Trail horse

[WAcoyotehunter]

FOOL!  DON'T DO IT!!!!!

I married a woman that had horses all of her life.  Expensive pains in the ass that I feed and she rides.  Hell, I can't even get her to come and get me with after I kill something.  Way cheaper just to get a drop camp every year, if that's a concern.

I have 3 of the damn things now...I have a fancy 1 ton diesel that I rarely drive and a horse trailer that I rarely use and am always fixing fences, doctoring horses, buying hay, building outbuildings to house horses and store hay...paying for shoeing, paying for worming, paying for shots, paying for whatever is wrong with them that involves having them stay in a stall for a few weeks until they are better.  "It's a stone bruise, it got kicked, it's an abscess, it's something that requires some weird hippy to come over and crack their back." 

Oh, and if you're really lucky, your wife will barrel race and you'll get to buy a bunch of cowboy hats and sparkly belts.  We have 5 saddles, none of them cheap POS's either, and only one of them belongs to me.  For some reason she needs 4 saddles...along with an infinity of the following: bridles, bits, splint boots, bell boots, tie downs, cinches, pads, blankets and halters.  Then you'll need to get a lunge whip and rope, unless you decide to build a round pen, which I've also done.

Have a blast - your marriage will either explode or will be the stronger for it.

Now that is an honest post...   Made me laugh my ass off but very honest.  It is also called a Been There Done That... 

Yeah...it's kinda like that.  If you have them you better use them.  They make expensive lawn ornaments.

[WSU]

Thanks everyone for the advise and PMs.  It is definitely helpful.

About how much per month does it cost per horse?

[JimmyHoffa]

If I remember correctly it was around $250-300/month---food, hay, vet visits, ferrier visits, fence repair.  It was a 10 yo qtr/morgan around 1200 lbs.  Fed one partial bucket in the morning and one in the evening, along with a about 2 bales of hay a week.  It lived in a pasture, so it got to graze a lot which kept food down.  The biggest 'cost' was time--the horse needed lots to keep it from misbehaving.

[stillhunter]

Oh man now you are really not gonna want to do that.  The bills can add up, hay $350.00 + a ton, grain
$15.00+ per 50 lbs, vet bills  worming, shots, teeth and then anything and everything that happens to them $$$ shoeing $100 each.  This is by no means a complete list, horses are just like any other hobby stinkin' expensive.  They are great companions and can bring lots of enjoyment but if ya aint gonna use it don't buy it. They are expensive pasture ornaments.   

[bigpaw 77]

I am the saddle maker from nine mile falls. My suggestions would be to have the owner ride the horse before you do. And as mentioned before stay away from words like spirited or advanced rider needed. I suggest you and your wife take some riding lessons, you will learn a lot, and we owe it to the animals we ride to know what we are doing. I have a few used saddles in my shop in the $300+ range. And have others tack as well. Good luck, horses can be a fun and rewarding hobby.

[Machias]

Hay is $125 a ton, I don't grain mine, I worm them every 8 weeks ($7 per horse), trims are $25 every 8 weeks.  Everything posted above is correct, but give him the correct prices on hay and his monthly expenses.  I give my own shots once a spring, about $50 a horse.  Other then that you'll have to get your tack and trailer, but those are one time expenses.

[KopperBuck]

If I was paying 350/ton our herd would be significantly smaller. Hell, 200 bucks makes me hurt. I'm not sure where you're living, I suppose maybe the wetside is higher, I know it's hard to get alfalfa, but they eat grass too.

Depending on the shoer as well, but 100 can be a little pricey. I know of a guy that's doing trims for over 100, well over. Some holistic hippy crap. For putting shoes on I think I'm paying closer to 60. For just a trim it's closer to 25-30. Start asking around. And be picky with your shoer, they are not all the same, trust me.

I think there's more supplemental junk out there for horses than humans. We started feeding senior to most all of ours, have an older horse on MSM, but that's about it. Some of that hippy sh!t ain't fooling me.

Ask around for a tooth fairy (floating teeth) so you can figure that into your expenses as well. We try to stay away from the vet because they charge so dang much - there are folks out there who do it well and considerably cheaper.

[WAcoyotehunter]

Hay is $125 a ton, I don't grain mine, I worm them every 8 weeks ($7 per horse), trims are $25 every 8 weeks.  Everything posted above is correct, but give him the correct prices on hay and his monthly expenses.  I give my own shots once a spring, about $50 a horse.  Other then that you'll have to get your tack and trailer, but those are one time expenses.

I agree- they don't have to be so expensive.  Give your own shots, do your own vet work (within reason).  Shoes are only when your riding a lot and grain is optional, depending on your hay quality and horse activity.  They can be affordable...the bare minimum stuff won't break you- it's the extravagant things that make them add up...barn, fancy trailer, fancy saddle...

[6x6in6]

Hay is $125 a ton, I don't grain mine, I worm them every 8 weeks ($7 per horse), trims are $25 every 8 weeks.  Everything posted above is correct, but give him the correct prices on hay and his monthly expenses.  I give my own shots once a spring, about $50 a horse.  Other then that you'll have to get your tack and trailer, but those are one time expenses.

I'm in the similar costs and what I do on mine for my 5 horses, with a few differences. 
I do grain and vitamin supplement mine because I feed local grass hay and mine rarely see open grazing due to the quantity of grazing I have.  Maybe all told 20 total grazing days busted up into 3-4 hour stints.  I prefer to control their diet.
I go through 20 ton of grass hay annually which is about $3,000.
5 bags of grain a month, Strategy Healthy Edge, for $100.
Vitamins, $140 tub lasts 3 months.
Sand Clear, $140 a tub and that lasts 4 months (once a month treatment).
2 trims and 3 sets of shoes every 8 weeks, $280.
Annual teeth float for the 5 and 3 sheath cleanings (I got to draw the line on what I will do somewhere  ) about $600.
I do fecal samples every other month to determine whether or not worming is necessary, $35.  I do the fecals because it's a coin toss to do a worming program like Machias does vs. the potential for the horse to become immune to wormers when you may actually need them.  Example, 4 just came back negative.  1 had a 7 count.  So, all 5 got a dose of Zimmectrin this month for the first time in over a year, $75.
I use pellets for stall bedding instead of shavings.  Less mess generation, composts better and is overall easier to pick stalls.  A pallet of pellet's last 5 months at $280 a pallet.
So all that works out to be about $150 per horse, per month.  In a perfect world of course........case in point, one of our geldings decided to be a pig and not drink so much the day before Thanksgiving 2011.  $11,000 later his impacted and displaced colon was all better.   That was a financially painful experience.....

[Machias]

........case in point, one of our geldings decided to be a pig and not drink so much the day before Thanksgiving 2011.  $11,000 later his impacted and displaced colon was all better.   That was a financially painful experience.....

OUCH!

[6x6in6]

........case in point, one of our geldings decided to be a pig and not drink so much the day before Thanksgiving 2011.  $11,000 later his impacted and displaced colon was all better.   That was a financially painful experience.....

OUCH!

Uh huh.  I think I said a few other words as I was stewing over the decision of surgery or put him down.
He goes out on his post surgery maiden voyage this coming weekend.  Should be a non-event but it's going to give me a good feeling that I made the right call, unless we have a wreck of course. 

[Machias]

I hope you have a safe ride.  You can whisper in his ear, it's a good thing you own him, because if that guy Machias owned you, you'd be looking at the inside of a dog food can.  That should keep him in line! 

[KopperBuck]

I hope you have a safe ride.  You can whisper in his ear, it's a good thing you own him, because if that guy Machias owned you, you'd be looking at the inside of a dog food can.  That should keep him in line! 

LOL. I use the glue stick threat.

[6x6in6]

LOL.
I seriously thought about a name change for him to Elmer or Super.   

[Caseyd]

I hope you have a safe ride.  You can whisper in his ear, it's a good thing you own him, because if that guy Machias owned you, you'd be looking at the inside of a dog food can.  That should keep him in line! 

Glad to see I wasnt the only one thinking the same thing