| Cost of Owning a Horse |
| Written by Doug Stewart |
| Saturday, 05 December 2009 09:20 |
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Working in the horse business, I often get asked how much a good horse costs. Unfortunately, the question is almost always in terms of 'how much to buy' rather than 'how much to keep'. The sad truth is that far too many people are buying horses and then finding that they cannot afford to keep them.
Working in the horse business, I often get asked how much a good horse costs. Unfortunately, the question is almost always in terms of 'how much to buy' rather than 'how much to keep'. The sad truth is that far too many people are buying horses and then finding that they cannot afford to keep them. This ignorance is in part the fault of people working in the horse business as breeders, dealers or trainers. After all, if a potential client is unsure if they can afford to buy a horse, telling them that owning it is even more expensive is a good way to lose the potential sale. Of course, some sellers are honest enough to explain this, but far from all. Consequently, if you know someone who is buying a horse, you can help them by sharing the facts with them in advance. Of course, one needs to take their specific circumstances into account in order to determine what their costs would be. Here is a rough guide. The first consideration is whether the horse will be stabled with a professional or stabled by them. If the horse will be stabled with a professional, phone around to check the local monthly costs (including box, food, bedding and labour). You can find the phone numbers for the local professionals in the yellow pages or ask your local vet. Such costs can vary from $150/month to over $1000/month, with the higher end associated with urban areas. If one is stabling the horse oneself, the main costs are bedding, food and labour. Bedding costs will depend very much on the type of bedding and where one lives. If you are using straw, you will need about one small bale per day (12kg or 25lb) so check local prices. For food, figure that you need about 3%-4% of the horse's weight each day. So a 500kg horse needs 15kg-20kg food each day. If you are feeding hay, phone around for local hay prices. In most areas this quantity of hay would be about $3/day, but in some places the price is as high as $20/day, so you really need to check local prices. There are also a lot of incidental costs such as wormers, salt, minerals, annual innoculations, and annual dental check. Allow about $500/year to cover all of these. The other big consideration is medical expenses. In a good year your horse may be perfectly healthy and not need to see a vet, in which case there are no exceptional medical expenses. However, one bad case of colic can set you back thousands of dollars. So, you either need to be prepared to foot a major medical bill in the case of serious illness or injury, or take out medical insurance which starts at about $40/month. Another consideration is how you use the horse. Riding the horse means that you will need to buy a saddle, tack and riding clothes. Showing or competing with the horse involves additional expenses. None of this is intended to discourage one from buying a horse. Instead, it is to help one understand the financial commitment involved with owning and keeping a horse, so that one can prepare for it. About the Author: Doug Stewart is the author of Horse Costs, which provides related online cost calculators. |