A pet is always a great companion for you, in any situation of your life. Its love and care for you never change or it never depends according to your life status. From happy moments to sad moments it will always beside you to share your feeling. It is not necessary always to become a cat or dog as your pet friend. It can be a horse too. You may be a bit confused to make a horse as your pet, due to its size, behavior patterns, and the cost to manage a horse. To take care of a horse, only the food and large area to live is not sufficient. You have to take care of him in a healthy and quality manner. For that purpose, frequent vet checks are important. Normally is cost a high amount of money. Let us find out about how much it costs to take care of a horse and average vet bill for a horse.

Why you should keep a horse? -The average vet bill for a horse

A horse is an exceptional animal because everyone cannot afford it. Only a few of them have the ability to look after a horse. Horses are also can be friends of human. Friendship depends on what you expect from a horse. And there are some benefits of having a horse. Also, there are several reasons, why some people get the decision to have a horse. Let’s see what they are.

You can use your horse to ride. It will be a superb experience that everyone is willing for. You can enjoy an active lifestyle with a horse by riding outdoors. Usually; people have to pay to have a horse ride. But, if you can make a pet horse, your ridings are totally free. You can explore nature with an active body because it is much more than compared to walking alone. A horse can be your exercise partner. You will get a great workout running with a horse, while the horse is just walking. Having a horse is a new social experience. You can move anywhere with this horse. You can visit your friends; participate in competitions, move to new societies and much more. Most of the time there are horse riding clubs so you can join them too.

Keeping your horse healthy is a kind of big challenge!

Actually, horses are easy to take care than others think. But, this has some commitments such as providing a place to live, providing food, etc. Is it expensive to have a horse? Yes, it depends on your attitude and living status. But, you can manage it, then you expect. You can make him a very comfortable place to live with simple things. As an example, if you have a keen interest to own a horse you must provide him a better living place. This place must include a place to sleep. But, you do not want to go for luxurious horse bedding. You can make it by using some wooden pallets even. So, all the requirements are depending according to your interest to adopt a horse.

Also, horses have a long life span than other animals. Normally, they can live around 25 to 30 years. So, you have plenty of time to have a good connection with a horse. Sometimes, this time may vary with the breeding variety. Anyway, you must have a high commitment to take care of your horse through his lifetime. This is a big opportunity, to showcase your humanity towards animals. A horse is a fun animal. You can always play with him because it has high energy

. But, each horse has its unique and special characteristics, while sharing their common behaviors.

The annual cost to maintain a horse

The cost of a horse starts when you decide to buy a one from a place of horses for sale. Price to maintain a horse for a year is a bit expensive. You have to bear 200 to 500 American dollars.

How much is a vet visit for a horse?

Initial veterinary bill is around 100 American dollars, which depends on the equine vet price list. This includes a physical examination of the horse, worming, and dental examination and providing relevant vaccinations.

Sometimes, it costs more than this price. When it comes to an immediate trimming, it is much expensive. You have to bear another additional cost of 100 American dollars for immediate trimming and shoeing. This cost is fair as a very corrective method is required to shape the hooves of the horse. The shape should be as the same as the previously maintained shape and it should be comfortable to the horse.

And you have to perfume routine hoof care for everyone and half months to two months. This costs around 35 American dollars for trimming and for shoes it costs another 100 American dollars. The reason for this higher price is due to the demand for the correct shoe. It is fair because the correct and similar shoes should be present in pairs of horse limbs.

For the annual vet bill, you have to add the cost for the nourishment of your horse.

Depending on the season and type the price of hay is differentiated. Usually, a single bale of hay is around 15 to 20 American dollars. A horse consumes about one and a half bales per week. Or the consumption amount of bale hay per day can be 2% of their total body weight. Therefore you have to bare about 100 to 120 American dollars monthly as the cost for the food for your horse.

Bale hay is not sufficient to provide all the nutrients and minerals for your horse. There are some other essential nutrients should be provided to your horse to its development. Other food supplements such as grains, seeds, psyllium, and bran should be provided. The monthly cost for these can be around 25 American dollars. You should be provided several special food supplements such as glucosamine for their arthritic conditions. For that, you have to bear some extra cost of 40 American dollars per month.

Not only food and other physical facilities but also you should provide medical facilities for your horse.

It is very essential in order to have a healthy life. To provide frequent medical checkups and take immediate medications in an earlier stage of symptoms is very important. Normally horses are attacked by intestinal parasites. So, they need worming every 2 months. For worming, it takes about 13 American dollars for a horse. And also vaccinations should be given semi-annually. Vaccinations for influenza, tetanus, rhinopneumoniis cost about 35 American dollars twice per year. Not only planned medications but also you have to consider emergency medication practices.

So, you cannot predict the exact cost for those situations. The only thing you have to keep some money aside for those emergency veterinary cares if you are maintaining a horse. So, we cannot give an exact answer if you asked a question like “How often should a horse be vet checked?”. It is because; the answer is different according to the condition of the horse. If it is a laceration, it requires anesthetic agents, antibiotics, sutures; therefore the cost goes to a very high amount as 200 to 500 American dollars.

And also the cost differs according to the seriousness and size of the injury of the horse. Colic is a very serious situation which some horses have to face. Sometimes you have to have surgery or even you have to admit your horse in a hospital to treat this disease. Unfortunately, if your horse has to face this condition, you have to bear thousands of dollars. So, provide good quality food, a frequent checkup is essential in order to prevent your dog from serious illnesses.

One time or occasional expenses

There are some expenses you have to bear for one time or it can be occasional even. For an instant, let’s assume that you want to purchase a horse track and grooming supplies (such as saddles, bridles, brushes, halters, blankets, cleaning agents, etc). Those are upfront expenses and require maintenance from time to time. Other equipment to riding such as riding boots, helmets, chaps, riding breeches, and gloves are needed to ride with your horse. This can be varying due to the level of riding, even though you have to buy a few of these items.

Training

To decrease the annual vet cost, you must provide your horse a proper exercise and training. This is a somewhat time-consuming expense. To ride your horse with, first, you have to train your horse to ride and also you have to train your horse to ride with you or with your family member. If you purchase a horse with the ability to run, but you have to do and extra training to ride with you even. Your newly purchased horse may be headstrong or ornery. Then you must have the confidence to obey the horse to listen to your commands.

Horse insurance

You should have a horse insurance coverage to your horse. Most insurance has coverage from days old foals to their lifetime. Sometimes, you can have extra benefits such as personal accident, stable cover, vet’s fees, saddler and track even. This seems to be an extra cost, but this is beneficial when your horse has to face harsh times. As an example, horse hernia surgery cost is around 10000 American dollars. Usually, due to the high cost for hernia surgery, you can pass this to your insurance company.

How much does it cost to own a horse per month?

To maintain a horse in good conditions, you have to bear around 140 American dollars per month. Altogether with other common expenses, you have to bear around 1800 to 2500 of American dollars to maintain a horse companion, for one year. Not only the money, have you had to provide special attention for your horse too. This cost can be different for several reasons. If you feed your horse with more expensive concentrates or supplements your monthly bill may vary.

If you have to bear an unexpected veterinarian bill for the sake of the health of your horse, your budget will increase. As an example; immunizing for other diseases such as West Nile virus or Potomac horse fever, you have to bear a high veterinarian charge and the high amount for the drugs and medicines. If your horse requires shoes or a special trimming in a particular month, the monthly budget is definitely increased in a high amount.

Let us assume that your horse is breeding to produce a foal, in that month you have to bear a monthly cost more than 140 of American dollars per month. And also, you have to think about other factors also. They can be fuel price increment, medication cost increment, and bad weather conditions too. Bad weather and other circumstances such as heavy rain, drought comparatively affect your monthly budget to maintain your horse.

Boarding also cost a high amount of charges per month, if you are going to board your animal on someone’s property. It costs around 100 American dollars for pasture boards without inside stabling and about 1000 American dollars for a barn with stalls, individual turn-out, arenas and for other facilities. To put blankets and fly masks, you have to bear an extra cost. But, if you consider cost cutting while maintaining a horse, the most suitable method is self-care facility. But, you have to provide your horse with your own food, breeding place and daily traveling with exercises.

Horse cost calculator

You can have your own way to measure the amount of money you have to bear by using the cost of owning a horse calculator. This will be really helpful you what potentially your horse would cost you. And also this is useful if you are going to buy a horse for the first time. Using this calculator, you must avoid to add unnecessary budgeting but also should cover all the areas that your horse requires.

Conclusion

Yes, it is true that owning and maintaining a horse can be a costly endeavor. But, once you achieved the mission of owning a horse, you can experience several benefits rather than being just a pet or a companion. You can predict the annual cost to maintain a horse by using a horse calculator. Once you get a horse, you should provide him food, shelter, medicine, and training too. The average vet bill for a horse depends on the quality of those things you provided to your horse. Rather than usual health guard maintenances, you can decrease the vet bill by disease prevention programs and having a keen take caring of your horse.