Hello! I’m looking at an office position in an equine related company in South Florida (Wellington area). I’ve spent time there during WEF so am familiar with the area. Could people who live there year round give me an idea of how much it costs per month to keep a horse? I’m open to full board or dry stall, but what would the expected cost per month be for all horse related items (board, feed, shavings. hay, farrier, etc), Also, what could I expect to pay for rent (1-2 bedroom that allows pets). I’m fine not being in Wellington proper but would like to stay within 15-20 minutes of it. I need a realistic number so I know what type of salary I would need to draw. I would have minimum of 4 horses coming with me.
Spam reported.
Sorry OP, someone was trying to rain in your parade with post #2.
Hope you get some good answers.
I can’t say that I’ve ever been there in the off season, but the problem you’ll run into is that rentals are worth SO MUCH MORE in season that there is very little incentive to offer a break to someone to rent year round. At 4 horses, you may find it cheaper to rent a farm property with a barn (especially off season) rather than paying for dry stalls + an apartment.
Hay is (in my New England opinion) outrageously priced.
Where are you coming from for a frame of reference?
I am coming from the DC area which is certainly higher priced than most other areas in the country. My preference is to rent a place and do it all myself (or would consider dry stalls and turnout for self care). My big concern is also the hay prices. I know what they are during the season and I can’t imagine they drop much in the off season bc it still has to be hauled in from somewhere. Rent isn’t too much more than MD but hay prices could eat me alive! Was hoping for someone who supported horses there year round that might have a monthly cost they could share!
THere are some S Florida horse facebook pages… try asking there. Or maybe find the websites of some feed stores down there in the Wellyworld area… sorry I can’t be more help. Here in Ocala, I jsut paid almost $600/ton for NICE O/A. About $25/bale… (60-70 lbs)
:eek::eek::eek:
That would put me out of horsekeeping.
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Last I checked, In season, board starts at 1600 dry stalls…and that’s the low end. Going farther out might find you 750 for full board at the least. Hay/shavings are so expensive there that even the crappier barns charge a lot. I can’t help with rentals, but I do know that farm rentals drop by a lot as you get farther from the Wellington zip code. 10k a month goes to 3k. Not sure what your budget is, but horsekeeping is way more expensive in SoFlo then the MD/DC area. The hay is usually crappy, the shavings are like 6$ a bale, and horses have more infections/issues down there.
Speaking of which, some horses just can’t do summers there. I was lucky that all of mine could, but you won’t see drafts down there because they can’t do the summers. Older horses seem to have a harder time.
The off season is dead there. Very strange, like a ghost town. After a summer there you will know why!
I know I sound like I hate the area but it’s actually a really fun place. It’s just that the glamour of Wellington can disguise the really hard drawbacks of living there full time.
I hate to be a Negative Nelly but I truly doubt there is an equine-related office position that would provide enough salary to live within 20 minutes of Wellington with 4 horses, even if you do self care. Yes, DC is expensive, but at least our hay, shavings, etc. cost far less and are better quality.
I know people who budget $10k/month for their winter sojurn to Wellington. My suggestion is to contact actual barns to get prices…though my bet is the cost for a Wellington location is going to be at least $2k/horse/month.
Ok…I posted twice and the post disappeared…try the EquineNow.Com web site and look at actual barn fees. My bet is that anything close to Wellington is going to be $2k/mo/horse in season…maybe less for full year boarders.
Try looking at barns in Wellington and enquire about actual fees. I have posted 3x and my posts disappear…the equinenow web site is useful.
I can’t post a link as that seems to trigger the “disapproved” ban.
I checked on some sites that post boardng fees and you are looking at $2k per horse per month for full board for anything near Wellington.
StormyDay, I take it’s been awhile since you’ve spent the summer in Wellington! Not a ghost town, although you can actually get into restaurants in the summer.
OP, try the Loxahatchee area. Here’s one to get you started:
http://wellington-wef.com/realestateads/viewlisting.php?view=3984
I’d like to know what equine related job can cover $5500/mo just in rent. That’s more than my take home for my six-figure office job.
I do know of dry stalls below $1000, even in season - they are 45 minutes from Wellington, though.
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If you do not need uber fancy, you can find MUCH cheaper options. I have brought a green horse or two down with us a few times over the last few years. Granted, Gulfstream polo is no more, but that was always my go to and was always MUCH MUCH cheaper than the quotes above. We only had a grass arena and tons of hacking, but our horses were very happy.
We also rented a small farm in Loxahatchee one year and were able to work out a $200 per horse deal to rent the whole property, house and grooms quarters included. It all came in around $6500 a month, for 10ish horses and the two houses.
We did sell our own hay, so fortunately did not have to pay FL prices for that!
However, I do have to agree, the number of equine related office jobs with a salary to live on down there are VERY limited. I would not advise making the jump unless there was a signed contract. There would be more office related work around the racing industry areas in ocala or further south than wellington.
