In which somebody asked a question and I crowd-source to find answers

 Q:  How much do horses cost?

A:  All of your money, and all of your time.

Look at my money standing on my money and eating my money!

People who are not "horse people" assume that horses are expensive, by which they mean that it costs a lot of money to buy one. 

It is absolutely possible to purchase an expensive beast.   The Standardbred colt in the video (below) sold for 1.1 million bucks in 2019.  Most horses don't cost that much.

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If you are seeking a sound, well-bred, well-trained horse with experience doing whatever it is you want to do with a horse, money will definitely help.   

If you have less money on-hand, you can buy an unsound, well-bred, well-trained horse.  Or a sound, well-bred green horse.  Or...well, it's easy to see where that goes.

Horse people will tell you that the purchase price is often the smallest part of the price.

So, let's leave that part out of the equation.  Assume that a person wanting to purchase a horse (in whatever degree of soundness, training, etc. is appropriate) can come up with the purchase price.

The cost of a horse is more about horse-keeping, iow, how much does it cost to keep a horse?

The first thing to consider is where the horse will live.  My horse lives in the backyard and is fed and cared for by me.  This is a cheap-ish option, but only because I like living on a farm and doing the work.  

hay for winter

I have to spend the time and coin to procure and store all her feed, which includes $200/ton for local grass hay (I usually buy 2-3 tons per year), $350/ton for Eastern Washington hay (it's cheaper if I drive to E. Washington to buy it, but that didn't happen during the pandemic), and about $50/month for ration balancer (Purina Ultium) and supplements (Equerry's Choice as a selenium source, plus flax seed).

Boarding at home also means I pay for bedding. I use bedding pellets, which are relatively inexpensive here (surrounded by timber industry on 4 sides), are easy to obtain year-round (they are the same pellets used for feeding a wood-pellet stove, which is in common use for home heating), and are easy to stack and store.  $230/pallet (50 bags) which lasts 2 months in winter, 4 months in summer.  (As a bonus, used bedding pellets compost rapidly and contribute to the organic matter I add to the garden each winter!)

I don't pay a water bill, as most of the livestock water sluices off the barn roof in fall/winter/spring/early summer directly into the stock water tank.  We are on a deep well, so running a hose to fill the tank once a week in August is no big deal. 

Boarding at home isn't an option for the friend who asked about horse expenses, so let's consider boarding options.

Fish Creek Farm's website

Fish Creek Farm, where most of my friends board and train, has several boarding options (shown in the screen capture above).  Boarding here includes hay/alfalfa and ration balancer, access to an indoor (covered) arena, outdoor arena, free trailer parking, and a generally low-drama environment, which is rare as hen's teeth in the horse world.

facilities at Fish Creek

Want to spend more?  

Pacific Moon Equestrian Center, just down the road from Haiku Farm, charges $900/month for stall board, which includes hay that they provide and grain that is provided by the owner.  Their facility is a lot more posh than FC, including indoor and outdoor arenas, and a heated restroom (instead of a porta-potty).  

Want to spend less?  

I looked on Facebook Marketplace to find a local place offering pasture board/self care for $150/month.  That won't include any porta-potty at all, and might or might not include a place to park your trailer, or a dry covered place to store your hay.  Pasture board doesn't usually include access to an arena (although the place in the picture apparently does) or to trails.

In some pasture-board situations, the horse owner is expected to maintain fences and haul water, which is still a good deal for owners who have more time than money.

Screen captured from Facebook Marketplace this morning

Other expenses to consider:

Vet care 

Around here, horse owners pay around $600/year for routine veterinary care, which includes the farm call plus shots and dental work as needed.  If you travel with your horse, you will also need health certificates and a Coggins test.  

If you board in a large barn, there are often seasonal "vet days" where everybody splits the farm call cost and all the horses get vaccinated on the same schedule.  

Emergency and injury care costs more, of course.

As an older horse with lots of miles, Fiddle also receives chiropractic care and
periodic joint injections to keep her moving comfortably

Farrier

If your horse is barefoot, plan for a trim every 5-6 weeks, which costs $40-60 per trim.  

If you know what you're doing (or are willing to learn and sweat a lot), you can do this yourself.  This depends both on the horse--some are NOT comfortable going barefoot, others work best this way--and also on the rider--some don't mind messing around with hoof boots and others (like me) would rather undergo a root canal.

Farrier Mel does a wonderful job keeping the Dragon comfortably shod

If your horse is shod,  shoeing will cost $100-$150 for four shoes every 5-8 weeks depending on the horse's needs.  Special shoeing (for example: if your horse is difficult to shoe, takes an extreme size, or has complex medical needs) will cost more.  

Tack

Most riders I know (including me) own a lot more tack than they actually use.  While I only use one saddle, I own three.  I also own 3 (or 4?  or more?) bridles, multiple saddle pads, and a lot of stuff I don't use any more.  Ideally, you will only buy the tack that you need, but in reality, the saddle you start with might not fit your horse perfectly, or the horse will change shape and then the saddle that did fit, doesn't anymore.  

For a new horse owner with friends, this is good news:  it's possible to beg, borrow, or cheaply purchase almost everything you need.  Used-tack sales are another good spot to shop.  

The fabulous Monroe 4-H tack sale in the Before Times
Saddles at this sale cost between $50 for a bashed-up kid saddle to
$3,000 for a big name western show saddle with tons of silverwork.

There is very little gear that needs to be purchased new--even show gear at high levels shouldn't come straight out of the box, because leather needs to be broken in to work best.  I think the only exceptions are waterproof horse blankets, which lose their ability to shed water with time and wear, and a helmet for the rider, which should be replaced after an impact or after 5 years (whichever comes first).

Truck/trailer

I owned a horse (Story) for more than 10 years before I bought a horse trailer.  In the early days I could ride out to trails directly from her barn.  Later I was able to hitchhike with other riders.  

The freedom of having my own rig cannot be under-stated, but it really isn't essential unless you will be completely isolated without transportation.

Lessons

Prices for lessons vary widely in our region, from $20-$100 per session.  

Of course, the key to a good lesson is a safe environment and a knowledgeable instructor who can teach skills appropriate to the student--and those things are priceless!  

These are approximate costs for horse-keeping in Snohomish County, Washington, in 2021.  Obviously, things are not the same everywhere.  

So, readers, let's hear from you.  What are the expenses for a horse in your area?  

*  Boarding costs

*  Routine vet care

*  Farrier care

*  Tack and gear

*  Truck/trailer needed?

*  Lessons/clinics?

The comment box is open!