I certainly feel everyone’s pain here. I’m a one-horse owner, always have been. Always been a boarder, and have been happy to be so.
But now? I’m in my mid 50’s. Retirement is looming, can’t get around it. If it can be cut, I already have. I am not a ‘one woman show’ either; I’ve got a husband and one kid left at home.
This past month alone was $2k in vet bills. Plus all the ordinary things. On a retiree income? Ain’t gonna happen.
Boarding is astronomical, IF you can find it. Land and home prices are soaring, it doesn’t matter where you live. Hay, vet, farrier…
DH keeps saying he wants us to find property where I can bring my horse home. First, I am not taking on that kind of financial obligation in retirement. Second, he hasn’t a clue what he’d be getting into.
With everything that I’ve seen and the money I’ve spent on “lame horses” over the last 16+ years, I don’t know that any of this is sustainable. And it makes me sad. I was a horse crazy kid. I’ve earned every last bit of knowledge I have, and I’ve tried to pass it along where I could. To have it ripped away, because why??? It seems like every little “thing” you try to carve out for yourself, no matter how small it is, gets ripped away from you because it becomes unaffordable. Until all that’s left is existence. Not living, not enjoying, just existing. And even that becomes wildly unaffordable, if you dare to have any health issues.
The whole situation just makes me very sad.
If they are in health decline that’s one thing, it’s another if the horse is still doing great and it’s just being put down so someone can show another horse. I’m speaking specifically to that.
I can’t imagine putting a show season over a life.
There are shades of gray in the middle of that too.
My farrier and I were talking about this the other day. 20 years ago,he’d walk into any barn and find it bustling with kids and teenagers. Today, the demographic has largely been replaced with high income middle-aged women. The local 4-H program has just a fraction of active horse-project members as it used to, it’s quite sad…
When I was growing up, my family was able to comfortably take care of, board, and show 3 horses (including gas/hotel for out of town events). I came across an old board invoice from 2000. We were paying $75 for pasture board (sub irrigated pasture that horses could eat 24/7 for 5 months out of the year, and $150 for full care in the winter months. In today’s dollars,that would amount to $134 and $267, respectively. I board my gelding at a no-frills facility for just under $300/month, but most places start at $400, the fancier barns are charging upwards of $600-700. Vet, farrier, feed, and other miscellaneous (supplies, supplements, etc) have also skyrocked beyond the pace of wage growth for most people. I am in my early 30s have a 4 year old gelding. I love him to death and am committed to caring for him his entire life, but I have also come to terms with the fact that he will likely be my last horse (assuming that he lives a long live, hopefully!). I can afford to do just a handful of local shows, but am truly just thankful to have a horse in my life at all; Just going out to the barn to be with him is enough for me.
Very timely thread.
I retired in 2013 & have 3 - horse, pony & mini - on my 5ac farmette.
I’ve been hanging on, sometimes the ice gets really thin.
Like this month.
I made the probably financially foolish decision to rehab my everyday Driving cart last month.
I did some shuffling to pay for that, then yesterday got the 1st RE Tax bill… Up by $200 for the 1st installment 
April is going to be a Bare Cupboards month for me.
Horses, chickens & housecats will eat.
I cook a lot & inexpensively.
I have a hayguy neighbor & we barter for my year’s supply.
Recently found a source for free bedding 
But prices continue to go 
on everyday needs.
I expect my monthly Budget gas/electric bill to go up & groceries are a roulette wheel lately.
Minor house repairs that are inconveniences, not safety issues will be delayed.
I don’t go out much. Every other week I treat a friend to lunch, she picks up the tab on the alternate week.
I can’t recall the last time I bought any clothing or shoes not from Goodwill.
Not a big sacrifice, as a local Goodwill has nice stuff. & Once a month a Senior 50% off day.
I’m planning to sell my pretty little wood showcart.
Not that interested in showing, BTDT doing Hunters years ago.
ADS shows are fun, but most are too far for me to go by myself & Driving friends aren’t interested.
Mini is the baby @ 8yo.
Pony is 23 - healthy as… Well, you know 
Horse is around 20, also {KnockWood} sound.
I think mini has a home when I go 
The other 2 will be euthed as both are quirky enough so a good re-home is not assured.
It’s tough, but so far doable.
I am the Grasshopper to other’s Ants
Current costs are shocking. Even comparing to just a few years ago, we’re paying almost 300% more for hay and farrier; feedstuffs that we’ve purchased for years have increased around 35% the last couple of years. Between what we paid summer 2021 as compared to a few months later in that fall, trade costs (plumber, electrician, etc.) skyrocketed, and they’re never coming down. I don’t think all of this can be blamed on supply chain issues or simply due to the 10% (or whatever) inflation – the increases have been far greater than the rate of inflation.
After decades of just the ordinary, expected veterinary costs, I’ve spent $5400 in a three month period (and there’s more to come) – about a third for treatment with the other two-thirds for diagnostic, and that was the discounted cash price. It was possible because we’re still working, but I won’t be able to spend this kind of money every year, and certainly not in another few years from now.
I am thankful that my horses are kept at our paid-for home, with horse amenities that broke even years ago. I’ve been able to have horses all my life – including during the early 70s oil embargo (talk about sudden skyrocketing inflation!) – and brought three horses to college with me when I was a scholarship student. I boarded up to four horses before we bought our place, at a partial self-care barn (boarders provided desired feed and bedding, barn provided hay).
I had up to two lessons/week for decades, with the occasional clinic with a BNT, even imported horses twice and went to Europe to ride multiple times, and spectated at the World Equestrian Games, the Olympics, the World Cup, etc. Impossible to duplicate nowadays. Lessons alone have gone up 200 to 250% as compared to what I paid for extremely qualified trainers (rated judges, people who were popular clinicians, etc.) a dozen years ago.
All on a moderate income, made possible because this was our one big splurge – no other vacations, old vehicles, infrequent dining out, doing everything we possibly could ourselves, along with the very important fact that I’ve only had healthy, long-lived, barefoot, non-destructive, non-accident prone horses that I could start and train myself.
I always thought that I’d be riding off into the sunset of my years, having known a few people riding well up into their mid-80s. But when my sister asked me my plans, a few years ago, I told her that’s not going to happen. I have my last two horses, both homebreds – I look at them and can still see their mothers, sires, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and siblings.
I prefer not to think of how much I’ll miss having my own horses when my two old boys are gone, but of how fortunate I’ve been to share my life with them and all the others for so long. Of course it’s hard, but what is the alternative? Never to have gone down this road at all?
I do feel sorry for all the horse-crazy little girls who will never get a pony (and all the parents who will be unable to fulfill their daughters’ dreams). It was a halcyon time, and I’m determined not to throw myself a pity party.
As someone who has never considered the kinship between horses and humans a “hobby,” I’ve crunched some numbers to get clearer on how our arguably anachronistic and vital pastime has been a canary in the US economic coalmine for going on 40 years.
Because I want to avoid broaching politics here in Horse Care, would anyone follow me over to Current Events? Others, @CowgirlCoffee, @Obsidian_Fire, et al, already alluded to horses having once been a middle class interest. I would argue the OP’s and others’ current distress are signs of the growing gap between the working class and the wealthy here in the US.
Partly because my son is a 22 y.o. farrier who loves his job, and partly because hominids have a 45,000 history of incorporating horses into culture, does anyone else think it’s worth talking about what systemic change we would need to maintain our toehold in this dual-species world? I’d love to hear from people outside the US whose social safety net is still somewhat intact, and who have yet to jettison their equine obsession.
I’ll check back to see whether there’s any interest. This thread has totally made riding my horse today Job One. 
Gosh, me too. A couple years ago, my boarding stable had a lesson program. There was no shortage of horse-crazy kids coming in for lessons. They begged their parents to be able to stay for hours at the barn, cleaning stalls and conditioning tack. I talked with a couple parents. They secretly hoped that their child’s interest would wane soon because they could only afford lessons. Owning or even leasing a horse was out of the question. These could be our next vets, farriers, trainers, instructors. but most of them will never be able to realize their passion because of finances.
One of our godsons is a recent vet school graduate. His family has horses, and he also loved cows; always had a interest in large animals (worked with a vet I still use during high school).
But he’s joined a small animal practice, because of the money (vet school is hundreds of thousands), and because large animals would be physically much more demanding.
I know there was a thread awhile back about the cost of vet care. I do NOT begrudge my vet for the cost, but in the last year the costs were staggering. It has convinced me not to get another dog. I don’t need one anyway, but it would be a home for a homeless dog. And I will say I took my favorite cat to the vet about a month ago. It is a large practice and there are many vets. I only know a couple. And they do not wear tags so I have to ask who they are. Anyway, Dickens had a swollen foot, couldn’t put any weight on it at all. I took him in and the vet I saw, I had never seen before. She barely looked at his foot-did I want x-rays? eh, no, couldn’t really put a splint on a back paw I don’t think. She gave him a steroid shot and a rabies vaccine and it was $160. Of course I paid it, and I wont stop going, but he was fine in a day or so, Next time I wont be quick to go.
I don’t begrudge the cost, either. The vets and staff have been wonderful with my boys. But it’s still a lot of money.
I am in a similar situation. Lots of vet bills and dwindling income… So I’m trying to make a decision on my next career move. Do I go back for a Master’s degree (and if so in what field?) And I’m hunting for a new job. Probably will need the job first and then decide what to do from there. If I could relocate my job prospects would be better, but I can’t afford board for 4 horses. So that limits my career choices to something in this area or the surrounding areas. Fortunately the land is paid for (it’s not as much land as I would prefer but it’s adequate).
I may need to look for remote work. Yes I could make further cuts- send the oldest mare on a lease to someone looking for a pasture buddy, but I am not that badly off yet. If I can’t secure a better position then I will have to consider other options.
My local equine vet has lost me as a client. She drives a fancy sports car and is taking in the income, but the quality of care has gotten so poor, I’m better off going elsewhere. I have not had good experiences with them and their prices have gotten rather expensive.
Really it’s tough to be a good pet owner… But we are also capable of doing so much more medically… What would require euthanasia in the rest of the world is something treatable here.
As I said earlier I did not replace my horses when they died because of the effects I foresaw from the human population growth.
Now it is the veterinary costs that have me telling myself NO when I think of getting any animal, horses, dogs, cats, birds or anything else. When I first got into owning animals veterinary care was not up to the level of human medicine. Now it is, and we all know how expensive human medical care is.
I do not blame the veterinarians, they are doing what many animal owners want. But I noticed 25 years ago when my 33 year old heart horse had a twisted gut (first case of colic in his life) that the veterinarians were getting more reluctant to put a suffering horse down when they can do an operation. That damn veterinarian REFUSED to put my horse down, said to “wait and see”. Well I could not afford a $6,000 operation on a 33 year old horse that was not going to live that much longer anyway. Later that day I called the vet office again, another vet from that office came out, insisted on doing the diagnosis stuff again, talked up the operation and I had to BEG HIM to put the most wonderful being ever in my life, the one I loved more than anybody human or animal, down.
After several more hundred dollars of cost he finally did the deed. Something broke in me that day and is a big reason I realized that the days of me being definitely able to own horses was disappearing.
Major colic surgery on a 33 year old horse? That is insane.
IMO, part of the increase in costs of horse ownership is that the Standard of Care is so much higher than it was in the past. I can remember when a low to mid-teens horse was considered older, and a twenty year old was ancient. We know so much more now, and there is much more that can be done to maintain a horse now – both its useful life, and beyond that in retirement – and, of course, that costs something.
Tagging back in on the cost of vet care for all pets. Again, I don’t think my vet is charging too much rather I can’t afford too many pets’ vet bills. I have a 12 yo cat and a 5.5 yo dog. Once they cross the bridge, I will not have any more small animal pets. I will focus on horses until I’m either too old, too crippled or too poor to have horses. I love my house pets but realistically I know that I can’t afford all the things.
back in the early 2000s we got an Old pony who was said to be about 25 when he came here, this pony finally was humanly euthanized after he got down in his run in stall and could not get back up…best guess he was 45… and he was not wanting to go even when it was the only thing that could be done for him. For the last three years he had been fed a mash of senior feed four times a day. He was kept here at home so his specialized care was do able
Actually, I have a friend (who truly rescued a horse from a bad situation) who did colic surgery on a horse she thought was 22. While he was on the table, they were able to read his tattoo …he was 32 and lived into his early 40s! Financially, she was very comfortable so there was no economic concern.
However, what you had to go through for your beloved horse was horrific.
Canada’s Ian Millar’s great horse Big Ben, best I remember, had two colic surgeries in his mid teens and came back from both to still compete in GP.
He died at 23 after a third severe colic.
I’m on the East coast. I consider myself (or at least used to) middle class. I retired over 10 years ago and was looking forward to being able to spend more time riding and with my horses, SInce I retired, board in this area has increased almost $750 per month. Low end board (with an indoor is $1500/per month with only a few hours of turnout. Can go as high as $3000+. Even backyard barns (literally back yards) are charging $800-900 per month. Just dirt turnout and a small ring. There are no field board options. I have a horse in retirement, who must have a stall, who costs $700 per month. Add in trims, supplements and his necessary meds and it averages about another $100 or so a month.
I actually had to find a part time job to supplement my income in order to continue to ride.
Barns are being sold left and right to development. Trails have pretty much disappeared in this area except for the state and county parks. And those are joint usage trails, shared by dirt bikers, joggers, cross country runners, dog walkers, hikers, etc. I know it’s a case of supply and demand, but this was the first winter I saw stables with indoor rings advertising for boarders. In this area, there used to be a waiting list for winter stalls, so I know a percentage of riders have either disappeared or just given up for the winter…
School horse programs are disappearing. Many barns in the area require you to lease a horse from them after a few lessons. When I was taking lessons back in the late 60s, lessons were $15. Now, half hour lessons are between $75-100, and hourly lesson are $125 and up… I understand the economics and I’m appreciative that I was able to have so many wonderful horse experiences before all the development, big expenses and high taxes came so limiting. I’m sorry the nest generation of horse crazy kids won’t.
You are right that this broaches politics. There was more I would’ve said but didn’t want to head down that rabbit hole.
