Teens Supporting your own horse.

I pay on average about $500 a month on my horse. Board, feed, hay, bedding, feet, and extra stuff. I pay all that myself, but I do have my parent's support if it came to an emergency vet bill. It's definitely possible but once school starts again i'm not going to have a life. I go out to the barn every day to do my horse's water, stall, and feed. AS well as work most days. So add homework to that and I don't know when I'll sleep. But it's worth it! So not including any vet bills that like, $6,000 a year.

Wow. I wish I hadn't done that equation.
Ha ha.

Haha, yea. I guess when you do the math for a year, its quite intimidating. But I guess, month by month it isn't too crazy. I'm like in love already with that palomino mare I posted....But I probably can't get a horse till next summer when I can drive myself to a job

I had to ask all these questions too. I start leasing a horse next month and my parents can't afford to pay for anything. I got really really really lucky, the girl I'm leasing from is amazing and extremely understanding. She'll be paying for all the annual vet bills, and if emergency vet bills that I am not capable of paying for arise she said she would pay those too. I'll be paying $200 a month for board and since he goes barefoot I'll only be paying about $25 every 6-8 weeks to get his feet trimmed. Then i'll be paying around $120 a month for lessons. Part of my lease contract is that I have to be taking at least two lessons a month. Over all its not too bad though, the most I'll be spending unless I get some unseen vet bills then the most I'll be paying is $345 per month.. And my job pays between 500 and 600 dollars a month! :)

Don't go for the first horse you see, SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP SHOP! You want to find a horse that is going to cost you the least amount possible. Look for one with GOOD feet, if you can find a horse that will go barefoot you'll save a ton of money. One with a good strong build who won't be prone to injury. One that is in good health, if you can keep it on an outdoor board that will also save you a large amount of money. I'd say keep saving your money and wait till you can get a sturdy good paying job and a license is extremely handy as well.

Man I know how you feel. I sooo desperately want a horse its driving me nuts! I owned a horse for about a year but had just started a new job and couldn't afford the boarding anymore so I had to give him away.
Now I have a full time job with bonus's and raises, I have a place I can board for free, an instructor willing to help me train the horse but I'm still so intimidated about making an actual leap for purchasing.
I've been in the situation where I couldn't afford the horse and NO one would buy him. That's scary. Just because you put him for sale, doesn't mean he will sell. I had to give away Samson after trying for 4 months to sell him. Its a LOT of stress but God do I miss having the companionship.

Right now I'm in the middle of figuring out what the heck I want to do first...get my own place, get a horse, get a new car..Lol I think I may just make a thread about it and see if I can't get some piece of mind.

Reading that others can do it helps a lot though. Man..if I got a horse my dad would be so upset..lol he's a bit stickler about saving my money for the future!

Hey

I know how you feel too - I had a horse when I was 13/14 and it drove my parents nuts doing all the transport and bills, so they gave her away (thanks, parents). I'm now 17 and there isn't much chance I could afford one now so I have had to find other ways to ride and take care of horses - I am a bit beyond school horses.

I live in Aus rather than the US, so I don't really know what it's like there, but here I have found that putting ads up as "horse wanted to exercise" works really well. I find you end up with a horse for 6 months bringing it back into work or educating it for the owner, who often has too many horses, not enough time, or doesnt feel confident training the horse. Help out with the feeding and rugging somedays and usually its a good mutually beneficial arrangement.

I know its not the same as owning a horse, I know that very well, but it's better than nothing and better than riding schools, and might get you by till you can afford to keep a horse. Just an idea.

As to the cost, you can calculate feed and board and tack etc easily, but you can never figure out how much you are going to need for vet bills, and you often need that money straight away, which can throw a spanner in the works with budgeting for a horse.

I still can't wait till I can afford one of my own though :(

Yeh I know how you feel. I am 19 years old an have been living on my own for 2 years. I really really want a horse but I know I can't afford one. I am going to college on a student loan and I split my rent/food/gas bills with my boyfriend. He pays for our car thankfully. For me riding lessons are a necessity as well because I am fairly beginner. So if I were to get a horse I would have to take those into account too. Tomorrow I am looking at a horse for lease. I can have 2 days of riding/week for 100 dollars a month. That's super cheap where I am. The thing is my bf and I are tired of Renting and want to buy a house. So he really is against me riding/leasing/owning. Plus I have no idea how my time is going to work out with school an my job(I need to work about 4 days a week) and I'm really scared that if I take a lease I won't have the time or money. So yep. I know exactly what you're going through.

I'm 18 (almost 19) and I almost, practically, own my horse but not really.

The only way I'm currently able to support Lacey is that my BO/trainer (who I met working at a horse camp, you might want to look into horse camps in your area) is pretty much paying for most of the costs Lacey incurs. My trainer uses Lacey in a small number of lessons every once in a while and I keep Lacey in shape and train her. I also pay my trainer about $50 a month for hoof trims and such but that's really not bad. Lacey was actually free to begin with, she even came with all her gear and 7 tons of hay. She was only free because of how bad the economy is/was and because she needed an experienced rider even though she's older.

My suggestion is that you save up more than enough money to support a horse for a year (so maybe $2,000 to $4,000) plus another $1,000 for the price of the horse and then get your horse. That way you can earn money on top of the money you already have stashed away but you're all set in the eventuality that you lose your job or you have an emergency vet bill or something. I know it seems like a lot of money but it'll also help you see actually how much a horse will cost you. I totally wish I had done that before I agreed to take Lacey!

I am 18 and out of school but brought my baby a few months before graduation. I absolutely love owning my own horse but it is very very expensive and alot of responsibilty. I am lucky now I just moved with my parents to a house where we can keep our horses in a 5/6 acre pasture but I was boarding him before. I brought him for $1000, paid $450 right after to get his shots and teeth floated, $25 every 5 weeks (he is barefoot), $100 board a month (but I had to go out every morning and night before school and after work to muck and feed), $10 for a 50lb bag of feed (which is very cheap!), $7 per bale of hay, then you add in the cost of tack (I already had tack too- and guess what! It didnt fit him so I had to pay $600 for a saddle that did), grooming supplies (i spend $75 on a gallon of flyspray), if you have to buy barn supplies (buckets, etc), and the list goes on and on!

I am fortunate that my parents would help me if an emergency happened that I could not afford. And if I ever couldn't support him they would keep him as their own with their two horses, but honestly I would starve myself before Andy (or any of my other 7 pets) went without lol.

I work full time making $8.50 (about $600 every two weeks) and I can barely afford him. And you can defiantly forget about fitting in with your friends at school (having new clothes, getting expensive highlights for your hair, cell phones, things for you car, etc). And like I am sure everyone realizes - it is ALOT of responsibilty and work. Sometimes I wish I could just come home after a hard day of work and go to bed - but I can't because I am 100% responsible for my boy and I have to take care of him to my best ability.

And it would not be easy to just sell your horse if you got into a sticky situation, think of how attached you would be!

I am not trying to discourage you but maybe you should wait until you have a solid job that you can depend on a monthly income.

And sorry this was so long

Not sure if anyone has spoken up about this mare, but I would give her a HUGE pass. Those front legs scare me. She seems to have a long toe that compounds the legs, but they're still very incorrect. Very back at the knee paired with strange pasterns and a long toe. Over at the knee I can deal with no problem, it is considered a desirable trait by jumpers, but I do steer clear of horses back at the knee.
Sorry :(

PS - I bought my first horse on my own when I was 19. I remember having almost panic attacks every now and again because I was worried I had gotten in over my head. But, each paycheque I put a little money aside (on top of the "emergency" fund I had already started) and felt better about the whole thing.
If you can do it and want to do it, great. I would really sit down and think, though, because it is a HUGE financial expense. My horse, Denny, has cost me about $9,000 in the past 10 months I've owned him. He hurt himself badly and that was $1000 in vet bills alone. Add on farrier costs, board, treats, tack (I'm a tackaholic), feed, dewormer, supplements, etc etc etc and it gets to be very intimidating some days.
What about leasing?