Do you own a horse?

[psyknife]

I know some people on here own horses.

So, I'm thinking of adopting a horse from a horse rescue here in Illinois, but before I make up my mind I need a better understanding of what to expect.
I already know where I'd board the horse, I just don't know what the cost is yet.

If you own a horse, can you help me by providing insight to the following questions?

1.) How much is average housing costs (stable)?
2.) How much is average monthly food costs?
3.) What is the average annual vet bill?

Any other insight would be fabulous, as I want to make sure to  be fully educated before I make up my mind.  Thanks!

[kaoskat]

Not me! But I'll be watching in case it is decided you need sample horse pics so I'll get to see too! And congrats and good luck!

[ButtercreamDream]

I used to have a horse.  His board was $400-$500 per month (more expensive in the city, and less expensive the farther out you drive).  His food was included.  Vet bills were about $600/year, sometimes more as he needed his teeth floated frequently.  The ferrier was another $75 every 2 months...plus gas to get out to the barn, equipment costs (like blankets which get wrecked often).  There was transportaion for the horse, showing fees, training and lessons as well.  I must have spent at least $20,000, horse not included, over 4 years.  Finally, I got injured badly (not riding related), and I couldn't ride anymore.

When I moved out of my parents house, and started paying rent and food for myself, I couldn't afford to keep a horse that I couldn't ride, so I donated him to the stable.  He was a rescue in the first place, so I knew they would take good care of him.  I still miss him.

[Brightglowpony]

I adopted a rescue horse almost exactly a year ago, and she is the best thing to ever happen to me.  It is a whole lot of commitment (which I am sure you know) but absolutely worth it in my opinion.  It's bedtime for me now (shouldn't have been on in the first place, hehe) but tomorrow when I have more time to spend on here I'd be glad to share with you as much as I know    I know there are other people on here who have rescue horses too, so hopefully you can get some good insight




EDIT:  Ok forget sleep, I get so excited to talk about horses that I decided to type out answers to your questions now     I am sending you a pm since it is longer than I anticipated 

[joce]

1.) How much is average housing costs (stable)?
 Depends on full or part. Here anywhere from 275-1,000 for a top barn. You get what you pay for though.
I got so sick of finding a good barn here I brought them home. Only two barns had turn out here under 350/month. and they had more than ten horses /acre.
2.) How much is average monthly food costs?
  If you pay full board it should all be included. Here my hay is 2.50-3.00 per bale. in texas, california that may be 15-20 per bale. My three eat about two bales per day. I feed a ration balancer. A bit more expensive but you only feed one pound per day vs multiple pounds. I also feed the older mare hay cubes and some other stuff if you really want to hear about it. Balancer is 30 a bag maybe? can't remember.

3.) What is the average annual vet bill?
Depends! Horses wake up looking for ways to kill themselves. I am soooo lucky that I have had one emergency call in the last couple year. I keep 5,000 in the bank in case two colic at once or really screw themselves up. Insuring a horse is really only for one that is expensive.

 Farrier every six to eight weeks is anywhere from 40-100. Horse may need shoes or special corrective trimming like my guy did after he screwed his feet up. My bf learned from our farrier how to trim over the last couple years and we bought a hoof jack.

 My vet is very cheap and not normal. House call is about 40$ and emergency call 40 where other people would pay 400$. annual shots for all of them was about 200$ which again I got away very easy.

 I get a float done every year by a dentist. I will not use a vet again. The dentists are better. 80$ a horse. If older or really bad may need looked at more.

 
 Have you ridden before? Lessons are another thing that cost a lot. And just buying all the equipment to start up. 

  I could not imagine life without my little herd now but they are so much work and a good chunk of my check goes towards them even if I don't want to admit it.

 If you have any questions ask me! I'd be more than happy to answer them! I will come back and blab more tomorrow but have to go to bed!

 and even if you get a rescue still do a ppe(pre purchase exam) because you will be the one paying for its health issues and not the rescue. There are so many horses needing homes right now. You also have to be careful because there are bad rescue out there(one in indiana I can think of).

 Our older mare was skin and bones when we got her. Now she is all attitude!

[M!ndy]

Depends! Horses wake up looking for ways to kill themselves.

This is my experience too  Nicely put!

I'm no help on cost since I'm incredibly luck that "the farm" pretty much covers all my horse related costs... I can however, agree that money aside for emergency is a must! In the 3 years I've had my horses I've dealt with colic twice and more leg injuries than I'd like to remember - 1 of them quite serious/expensive! All this from ONE of my horses in particular because he just seems accident prone 

It can get very expensive to enjoy the love of a horse - but TOTALLY worth it!

[Eviecorn]

Wow ... I'm not a horse person so I never knew quite what was involved! 

[joce]

Ok a bit more time now lol!

 If you are just getting into horses or reentering the horse world I suggest leasing a horse for a while. with a lease you can work out what you will pay with the owner before you start it. Usually it is a six month to one year lease. Lately a lot of people are doing free leases! Heck if you were near me I would do a free lease-I have no time to work any of mine and I wish they had someone to work them!

 Usually if its a half lease its half the cost of board plus half or all the cost of farrier and you may have to pay for half of scheduled vet or all etc. You need to make sure its all in the contract. I would never agree to one that said I did all vet bills because how is it my fault a horse colics if the barn does not water enough or give enough hay and thats the barn owner chooses?

 This helps you learn costs and get you from dead beginner if thats where you are. I prefer a dead beginner horse anyway because you can throw anyone on them but many people buy them and then sell them six months later for  upgrade and in this economy its hard to do. I won't ride all through winter and jump on in spring and don't want to go flying.

 Also with an first horse get something that is safe and sane and older even if it is a conformational trainwreck and ugly as sin. You want to boost your confidence. Now if its something so bad conformationaly its going to be lame pass it up. But so many people get into horses and get thrown and get out fairly quickly. Even after riding for years a bad fall had me out for ten years and I still shake getting on.

  When you do go to buy take someone who knows horses with you. I have written up what to look for on a horse forum before. There is so much! If you decide to look let me know and I will tell you everything.

Do you know what type of horse you want? I have all stock breeds. I ride with people who have all gaited and its never been a problem for us. I am thinking of going gaited but my bf wants drafts.  Ride a gaited horse before you choose anything-it is amazing! even when they spook it seems to be smooth lol!

  What is your goal riding? Just to have fun trail riding or are you wanting to show english or western?  You will learn real quick that a lot of barns have a lot of politics to. You just have to tune some people out.

 Biggest thing my first vet told me is not to let the horse expect a routine. If a horse freaks because it is fed every am at 6am it will colic. Don't have the same schedule all the time,hard to do in a boarding barn though! Now for some horses that may not work. and of course the always have water that is not to hot not to cold and clean and I always try to have hay available. I use hay nets now in the stall,freedom feeders,won't let me copy and paste the link but you can google that. My one gelding is to destructive but it saves on hay with them peeing on it and lasts much longer. I have never had one colic on me thank god. And turn out turn out turn out. even if its a dry lot if they can just have hay scattered around and be moving it helps.

 My first horse was a crazy arabian gelding no kid should have had. He had skin allergies and bad feet and cost an extra 300 or so in vet bills a month and even 15 years ago was boarded at a show barn that was 400$ a month. But I was not just into trail riding back then. And they did not even do turn out there. He was miserable. Moved him to a cheaper barn with turn out and he was so much happier.

 And be careful buying tack. there is such awful cheap stuff out there that will hurt your horse and make them misbehave. I have saddles that came with my horses I need to sell but feel bad doing it because they are so cheap!



 And go join a horse forum. Google horse grooming supplies forum. Not everyone has a horse And your not that far away lol! Whats a couple of states- come to equine affaire this year! I am supposed to be saving money but I will hopefully be there at least two days! Great place to learn and so much to buy! We take friday off and get a hotel for the weekend.

[teresat]

Oh thank you for posting all of this info! And thanks for asking the question psyknife. So helpful!

[HavACrumpet452]

I don't own a horse yet, but I grew up with them in the family. I have to laugh at your question about annual vet bills. There is no annual vet bill like a dog getting their shots. Theres monthly care basically for a horse.

You have to keep their feet as perfect as possible because horses live their whole lives standing. One bad leg can be a death sentence for a horse and legs depend on feet.

Horses should be wormed every 8-10 weeks in general. They're grazers, they pick up parasites.

Depending on the age of the horse, they can need their teeth floated up to a year apart or sometimes even every few months. Plan on two times a year on average so you have the money.

Then you have colic. Colic is one of the leading causes of horse fatalities. Its estimated maybe 10% of horse get it yearly. Colic is a general gastrointestinal ailement causes by tons of things. Some are easy to treat, others require surgery. You have to know the signs of colic and be on it right away.

Horses are great, but I agree they aren't for people who don't have at least $20,000 in their bank account at any given time.

[joce]

 We don't worm like that anymore. Just take a sample in and see if they are clean or not. To much overworming going on. Worms were becoming immune to the wormer. Which I guess a fecal four times a year is in the cost but thats not very expensive. Drop it off at the vets and its 12$. On the rare instance they need wormed they will tell us what to worm for. Last time was when we bought the baby.

[psyknife]

The place I am checking out for adoption is this place -> http://www.illinoishorserescue.org/

I would, almost certainly, board the horse there for at least 6 months.  From the sounds of it, after visiting today, I'd basically fill out adoption papers and then go through a trial period... where they let me work with the horse, ride it, and see if we are a good fit and if we are comfortable with one another.  From what I can tell, their horses are all healthy and up to date on all medical attention.  After 6 months (sometime summer/fall) I'd want to move the horse to stables closer to me, since this place is a good hour and a half away.  The horse I'm looking at is Conceited.  I met her today and she's gorgeous... she's young, so a bit frisky, but they currently use her for their lessons and they say she's great at having riders.
I took many horse care classes/camps back in the day, as a girlscout, but it's been years... so, I'd definitely need re-schooling.  As for riding... I took many lessons when I was a kid and have just started up again.  So, I feel pretty confident up on horseback.

Thanks for all of the tips!


Here's a picture I took today... her mane is a bit muddy... mudlocks ;-)
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This is the picture from their website, where she's all nice and clean ;-)

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[joce]

Beautiful! But I'd never Reccomend a green horse to a green rider( kinda worried a rescue would)though we all do it lol! Is the price on her pic what they want for her? I don't mind rescues charging a lot but good god does her color bring a premium. I could find you one with great bloodlines and trained that much.  Horse prices are really down. I can get a well trained trail horse for 2,500.

  New horse people get taken advantage of a lot. Just be careful. It's not something we should let happen because we need more people involved in horses positively.

[psyknife]

joce... based on talking with them, basically, they are kind of in love with her, and they have that price on the website to scare away people who wouldn't be serious.  I know, already, that they'd at least cut that in half for me.  They'd mention having paperwork, too, for her being a pure bred Quarter Horse.