I long ago realized the amount of time and money it takes to keep and ride horses. Not having a horse of my own to worry about cut the time and money by about 90% and as I was never the one paying my Dover bills or my training fees, I never much worried about the money.
Now, as I contemplate the step from simply exercising other people's horses and taking lessons to leasing (and eventually buying) a horse of my own, I can't fathom how people make it work. It seems to me that the people whose jobs make enough money to allow them to own a horse would be too busy working to take care of it, and the other percent of the population can't even afford one! Given the numbers of people who do own or lease horses, this logic is obviously flawed, but even so, I can't imagine the sacrifices some people must make in order to have their own horses.
Let's see... The fees I've seen locally are $700/month for board, plus you have to buy bedding and feed (unless the barn chooses to include feed in the boarding fee), plus shoeing every other month (what's that? like $80, from what I've heard), vet bills (again, I've heard about $400/year if the horse remains perfectly health- a big if!), as well as any miscellaneous fees like if a piece of tack breaks, if the horse gets sick or has foot problems, any lessons, or surprises that may come up. And if, on top of that, you want to show! Good God!
Let's see, excluding show fees and lessons, that's about $10,000 a year! Factoring in that most people check in with a trainer, go to shows, buy new tack and new clothing (for riding and for everyday), as well as the fact that everyone has to eat and has countless bills to pay, even the minimum cost for keeping a horse is a chunk of money bigger than my private school tuition!
I can't fathom how people who aren't born into money manage to make it work--and yet thousands of them do! As I calculate the costs (of both time and money) of leasing a horse, I can't help but feel respect for all the people who manage to own horses without going broke. And I also can't help but feel that I, for one, will never be able to afford to lease, much less buy, a horse.
Hats off to those of you who lease or own. Any thoughts on how to make this work?
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OK, New Jersey prices. Board $500 and up per month includes hay, grain, bedding, and basic stall care. A good barn I know is at $750 all feed and bedding included. Shoeing: $100-150 for a basic job. Vet bills vary.
ReplyDeleteKeeping a horse at home cuts the board cost down to as little as $150 for feed and bedding, depending on the amount of each you need, so that's an ideal. Hay costs bounce around so that affects the total. My three horses eat a bale and a half a day right now. If any grass comes in after this dreadful winter, the hay consumption will drop a bit.
There are partial board situations where you might be able to cut costs by doing a lot of the work yourself. And some people set up self-care barns where they rotate the work load. It's possible to lease a barn and paddock area from someone who doesn't use it, then take care of the horses yourselves. I'm not sure what she charges but a friend of mine with a barn not too far from me works things out that way.
I have a friend who lives near LA. she has one horse, and has always traded board for chores. Usually wherever she keeps her horse, the house/backyard owner has 2 or 3 horses. She comes every evening after work and feeds all the horses, turns out whoever needs turning out (it's only a big back yard, so not a lot of moving horses around). In the mornings the owners feed. They each buy their own feed and hay. I don't know if anything like that is possible around where you live, but that might be an option.
ReplyDelete- The Equestrian Vagabond