How much will it cost to maintain a horse monthly?

Answer 1

we have our own land, so do not have to pay for stables. our horse has plenty of acreage to eat off of, so we do not have to feed him hay most of the year. in the winter we have to feed him hay, but we grow our own hay in the spring and summer and keep 100 bales for his winter needs. prior to growing our own hay, we paid anywhere from 5-15$ a bale! that will last about 1.5 weeks at the most. we also supplement with oats, which for a 50 pound bag is about 15$ and that will last about 3 weeks.

aside from food, the biggest expense would be the vet. if you have to call the vet out, it is usually 300$ at a minimum/visit. thankfully we have only had to have a vet come out 3 times in the 3 years we have had our horse.

the next expense is the farrier. our horse is "barefoot" meaning he does not wear horse shoes. it costs 20$ every 6 weeks to get his hooves trimmed.

fly spray! that is a big issue. you can go through several bottles of fly spray a month (mostly late spring to early fall) and that runs anywhere from 5$ a bottle to 50+$ a bottle. depends on what works for the flies in your neck of the woods. you really have to keep the flies off because they bite and they also will lay eggs in any open wounds. not a good thing!

vaccinations! gotta have those. you are allowed to give the shots (most of them!) and wormings yourself. that is about 65$ a year.

so, for food, you are looking at about 40$ a month.

shots, 65$ a year

fly spray, roughly 20$ a month from spring to fall

hoof trimming (no shoes) 20$ ever 6 weeks

vet, have a rainy day fund of at least 300$

ps, our horse was "free". free horses are not cheap! Enjoy!

Answer 2

it depends.I spend about $450 per month on my full size horse.You do not need to pay vet bills monthly,but you do need to get your horse to take wormers every 6-8 weeks and there about $10 each.I also board my horse for $350 a month.Also every 8-10 weeks you need your horses hooves trimed which is about $30 for me.