What is the average cost to care for a horse on your own ranch per year?
caroldintexas asked:
I own 5.5 acres which has a barn and fencing. I just bought the property and am considering buying a young filly.
At least $1200 a year. Costs include feed, veterinarian care, and grooming supplies. Additonal costs would include veterinary emergencies, transportation, rising cost of feed, and barn/fence maintenance.
I have a 10 yr old qtr horse. I would say approx. $1000 a year including feed/hay, fly treatment, wormer, vet visits, etc. There is also a huge amount of time that you have to invest in a horse. I spend at least an hour or two with Cloud every day, min. Usually I spend about 3 hrs or so a day with him. Grooming, riding, etc…
You are making the right move checking on things before getting a horse. Direct answer is it depends on the horse and your location. Which relates to costs of health care maint. and cost of feed. Also consider expenses of regular vet care, etc…
We have 4.77 acres and one horse. Our monthly expense varies from 40 to 120 dollars total maint. cost. There are other associated expenses you will want to consider along the way, such as a horse trailer, dressing and riding equip.
Do not just think of the monthly cost of feed but look at the overall cost per set up and annual maint. Hope this helps. Good Luck!
First of all.. you REALLY don’t want to have only one horse on your property… if you’re really wanting a horse, buy two, not one. Horses are meant to be in herds, they aren’t meant to be alone. A lone horse will end up being stressed, lonely, and nervous in most cases. Usually you can find old broken down horses who can’t be ridden for free or cheep. But please don’t just get one horse and leave it on it’s own, that’s really not a nice thing to do…
But, on to costs..
Consider:
25 dollars every 1-2 months for the farrier (that’s if you just want the feet trimmed-otherwise they’ll get long and very painful for the horse)
or 100 every 1-2 months for shoeing.. if you’re planning on riding her a lot, get her shoes to protect her feet.
200 a year for vet visits (that’s just for basic shots, if you have an emergency – which, in owning horses it isn’t a question of if, it’s a question of when – you always need to set back a couple thousand dollars bare minimum just in case)
10 dollars every 2 months for wormer
Hay is where it gets tricky. If you’re really lucky, through part of spring, summer, and fall she’ll have enough grass to survive on. But, usually we end up having to feed ours hay all through summer and fall as well because it’s been so dry the grass doesn’t grow too well..
Anyway, an average horse will be ok on 2 flakes of hay twice a day and about 6 cups of sweet feed or grain. I can’t do the exact math here, but general idea is, a 50 pound bag of sweet feed costs about 5 dollars… a 50 pound bag of grain (the good kind that’s actually healthy for them) will cost around 10 dollars (maybe a bit more but not much)
Hay, around here at the moment is 3 dollars per bale. One bale averages 8 flakes, which means, it’s going to be 2 days worth for one horse… Meaning you should consider about 45 dollars per month in hay per horse.
But, do your homework in all this! There are certain kinds of hay that are better than others, there are certain grains that are better.. Horses need certain shots and certain farrier work.
If you get this filly intending on riding eventually have a vet check done on her before you buy her to make sure she’s sound..
it very much depends where you are. these are things to factor in:
hay: roughly 3 tons per mature horse per year, varies depending on size of horse. feed 1% – 1 1/2% of body weight per day in summer, and 1 1/2% to 2% per day in winter. try not to feed strictly alfalfa, as it’s very rich and really rough on the kidneys. an ideal mix would be a 50/50 blend of grass and your favorite hay.
grain: I feed Purina Strategy, for several reasons. it’s very complete as far as mineral content, vitamins, etc, without the tendency to make the horse “hot”. feed 1/2% of body weight per day. (my horses get 2 lbs per day, and a 50lb bag costs me $11 – they are actually supposed to get 4lbs per day, but their activity level is low, and I find that if I feed the full recommended amount, they get fat – adjust for your horse’s metabolism and activity level) It is also available pretty much everywhere you go.
worming: every two months, at $6 or so a pop, depending which one you buy (recommend: ivermectin)
vaccinations: I spend about $100 per horse, per year, and that will vary based on your vets fees. rabies, West Nile, VEWT, Rhino-Flu.
farrier – a young horse who is not being ridden doesn’t need shoes, so figure on a full trim every 6 – 8 weeks. I don’t shoe any of mine unless we are going into the mountains or anyplace really rocky. farrier’s fees vary greatly, but you get what you pay for.
teeth floating – once every 6 months to one year, depending on the horse. your equine dentist will make recommendations, and they run around $50 a hit, on average.
all of this, of course, is barring any emergency vet fees due to accidents, injuries, etc.
hope this was helpful.
About $2000 or so. That would be doing your own shots and paying for feed and fly spray and general stuff.
If you have any medical emergencies add to that cost.
Plus don’t forget the farrier cost evey six week. Mine are not shod so that cost is less shoes. More if your horses needs shoes.
I pay about $1500 per horse… Or I would if I didn’t shoe myself, or do most of my own vet work.