekeeping Costs Per Horse

FEED
Hay (20 lb./day x 365 days = 7300 lb. or 3.65 tons x $120 per ton = $438.00
Grain (4 lb./day x 365 days = 1460 # x .20/lb.) = 292.00

BEDDING
Bedding (1 bag/wk. X $5/bag) = $260.00

VETERINARY SUPPLIES AND CARE
Immunizations = $60.00
Deworming 6 times per year x $10 = $60.00
Dental and Misc. Vet Maintenance = $100.00
Farm call charges = $75.00

FARRIER
Shoeing 6 times at $80 = $480.00
Trimming 3 times at $25 = $75.00

TOTAL $1840.00"

link

Actual costs depend on price of feed, vet, and farrier in your area. Shoes may not be necessary, and you can keep farrier costs down by learning how to trim hooves yourself. Vet costs are likely to be higher than those above. Depends on locale and health of horse.

This is the trim I learned to do: http://www.barefoothorse.com/
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"...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy

Cashmere · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Mar 27, 2008 Posts: 1485

A horse is a net + if you use it as a tool.

That, of course, is how it worked before oil.

Now, with oil, horses are big, expensive pets.
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Massive Human Dieoff must occur as a result of Peak Oil. Many more than half will die. It will occur everywhere, including where you live. If you fail to recognize this, then your odds of living move toward the "going to die" group.

Ludi

The more you learn to do yourself of trimming, worming, shots, etc, and the more feed you grow on your own place, the lower the cost. Feed will be by far the highest cost and is likely to be prohibitive if you don't grow it yourself. If you have a working horse (heavy riding or draft) you will need to feed grain, which is expensive.

Horses are an enormous responsibility. They need care each day, and a working horse needs to be worked frequently. You can't just park it like a tractor.
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"...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy

mobil1

heartandseoul · Tar Sands Joined: May 29, 2008 Posts: 31

I'm in US midwest. My cheapest 50# bag of grain is right at $9 a bag for 10% sweet feed. Hay (orchard grass, timothy, alfalfa) is about $8 a bale. I also pay $35 for delivery since I have no way to get it here.

I blanket my horses in winter to help with body heat. They MUST keep eating in winter in order to stay warm so I literally burn through twice as much hay.

With 3 horses who are now not really working, I use 70 bales every two months and I go through about 12 bags a month. When they are working I use more.

Vet bills sneak up on you. Spring/Fall shots and worming rotation are budgeted, but one laceration + stitch job can get costly. Torn suspensory required bute at $34 per bottle. A bee sting? A tube of Banamine for about $12.

Fortunately my horses don't require shoeing. I have them trimmed every 7-8 weeks. In the winter I can go 10 weeks. Farrier cost is $45 per horse plus $50 trip charge.

It costs $28 just for the vet farm call. I give my own shots and can do a lot of basic vet work on my own. I owe that to 35 years' experience with horses, my best years being involved with 4-H when I was in grade school.

Also, FWIW, if one thinks he can work a horse hard plowing a field, and then put him away, only to be worked hard another day, research the ailment called Monday Morning Sickness. They tie up and cannot move and it's very painful. If you're using horses for work, they must be exercised on a regular basis.

Ludi

Ludi

A lot of people think everyone had a horse in the past, before automobiles. This isn't true. Only people who needed horses for work, such as farmers, carters, cabmen, etc, had horses, or the wealthy, for whom horses were an expensive luxury. Regular folks walked or rented a cart and horse when needed.
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"...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy

joelcolorado · Intermediate Crude Joined: May 25, 2008 Posts: 651

If a person has good grass, does he have to grain them. I am talking bout just for pleasure riding. I know it takes good grass and quite a bit of it but we have horses out here in Kansas on pasture year round with no feed other than that. I would assume that in the south where the grass is even better, you could just graze them.

Ludi

Devin · Heavy Crude Joined: Apr 07, 2008 Posts: 167

Do you have horses, Ludi, or have you in the past? Sometimes I can't tell whether you're speaking from personal experience or whether you just google it when people ask these sorts of questions. I just haven't heard you mention horses before when you talk about your land.

WisJim

We had a horse for a few years, probably 12 years ago or so, when one son was interested and was in 4H. He worked odd jobs to buy it from a neighbor, and he arranged with another neighbor to make hay on our back field on shares--he got half the hay, worked all during the mowing/raking/baling/hauling process, and the neighbor provided machinery and got the other half of the hay.
He probably had the vet out twice a year at the most, and the horse was on pasture almost all of the time. We fenced off a couple of acres at a time with electric fence and movable posts so she had fresh grazing all the time. It only cost my son a few hundred dollars a year, after buying fencing, but he put in a lot of hours haying, etc., to avoid spending money. At the other extreme, I know people spending anywhere from $100 or so up to $400 or more to board a horse at a stable of some kind, price depending on location and perks.

mobil1

Ludi

mystiek

We ran a "foster farm" for retired standardbreds awaiting a new adopted home. We had 250 acres, plus an additional 40 acres of pasture. The most we had was 45 horses at one time. Ludi is right that you learn to do alot of basic work to cut costs. Our vet came out and vaccinated all the horses on the same day, after shots, they were given wormer, teeth floated, drew coggins if needed, etc-assembly line.-but we tried to get the vet work done on one day to save on repeated farm calls. We nursed several horses back to health from starvation, epm, emphysema, pneumonia, colic. We had a baby horse-1week old in our living room on quilts on IV antibiotics and fluids. Our horses mostly stay out on pasture-orchard grass with some timothy and clover. We supplement with grain-the type depends on the horses conditin and age-so does the cost. We have several senior citizens on senior feed. The vet said they stay much healthier if they can graze-which is what we also experience. Horses that are stall bound alot develop alot of habits like cribbing, weaving, etc. If you are in an agricultural area, you can find people advertising hay at a better price if you are willing to go pick it out of the field yourself. We had some teenagers from the highschool FFA volunteer at our farm to help with the TLC stuff like grooming, handling. Horses are not money makers-expensive pets right now, but the hours of fun we had trail riding, going to local shows etc is "priceless".