Horse information, please

[areias]

Can't help out too much with the snow...considering where I live...

Right now I'm paying $250/month for full board, but I'm moving my horse this weekend to a much closer place that is $300/month, plus she provides supplements. The average here is $300-$400/month, for your average boarding.

Where I worked and boarded, there was rubber mats down with wood shavings. Just scoop it out and keep it clean, you should be fine. I would say every other month take out all the shavings and spray some disinfectant down, and put completely new shavings in. If you build, consider where rain floods too, that's a huge issue down here. Wet stalls are not fun. And make sure there is running water in the barn, it'll save you a lot of hassle.

You can have the manure hauled off, I think you can dump it, or just spread it in the pasture. They have nifty manure spreaders too, that makes everything really fine so it dosen't look horrible.

As for cost...if you have shoes on your horse (I don't) it'll cost you about $100/visit to get them done. If it's barefooted, a reasonable price is $20-$30, although it could be more in different areas.
Vet bills...you need coggins done once a year, that's around $50. You might want to have a rabies shot, $20. EWT is a good idea, I think it's $15. If you take the horse different places, it's a good idea to get the strangles done, which is $10. I have mosquitos here pretty much all year, so I get a west nile done every 4 months I think. I think maybe you could do it in early-mid spring and be okay until winter. I think that one is $20. That's just what I do with my horse-in different climates/areas it can be different.

You will also need the teeth done every 6 months-1 year, which is between $50-$100. If they need to sedate the horse it will be more. And worming every 2 months, about $10-$15/worming tube.

I would say my horse goes through a bag of feed every two weeks, but she only gets 3/4 of a scoop 2x a day. Two flakes of timothy alfalfa hay a day. Mine gets a joint supplement, plus a digestive supplement once a week, but then again she's 17 years old. I think the rule is one horse an acre, or two an acre. Your best splitting up a pasture into two sides, and switching them whenever the grass gets low on one side.

You don't need heating-just a nice warm blanket. If you have windows/openings in the stalls/barn, perhaps see if you can install windproof shutters and doors.

Good luck finding property and a horse!

EDIT: At some point the horse is going to get a bad cut, or poke it's eye on something, or come up lame. You might want to have a little savings tucked away just in case.

[I_luv_rusty]

Wow I read this board. I always wondered how much everything costs and all. Seems hard, and takes alot of money.


Where I rode in the summer for 1 week, well they dumped their manure, in the woods, they would get these big wheelbarrows and put it in their then just dump it in a pile in the woods.

[Tralee]

I will add my two cents
Horse can cost anywhere from 200 to 200,000+. Be prepared to spend a few grand for a sound and safe horse.
where I board my horse it is $500 a month it is full board with an indoor. That is about the norm. Some barns charge 1000 a month for board and some charge 200 a month. The stalls are cleaned once a day. ideally the stalls should be cleaned 3 times a day if the horse is in all day or twice a day if the horse goes out during the day. The best footing for stalls is a dirt base not concrete because that is bad on their joints. There should be rubber mats over the floor. Then you need about 3-6 inches of bedding.
For farriers it really depend on what your horse needs. It your horse us bare foot then it useally coast $30 for a trim job, if your needs shoes it can cost anywhere from $80 - $250, depending on the horses needs.

For vetting. Horses should have spring and fall shots which is usally about $60. If their teeth need to be done that can cost up to $200. If anything happens to our horse that you need to call a vet expect to hand over a couple hundred bucks. Vets usally charge $60 for a farm call.

Other expenses you need to keep in mind is food, hay, bedding, lessons, blankets, buckets, muck buckets, pitch forks, etc...

Having horse at home is a huge commitment. You have to be there everyday to feed them in the am and the pm. It is a lot of work taking care of horses and a lot of money. It is very difficult to make money off of a barn with boarders.
Horse are a huge responsibility, ideally they should be worked 6 days a week. It doesn't have to be riding, but lunging, joinup, in hand , long lineing etc.. It is even more important that the horse gets worked almost everyday if it doesn't have regular turnout.

Another thing you need to think about is blanketing. If you clip your horse in the winter it needs to have blankets on. If you don't clip your horse, in the wnter you have to make sure your horse is completly dry from sweat before putting them away,or putting a blanket on them. If your horse is clipped an the temperature goes below freezing they should have at leat a 300 gram fill blanket which cost $200-300

Horse are a huge responsibility and I would not recomend having horse at home if you are afraid of them or have limited experience with them. I wouldn't even consider buying a horse until you are completly comforable around them. When working with horse you have to be assertive and you be to know what to do if the horse spooks or is acting spooky.

What I would recomend is looking in to some local barn and taking lesson and see if they have any horse available for lease.
Having horses is a finacial, and timely commitment. They don't go anway when its cold out or you don't feel like taking care of the, or are busy.

**forgot to add if your horse needs to be on any supplements these can become quite costly.

[slleipnir]

I'm not afraid of horses, I'm afraid to ride them. I use to vollenteer at a barn...and, I would be less likely to exercise a horse if it's far away from me. If it's in my own yard, I can make sure I take care of it everyday. I think it gets expensive to have the barn exercise your horse...

[dab_20]

my donkeys stall/pen thing has a dirt floor with straw over it. He has alfalfa hay available all day, in a hay rack.

We don't heat our barn, and I live in Minnesota. (like tobys my baby said, it gets COLD here)

Ive got to go... I'll edit later.