Affordable horse keeping?

Question

does anybody have any good book or website recomendations on how to keep a "cheap" horse? any tips or advice would be really great too! also, we have TONS of wheat, can you feed a horse wheat grain just as a treat or whatever? thanks!! -Julia

Answer 1

Some barns let you keep your horse there at a cheaper price if you let them use it as a lesson horse

also, there is something called rough board where the barn doesnt do everything ( those are the things you need to do ) this is cheaper that full board

Answer 2

Part -loaning a horse is a cheaper option than buying one.

An average healthy horse costs around £5000 per year to keep.

Answer 3

If you don't own land, the best buys in boarding are either pasture board or self-care situations.  Try to find somewhere that you are already driving past on the way to and from work....saves heaps on gas.  I would feed and turnout my horse in the mornings and after work bring her in, clean the stall, ride and feed dinner.  Self care is $125 (does not include feed, hay or shavings) compared to full board at $450.  A group of us buy hay from a local farmer in the summer.  Also, we got a deal a couple pallets of shavings.  They were sort of "seconds" that the store couldn't sell because the bags a some rips in them...worked out to three dollars per bag!! In the grain department...my horse stayed fat on just grass in the summer.  Then in the winter I won the open house drawing at the feed store for 20 bags of top quality feed.  That was quite nice!!

Answer 4

A cheap horse costs just as much to feed as an expensive one.

Answer 5

Keeping horses "on the cheap"

Okay well to start with it's a lot cheaper if you already own your own land. especially if you have enough of it to graze and still be able to make your own hay or haylage for winter.

Tack etc can be bought cheaply second hand but you have to be careful about checking the condition and safety of such things.

Then you would need to get a horse that was a "good doer" something like a native pony that needs little other than grass and hay.

Some horses don't even need shoes so that would mean you would only need to pay out around £15 -£20 every 6 - 8 weeks for trimming.

Most native ponies don't need rugs in winter as long as you don't clip them and a run in shelter would mean that you didn't need a stable so no bedding fees.

Vets are a different story - the best way to avoid sudden and frightening vets bills is insurance - usually running at around £10 -£15 a month.

I wouldn't recommend feeding wheat. I dare say that some people do but I have no experience with it and so cannot advise you.

I'd recommend that you should look around for someone wanting help with their horses in return for rides etc. You can usually find adverts for this type of arrangement in the back pages of popular horse magazines.

Edit> thank you for the thumb - loser

Answer 6

sorry but there is NO WAY to have a cheap horse. it just doesnt happen.

Answer 7

All these answers are right, but let me tell you why.

1.  Never feed a horse wheat.  The horse chews the wheat - picture flour here, then they swallow it - now picture wet flour - what's it do?  It globs up? Correct - it globs up, causes a compaction in the horse's digestive system - now you have either a very sick horse and lots of vet bills and or a dead horse - doesn't fit the "cheap" category at all.  NEVER EVER FEED A HORSE WHEAT.

2.  Keeping a "cheap" horse.  Your question can be taken two ways:

If the horse is cheap to begin with, there may be a reason - the horse could be un-sound which equals vet bills which equal high costs.  Or it could have bad habits - which equal high costs of danger (medical attention) or training fees to break them of these bad habits.

The best vet in the world once told me it costs more to keep a free horse than it does a costly one - because free horses are free for a reason as I have outlined above.  A horse with some value has value for a reason - someone's put time and money into it to make it a good horse, therefore adding value so selling it brings a higher price.

Now, about keeping an already purchased horse cheaply.  I've done some research in this - you aren't really any cheaper no matter how you do it - either you have land (which costs money and has value) or you board, for which the farm recognizes the land value and you pay for it.

Meeting basic needs and doing your homework will keep costs down:

1. Purchase a horse that's in good, sound physical condition.  Find one that's not a nervous horse, nor a "hot blooded" type - for example, I have a Thoroughbred mare that eats twice as much as the other horses just to stay healthy - the same feed to another horse keeps that horse way too fat.  A horse that uses a smaller amount of feed to keep healthy is called an "easy keeper".  Less feed= less money.

2.  Look for anything a prospective horse currently gets or needs that would increase costs - a horse requiring a certain supplement like maybe MSM to keep it's achy joints healthy costs more than one who doesn't.

3.  You want a horse that likes to roam free - turn 'em out in a pasture with a shelter and he's happy - no stall to clean means less work and less investment in tools to clean.

4.  Get smart - before purchasing a horse, read books, watch DVDs, watch RFD TV and it's horse shows.  there are tons of books on purchase and care of the horse.  Only knowledge will allow you to make good choices.  A horse isn't a dog - they take much more understanding and care than a dog - and if it's a bad fit, they're harder to get rid of and more costly than any old dog.

Sounds like maybe you're in-experienced with horses, Julia from the question you've asked.  I'd suggest checking into riding lessons or helping out at a local stable to gain knowledge and experience before purchasing a horse.  Honestly, in 40 years I've seen tons of horses purchased by people who knew nothing about them - and they've gotten hurt or been unhappy with the outcome due to higher costs than expected at the very least.  The horse and the owners come out losers both.

Look for Western Horseman books - they usually run less than $20 and they cover good information - I'm sure there's one about purchasing a horse and keeping it.  Or Tractor supply Company (TSC) stores have TONS of good books to help you with exactly this - check them out if there's one near you.

Answer 8

SORRY, THERE IS NOT SUCH THING AS AFFORDABLE HORSE KEEPING.  and NO, you should NOT feed a horse wheat EVER.

Answer 9

No horse is a cheap horse.

Unless you want one with 3 legs.

I suggest waiting untill you can financially keep one.

If you keep a horse in less than perfect conditions, it's likely to get ill, which could end up costing you E V E N more.

Rethink and evaluate you're situation.

x