I was wondering how much people spend in recurring costs for owning a horse.

This does not include the cost of the horse, tack, or barn/stable supplies (rakes, etc.) just perishables.

In Colorado, the cost of hay has risen dramatically due to the extremely dry weather we had this summer, and many people are giving away horses to shelters for this reason.

Typical recurring costs would include:
Hay,
Grain,
Supplements,
Boarding (if you didn't own the land),
Shoeing and trimming,
Vaccinations
Deworming,
Vet care,
Fly spray,
Medications.


I'm just curious what people are spending in different parts of the country.

BH63

I've never considered the totals per year. The past few years have been very dry, so feeding some hay comes a little earlier.
Some things on the list are insignificant. Boarding is another factor, but I relate to paying taxes, somewhat as "boarding cost".
Say one horse, a couple tons of hay ( $350/alfalfa here, I use for winter ).
Shoeing, 6-8 weeks ( $100+= ). How often through the year (seasons ) does one ride? I shoe my own half the time when farrier isn't accommodating.
I don't have a large income, but it's ponies first.
GIVING horses away? Like back several years ago?
I'll take some.

A local news station had a story about a horse refuge center near Denver that usually takes in about 1 or 2 unwanted horses a week is now taking in one or two a day.

My guess many of these horses have physical issues or extreme training issues.

JMO

BH63

For us, it's mainly hay in winter. Since I've resown pastures 2 years ago we've had to use very little hay in winter.

Usually I'll feed a younger one as they are filling out but feed costs aren't much for us on 4+ year olds as we've good pasture....a little to good as spring/fall we put them up part of the time.

I worm when I rotate pastures every 3 months (+/- a month), so worming roughly 4 times a year.

Trim hooves myself. Have them shod when riding roads or on rough chert. Most of our riding is pastures and fields so they don't stay shod much of the time.

For us, the real cost is time. With 3 kids playing sports, work, farm work, and hunting season coming up I don't "invest" as much time as I'd like....and honestly, at this point in my life, there's not much I can do about that except jump on the investment opportunities when I can.

If you have to ask ......

that's a tough question as it depends on your situation..I suspect I spend 40 bales of hay per horse and pasture most of the winter. in the winter its lots of hay and grain..When roping or using a horse the price goes up..Some horses eat more than others, $300 to perhaps a $1000 or more for vet bills..$90 for horse shoeing, Alfalfa hay is $150 per ton locally. Grass hay about the same..grain is $20. a sack, lots of stuff like fly spray, medications, brushes and tack is a big piece of change, I agree with the poster who said "if you have to ask" is the best answer..I personally don't really want to know so Ive never put a pencil to it..

haven't done the hard math to include vet & farrier but I could easily see $5.00/day

our grain is $1/day, supplements for my mare are probably another $1.50-2, about $500/year on hay for the 2,

one injury can easily cost in the hundreds

I pay $100 a month room and board for my mules per animal. Includes pasture and hay and water. Shoes $80 per animal every 4 months. Vet bills for immunizations, worming,coggins runs around $300 per animal.

The place where I volunteer at, has five horses.

Two of them are old, geldings, running about 900 and 1000 lbs respectively.

They share 10 flakes of hay and about 2 lbs of senior feed and and a 2 lbs of timothy pellets per day.

One is a small mare about 7 years old, that weighs about 650 lbs. She gets 4 flakes of hay and about 1/2 lb of pellets per day.

One is a gelding that is 12 years old, he weighs just over 1200 lbs and gets about 12 flakes of hay each day, along with 1 lb of pellets and 1 cup of sunflower seeds.

The last is a mini, about 10 years old, he gets 2 flakes of hay and about 1/4 lb of pellets per day.

They all get their hooves trimmed about every 6-8 weeks.


The little mini has to have a vet tranquilize him before you can trim his back feet. This happens about every 2 months.

The horses combined eat about $80.00 worth of senior feed/pellets every month.

Farrier costs are about $150.00 per month for the horses, plus every other month there is a $80.00 vet bill.

Anyway you look at it, unless you have plenty of good pasture, horses can be expensive.

BH63

The place where I volunteer at, has five horses.

Two of them are old, geldings, running about 900 and 1000 lbs respectively.

They share 10 flakes of hay and about 2 lbs of senior feed and and a 2 lbs of timothy pellets per day.

One is a small mare about 7 years old, that weighs about 650 lbs. She gets 4 flakes of hay and about 1/2 lb of pellets per day.

One is a gelding that is 12 years old, he weighs just over 1200 lbs and gets about 12 flakes of hay each day, along with 1 lb of pellets and 1 cup of sunflower seeds.

The last is a mini, about 10 years old, he gets 2 flakes of hay and about 1/4 lb of pellets per day.

They all get their hooves trimmed about every 6-8 weeks.

The little mini has to have a vet tranquilize him before you can trim his back feet. This happens about every 2 months.

The horses combined eat about $80.00 worth of senior feed/pellets every month.

Farrier costs are about $150.00 per month for the horses, plus every other month there is a $80.00 vet bill.

Combined, they eat about 3 bales of hay every 2 days, or about 520 bales or 26 tons per year.

The cost of hay is varying quite a bit around here, but grass hay is currently running around $120.00 per ton, so you are looking at about $3200.00 a year just for hay.


Anyway you look at it, unless you have plenty of good pasture, horses can be expensive.



BH63

quote:

and 1 cup of sunflower seeds.

I have never heard or feeding horses sunflower seeds.
Please explain the purpose of this.

bwana---My wild guess would be parrots eat sunflower seeds and can talk. They feed horses sunflower seeds with hopes they will talk and become a Mr. Ed and make money to pay for all these mentioned expenses.

That’s pretty funny. All good humor has truth in it but; the sunflower seeds are probably for the oil content instead of pouring messy oil over grain. Vitamins and good for the hair coat.

Minis make good lawn ornaments, that's all.

Grizz

quote:

Originally posted by bwana cecil:

quote:

and 1 cup of sunflower seeds.

I have never heard or feeding horses sunflower seeds.
Please explain the purpose of this.

Helps strengthen its coat.

Not sure on maintenance of a horse, but the vet bills (horses get sick) and the trips to hospital for body repairs due to getting tossed make it pretty expensive....