I guess it depends on what you consider “decently.” Not where I live and I’m getting close to the maximum SS. Luckily I have other income and savings.
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I have a sign hanging in my cube that says, “I work hard so my horse can have a better life.” That “horse” has sometimes been as few as one or as many as five, and I have made most of my life’s decisions, as others have said, to accommodate them. I had my first job at fifteen, and the first $300.00 I saved went to buy the horse I came out of the womb wanting. Sold my own two when I left for college, where I studied equine repro and ag in general, and rode a ton of the school’s horses. I took a lot of classes that did nothing for my degree, but got me horseback.
As soon as I graduated (literally the day after) I bought a yearling mare at a sale our school was hosting with the last of my student loan - no job, no home, but hey! I had a horse! But then came a longer period of time when I was horseless - it coincided with a non-supportive spouse who oh-so-gradually pushed them out of my life. Then he left, and the first thing I did when the shock wore off was to embrace who I really was again, and bam - three new horses!
A few years later I moved from one part of the state to another, specifically so I could afford to purchase more land and have the kind of lifestyle I wanted. Was fortunate to get a good job where I wanted to live, found the land I wanted, put a TON of sweat equity into it, and now it’s almost paid off. I found another husband along the way, a good man this time, who knows that the horses were here before he was. So no issue there - in fact, he is a little bit of an enabler (Mustangs? Let’s get two!), but is not a horse person himself. He just wants me to be happy, and knows that horses do that for me, so the more the merrier.
I will say that he has his money and I have mine - we have a joint account for paying common bills (utilities and such), but we also both keep the vast majority our own paychecks and manage our finances independently. The fact that the horses live at home keeps my expenses way down, and I don’t show or do things with them that costs a lot, aside from the occasional clinic. I’m down to two now, and don’t ride as much, but it’s an easy, manageable number and I can’t imagine not ever having at least a couple hanging around. As long as I’m physically able to care for them, that is.
I have no idea what else I would do, otherwise. Honestly. Maybe mow more?
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I have always been frugal about horse spending, especially board since that’s generally the most expensive and consistent expense. Right now, I work off my entire board and am able to keep my horse at a really nice facility with an indoor. My only expense is generally horse shows and I spend between $500-$1000/year on that - depending on the year (I’m at $0 so far this year).
Without horses, I may have another, better paying job that takes more of my time and may travel more.
Every once in a while I get a bit envious of other people that have money to travel more, then I remember I have horses and all that envy goes away. So while I would like to travel more, I don’t regret the horses and if I never get to visit all the places I want to visit I will still die a happy person.
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I would have lots more money if I wasn’t a full-blooded redneck. I can hardly fault the horses.
My horses cost me next to nothing. Here’s why:
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I need space. Neeeeeed it. We bought 20+ acres of land to live on, and I’ll be keeping my two horses there as well as a few cows, to make a little profit to offset the cost of me needing “space.” But my thing is, if you own a house in the woods, but you don’t own the woods, then in 20 years it may not be a house in the woods anymore.
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I don’t change up horses. My two horses fit into the same saddle, and one of them is a pretty easy keeper. One was given to me, and the other was dirt cheap.
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I know how to do a basic barefoot trim on my horses, and can do it myself totally, or at least do a “stretch” trim to make what the farrier does last longer. A little knowledge and a rasp can get you an extra 2-4 weeks mileage out of a trim.
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I don’t show. My two have been brought up from the ground up, and my “goals” all revolve around how far I can take them in my own pasture on my own knowledge. I trail ride from time to time, but my horses’ main job is a nice de-stressing ride with me a few times a week.
Pretty much the only specifically horse costs I have are trims, feed, dewormer, and maybe a vet bill if I’m unlucky. Spread through the year, it’s about $100/month.
Tl;Dr owning horses in a rural area is much less if a sacrifice than in a more populated place.
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I am a frugal shopper- I am lucky to have several options for well stocked Goodwills that have sometimes new with tags options! I don’t go out to dinner often and I don’t travel as much as I would like as my SO is a union worker and can not take time off as much as it would allow to travel more than once a year. I also started a consignment on the side to fund the horsey activities. If the consignment is slow, the less things I get to do. I do work a corporate job full time so that pays the bills.
I have accepted that my budget will allow what I get to do and I can make the decision to just pay board- no lessons or showing or go “all in” if it allows for it.
My mom took a long break and now owns two horses- her 16 yr old steady eddy paint and her newest purchase- a 4 yr old Arabian to venture into endurance.
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Funny, I was just thinking about this the other day. Without getting into the long backstory, the horse I have now is my “survivor” of a herd of three. My two old retired geldings crossed the rainbow bridge, I sold my little farm where they and I lived, and this remaining gelding, Milton, got moved to a nice boarding facility. This is a horse I bought for $500 as a yearling, mostly to get him out of a bad situation and also to have another mouth to help graze my pastures. Now I’m spending more on him than on all three of them combined when I had my own place (and the old guys were special needs and cost quite a bit to feed).
I often wonder if I’d get another horse were something to happen to Milton. I don’t think I would. There are other places I’d gladly shift the money I spend on him…mostly paying off my mortgage early and saving up for traveling (if that’s ever possible again!). I haven’t been able to travel much over the past 20 years (that’s how long I had my farm), so it’s something I would love to be able to do. I have 12 years until I can get full retirement (teacher), and I’d like to be mortgage free by then with enough money set aside to do some traveling. I am single with no children, so the horse is kind of the center of my world outside of work. And I love him to pieces and I love riding, etc, but I do think there are other things I’d prefer to spend my time and money on at this point in my life.
I have no plans to rehome Milton, but if finances became an issue, I would try to find him the softest spot possible to land. Until that time, he’s my major expense outside of my mortgage. And that’s okay. 
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When my husband met me he remarked how cheap of a date I was - not into drinks, fancy places or expensive gifts like handbags or jewellery. Little did he know… :lol: Luckily both of us are into horses (he rode even before he met me and actually got me back into horses!) and he literally comes along for a ride.
Given that we are both reasonably well compensated, paying for the horse lessons/tack (still ISO my own horse) is not a struggle, but I think that picture might shift once we have kids. Hubby is a lot higher maintenance than I am and shells the equivalent of a monthly board fee on physio, weekly massage and another one on restaurant bills. I don’t think it’s fair for him to complain that I want my own horse 
That being said, as a foreigner, I’m not sure how adult amateurs here can possibly afford the whole show thing unless they are born into wealth, have the time to do all DIY or are spouses of high earning professionals. I very consciously chose an employer that has better hours than most in the industry, but it comes with a paycut relative to the rest of the (well paid) jobs. Most of the time the kinds of salaries require putting in the hours, extensive travelling and geographic flexibility (we are always relocating for jobs…) that are hard to combine with horse ownership or a winter in Florida. I used to not think very highly of the people in my (show) barn who would own fancy horses, show up once a month and literally have us teenage girls ride them for free. Now it looks like I might be turning into one of them and I might just get lucky if I can find a capable junior rider to ride when I’m not there myself due to work :no:
I’m soon to be 37 and have been riding since I was about 7. I owned a horse as a child that I did 4-H with, showed locally and sold when I went off to college. I was able to take lessons at my college, worked an equestrian camp program during the summers and then lucked out in finding an now long time friend that I have been riding her horses with for the last 16 years. Just THIS July, I jumped back into ownership as an adult.
During my mid 20’s-mid 30’s, I spent my money on financing a life for me and my now ex husband who made very little and unreliable money as a musician. As the breadwinner, I bought our cars, a house, lots of vacations and spent too much money on happy hours and crap to make him feel happy that never actually did for any length of time.
I was just commenting to my dad this week that I am so happy now having the financial freedom to do what I want and that is having a horse of my own again. Nothing like a pandemic to really give you deep insight into what makes you happy and feel content as a human. I am fortunate to make a comfortable salary being single with no kids, which does allow me a nice retirement fund and play money and no debt other than a mortgage. If it weren’t for horses, like others have said I’d prob do more improvements around my house sooner, have a nicer/newer car and a bigger house that I don’t need, but that stuff brings me nowhere near the happy I get from going to see my boy every day.
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