Basic horse care question, I need advise please.?

Question

I'm getting a new pony 16 yrs quarter pony 14.0 hands, and have never had my own horse before. I'm trying to keep my costs as minum as they can be. Please tell me:

How often should I deworm, and what is the cost per tube?

How often should teeth be floated, cost?

How often should i get her feet trimmed (no shoes), cost?

Am I forgetting anything? Thanks.

Answer 1

Trimming of the feet needs to be done on a regular basis and this is one of the most important aspects of horse ownership. I have my horses done every month. And let me tell you, I board my horses at a rescue ranch and we have had abuse cases come in from people who did not trim feet. It can cripple a horse if its let to go on for too long. So plan on having feet trimmed every 6 weeks at least. The cost is going to depend on where you live and how well your horse can be handled. This is partially due to the fact that farriers may charge by the hour. So if your horse gives his feet easily, then it might be snap for the farrier to take care of business and it won't cost as much. One horse I have took well over an hour to have his feet trimmed at one point because of how he was. In any case, I would say I pay about $25 a month for basic feet trimming.

Worming is done on quarterly basis and costs about $10 a shot for me, but this might vary by location. If you live in a wetter climate you might need worming more often.

But your biggest expense is hay and grain.The pony is 16 years old. I have seen horses live to 40-no kidding-so in one sense a 16 yo is not that old. But, a 16 yo might need supplemental feed in short order. You should go to feed stores and talk to them about senior feed-how much to give per day and what it costs. At the very least you're going to be needing hay. Where I live I'd guess it costs $100 a month to feed a horse.

Are you going to keep your pony at home or board him/her? That is another potential expense. If you are keeping him at home, will he be alone? A horse/pony/donkey is a herd animal and keeping them by themselves is not really fair from an emotional point of view.

Hope this helps.

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 2

Congulations on your new pony! Horses can be sometimes be expensive animals but the rewards are great. On to your questions. A pony should be dewormed about every 3 months and the dewormer varies in price from about $10- $20 depending on brand, you should be able to purchase it at your local feed store, and they should be able to answer most of your questions. The best thing to do is when getting a new pony you should have a vet come out and do an exam on the pony to make sure he/she is in good health. The vet can also check his/her teeth to tell you if the teeth need to be floated, and cost normally depends on the vet. A good indecation that the teeth need to be floated is if the pony is dropping feed or only chewing on one side of its mouth. As for feet trimming, a pony should need its feet trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks, depending on how much you ride him/her and the ground it is kept on and ridden on. After you have a farrier come out for the first time you and the farrier can arrange a trimming schedule that works best for your pony. I pay about $50 for my horse for each trim every 8 weeks but cost does vary depending on farriers.

Answer 3

I worm my 2 horses every 8-10 weeks.. (10 bucks each)

Teeth floating cost a bit...

Trim...when needed....my 2 havent had to have their's done in month's...just keep a check on'em.( I pay $40.00 each horse)

             Good Luck & Have Fun ~

Answer 4

Sorry to say but if your horse needs shoes she needs shoes. End of story. My horse grows foot fast, especially when he's working. I get a reset every six weeks and a new pair of shoes every twelve. You'd have to figure that out with your farrier.

Teeth floating depends on the horse. Younger horses may need their teeth floated twice a year, older horses may need them floated once per year. Some horses don't need floating at all.

You worm approximately every other month and you alternate between different wormers based on the season and which parasites are prevalent at that time. The cost per tube ranges between $10-$20.

Don't forget board, blankets, halters, brushes, tack, shampoo, treats, etc.

If you want to keep the cost down don't get a horse.

Answer 5

Okay no offence but shouldn;t you know these things before you buy a horse? It differs greatly in diffrent parts of the country...

you can put a deworming powder in there food or you can give them a paste as directed. and you must change it around because the worms will become ammune to the same one.

teeth need to be CHECKED once a year (some might need it some might not)

horses feet must be trimmed every 6-8 weeks and in my area $30 covers it but I ahve heard it go as high as $90 and if they need shoes...that is a whole diffrent story.

You need to ask a horse expert in YOUR AREA because every thing is diffrent in each region :) I hope I helped some though

Answer 6

Horses are expensive.  you can keep your costs down in a variety of ways:

1)preventative maintenance - routine worming (every 10-12 weeks at $8-12 each), annual vaccines (about $30 if you do yourself), good farrier care (every 6 or so weeks, you can also learn to do this yourself if you keep the animal barefoot), and an annual exam (in my area, its $100 to get the vet to your place, and that's BEFORE she looks at the horse! - have the vet check teeth, run a fecal exam, etc.  if you need teeth done, it starts at $200 or so here, and on average needs done every other year, depending on the horse.)

Other things that keep the cost down:

make sure the horse has access to clean water 24/7.  dehydration is a major cause of colic.

make sure your hay is dust-free and of good quality (otherwise you get into respiratory problems)

don't feed too much grain (hello laminitis)

make sure your horse gets excersized regularly, include a warm-up and cool-down period (horses that are in good shape physically are less likely to get injured)

make sure the horse has a place to go to get out of the wind/rain/snow and blanket in the winter as needed.  A shivering horse is a cold horse.  more hay=more heat.  avoid too much grain in the winter.  again - horse must have access to water 24/7!!

remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

if you horse shows signs of lameness, don't let it go too long before you get him checked.

As a rule of thumb, horses need 1.2 to 2% of their weight in forage each day.

As an additional rule of thumb, you should have $ set aside for emergencies.  Think at least $1000.  It doesn't take much to run up this kind of a bill.  Last time I had a sick horse, just the medicine was over $300!  My lame horse cost me $800 then I needed corrective shoes for 6 months - that added up to another $800!!

If you can't afford basic costs and if you cannot set aside money for emergency care, you should not have a horse.

try leasing.

If you can afford it, by all means, take good care of it!

Answer 7

Deworm at least yearly,but it depends upon wether or not you're feeding off the ground or on the ground and if she grazes on grass. Worm eggs are on grass & ground so she'll pick up more. Use a wormer with a different active ingredient each tinme so you will kill the worms the last wormer did not.They should run from $8-$12.00

I would have their teeth checked by a vet annually when vaccines are given. They'll let you know if they need it.

Feet trims every 6-8 weeks but again it depends on the feet & the type of ground she's kept on. Cost varies. It is $40 here. The more impotant thing is to develop a repoir with your shoer. If you don't like them or their attitude or the job they do, don't have then back.  Most want to educate you & want repeat business.  They are a great part of your team & can "see" problems in your horse faster than you can sometimes. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Rather be safe than sorry. This seems like a great place to meet other horse people. Most horse people are honest & will give you good advice . They are really great people who all have one thing in common. They have no reason to give poor advice either. Have fun with your new friend !!!

Answer 8

i deworm my horse every three months.

it costs about 18 dollars for me.

you should call a vet to find out about floating.

and you should have your horses feet done about every 6-8 weeks, without shoes my horses would be about 60 dollars.

but that all depends on your farrier.

Good Luck(: