How much more are the average running costs of keeping your own horse if you already have a field?

Question

i loan a horse atm and share him with someone, we are currently paying £100 monthly and £45 for shoes, i know the price that horses will cost to buy it's just the running costs- GBP please (£) thanks x

Answer 1

Hi! :)

Not sure what kind of weather you get but it is good to have hay atleast for the winter, straw (or some sort of stall bedding), grain mixture, treats, farrier, shots, worming, shelter/or barn with stalls, fencing, grooming supplies, fly spray, barn supplies, tack, and so on.  It is pretty costly (either way really) but its cheaper for me to keep my horses and not board them.....  It depends on the situation.  What supplies/set up do you already have?

Answer 2

Well, first you have to consider you will need a shelter, whether it is a barn with stalls, or at least a run-in /lean-to shed for them to get out of the elements. That alone is a large expense, but one that is  only done once.

Fencing is another expense- you can go electric or wood, but either way, you have to put it up, and consider the maintainence of it as well. (Boards breaking, paint or staining, electric wire repair).

You also have to consider feed- grain and hay is most common. I live in NY, grain has double in cost in the past 2 years, and hay has almost doubled since fuel costs are higher here. It is something to look into. On each of our horses, we spend about $20/week on feed.

You have vet bills to consider. Here, we spend about $200 just for vaccinations per horse each year.

Worming your horse will cost about $10 a month.

You already pay the farrier, so that would stay the same.

You will also have to buy all your own supplies (tack, buckets, wheelbarrows, barn equipment, water troughs, etc.) these can be ver costly.

Boarding can seem like alot more, but for just one horse, it is usually a better deal by far. We have 5 horses now, so boarding is out of the question for us.