Horse care costs

[cwill]

I’m in Oregon, near Portland, and wanting to purchase a horse. How much do you figure it costs you for board, farrier, veterinary care, equine insurance, and a few schooling shows/clinics a year? I’m riding with a trainer and I’ve been talking to her about costs of all the various expenses. Basically, the only cost I know is what my trainer charges me for lessons and the part lease I currently do! I can’t board with my trainer as she doesn’t have any stalls open and also doesn’t have a lit arena. With my work schedule, I have to have a barn where I can ride when it’s dark out. I’d be needing full care board, as I travel a fair amount for work.

Thanks!

[Scribbler]

Your biggest cost will be the board, and that is very dependent on local costs and facilities.

I do self board in Canada and my easy keeper mare costs under $200 per month for hay, grain, and supplements. I expect prices in the USA are a little lower all around for feed.

Everything else you are paying for is someone to do the work, and the upkeep of the facility. Typically full board in a good facility can run from $500 to $1000. You are probably just going to have to go online and look at everything and make some phone calls locally to find out what prices are like right now in your town.

Farrier costs vary with the farrier plus whether you need special shoes. My horse is barefoot: very affordable. Your trainer should be able to direct you to a reputable farrier.

Vet costs vary with how accident prone your horse is. All I have needed so far are annual vaccines, annual teeth, and one $300 emergency colic call. But obviously horses with medical problems can run into thousands very quickly.

If you are wanting to stay with this trainer make sure you go to a barn that will allow visiting trainers. Many don’t.

The other things that are expensive are tack and riding gear. Good quality second hand working with an independent fitter is your best bet for a saddle but budget up to $2000 for a good second hand dressage saddle.

Anyhow, buy a healthy horse with no medical issues and keep him healthy. Then board will be your most negotiable cost.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

Don’t forget the things you can’t estimate/plan for… the thrown shoe, a bad abscess, the halter that you horse eats, the show you were so looking forward to that you can’t attend because of illness (and the entry fees you won’t get back), the blanket that gets trashed, the one bellboot that walked off, a sudden increase in monthly board, and the list goes on… make sure you have a good 2+ months board plus say another $500 + $1,000 in a horse/riding savings account for just these types of things that you can’t account for monthly. As you use the money, make sure to replenish it. These types of issues have a way of happening at the most inopportune times, and you don’t want to have an unplanned strain on your regular monthly budget.

[DressageD1va]

In Los Angeles for board, care, feed, training, regular vet maintenance and various expenses it runs us roughly $2,000-2,500 per month. That doesn’t include shows or bigger vet bills like teeth, hock injections of needed etc.

[kande04]

Depending on what you want for amenities, you can shop around and sometimes find what you need for much less if you don’t need the perks that others want that come with the higher costs.

I think it’s also quite common to start out thinking you want certain amenities, and then decide that you can do without some of them either so that you can afford others, or because you find you don’t use them, after all.

And then there’s commute distance to the barn, which often makes a huge difference in the cost of board, but may or may not be important to you.

[hoopoe]

I would say about 1500/month as an earmark. averaging in the costs of shoes vet care incidentals and the slow building of needs,like TO blankets and bug spray hoof care etc. I agree heartily with kande that you need to factor in the cost of getting to and from the barn. Gas costs mount up Best place to start would be finding out what kind of board / train package your trainer has

[right_horse_at_the_right_time]

$2500 monthly easily.

[2DogsFarm]

https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=horse_boarding&find_loc=Portland%2C+OR

Costs vary (widely!) from area to area, so my info - Midwest - will not be relevant.
My horses have been home for the last 15yrs, last board I paid was $325/mo & I expect that has gone up.
Purchase price of the horse is the least of your expenses.
Does your lease include vet & shoer?
If not, talk to the pros currently doing these services for your lease so you can get an idea of the costs.
And - as others mention - always factor in unseen/emergency costs.

[elleng0728]

1700 to 1800 month in Plantation FL

[MysticOakRanch]

Find a couple of boarding facilities and ask about full-care board. That needs to include turn out, blanketing/unblanketing, holding for farrier and vet, etc if you can’t make it there. Some barns charge extra for those services. The cost of board can vary SO MUCH, it is hard to say. Where I am, that would be about $600/month give or take $100 either way. But traveling a few hours any direction, and it can vary from as low as $300 to as high as $1500. So - there you go, first question is board cost.

Shoeing - ask your trainer’s farrier what he charges for (1) basic shoes, (2) common speciality shoes. You will see the price varies depending on what the horse needs. Most horses need to be shod every 5 to 6 weeks. Farriers charge significantly different prices even within the same market - I pay $125 for a basic shoeing - in my area, farriers charge from $75 to $300 for a basic shoeing.

Supplements/maintenance - does the horse need its hocks injected, SI injected, is it on oral supplements, monthly injections, etc? A healthy horse may just need a pound of ration balancer every month (figure $25/month), or it may need more - if you add hock injections, Adequan or Pentosan, and a few orals, you can quickly hit $100 to $200/month.

Vet bills - all goes well, yay! Then you need shots and basic exam twice a year, and dental annually - about $350 (ranges quite a bit). But here is reality - something always happens. A strained tendon, an eye ulcer, stitches - and sometimes something major - like colic surgery. So - figure you insure your horse for major events, $1,000/year (varies by horses’ value, so could be more, could be less), plus an extra $1,000/year in regular vetwork, minor things. Or, skip the insurance and put away a set amount into a savings account every month for potential vet bills.

Tack - you will need a saddle, a bridle and bit(s), halter and lead, blanket and sheet, horse boots, grooming kit, buckets, clippers - and perhaps a basic vet kit. Get on line and figure that out, the saddle alone can range from $500 to $8,000. You MAY be able to buy a horse that comes with some tack, so there is that…

Excluding the tack and equipment, your costs could range from $800/month to $3,000/month.

Showing and lessons extra… If you are showing rated shows - then there are all the memberships for you and your horse. Then going to a show - do you stable, or haul in and out? One day, or multiple days? Stay in a hotel? Trainer coaching, or not? Rated or schooling shows?

So many variables! The horse alone - could be anywhere from $2,500 to $100,000 - or more! And don’t forget to factor in a pre-purchase exam - with xrays, that is going to be $1,000 to $2,500…

[emipou]

@DressageD1va

In Los Angeles for board, care, feed, training, regular vet maintenance and various expenses it runs us roughly $2,000-2,500 per month. That doesn’t include shows or bigger vet bills like teeth, hock injections of needed etc.

I think that heavily depends. Also in LA, board plus care plus full training goes more in the range of $1200 - 1500 where I am. And you can go to other places and probably do it even cheaper.

It all just depends OP. It would be best for you to get a list of facilities/trainers where you are and to shop around a bit, especially if you travel a lot. You should get a feel for each place and weigh the pros and cons of trusting your horse’s care in another person’s hands. You might find one place that runs you 1200/mo with all care and costs, but decide to go for the place that’s 1800/mo strictly because it feels like a ‘safer’ option to you.

[netg]

@DressageD1va

In Los Angeles for board, care, feed, training, regular vet maintenance and various expenses it runs us roughly $2,000-2,500 per month. That doesn’t include shows or bigger vet bills like teeth, hock injections of needed etc.

Whereas that’s more my price range for three horses in at least some level of training!

[horsepoor]

I think you have to look at boarding barns in your area and get an idea of where you want to be and how much it will cost. As others mentioned above, commute cost can factor in to that as well. Maybe talk to some other trainers in the area where you want to be and see what they can tell you about costs for board/training/showing. Board costs are so area specific, I don’t think you’ll get much help here on COTH, but better to compare actual barns in your area.

I’m across the river in Washington state and paying ~$600/mo for board at a decent but not super fancy facility. I also spend another $200/mo or so in just gas driving back and forth as I go often and it is a longer drive. But our choices over here are slim. In Portland, I’d be expecting to pay more, and perhaps have more and better choices, but I honestly haven’t compared prices lately (too much traffic for me to consider having to make that drive these days).

[BayWatch]

Emergency and diagnostic vet bills have been my largest expense during the last 8 years of ownership. My older gelding can be counted on to have some crazy ailment that runs me mid 4 figures at least once a year. 1 year it was impaling himself on a fence, this year was EPM treatment, years before that have been various NQR soundness issues or lymes.

[DressageD1va]

@emipou

I think that heavily depends. Also in LA, board plus care plus full training goes more in the range of $1200 - 1500 where I am. And you can go to other places and probably do it even cheaper.

It all just depends OP. It would be best for you to get a list of facilities/trainers where you are and to shop around a bit, especially if you travel a lot. You should get a feel for each place and weigh the pros and cons of trusting your horse’s care in another person’s hands. You might find one place that runs you 1200/mo with all care and costs, but decide to go for the place that’s 1800/mo strictly because it feels like a ‘safer’ option to you.

Agreed regarding heavy variation in cost. But I think the saying “you get what you pay for” does also carry a bit of weight. That doesn’t mean that the most expensive barn with the most expensive trainer is automatically the best. I pay more for extra care and more expensive food and more frequent feedings so that I have less of a chance of surprise vet bills. I sought out the best trainer I could afford in my area and so far I’ve notice very few injuries to horses or humans so that ends up costing less. The barn is quite close to my house so gas is cheaper. The costs that are hard costs may be higher than some places but but my horse is consistently healthy and sound (knock on wood) and I can trust 100% that the care and services I’m paying for are happening.

[Scribbler]

If you travel a lot for work you will need a place that can do all care, vet and farrier, plus an exercise option.

Here are possibilities:

Full training board where a trainer schools your horse 4 or 5 days a week in your absence. Most expensive option!

Full board with a half time leaser in the same program as you, to defray costs plus get horse out.

Pasture board where horse can run free in your absence. Much cheaper, horse will be happy, but you will progress more slowly as horse will only be ridden intermittently.

Really it depends on how much money you have to throw at the hobby.

I spend about $400 a month between stall rental and feed, but I am not on a show track.

I make a decent salary but could never afford a $2000 full training barn. For those that can, its an excellent way to do horses competitively despite not a lot of free time.

My biggest single one time expense is my truck and trailer.

[Pico_Banana]

Wow, I can’t believe you’re actually getting responses from people. I try very, very hard never to think about all of my monthly horse costs all at once. Heaven forbid to multiply it by 12.

[emipou]

@Pico Banana

Wow, I can’t believe you’re actually getting responses from people. I try very, very hard never to think about all of my monthly horse costs all at once. Heaven forbid to multiply it by 12.

It’s what prevented me from stepping up from a half-lease situation to a free WB with no string attached. I could not be gone enough to not have full training (thanks a bunch DH) and the full training + board was juuuuust too much for me.

[Edre]

Research, research, research!

as you can tell, the price point of standard services is highly variant. Geography (access to local quality hay and areas that aren’t under a development squeeze) is huge. Closer you are to a big city, the higher your costs will be. Likewise, the further you get from large areas of hay growing land, prices go up.

Before I purchased my current horse I rigorously shopped around at barns. How you search may vary - I knew specific instructors I would be willing to work with (and others who I am uninterested in riding with). That created a list of barns to call. From there, asked about what board covered at each place - some barns are on a “one board bill, all things covered” billing plan. Others are not. They will cite a quote for board but that does not include turn out (the most common situation I run into). So make sure you get in writing what your check actually covers.

Likewise, you can shop around for vets and farriers. Some fees are ones you can anticipate (annual coggins, vaccines) so you can ask vets what they charge for that. (For farriers, ask about what they charge for a trim, resetting 2 shoes, and 4 shoes. Some horses may need special shoeing packages but hopefully you know that at time of purchase and can inquire of farriers at that point both if they can maintain that package and what they would charge to do so).

at the end of the day though, you can only do your best to “ballpark” (training fees, lesson fees, show fees), and that may seem doable but horses often laugh at our attempts at fiscal responsibility. One thorough diagnostics investigation can run up a heck of a bill. Likewise, an untimely kick or head toss may score an expensive injury (and rehab). Take these things into consideration as well - insurance is an option but how useful it is can be highly personal (and even if you don’t do insurance, I’m a huge advocate of chucking several hundred dollars every month into a rainy day account - if the sum gets excessive you can splurge and buy a nice piece of tack, but keeping money like that on hand for any emergency brings me a great deal of comfort).

[exploding_pony]

It really varies greatly and it depends on whether everything is going ok or there is a vet issue.

Typical month for me (this is for two of my horses, boarded in the SF Bay Area):
Board: $1730 (this includes $150 for parking truck and trailer)
Blanketing, graining, turnout, grooming (I have them groomed a couple of days a week as I ride before work and can’t get them both done in time): $400
Lessons: $400

Additional:
Farrier: $350 every six weeks
Massage: $300 every other month
Vet: Heaven help me, highly variable

Misc:
Tack, fuel costs to go to clinics, show fees, etc.