Wanting a pony - upkeep

[Overthinking]

Howdy,

I want to get my kid a pony. There's tons of stuff to know so I want to take this one step at a time.

First thing I want to understand

Costs
What costs are there? Feed and medical and such. Not so much the one time costs but upkeep.

We may be able to raise a little hay and we won't be boarding.

Seems I'll have some hay and probably bags of feed. Alfalfa pellets or something?

Help me understand the costs please, thank you

 

[Overthinking]

Like
Farrier every 8 weeks - $30?
Teeth float - once a year - $?
Dewormer - every six months?
How much feed a month
Etc

Thank you

 

[Alaskan]

Howdy,

I want to get my kid a pony. There's tons of stuff to know so I want to take this one step at a time.

First thing I want to understand

Costs
What costs are there? Feed and medical and such. Not so much the one time costs but upkeep.

We may be able to raise a little hay and we won't be boarding.

Seems I'll have some hay and probably bags of feed. Alfalfa pellets or something?

Help me understand the costs please, thank you

Farrier costs are all over the board.... best to see what your local costs are.

As to how often... we needed the farrier out every 6 to 8 weeks... but we have close to zero rocks, and our horses were barefoot.

If you have a bunch of rocks they might only need a look over once every 3 to 4 months.

As to worming.... depends on the horses (ponies), themselves... some animals are more susceptible than others, and some properties are wormier. We wormed twice a year when moving pasture.

We never had to float teeth.

So... we had the vet out when we first got the horses... we had him out when we were having trouble with one of them... but we did NOT have him out once a year.

As to feed... HUGE price difference if you can store the hay, or if you have to buy it as you need it. Buying it from the field on the day the farmer is bailing is maybe 1/3 the cost.

If you are going to store hay for a year or more, it needs to be kept out of sun, with great ventilation, and no moisture.

Most ponies are easy keepers. An easy keeper usually needs just good hay (not alfalfa, but coastal or timothy, etc.) with a small handfull of horse pellets. Alfalfa or grain would make them get fat, founder, or whatever bad.

Of course, if you get one that is NOT an easy keeper then you are buying fancy supplements and mixing feed and worrying about the silly beast. So... you might have to find the animal you want, ask what it is being fed, and THEN calculate costs.

All of the tack is pretty spendy, but yes, only one time fees.

A horse trainer to come to your place would be a weekly fee. . But you need to see what that costs in your area.

Every spring our pony would do a stupid and sprain his hind end. So every spring we paid for a horse lady to come out and massage his hind end back into position. That was about 3 visits every spring.

Every summer the kids would try to take the pony to kid/pony camp. I forget how much that cost. Also we would schlep him to the horse/pony clinic in town

So then there is the cost of maintaining a vehicle large enough to pull a trailer, the trailer maintenance and tag fees...OR the headache of borrowing or renting that stuff every time you want to haul the animal.

And don't forget that kids grow. We had a Caspian. Spirited little beast, I guess similar to an Arabian. But the kids enjoyed him. Super easy keeper, willing to please, and a horse sized middle, so more comfortable to sit on.

 

[Alaskan]

Oh... we also provided a mineral block, and had to supplement with nutritional yeast to counteract the horsetail in their pasture...

Mineral block lasted longer than a year. I think we went through 5 pounds of animal grade nutritional yeast per year for 2 animals.

Also, up here we need to give selenium and copper.

 

[Overthinking]

Thank you,

Sounds like ferrier and feed is the main thing, and it will be mostly hay and a little bit of pellets.

My truck is a 4.8l v8 so i assume i can pull a little pony trailer. I'll buy a trailer soon.

I wonder how much hay it would eat, i just asume a square bail a day. If it starts looking fat or thin we'll make adjustments

Thanks for the help. Ima make a new post for shelter and coral and such

Farrier costs are all over the board.... best to see what your local costs are.

As to how often... we needed the farrier out every 6 to 8 weeks... but we have close to zero rocks, and our horses were barefoot.

If you have a bunch of rocks they might only need a look over once every 3 to 4 months.

As to worming.... depends on the horses (ponies), themselves... some animals are more susceptible than others, and some properties are wormier. We wormed twice a year when moving pasture.

We never had to float teeth.

So... we had the vet out when we first got the horses... we had him out when we were having trouble with one of them... but we did NOT have him out once a year.

As to feed... HUGE price difference if you can store the hay, or if you have to buy it as you need it. Buying it from the field on the day the farmer is bailing is maybe 1/3 the cost.

If you are going to store hay for a year or more, it needs to be kept out of sun, with great ventilation, and no moisture.

Most ponies are easy keepers. An easy keeper usually needs just good hay (not alfalfa, but coastal or timothy, etc.) with a small handfull of horse pellets. Alfalfa or grain would make them get fat, founder, or whatever bad.

Of course, if you get one that is NOT an easy keeper then you are buying fancy supplements and mixing feed and worrying about the silly beast. So... you might have to find the animal you want, ask what it is being fed, and THEN calculate costs.

All of the tack is pretty spendy, but yes, only one time fees.

A horse trainer to come to your place would be a weekly fee. . But you need to see what that costs in your area.

Every spring our pony would do a stupid and sprain his hind end. So every spring we paid for a horse lady to come out and massage his hind end back into position. That was about 3 visits every spring.

Every summer the kids would try to take the pony to kid/pony camp. I forget how much that cost. Also we would schlep him to the horse/pony clinic in town

So then there is the cost of maintaining a vehicle large enough to pull a trailer, the trailer maintenance and tag fees...OR the headache of borrowing or renting that stuff every time you want to haul the animal.

And don't forget that kids grow. We had a Caspian. Spirited little beast, I guess similar to an Arabian. But the kids enjoyed him. Super easy keeper, willing to please, and a horse sized middle, so more comfortable to sit on.

 

[Overthinking]

I have a crappy hay field, any tips on what seed i might try and put down?

 

[Alaskan]

I wonder how much hay it would eat, i just asume a square bail a day. If it

I don't think it would eat a bale a day.... of course a good hay feeder where it can't waste the hay would help reduce the amount you need.

I have a crappy hay field, any tips on what seed i might try and put down?

Depends.... why is it crappy?

Where are you again? Did you say you are in Texas? There used to be a company called Texas Seed that sold a few different choices of pasture mix.

You can always stop by your local extension office. They should for free (our tax dollars at work), come out and look at your field and tell you your options.

What you can grow there depends abunch on the kind of soil you have,the amount of rocks you have... and if you can irrigate.

There are a bunch of grasses that REALLY need to be babied in the seedling stage, but once past that are hardy.

 

[Baymule]

Horses and ponies are herd animals and do better with a friend. How do you feel about 2? Or maybe a horse for yourself so you can ride together.