LETS TALK ABOUT THE COST OF HORSE OWNERSHIP! How much does it really cost to own a horse? What does a horse need and what can you afford to give them? How much is food and how often do you feed them? How much does hay cost and how many different kidnds are there? How much is a saddle and what kind fits your best? What kind of vet bills will you need? How often will you need the vet out and how much do the basic services cost? Does your horse need shoes? How do you find a vet and a farrier?
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How much do horses cost?! That question has ALOT of variables in it! First off, lets say you are going out horse shopping! How exciting! Are you looking for a certain breed of horse? Are you looking for a horse "just for the kids" or "just to trail ride on" or "just for a yard ornament" or are you looking for a horse that can "Turn N Burn" or be Snappy in the show ring? Lets go by breeds to start with. If you are looking for a particular breed, do you research! Quarter Horses are bred because they are stocky and QUICK! They are used in the show pen for sports such as Cutting, Reining, Turn back horses, Barrel Racing, Pole Bending. They make excellent horses for trail riding. Arabians Horses are snappy and pretty in the show ring. These beauties were bred for living in the deserts and for endurance. Today they make excellent endurance horses in competitions and eye catchers in the show rings. The lists of horses goes on and on....so many so, I wont list them all because I will run out of room and have no room to discuss the $$$$ of them! So, back to that notion! If you are interested in a prospect for a certain sport, you will pay gobs more money on your horse than you will if you are looking for a "run of the mill" type horse. Show and sport horses start out in the cheap range of three thousand dollars and go all the way up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Your "run of the mill" type horses you can pick up for free all the way up to about three thousand dollars. Depending on what you are using your horse for will probably depend on what you feed your horse. Does your horse stay at your house or are you boarding them?
Cost of Purchase - $500 and up
Cost of Boarding - $100 - $500/month - depending on service and region
Cost of grain - $12/bag, about 1 bag every 2 weeks
Cost of hay - $50 and up for round bales, $6 and up for square bales
(one horse should eat 4 flakes from a square a day, they come in 10-12 flakes/bale..round bales will
last one horse about a month if not soiled)
Cost of Farrier - Trims - $25 and up, needing to be done every 6 -8 weeks.
Shoes - $70- $200, needing to be done every 6 -8 weeks.
Cost of Vet -shots- $30- $60 per year for yearly shots required
coggins - $20 once a year
stitches - $50 up into the thousands, depending on drugs used to sedate the horse
floating the teeth - $30 and up once a year
Cost of Brushes/ Tack/ Blankets - $300 -$3000
Cost of Disposal or burial - $200 - $5,000
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