I think this is a topic everyone has to think about. I’m interested in how everyone affords horses, whether you just have them for fun or if you are a serious competitor. Do you work long hours? Unique jobs? Would love to see how we all make it through this sport!
Serious competitor (although my discipline is very inexpensive compared to most others) with 2 horses actively competing, 1 horse hopefully rehabbing back into it and 1 horse fully retired. I both work long hours and have kind of a unique job ( I work at a wholesale tree nursery, own a nursery brokerage and am the GM for 3 garden centers). I also am a DIYer when it comes to a lot of horse stuff- self care board, etc
1 horse retired, 1 rehabbing, in the process of purchasing #3. Serious dressage competitor. I’m a lawyer and work long hours to pay for them. DH is in finance. We need to live in a very high CoL area to have the jobs we do, which earn the money to afford the horses, which are even more stupidly expensive in said high CoL area. shrug
I have a job that pays well and I keep one horse in a low cost self board barn despite being in a high cost of living area. My big splurge is to keep a truck as second vehicle and a trailer. Keeping my basic expenses low means I can take as many lessons and clinics as I want and compete a bit if I want to.
I don’t think I could afford to be a serious competitor at rated shows at the level of support I would need, which would mean an expensive made horse and a training barn. However i very much enjoy doing a variety of things with my horse, and being very hands-on and DIY.
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There have been many, many discussions of this question, including at least one quite recently. Look though Off Course, Hunter/Jumper, and Off Topic and you will find them.
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I worked hard for just under 50 years and was prudent with my money. Now I can spend some of my children’s inheritance on fun stuff for me!!! 
G.
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Not something to be discussed in polite society. I never discussed it when I owned a yacht. “If you have to ask how much it costs you can’t afford it.” attributed to JP Morgan. Same for the horse, except when I bought him the monthly board was cheaper than the monthly boat payment. Sold the boat. He is 25, living off a small monthly payment from my pension. I expect to be horse-poor for several more years.
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Same here, but now in the Nothing’s Ever Simple Department we have to figure out how to spend our retirement without running out before we die!
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I work a job that pays well, after years of experience and I took every opportunity to earn extra (I’m a teacher). I groomed for my trainer when I was much younger to defray show bills. I have a side hustle that covers my retired horse’s care and feeding. I buy good quality tack and take good care of it. I have been lucky to buy horses and sell them for more than I paid over the years, thus leaving me with more $$ to buy my next one. I can retire my horses at home which also makes it easier.
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I have a good secure job in healthcare where I can choose to take call to make extra money. I use the “extra” for showing. Helps that I’m married and my hubby has a good job too. It allows us to use a large chunk of what I make to pay for a full care hunter/jumper program, farrier, & vet etc. Absolutely stretching the budget means I can do maybe 5 A shows a year. I try not to mentally add-up the costs because it’s insane, but it truly is what makes me happy.
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Outside sales rep … commissioned sales… made very good money that had me maxing social security for many years … today wife spends that check on the horses
Now I work long hours each day every day taking care of those things that my wife spends my money on
(Also has helped that the stock market has gained so much in the last four years and today up 1,294 points or 5 percent in what is the biggest point gain ever… I claim that since I threw a bunch of money in today after last week’s 3,500 fall)
My ex-dh and I bought a farm when we made out really well in the sale of our house at the peak of housing boom (2005). The horses and feed were never very expensive in comparison to the general farm expenses we were already paying, but I was never a serious competitor (Kids did 4-H, we did a few small shows, etc). Now I own the farm on my own and most of my horses are just retired pasture puffs. As they die of old age I probably won’t replace them…not because of cost but more because of time (or lack thereof).
DIY. have a small piece of land, free lease extra pasture from neighbor in exchange for the maintenance of it. Built our barn and stalls by collecting damaged goods bundles from local lumber yards. Built our own fences, post by post, board by board. Excavated our own arena space with a neighbor’s help with his dozer. Trucked the footing. Pick up and handle all the hay out of the field driving behind the baler in the fields, stacking it on an old flat bed trailer ourselves. Fixed an old elevator to run up into loft storage, used to hand throw it up there. Cheaper than a gym membership. Year round repairs to keep an old age tractor and bush hog running. If it’s broke we fix it. Have a 50+ yr old dump truck that has a dip stick in the tank for a gas gauge… picked up and hauled our own saw dust for yrs. Bought high quality used tack, resold most for more. Bought a nice horse trailer for a spring inventory sale bargain price. Have used it for 24 yrs. It’s only cost me one set of new tires.
I make due where it counts and it has allowed me to do some breeding and have quite a nice horse collection thru the yrs. And even those are economics. I have a good eye for a strong sound horse. We feed plain and simple and the horses are mostly out 24/7.
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I moved to my own horse property 13 years ago. I now have 4 horses, 2 at home and 2 at my trainer’s place. I couldn’t afford to board 4.
Honestly, the reason I can afford it is I have no debt. House, truck, trailer, tractor are all paid for. I have investment income and Social Security, and go to about 5 shows a year, plus trail riding extensively when I can and the weather allows. When I turned 65 and started on Medicare I got rid of my biggest expense, health insurance.
When my husband died I had a crash course in financial planning, and 20 years later it’s worked out pretty well. I don’t live extravagantly, don’t take big vacations, etc. But I have an active horse life and good health.
Knock wood.
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This. I work FT and take OT when I have specific financial goals (building a chicken coop, for example, or purchasing fencing materials). I keep all my horses at home because it was cheaper or the same to board plus own a nice home as it was to buy land and build a farm. I have no other major costs beyond my farm and a car payment.
Wait…what? We are supposed to afford them? If that is the case, I am doing it all wrong!
Sheilah
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I married a doctor.
Although, when the doctor and I met, I made significantly more than he did. I worked in sales for a large company in the equine industry. I worked my butt off, made great commissions and had great benefits like a stipend that covered the cost of my car.
I have had my horses at home for over 20 years. We have always done as much of the work as we can, like repairs, fencing, maintenance, etc. We are also bargain shoppers when it comes to real estate, and don’t hesitate to negotiate or buy properties that have been on the market for long periods of time or need extensive work.
6 years ago we made the decision to relocate somewhere with warmer winters, that was much less expensive than where we previously lived. Our current real estate taxes on almost 70 acres are less than $700 per year. Because we have acreage for pasture, our horses are out 24/7/365, unless there is a specific reason they need to be in. We also have beef cattle, which lead to significant tax breaks and reimbursement through our states ag programs.
We typically only feed hay from December until the beginning of March. We purchase as much hay as we can as early in hay making season to buy it at the best price.I feed a ration balancer, as my horses keep weight well. I use minimum supplements and medications, unless there is something specific a horse needs like Previcox, which I currently have 2 horses using. Horses that don’t need shoes go barefoot if they can.
I do splurge on quality tack, and have learned by buying good quality, plus taking good care of it, means it lasts forever.
I am a bargain shopper when it comes to clothing, love a good markdown as well as Walmart and Goodwill. We don’t take typical vacations. Our vacations usually involve either horse camping or visiting family and using accumulated points from business travel for hotel rooms.
My husband currently drives a company vehicle that we can use for personal use and are charged a ridiculously low nominal fee for usuage. Due to this, we sold his car and save on maintenance, insurance and fuel. I keep vehicles long term- my car is 16 years old, and I replaced my last truck at 15 years old. We take very good care of what we own. Because my car is ancient, insurance on it is cheap.
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I work 60+ hours a week in Program/Software Management for an IaaS company. It pays for the cutest pony ever that my kids enjoy in a moderate priced farm with excellent care. I can afford a second horse just don’t have the time atm, so I take lessons when I can. Eventually, I’ll cut back my hours and push for more wfh. But for now, I enjoy traveling around Europe on my companies dime.
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I have just two much adored pasture puffs. Have been lucky enough to have them at home on small acreage, I am 60++ and retired from the professional work force but milk the neighbour’s cows as a relief milker to provide the best life and care for these two! We no longer have a mortgage which is a blessing but we have worked for it! DH (until we moved here) was not at all interested in horses - so I was always sure to self-fund - but now prides himself on his “extensive knowledge” and understanding of all things horse! (It’s been quite a revelation to see him form his own relationships with them, and his “knowledge” is always spoken of in fun).
Husband. Lucky enough to have the horses at home and DIY everything.
before that I had a parent who supported it all, I had a nice low/med jr jumper. Didn’t show much but did the whole working student thing, assistant thing, barn manager thing. Rode client horses etc. Parent died and I got left with squat and moved 1700 miles away with a green bean TB.
Maybe when I’m older I’d like to have another nice jumper and ride in the lows pipe dreams
Husband has two horses that he views strictly as livestock and a work necessity. In his almost 20 years of having horses they have never lived inside, etc.
I’ve been a CNA for almost 4 years now, I love it but money wise it wasn’t great. I was almost homeless with two horses (I met my SO during that)
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