The Cost of a Horse

Horses are expensive.

Lots of people get hung up on the cost of the horse. “But I can own a horse!” They marvel. “I just saw one on craigslist yesterday for $500! And it sounded really awesome!”

$500? Sorry friend, but I can do you one better than that. My horse was FREE. At least initially. Before the board bills added up, the farrier started coming out every six weeks, vaccinations became due and, oh yeah, there was that $3500 pasture accident.

Buying the horse is the least expensive part. Heck, I bet you could find at least five horses in your area that someone would pay YOU to take home.

But keeping the horse… that’s a different story.

Which raises the question: what does your horse really need to not only survive, but remain healthy and sound?

1) A place to live. Unless you have your own barn, chances are you will need to board your horse somewhere. Many places offer self care and pasture board for less money, but you really should splurge on the full care. This will run in the neighborhood of $300 - $600, depending on where you are and what you want. Per month, that is. Not quick in math? That’s between $3,600 and $7,200 PER YEAR.

2) The farrier. See my earlier post on the farrier to get my thoughts of shoes versus no shoes. Either way, your farrier must come out to do your horse’s feet every six to eight weeks. Depending on your horse, you may be able to stretch it out to nine in the winter, but just remember this: no hoof no horse. Let’s say you settle in the middle and decide to have your horse trimmed every seven weeks like a good responsible horse owner. That ends up being about seven weeks per year. Doesn’t sound like a lot, right? Come on, you know the answer to that! Take that seven and multiply it by $55. That’s the average to trim a horse WITHOUT SHOES. Hello, $385 per year. Need to add shoes? Well say goodbye to that vacation you really wanted to go on, cause you just ran yourself up an annual bill of at least $875.

3) The vet. Oh, my good friend the vet. A horse’s best friend and a horse owner’s arch nemesis. Who else can get away with charging you $60 just to drive in the driveway? No one else that I know of. If you are a conscientious horse owner then you will get your horse vaccinated every year. Because horses often have reactions to vaccines if they are given all at once, you will realize the wisdom (after a little sly urging from your vet) of not making one, but TWO annual vaccine appointments. They will probably run you in the neighborhood of $150 per visit, equaling roughly $300 per year. Cheaper than the farrier, I know. But vets have a tricky way of showing up at the most unexpected times… Let me give you a few examples.



Example A) Your horse has been lame for two weeks straight. You have no idea why. Finally, you call the vet. Two visits and a full set of x-rays later reveals nothing conclusive. Your horse miraculously recovers after one month of stall rest and hand walking. Cost of mysterious lameness: $600.

Example B) You get a phone call in the middle of the night from your distraught barn manager. Your horse is colicing. Should I call the vet? Your barn manager asks. Of course, you idiot! You reply. The vet comes out. Gives your horse a tube of banamine and some mineral oil. Takes his food away. The next day he is all better. Cost of midnight colic: $800.

Example C) Your horse comes in from the field with an eye that is swollen to the size of a tennis ball. In a panic, you call the vet. An eye dye reveals the cornea is ripped. You rush the horse to the vet clinic where he spends the next five days. Cost of eye being kicked by the shitty little pony you will never look at the same again: $3500.

I hope you get the idea. If you’re lucky, you won’t have to spend more than $300 a year on the vet. Except that horse owners are never, ever lucky. Expect to spend an average of $2500 on vet related costs per year.

Dentist: Yes, your horse needs to see the dentist. Yes, he/she needs to see them every year. Add $125 to your bill.

Feeling dizzy yet? Still think that $500 craigslist horse is such a bargain? And these, my friend, are just the BARE ESSENTIALS. For fun, let’s add up what we have so far.

Board $5000 per year average
Farrier $450 per year average
Vet $2500 per year average
Dentist $125 per year average

TOTAL $8,075 PER YEAR

So what’s the bottom line? It’s what I said in the beginning. Horses are expensive. Don’t buy one unless you have money saved up and your full time job is plenty secure.

If the Shoe Fits

The farrier came out today. He’s a nice guy and has been trimming the lesson horses here for years. He’s one of those “old school” types. You know the kind. Our horses are trimmed every seven weeks. Of our twelve lesson horses, only two have front shoes. The rest are barefoot and have great feet. The farrier tells me that once upon a time all of the horses had shoes all the way around, but with budget cuts and the economy the shoes slowly went away. In my opinion, they never needed to be there in the first place.

I realize that the shoes vs. barefoot debate is always a hot topic in the horse world. Both Darwin and Poppy are barefoot. When I got Darwin off the track he had just had his racing plates removed and was sore on hard surfaces. I would have gotten him shoes if I had the money, but I was a poor college student that could barely afford self care board, let alone $150 every six weeks for shoes. Turns out it was good to be poor. Fast forward four years. Darwin has hooves like rocks and will happily trot over any surface you put in front of him.

I don’t believe horses should have shoes if they don’t need them. I also don’t believe horses should be barefoot if they would be more comfortable with shoes. Sometimes there is a fine line between the two that only a good, honest farrier and a discerning horse owner can determine.

At the last barn I managed, there was a farrier named Fred*. Fred was one of those hard core natural bare foot farriers. Oh, I’m sorry. He prefers to be called an equine podiatrist (snort). After examining the horses, Fred scathingly informed me that I was riding and training them incorrectly. He could tell this by the way their feet where wearing. Who knew? Because Fred wasn’t allowed within ten feet of my horse and because the owner was a sucker for swindlers, I bit my tongue and watched as Fred came out every two weeks (charging an arm and a leg each time) to trim the horses. After three months of this the horses where sore and looked like they hadn’t had a good trim in… well, three months. The owner switched back to the old farrier (who was just fine with being called a farrier) and all was well.

Do people slap shoes on when their horse would be just as happy barefoot? Sure they do. Can you compete and ride horses who don’t have shoes just as rigorously as those who do? Yep. So do your research, don’t jump on the latest bandwagon, and get a farrier who a) knows what he/she is doing b) can explain what they are doing in a way that makes sense and c) is always open to trying something different.