Horse information, please

[Toby's my baby]

I was just wondering if the barns around me are all just outrageously expensive or if they are all that expensive. What is that average board per month at barns around you? The place I take lessons at is $800 a month!

IMO> that is CRAZY!! I payed $30 a month for TWO horses, all we had to do was HELP clean the barn, that had about 7-9 horses regularly.

I will try to answer SOME of your questions. . .

My barn thing is dirt, and we usually put straw down. The floor of the barn that I used to keep our horses at, had a cement floor, and they put straw down. We cleaned out our stalls once a week, but the horses were only in them at night, other wise they were out in the pasture. My horses, are allowed to go in and out when they want. They have about 4 acres for our two horses.

We never heated our barns, and we live in Minnesota, it gets -30 F here. We burn our manure pile, and yes, it gets large if you have a lot of horses, but for our two horses, the horses usually walk on it (since its in their pasture) and it usually doesnt even make a pile. And no, our horses dont get burnt when we lite the pile, they are smart enough to stay away.

You cant usually say how often a horse needs a farrier, you just have to check his hooves, and when they look like they need a farrier, then you can make an appointment, unless you do it yourself. It costs me $20 american dollars to get my horses hooves done. As for the vet, I have a vet come out once a year. It usually costs $100 + american each year. My horses get 6 flakes of hay morning and night, they do not eat during the day, except for the grass in thier pasture. They get grain once a day, and they get about two large coffee cans full, and they have water available 24/7.

I ride horse in the winter, but not very often, maybe once every two weeks. Its not very much, but I get really busy. I just lunge my horse before I ride him, and he is fine. In the winter, I usually ride bareback, but thats something you need to deside. My sister rides with a saddle, but she has a young horse. I have learned to be able to gallop and stuff bareback. But, that takes a long time to get used to if you dont ride horse a lot.

I started out mucking stalls for my neighbors, when I was 5. When I was 5 I also rode thier race horses around the arena. Then we got our first horse as a gift from my nieghbors when we were 7 or so. And now, me and my sister show horses. We have gone a LONG way, and it takes a long time. Horses arent as hard to take care of as some people think, but they arent easy like a cat either. It takes a lot out of your time.

If you have any more questions, feel free to pm me! Good luck!

[Suki Wingy]

wow, The cheapest I have ever seen is the place I used to ride at and that was $360 a month