What is the average cost of a horse?

22122 Views 20 Replies 15 Participants Last post by Hidalgo13, Jun 5, 2011

MangoRoX87

Discussion Starter · Jun 5, 2011

So I have been thinking the past two days......
What is the average (yearly) cost of owning, lets say one horse. All expences, together.
Lets say, you keep him on your property, he eats average price feed, with supplements that cost $75 every three months. Blah blah blah, I guess you can guess the rest or make your own assumptions.
What do you think it would be?
I know its a hard thing to figure, with prices being different in many regions, but just give it a guess.

(Don't chew me out and say how expensive horses are, I KNOW, I own 5!!!)

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MHFoundation Quarters

· #2 · Jun 5, 2011

I am pleading the fifth & pretending not to know the answer to this. I have 11.

JustDressageIt

· #3 · Jun 5, 2011 (Edited)

$75 every 3 months? Where do you live?!
If I had my own property, I would like any horses I had to be on pasture for the summer, so June to October roughly. Over the winter they need hay, and based on last year's prices I calculated ~$150/head per month in hay if I had my own place and prices were consistent with my friend's hay prices and hay of comperative value nearby. Add in farrier $30-$50 per horse every 6-8 weeks; dewormer @ $15/tube (it is expensive here!) 4 times per year (or fecal counts..); supplements, and all other miscellenious expenses. Plus yearly vaccinations and other veterinary costs.
So, of I had my own place, I would be looking at an absolute minimum of $1200 for hay, $180 for farrier, $60 for dewormer..so $1440/year on the "scraping the bottom" end of things.
Boarding... That's another ballgame entirely.
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MangoRoX87

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 5, 2011

Well as we all know, "the purchasing cost is the cheapest part of all".

As for the $75 on supplements, I really don't know I pulled that number out of my butt XD My horses have never really needed supplements, and for my older mare's joints we give her straight up human glocosamine (spelling fail) pills. Our vet has OK-ed it and it's a looot cheaper than buying Fluid-Flex all the time. It's about 10 dollars a bottle, and lasts about...a month and a half per horse? Depending on how many capsules you give. And my one gelding used to take vitamn E liquid gels when he was recovering from EPM. It made his mane and tail grow sooo long and he regained all of his muscle mass and beautiful coat.

MHFoundation Quarters

· #5 · Jun 5, 2011

Ok, so I looked at my expenses from last year...eek!

I own my own property. It averaged out to $1774 per horse. Feed, Hay, Supps, Vet & Farrier. This didn't include any hauling or show expenses, additional utility costs for the barn & arenas, or costs of hiring help for baling hay/building fence.

PaintHorseMares

· #6 · Jun 5, 2011

For the last year, our average for three easy keeper mares came out to about $4/day/horse. This includes all food (round bales of hay, feed, treats), medical (vet, shots, coggins, wormers), and supplies (fly spray, rasps, tack, etc). I trim myself and we give the shots, except rabies. It does not include gas or any facility maintenance (e.g. fences), and of course, my time is *free*, but they are still a lot cheaper than children ;-)

YoungCowgirl

· #7 · Jun 5, 2011

Hm, well we do pasture grazing in the summer, but I will pretend we don't so you can see what hay would cost all year round.

So one horse would approximately eat 273.75 bales a year (3/4 a bale a day).
We feed with slow feeders which allows a smaller mess and more intake or less wasted.
Hay prices here are about 3.50 so the
Hay Cost= $958.125
Dental Cost per yr = $65 (probably way cheaper than most areas)
Farrier Cost per yr = $360
We feed organic/unprocessed feed to the horses which is cheaper so:
Feed = $420 ("grain" plus minerals and salt)
So about $1805.
Mind you this does NOT include electricity, equipment and/or vet bills(shots)
We refrain from doing shots since we take a different perspective on health care.

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YoungCowgirl

· #8 · Jun 5, 2011

MHFoundation Quarters said:
I am pleading the fifth & pretending not to know the answer to this. I have 11.

We have a training farm and currently have around 15 lol, give or a take a few because the amount changes weekly.

amymarie57

· #9 · Jun 5, 2011

Where I live board alone is usually $350 x 12 months= $4,200
Food is included in board but if you have supplements= $50 I'm guessing
Farrier $45 x 9 times a year?= $405
Dentist= probably >$100
Essential tack/care supplies= infinite
Vet/Shots/Dewormers= infinite

THIS is why I'll never afford a horse until I'm out of college and finally making good money

. I'm guessing this is the mid point of expenses. Because in some areas it's way cheaper and in some areas it's way more expensive. I think it mostly has to do with where you live and whether or not you're boarding your horses or keeping them on your property/someone you know's property where it's be more affordable and reasonable.

atreyu917

· #10 · Jun 5, 2011

Heart breaking how expensive they are for someone like me. 23 year old who has wanted a horse my entire life. Boarding is just so expensive! Around here the average is probably around $400 a month ughggg. Upsetting to think I'll probably never have one :/
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MHFoundation Quarters

· #11 · Jun 5, 2011

YoungCowgirl said:
We have a training farm and currently have around 15 lol, give or a take a few because the amount changes weekly.

I feel ya! I only counted my own lol! I usually have 3-6 in per month for training & then there is the outside mares that come in to be bred....so if I count outside horses there are usually around 20 hanging out here :wink:

Also should have added in my actual expense that we own our hay fields & equipment for baling, so the cost of "hay" in my calculations is field maintenance & fuel for the tractor & truck to haul wagons. Didn't add wages for hay help. Also didn't add the thousands I spent on "extra" vet care, this past fall Woodstock had a tendon injury, cold laser therapy, ultrasounds, xrays, etc, etc, etc. I've got close to 5k in his treatment alone.

Julirs

· #12 · Jun 5, 2011

I have had to wait until now (I am nearly 42) to realize this life long dream, and I am 6 months to a year from owning my own horse. Board (includes everything but the dentist, shots, farrier) will be $650 a month. In reality I am just taking the money I have been paying on my truck monthly and turning it into a horse. In the mean time it will be lessons and possible leasing for me! There are plenty of places to board for less, but if you are not available to do the work the money starts adding up!

Brighteyes

· #13 · Jun 5, 2011

Ooh, this sounds fun!

Board = 250 per month x 12 = 3,000

Vet = $200 on average.

Farrier =

45 for a trim x 9 months barefoot = 180

120 for shoes x three months shod = 240

Basic upkeep = ~3,504

Don't even get me STARTED on show and travel fees.

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jdw

· #14 · Jun 5, 2011

MHFoundation Quarters said:
Ok, so I looked at my expenses from last year...eek!

I own my own property. It averaged out to $1774 per horse. Feed, Hay, Supps, Vet & Farrier. This didn't include any hauling or show expenses, additional utility costs for the barn & arenas, or costs of hiring help for baling hay/building fence.

Yeppers.........that's darn close to what I came up with. (Sigh) Well worth it....(keep repeating).:lol:

MHFoundation Quarters

· #15 · Jun 5, 2011

jdw said:
Yeppers.........that's darn close to what I came up with. (Sigh) Well worth it....(keep repeating).:lol:

Yep, keep repeating...and I will keep praying the hubby doesn't decide he wants to do the farm accounts & taxes :lol:

Cat

· #16 · Jun 5, 2011

I came up with $800 for my most expensive horse - which is the one who gets extra feed and about $500 for each of my other two.

But I have a feeling that is going to drastically go up in a couple years when I lose my hay guy. Right now I get hay dirt cheap because the old guy down the road sells us clean basic local grass mix for about 1/2 of the going rate because he hays just as a way to keep busy in retirement. Plus we only have to buy hay for 5-6 months out of the year and the rest of the year they have pasture.

Hidalgo13

· #17 · Jun 5, 2011

Well, this is for my barn/area more or less because I don't know everything exactly and don't own a horse.

board: 500/month= 6000$
This includes stalls being cleaned regularly, 3-4 bales of hay per day, turn out whenever the weather is nice and it's not snowing/raining.
Extra supplements and special feed has be bought on your own I believe and brought to the barn if you want the stable hands to feed it to your horse.

Deworming: 15$ a tube.

Farrier starts at 40$ I think.
Some barns charge 700-800$ a month, but I'm not sure what it includes...

Sunny

· #18 · Jun 5, 2011

We just moved Sunny to an actual boarding facility so she just got very expensive. :lol:

Pasture Board: $275/month plus $9 in the summer for electrolytes.
Farrier: $45 for a trim.
Vet: Spring shots were $125 this year. Fall will be closer to $50. Small things like dewormer, first aid, etc. $75 yearly.
Tack: Just got a new saddle, $600.
Random things: $100

So, my yearly cost to keep Sunny is:
$4,637
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Tasia

· #19 · Jun 5, 2011

Ok so for me....
feet-$40 x 6=240
grain-$15 x 3=45
tack repairs= $40
teeth=100
dewormer- $25 x 3=75
Hay= $325 ($4/bale)
Misc.= $150
$975 per year. For one horse. For me.

Beauandme

· #20 · Jun 5, 2011

I say $10,000.00 a year

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