How Much Does It Cost to Own a Horse? A Realistic Yearly Budget

The big decision: board or keep at home

Where the horse lives sets the shape of your whole budget.

Boarding means paying a barn to house and, usually, care for your horse. Most barns offer some version of these options:

Full board near large cities and in show-barn areas often runs past $1,500 a month. Read what's included: some barns charge extra for blanketing, holding the horse for the vet and farrier, extra grain or supplements.

Keeping a horse at home removes the board bill but adds land, fencing, a shelter, equipment and your own daily labor. It also means buying hay, bedding and feed yourself. If you already own suitable land, home keeping is usually cheaper per month. If you have to build fences and a barn, the start-up costs can take years to pay back. Horses are herd animals, too, so plan on two animals, or a companion such as a donkey or goat, not one.

Feed and hay

Hay is the core of a horse's diet. An average 1,000- to 1,100-pound horse eats about 20 to 25 pounds of hay a day when it has no pasture. That works out to roughly 4 tons a year.

• Small square bales weigh about 40 to 60 pounds and cost around $8 to $20 each depending on region, quality and the year's weather. At $12 a bale, 150 to 180 bales a year comes to about $1,800 to $2,200.
• Round bales are cheaper per pound but waste more unless you use a feeder, and some horses overeat on them.
• Pasture cuts hay costs a lot in the growing season if you have enough good grass. See how many acres a horse needs.

Many horses need more than hay. A ration balancer or vitamin and mineral supplement fills the gaps hay leaves, and hard keepers or horses in heavy work need grain. Budget $300 to $1,000 a year for concentrates and supplements, and $50 to $100 for salt. Read how much to feed a horse to work out your own horse's needs.

Bedding for a stalled horse, shavings or pellets, adds roughly $300 to $800 a year.

Hoof care

Every horse needs regular farrier visits, whether it wears shoes or not, because hooves grow continuously.

A horse that keeps sound hooves barefoot is one of the easiest ways to save money. Whether yours can depends on its feet, its work and your footing. See do horses need shoes.

Routine vet and dental care

Even a perfectly healthy horse needs a few visits a year:

• Annual exam and vaccines. Core vaccines cover tetanus, rabies, West Nile virus and the encephalitis viruses, with others added for your area and the horse's travel. Expect $250 to $500 a year including the farm call fee.
• Coggins test. This blood test for equine infectious anemia is required for travel, shows and most boarding barns, usually once a year. Around $40 to $80.
• Dental float. Horses' teeth wear unevenly and need filing about once a year, more often for seniors. $100 to $250 including sedation.
• Parasite control. Fecal egg counts and targeted deworming cost $50 to $150 a year. See our deworming guide.

Plan on $500 to $1,000 a year for routine care before anything goes wrong.

Emergencies and insurance

Horses get hurt and sick at the worst times. Lacerations from fences, abscesses, eye injuries and colic episodes are common, and an emergency farm call on a weekend starts at a few hundred dollars before any treatment.

The big one is colic surgery, which typically costs $8,000 to $15,000 or more including aftercare. Many owners face that decision with no time to think. Decide in advance whether surgery is something you would choose, and how you would pay for it.

You have three ways to prepare:

• Equine mortality insurance pays out if the horse dies or must be euthanized for a covered reason. Premiums run around 3 to 4 percent of the insured value a year.
• Major medical and surgical coverage is added on top of mortality insurance and helps pay for colic surgery and other big bills, usually up to a fixed cap per year.
• A dedicated savings account of $3,000 to $5,000 works if you'd rather self-insure.

Tack, gear and everything else

The small things add up:

• Tack and equipment. A saddle, bridle, pads, halter, grooming kit and blankets cost $1,000 to $3,000 to start. Plan $300 to $800 a year for replacements and repairs.
• Lessons and training. Weekly lessons run $50 to $100 each.
• Shows, clinics and trail fees. These are optional but can add thousands.
• Hauling. A truck and trailer are a large investment. Hiring a hauler costs a few dollars per mile for long trips.
• At home: fence repair, waterer heaters, electricity, manure removal, pasture seed and mowing.

Two sample budgets

These are middle-of-the-range examples for an adult horse in light work, not in a high-cost metro area.

Neither column includes lessons, shows, a truck and trailer, or the cost of land and buildings, and the home column doesn't count your own time. The full-board column buys back roughly two hours of daily chores.

Ways to keep costs down

• Buy hay in summer, off the field. Prices are lowest right after cutting. Store it dry and off the ground.
• Feed hay in a slow feeder or hay net. Waste from hay thrown on the ground can reach a quarter of what you buy.
• Ask about barefoot. Many pleasure horses do well without shoes.
• Group your farm calls. Splitting the farm call fee with other owners at your barn saves money.
• Lease before you buy. A lease lets you learn the real costs with a way out. See boarding, leasing or keeping a horse at home.
• Don't skimp on prevention. Dental care, vaccines and parasite control cost far less than treating what they prevent.

Sources

• University of Minnesota Extension: Caring for Horses on a Budget
• Oklahoma State University Extension: First-Time Horse Ownership: Selecting Horses and Budgeting
• Penn State Extension: Boarding Horses