How much does your average horse cost?

How much does your average horse cost per year? I'm going to buy a horse and am wondering what the yearly budget will be.
Vet. Vaccines. Everything.
Thanks

WAG* between 500 and 5000 - it depends on a lot of things.

What part of the county are you in? Will you be boarding or keeping it at home? Trail riding, doing any showing, 4H, etc?

It will nearly always take more money than you thought - especially if you have an emergency vet call or two, those add up fast! If you keep it at home to save money, you will save some (after the initial outlay for fencing, shelter and storage for hay and supplies), but you'll spend lots more time in exchange for saving that money.

* - wild arse guess

norseofcourse said:

WAG* between 500 and 5000 - it depends on a lot of things.

What part of the county are you in? Will you be boarding or keeping it at home? Trail riding, doing any showing, 4H, etc?

It will nearly always take more money than you thought - especially if you have an emergency vet call or two, those add up fast! If you keep it at home to save money, you will save some (after the initial outlay for fencing, shelter and storage for hay and supplies), but you'll spend lots more time in exchange for saving that money.

* - wild arse guess

Click to expand...

I have no clue but I think that is a great answer

Greetings and welcome to BYH from NE Texas. We do have quite a few horse owners on here and I think so much depends on circumstances including where you're located (you really should put at least your general location in your profile). I'll tag a few of the many horse folks and hopefully they'll throw their 2 cents worth in for you. If you plan to stay with us, perhaps you'll take a moment and do a brief intro post over in the new member section so folks can greet you appropriately? Anyway, make yourself at home!

@Ferguson K @Bunnylady @ @Baymule @AClark @secuono @Mini Horses @Poka_Doodle and the list goes on! There are quite a few who own horses.

A horse is a hole in your pocket you dump money in. We have 3 of them.

Hoof trim every 8 weeks costs me $25 per horse and that is a real low price. So figure on $45 or more, just for a trim. Shoes can run over a hundred dollars.

A bag of feed is $9.95 and last 3 horses 2-3 days.

A round bale is $40 and lasts a couple of weeks.

A yearly Coggins test is $75 and up.

A vet visit to come to your place is $75 and up, plus whatever they are there for to treat your horse.

A trailer to haul your horse to the vet to save that $75 farm call can cost $2500 and up for a decent used trailer. Ours was $2900.

Our 36'x36' new barn cost us only $8,000 to build. Insurance appraised it for $30,000.

We have spent right under $10,000 in non climb 2"x4" horse wire, gates, T-posts, to fence, cross fence and cross fence some more, 8 acres. We need to buy a couple more gates and that just might push it over that 10K mark.

And this is so the grand kids can braid manes, tails, ride, play, and enjoy themselves. This is also so I can braid manes, tails, ride, play, feed, care for and see to their needs.

If you plan to show, get one of those loaded checkbooks that bleeds money.

More than you can imagine if you board & show a high maintenance horse. But emergencies can make you wish you never got a horse real quick. Some really do try to find new ways to kill themselves.

I have 2 minis & 2 ponies, I do next to nothing with them, no shows, trail ride one, they live at home & I trim them, they do not need shoes. But live on hay 24/7.

Vaccines depend on what you believe, where you live & where you go with them.
Board can cost 250-900 a month, with you still possibly paying a lot more for some extras.

If your horse needs special care, that racks up bills to heck super fast.

I forgot to add, ONE horse by itself is an unhappy, lonely horse. Horses are herd animals and do better with a friend.

The advice you've been given is solid. The average emergency vet bill ouris four figured. Keep that in mind.

OneFineAcre said:

I have no clue but I think that is a great answer

Click to expand...

It will be at home. We already have fencing so thats not included in the cost. We live in North FL.

We have several horses in our neighborhood. So it's not like he'd not see any. But we'd probably start with one horse. He can see can see them from his pasture.