[RC] Cost of horses - there is more to the story - Karen Everhart
I have read, with interest, the various responses on the
cost of keeping horses. It is my opinion that there are a few things that
have not been included by those who maintain their own horses at home, such
as: The cost of the land you own to keep horses; The buildings to
house your horses and their depreciation.; Any machinery you own to mange
pastures or move hay, etc; Also, your truck/trailer and the
various maintenance/insurance/depreciation; Then, any equine insurance,
mortality, morbidity or simply equine or farm liability.
There are few of us who would own the number of acres, or
live in the locations we do, if we didn't keep horses.
So, I think folks who choose to keep their horses at home
have to acknowledge that there are huge costs related to that (not to mention
the work and effort to maintain your own place). We have to include
capital purchases of land and vehicles/trailers/tractors/, etc. that we use
mostly for hauling horses or managing our property to maintain the horses.
Once you do that and then add the actual costs to feed, house, blanket, brush,
shampoo, fly spray, worm, vaccinate, trim/shoe, halter, lead, float, repair,
train, insure, etc., the realities of ownership are more accurately
reflected. Once you add up all the costs, boarding facilities begin to
look pretty attractive:-)
We have closely tracked the actual costs to care for the
rescued horses we have here and the annual expense, assuming NO veterinary
emergencies, exceeds $3000 per year and we are on 240 acres in grazing
country. Yes, most of our rescues have to receive supplementary grain due
to age or neglect, but their twice daily grain ration of a Senior pellet
and beet pulp and rice bran is less than 1/3 of the annual
expense.
My expenses are validated by a website that I
recently discovered. Go to www.extension.org/horses and
click on the Learning Lessons on the top menu bar. Then go to "costs of
owning a horse". Their assumptions are based on minimums.
This is a great website for those new to horse
ownership, too.
It is expensive to keep a horse, and if you think
differently, you are missing something:-) BUT, it is expensive to have
kids ( and other large critters). Those that do both have to learn to be
wise managers of their resources.
