No wonder people think you have to be extremely rich to have a horse!?

Question

I was just answering a question someone asked on how much it cost to own a horse.

They were saying you have to pay about 1500 grand a year just for vets!

Um hello no you dont. I pay less then a 100 a year, and she gets all her vaccines, and everything. Yes i know some vets are more expensive but who really actully pays 1500 grand a year for a vet check up!

Farrier only cost about 10 to 20 dollars for me, no shoes, but i know some cost 50 to 100 dollars. or more for the shoes.

And i dont board but they were saying 1000 a month.

So if some one who owns a horse could tell me if any one pays that much?????

I was just shocked. IM like wat the h**l is that.

Yes owning a horse isnt the cheapest thing.

But paying about 20000 grand a year is far fetched. Even if you have to pay for hay ever day. I proley only spend about 1000 on my girl, and she is well cared for.

Oh and wats this about only good horses cost about 3000? My horse cost me 700, 50 for everthing else, tack and what not. Which i have baught a new saddle, paid about 300 for it. and am looking for a new bridle, which i saw only cost 50.

And she is a very VERY well trained horse. LOads, comes when called, very spunky, has a wonderful gait, halter leads, i can take of her bridle and put on her halter, and she doesnt move when doing it or tries to get away. Just sits there when im grooming her, is nervous of the hose but still does well with it.

And she didnt cost me now 3000 dollars. So what will people think she isnt a good horse because she didnt cost that much? Which i was told she is an excellent horse.

p.s the spell checker wont appear so dont mind the misspellings srry

Answer 1

my horse cost me 3000.  (my pony) she is very High-maintenence.  She constantly founders no matter where she is.  Board for me is 100 a month 1500 a year sounds right for her because of her high- maintenence.  ferrier yeah i dont know how much.  i think 50?  dewormer im not sure 19 dollars?  really, it depends on the horse, the place, and all that stuff.  But yes 20k a year is crazy.  you are lucky to have gotten a good horse for 700.  i dont see how it could be trained!! wow!!  well, i do think many of those people are just crazy saying 20,000 but from my experience, horses that are trained should cost 3k.

Answer 2

It really depends on what area of the country you live in and what you do with your horse. For instance, I went to college out in Ohio and boarded my horse in someone's backyard barn. What I paid there compared to what's charged at top show barns in Wellington, FL are very different numbers.

For instance: I work at a show barn now. We charge $1200 a month for basic full care board, but most folks pay around $1600 for additional services. This doesn't take into account training, lessons, shoes (easily $250 or more), supplies, shows, vet bills, emergencies, wormer, and supplements (and those alone can be a hundred or more a month). Of course, this particular area is home to the uber-rich. Many of our owners have horses that cost more than my house. I know they aren't the standard for "normal" horse owners (most of these horses have their own chiropractor and masseuse; I WISH I were that lucky), but these people are out there.

I think it takes a lot of money to be a serious contender on the show circuit, but if you want to own a horse for pleasure, you don't need quite as much. And your little mare sounds like she's a perfect pleasure horse. I've always said you can't put a price on sanity. If a horse has a good head on its shoulders, it'll be worth its weight in gold to someone out there.

Answer 3

It depend where you live  

Answer 4

im going 2 show my mum ur question

because she thinks it costs a h**l lot more than it does because of these annoying people

Answer 5

I know what you mean...our pony was given to us on free lease, in the time we had her we didn't even need the vet once...she had no shoes because we live on a farm and she didn't need them. Our farrier had very reasonable prices - I'm pretty sure he charged $20-$25 to trim her hooves.

I bought my saddle second hand (in good condition from someone i know and trust!) for about $400 and i can't remember what we paid for the bridle, but i took care of all the tack so i never had to replace anything...well, the only thing i ever had to replace was her headstall and leadrope, but in the end i just made my own leadrope anyway, so it cost even less...And if people read "horsewyse" magazine they often have budget tips in there, so that made it all even cheaper...not to mention we grew our own hay, she didn't board anywhere, and we didn't go to pony club so shows so we didn't have to buy a horse float either!

And i totally agree with what you are saying about a good horse costing a lot of money...sometimes the expensive "good" horses turn out to be sour, bad-tempered little brats...the best horses i have ever met have been freebies! My pony and my best friend's pony...

Answer 6

Horses aint cheap to own,but they dont have to be insanely expensive either, depends on what you have and what your doing with it...a rodeo champion would cost huge money,but to own and maintain a normal use saddle horse isnt too expensive..around here its about $200 a month for board,if they have nice facilities, currently one of ours is at a wonderful place,indoor areana and outdoor,nice dry stalls ,excellent pastures etc for $50 a month,farrier visits run $25 for the basics every 8-10 wks,hopefully I can send mine there too come winter as he needs so classes and handling (2 1/2 yr arab ,too be gelded next month)..hay runs around $2 a bale if you have to buy it yourself...tack aint cheap,buying decent stuff (tho not top line) will cost a bit(but it last a lot longer than the cheap stuff ands better for the horse) I figure $1000-2000 a year especially when you first get started and have to buy everything (most of it will last a long time if you take care of it,but it does wear out and break) ..I got a differnt trailer this season,$1000 there but I had to do all the repairs to make it nice and then gas is running $3.50-4 a gal,and those big trucks dont get great mileage,figure at least $1 a loaded mile of cost going to and from shows and events plus entries..anyway it aint terribly expensive to own a decent horse,but its more costly than some think,at least to do it right

Answer 7

There's a reason for the old expression regarding having horses: The Sport of Kings. If you don't own land and are competing and in training at the level I suspect she's referring to, no, it's not unbelievable. The headliners we see in our favorite disciplines, who are at the top of their game (or trying to be in the game), shell $$$ out big time. And if they're not personally shelling it out, you'd better believe their sponsors are. Those are performance riders and performance horses. It's an entirely different league with a correlated price tag. If she thinks it's 15K for your average backyard horse, she's nuts or a troll trying to incite some outrage. Either way...of course that doesn't mean you can't find a really nice horse for a few thousand! Will that horse go to Grand Prix? Not likely. Is it impossible? Never say never.

Answer 8

My dad has horses and it don't cost even close! My spell checker isnt showing up either! Well He dont board his horses. But he takes them to a vet and everything! My dad has a horse that he paid 700 dollars for and he is perfect!

Answer 9

Gee, $20 000 is VERY far fetched if you ask me... Maybe this chic's horse has some bad disease? My farrier (no shoes) costs about $30 per horse... 30x3 horses= $90... but if i get the horse shod, is about $90 per shoe! My vet is about $300 per year. Sometimes less. I keep my horses at our property so we don't pay for board but hay is around $10 a bale.

Also with that 'only good horses cost $3000' Thats absolute rubbish... But maybe this person meant like good bloodlines. My horse was $2500 but he has great bloodlines and is pretty well trained. Tack on top of that would've come up to around $3500. But my mum got a great horse that only cost her $1200. Tack as well would've only come up to around $2000. Its rediculous the fact that some people judge a horse by it's price. I went to a show where the people riding were horrible, but they were placed over the better riders because their horses/ponies were more expensive...

Answer 10

I hate the spell check thing, it drives me nuts..

I do my own farrier stuff.. Ihave a donkey and miniature horses.. farriers were $40 each for TRIMS only!

I dont pay board because I have my own place - 10 acres, we put them on grass in the summer and they get hay in winter... all are fat.  But I know boarding fees are about $300 -$500nearby where you have arena access

prices depend on availablity and demand.. and hay supplies in the area

really all things depend what country a person is in too.. because 1200 in one country is nothing compared to some other country

(I am in Canada)

Answer 11

I spent over $3000 on vet bills alone last year because my gelding got in a fight with a barbed wire fence.  He was on 600 acres, but he still found the fence.  I never would have imagined that would happen but it did.  And it was expensive.  I spent another $3000 this year because a mare had a random accident.  And the year isn't over yet.  If you are only paying $100 a year on vet bills, you are lucky, but you probably aren't doing the maintenance you need to be doing either.  I had a mare's teeth floated today and that alone cost me $160.

In some places it DOES cost $1000 a month to board.  It doesn't matter if you have a trail horse or a performance horse...that's the price across the board.

Sure you can get tack for $50 but what is the quality?  You get what you pay for.  I'd personally rather pay a little more for something that is better quality.

I don't know how you can think anything that costs $5000 or more a year is cheap.  You must be getting paid a lot if $5000 (or more) can be spent an not even put a dent in your pocket.

Answer 12

ok.

for a year

Board- $2700

Farrier-about 480, and then 20 bucks everytime my horse loses a shoe

Vet-not that much, less then 100, probably around 60, 30 for coggins, and then my barn owner does her on vaccines and she includes me in that and those cost 30

Supplies-probably around 2-3 grand(including all my tack)

Answer 13

Well.. I live in what is named as one of the richest places in the United States and believe me EVERYTHING is expensive and it still does not cost that much for some stuff. Of course you should save for vet emergencies. Come on, if a horse has an emergency do you really think you are going to fish out $100 and that is all? But I don't know if that was just for regular check ups or if they met a normal cost per year for a horse.... Annual check ups including teeth float etc is not that bad.. Here is what it costs here. No its not a joke, its the facts.

1) Dewormer (depending on brand 7-20)

2) Grain (10-20) depending on what you get

3) Square bales 6-10 depending on where you by it

Now this is just the basic feed and medication stuff. Obviously supplements will cost you more.

1) Feet trim 40 dollars.

2) Shoes 140-240 (Depends on the farrier)

3) Vet CALL $50

4) Teeth NORMAL float $90

5. Vaccines (depends on what you get)

6) Emergency vet CALL $80

7) Bottle of banamine $75

8) Tube of banamine $40

9) Should I go on with medication? Its not cheap.

I agree with the horses. I have actually been given horses that are better then the ones that I pay 20,000 for in some cases. The horse is truly on a case by case basis. You can get a good horse for nothing, or you can pay a lot.

As for boarding....

If you are lucky you can get field board, self care, buy your own feed and your own hay for $300 a month

Field Board and they take care of them.. $450 and nothing under

Stall board? 1,000 or more in general..

So its ALWAYS a good thing to figure out where a person lives before you judge on how it could never possibly be that expensive.

Answer 14

that sounds a bit much for 1 year.

i had 2 horses and doubt it would of evan cost that much with the 2.

Answer 15

It's all relative...it is obvious that the riding that you do is different than what others might do.

Board with Training $1500. month

Halters (leather) $50.00 you paid that for everything

Saddle-$1800.00

Bridle-$200.00 (not including bits)

Farrier-$120.00+ (reset)

Bales of hay are $15.00

Trailering to shows

Entry fees for shows

Trainers fees for shows

Clothing for shows

Stall fees at shows

Human accomodations.lodging, food, gas

And that doesn't include medical and just ordinary vet care...or other incidentals..which can also add up.

So, just because you do what you do with your horse and spend what you spend..doesn't mean that there aren't others that have a different goals and have a different lifestyles with their horses.  And, it doesn't make them snobs either.

As long as everyone gets pleasure from what they do with their horses, and can afford that lifestyle sobeit.  The least expensive part in my opinion is buying the horse..all the rest is keeping them up to your standards for your goals and happiness, enjoyment and pleasure with them.

Answer 16

Wow that is alot i am getting a horse soon and we wrote out all of the stuff for how much it will cost and it will be about 400 a month including board farrier vet and a lesson a week

so for a year it will be 4,800 a year alot of people say it is about 10,000 a year but not for us. I guess it could be around 6,000 a year if you buy alot of tack and stuff but its really not that expensive

Answer 17

It depends on what your into. I just bought a 3 year old today that is green broke for $10,000. I bought him for another barrel horse. I pay $7 a bale for 2 wire hay, bout $500-$800 dollars a month on rodeo entry fees, just had a saddle made, farrier is $100 per horse.. the list goes on...but thats not my point...my point is I want the best of the best for my horses...they have to be....they are rodeo horses....but its all a matter of what you like...people arent wrong....they just have different priorities....

Answer 18

I think it depends on the area you're in, the circuit you're involved in (my sister lives 5 miles from me, but she got into the high-end English circuit, whereas I ride backyard Western.  Our ideas of horse costs are therefore very different.), and more.

I do not think horses are terribly expensive if you don't get snotty about it.  I paid less than $2 for my horse & tack.  I pay $300 for full board, $30 for farrier (barefoot trim), and I think I paid $90 for vaccines this year?  It may not be the cheapest hobby in the world, but I hardly think you need to be a Rockefeller to manage it.  (I make less than $30k a year.)

My sister thought I was nuts at first for buying a horse, because in her mind, a good horse starts at $10, plus a few thousand more for tack and supplies, plus $1k a month for board (at her lesson stable), and then expensive vets, four-shoe farrier visits, and so on.  I had to explain to her that some people make it more expensive than it has to be.

Answer 19

In 2007, I spent $3420 on two horses, one pony, and a second pony for half the year.  They live at my house, are all barefoot, and I gave my own shots except for rabies and thier coggins tests.  I don't have it all broken down, but that total includes one extra vet visit in the $200-$400 range.

My total will be somewhat higher this year, with already 2 extra vet visits, 4 horses/ponies for the whole year, and some new equipment.

Answer 20

I think alot depends on the area you live in, as well as if you participate in shows or clinics or if the horse is just for pleasure....

I live in az...

Keeping my 4 horses alone minus any travelling, show, or training expenses costs me the following per year-

Hay- approx $3600 a year (at $12 a bale..depending on season its more or less)

Feed-  $500 Vitamins/Supplements: $400

Shoes- ( I only have shoes on two) $1400

Vet Bills- Approx. $600

TOTAL $6500

and that doesnt include little things like fly nets, sprays, ointments,treats, etc.

Above is what it costs me just for them to be sitting out there...not even what i purchased them for, shows, gas travelling, training, etc...

It is an expensive sport/hobby/love whatever you call it...but its worth it and thats all that matters! If you can afford a horse no matter what you pay for it or its upkeep be thankful, because you have a rare gift :)

Answer 21

Thank you! I too felt some people make it very far fetched.

I don't know why anyone in their right mind would pay 1000$ a month on a HORSE! we may get a horse and would only have to pay 200 a month for board- she would be out in pasture and used in lessons. It would be about 350$ not used in lessons. I have heard that it costs around 50-100$ for shoes. WOW I totally agree with you.. 1500 a year on vets for a healthy horse is ridiculous!

There are SO many ways you can save money with horses- buy used tack (you can get 300$ saddles in good condition), take care of your horses blankets (keep them clean etc.), keep your horse in pasture (most horses would prefer to be outside all day than inside and it can cost about 500-700$ a month for a box stall- ridiculous) etc. There are so many things you can do to be cost effective and the best one is to take care of your items.

Like you said, who says a good horse has to be at least 3000$?? Anyone remeber Big Ben (Ian Millers horse) yeah, he bought him for next to nothing.

If I had the money, I would buy all the best for my horse, but there is no need to spend NEARLY that much.

I 100% agree with you.

Answer 22

Consider yourself lucky!

Having 2 show jumpers and one show horse, the costs never stop.

It all depends on what you do with your horse.

Before i got into showing and showjumping, My horse was just your average backyard ridden horse.

My tack was given too me cheap from my cousin after she sold her horse.

We simply fed her weightlifter and hay, she never had any vet bills besides vaccinations, and never needed shoes.

Now showing, its completely different.

2 show saddle, one showjumping saddles.

and 4 work saddles - costing over $9000

show + work bridles - costing around $800- $1000

mountains of rugs, most replaced often due to 2 of our horses love eating there rugs.

boots halters etc the list goes on.

One thing i have never really had to worry about it vet bills, none of our horses have seriously hurt themselves - most expensive vet bill was $200-$300?

Feed is also another money waster

just about a bale of hay a day we go through

all at $24 a bale

thank god for bulk buying!

Some people are very lucky to pick up a great horse cheap

other cheap horses turn out not what they expected

our horses would be the most expensive part of the whole thing, luckily we didnt pay board as we have our own facilities at home, but board can be very expensive ive known from previous experiences.

Horses can be expensive

its all in what you do with them, and how lucky you are.

I rarely buy from horseland ect anymore - only for saddles + bridles

Ebay and other internet sites are much much better, and alot cheap to buy from.

Show set

Hood, rug, tail bag, sheepskin boots

+$200 in horseland

$100 on the internet plus 15 p&h

A great money saver!

Answer 23

Well, I've got news for you. You do need to be pretty wealthy to own a horse in most areas.

Lets say your horse was in the paddock one day. He slips and hurts his ankle and needs REALLY expensive surgery. Its not that far fetched. It happens. Lets say your horse gets colic and twists it's gut. And once again needs REALLY expensive surgery.

Also you may live in an area where it is cheaper.

I spend more money than you mentioned just on leasing and lessons. I would love to have a horse but I cant afford it and it isnt fair to the horse to buy it and not be able to pay for expensive medical treatments that it may require

Im not saying that you are wrong. Im just saying horses are expensive pets. And board at my barn is 650$ a month.

Answer 24

UMMMM it doesnt cost that much unless you have like 100 horses. lol but yeah, maybe if a person buys a lot of uneeded things for their horses

Answer 25

thats completely crazy!!!

i costs nowhere near that much!

you can get alot of good horses for cheap!

you happened to get lucky or maybe you and your horse were meant to be together!

Answer 26

people are so wrong, if a horse cost that much no one would have any!

Answer 27

well it depends ALOT on where you live.

I live in New England, about 20 miles north of boston and EVERYTHING is expensive here.  The absolute cheapest board around here is $550 a month and its 12 hour turnout.. but if your horse is lame you have to pay more.  I know barns that cost a min. of $1200 a month which includes 4 lessons a month, but they're mandatory.  

I pay $750 a month (well, only $660 since i work alot of it off)  to board my horse 20 min. away from me.  Shoes are $165 four all for feet to have shoes, and more in the winter when he gets different shoes.  My horse also needs hock injections, so that's $400 every 6-8 months, and the farm call is $50.  We probably do pay about $1500 a year, and our vets the cheapest around.

And i bought a 16 year old BAT CRAZY ottb for $3500 last year.  Granted, i might have been able to get a cheaper horse.. but its a long story with this one.  For $700 around here you get something lame, young, or crazy.  THere is no quality horses for under $1500.

So, really.. it depends on where you live and what your situation is.  

Answer 28

Take all this money you have saved and go to a class that teaches proper English as in grammar and punctuation......Your whole paragraph just ran together, It was very hard to even read. And to answer the question, I would rather see someone give an exaggerated answer on cost so someone doesn't think they can just squeak by on the minimum for a horse.....What about an emergency that would entail a vet bill in the thousands...it happens.    There are also a lot of people that spend more than 700 dollars on an initial investment of a horse, some even in the 100,000 range. Just because It didn't cost you much doesn't mean that's reality.......board is anywhere from 300 to1000.  Some places are that expensive if you include training and promoting a show horse. I'm happy for you that you have chosen the cheaper route...that's great    but open your mind to the fact that horses are not CHEAP!