The not-so-classy looking barn at Wyvern Oaks. Landscaping is in the works.
There are a few important things to consider about our experience that may differ from yours:
- We live in a part of the world that doesn't see much rain. Therefore, we don't have much grass, which makes supplemental hay (and possibly grain) a requirement.
- Wyvern Oaks is only two acres. Because of its size, we have to manage resources very carefully. If you have more land, it's not going to be so labor-intensive.
- We provide a level of care that's equivalent to what I'd expect at a good-quality boarding facility: fed 2x/day, as much turnout as possible, 24/7 hay, blankets on/off as needed, up in the barn during inclement weather. Obviously for many horses that's not a requirement, but it's what all of ours are accustom to and it works well for us..
#1: It's not as cheap as you think
Around here, it's roughly $600/mo to board at a good facility. By "good" I mean:- Stalls
- Daily turnout with a buddy or two on a decent pasture
- A covered arena and/or outdoor arena with lights, round pen, and other amenities
- Blanketing included
- Fans included
- Grain included, supplements fed for no charge
- Less than an hour from town
Aisle and run-in area
None of this includes lessons, vet, farrier/trimmer, showing, etc.
In comparison, here's roughly what it costs me, per month, to keep three horses at home:
- $150-200/horse/month for hay. Cash is a little more expensive because he gets alfalfa, so this is an average. Obviously if I were boarding I'd have to pay extra for alfalfa. In 2011 during the epic drought, this number DOUBLED per horse because hay was $20/bale.
- $100/horse/month for grain. Because I can choose which grain to feed, I feed Triple Crown. It's expensive, about $22/bag (in comparison, I can get a 12% pelleted feed for about $12/bag, but the ingredient list scares me). Cash and Red together go through a 50 lb bag every other day, more or less. Paddy, on the other hand, gets a cup of Triple Crown Lite 2x/day - a bag of grain lasts him almost a month! Cash also gets supplemental beet pulp, and that's an additional $15/bag, which lasts him about 5 days. I'd have to pay extra for the amount of feed Cash gets if he were boarded. Maybe they'd give me a discount for Paddy? LOL!
- $200/month in barn supplies. This includes shavings, PDZ, new buckets/feed tubs (they don't last forever), etc.
So we're up to $900/mo. Not bad, right? But we haven't counted in the cost of the barn, which we had to build and was more than a new car, fencing, which needs regular attention (and really needs to be replaced, which is $$$$$), plus things like the fact that you have to have a truck and trailer to make this all work. I'll get to those things in another post, but just keep in mind that the $900 isn't everything. There are loads of incidentals that aren't really included in this number that you need to be aware of.
Run-in area of the barn
And then there's the big one: TIME. It takes one person approximately 1 hour 2x/day to take care of the boys. I'll talk more in another post about what's required to manage small acreage, but know that I spend a lot of time doing this. If I were paying someone to do it, even if I were only paying them $10/hour, it would cost $600/mo in labor alone. There goes all the savings you're theoretically getting from keeping your horses at home! Of course, the flip side of this is that I get 2 hours of exercise lifting, walking, and just moving around every day that I would not otherwise get. This helps keep me fit and strong in an otherwise fairly sedentary life with a desk job. So maybe I should subtract the cost of a gym membership from the total? LOL!
Of course, if you're lucky and you have 20 acres of grass, a nice run-in shed that came with the property, and you can toss out a round bale every week to keep your horses fat, your costs are going to be a lot less. There is certainly nothing wrong with that style of horse keeping, and in fact I'm kinda jealous of people who can do that! I'd have more time for riding if I could spend less time taking care of the boys, that's for sure!
So, questions? Thoughts? What other things would you like to hear about?
I always think its funny when people think that keeping horses at home will be cheaper, they are usually people who don't think about hidden costs, and what their time is worth. To each their own though right?
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely pros and cons to each situation. I was just surprised how much it ACTUALLY costs to keep a horse. People don't make any money on boarding, that's for sure.
DeleteLove this post! Really puts things in perspective. Makes paying for board seem like a better deal but I'm sure having the horses in your backyard is worth it!
ReplyDeletePaying for board is definitely a better deal if you can find a good place that takes care of the horses in the way you want it done. That said, keeping them at home is neither cheap nor easy!
DeleteFinding a good place that takes care of your horses the way you want is the key ;)
DeleteWell said!
I am boarding at a friend's house, and it is their first time having horses at home. I help out as much as I can and I pretty much pay for Shy's food, bedding, plus their time in taking care of her.
ReplyDeleteYour hay and boarding costs about double what it costs me when I boarded at a barn though! And even when hay was high, the it never even got to $10 a bale of alfalfa. When I boarded Shy, they didn't charge for giving alfalfa though. And I never got a discount because my horse doesn't eat grain.
Boarding makes it easier if you need to travel or want to go on vacation, that is for sure!
Here hay is $8.50-10/bale normally, during the drought it was $20/bale. If you pick it up out of the field you can get it for a little less - maybe $7/bale? But the quality is iffy. Alfalfa is currently $16/bale - it comes from Arizona.
DeleteStill crazy!! Hay here is $5 or less a bale, nice hay too, usually a timothy/alfalfa mix. I am sure part of your cost is getting the hay in, as ours is more local.
DeleteOrchard runs about $24/bale here. But that's because it's trucked in. My hay guy grows the forage that Jet gets, and they got someone across the street growing the alfalfa, so both those are $20 and $21 respectively.
DeleteAlso, we get three string 150+ lb bales out here in the west. I've talked to friends who live in the midwest who only pay $5-something or other, but those are 30-40 lb square bales, so I guess that kind of evens out in the end because ours are like 3X as big (plus the expense of trucking)
Allison, our $10/bale hay IS local - grown about an hour away. Here, it has to be irrigated to get it through the summer, which contributes to the cost.
DeleteLei, our bales are ~50 lb squares. I've had some of those three-string bales of alfalfa, and I don't like them because I cannot pick them up. You don't see them very often here, but I know they're pretty common out west. I can't even imagine hand-stacking a barn full of 150-lb bales! I think I'd need a live-in chiropractor and masseuse! Add that to the list of expenses. ;)
I can see how different areas justify their cost of hay based on the resources they have available. Lei, our bales are about 50 lbs, too. I have seen the smaller bales as well. Our round bales are about $55-70 depending on quality.
DeleteI would hate to have to deal with 150 lb bales! Helping load/unload/stack 100-200 bales at 50 lbs is hard enough!
I love boarding, haha. You work hard but there ar elots of plusses too!
ReplyDeleteBoarding can be awesome! It can also suck. ;)
DeleteGreat post! I keep my mare on my family's property (5 acres dedicated to the horses). You are completely right! Once you add up all time, effort, and money, the cost is way higher than boarding at a good facility. I don't really mind all the effort and time spent, although I'm not going to lie, pasture irrigation can be a total pain. The main thing I don't like about not boarding is that I can't borrow bits often.
ReplyDeleteHannah, I'm glad to hear that someone else has a similar experience. I can't even imagine trying to irrigate pastures - we're on city water, so that would break the bank!
DeleteTotally concur with this post. Our numbers are remarkably similar. Keeping the facility running eats up the extra time I thought I'd have for riding, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteSomething to factor in - one major league vet emergency that could have been prevented or noticed sooner at a boarding barn, justifies / balances the extra costs of having your horse at home. Seeing your horse every day is invaluable I think. :D
Glad to hear my numbers aren't totally off - if everyone else said they were paying less than half that, i think I might have cried. But I agree, seeing your horse every day - multiple times a day - can be really invaluable!
DeleteI cannot get past 2 horses going through a 50lb. bag of grain every other day.... makes me even more appreciative of my "gets fat on air" QH. Holy cow haha.
ReplyDeleteWell Cash gets about 15 lbs/day (senior is basically all he eats), and Red about 6 lbs/day. That's 20 lbs/day, with a bag weighting 50 lbs... basically every 2 days is what I budget for. It's a lot of feed!
DeleteI soooooo agree with this. My BO thinks I'm saving loads of money but I'm terms of true dollars I'm probably breaking even when compared to a boarding barn. The thing that really gets me is the amount of time it takes to care for Charlie and his girlfriend. It would be much easier if he was in the backyard but then I would have to spend all that 'saved time' caring for the property. All that said, until I can afford a very high-end joint that does exactly what I want, when I want, this IMO is the absolute best situation for me. Did I mention I'm one of those boarders BOs hate? ;)
ReplyDeleteDIY is a great situation for some things, like the fact that you can control every little thing that's going on. I'm also one of those boarders BOs hate, so I totally get it! This is actually going to be on my 10 things list, as one of the pros!
DeleteGreat post! I've always thought about how nice it would be to keep my horse at home, but then I remember all the "extras" and I think I'll wait until I land that million-dollar job. (haha!)
ReplyDeleteBoarding is the way I prefer to go!
There are a lot of "extras" for sure. Hubby thinks we need an "extra" tractor, but at $30K, we can't really justify that!
DeleteI wasn't a huge fan of having my horses at home when we lived in NY. We had a lot of grass and a lot of pasture and we made our own hay (a monumental task in itself) so my costs were pretty low, but the biggest problem/inconvenience I had was finding someone to take care of our animals whenever we went somewhere. There's nothing I love more than popping in the barn and telling the BM I'll be gone for a week and leaving. Well. I also appreciate that I'm not the one breaking five gallon buckets of ice every morning in negative degrees.
ReplyDeleteOh good heavens, I can't even imagine making hay. Been there, done that, not gonna do it again. And you're right, it's hard to find someone to house-sit - in fact that's one of my 10 things topics. As for breaking ice on buckets, yeah, that's one of my least fav things to do, and I almost never have to do it in Texas!
DeleteI don't think I like this series, hahaha!
ReplyDeleteNo, in all seriousness, it is a good thing to think about. BUT I will say, having done much math very carefully, costs are hugely variable depending on region, how you keep your horse, and general cost of living. Also, I do believe boarding makes more sense with one horse. Once you have two or more, though, it gets pricey fast.
For example, boarding, I buy all of my horses' grain anyway. I do most of their paddock management. I change blankets. They get round bales to eat because there is not much grass. Plus it means I have to be 3 places a day (work, barn, home), so that's more diesel. So I am basically only paying for them to give my horses food and water. Which is awesome, since I do travel for work. But....
For the reasons you mentioned, I was very careful and spent TWO YEARS looking for land. So when I move, my grain cost will drop because I have lots of awesome grass, no more little paddock! Here, if you have good pasture, you only have to feed hay generally 3-4 months out of the year, so if you can pick it up yourself and store it, you can stock up on LOVELY hay for less than $3 a bale.
Another big expense for a lot of horse-keepers is the barn/stall thing, which is personal preference. I don't stall my horses. Like, ever. I have found that keeping them moving is better for their health and they have shelter if they want it. So no shavings, no stall cleaning, no manure to manage except occasionally tossing it out of the shed and dragging pastures. And no barn to build, just a very simple run in.
Then you make sure you have a pro-trainer with facilities next door. ;) Actually, where I am boarding now, they do have lit arena, but it's very rocky, so I usually ride up in the grass in the dark in winter anyway.
But in summary, you should absolutely do your math carefully, because everyone will have different variables. Now I will only have to be TWO places per day, I don't have to go ANYWHERE on weekends if I don't want to, my mortgage payment will be about the same, no more water/sewer fees, no more city taxes, and horsey neighbours means feeding help via bartering!
Great idea to bring this up, Jen, because I know many people jump in wanting to replicate a full service show barn at home or even "just a little barn and a small practice arena," without really knowing what that adds up to!!!
Costs definitely vary hugely by region and by the land you've got. You were the one I was thinking of when I mentioned the giant fields of grass and being jealous! I wish hay were only $3/bale - minimum I see it here is $7, and that's on Craigslist so you know it's a little sketchy. I don't keep our guys up either unless it's absolutely necessary. We're on blackland that doesn't drain, so even an inch of rain will turn everything into a big mud pit. To avoid completely wrecking the land, we keep them in the barn till it dries out. Really, they have a 24x36 run in with shavings, plus an addition 36x48 exterior area that's got a hard base with sand over it. So they get plenty of space to move around in and they don't rip up the track or the pastures. Win-win.
DeleteNot having a trainer and arena nearby is one of the seriously bad things about my situation. Yours is perfect for that! I'm definitely jealous of your setup. :)
I appreciate that the upkeep is a lot (tons) of work. And when things you wrong, like a giant storm, the clean up can be really overwhelming. Barn vehicles and equipment are no small costs. I have helped repair and fund fencing in 90 degree weather. It was the pits!
ReplyDeleteBUT my barn owners support multiple horses and have many eager horse lover friends who come out to help out, pick up small barn jobs (or big ones) in order to be around houses. I think the secret is to make lots of friends who like horses and want to share in the experience.
Boarding one horse is very different than a herd. But then what if your horse has special needs?
It definitely helps to have lots of friends who like horses and want to share the experience, and we've got a bit of that going on here, so I'll touch on that in another post.
DeleteAnd you're right, boarding one is different than boarding three. As for special needs, I think that's a challenge no matter what your situation. I've got a horse that really should be fed 3x/day... but I can't get home to do it every day. If he were at a good boarding facility, they'd charge me extra and it would get done, because there's someone there full-time. At home, it's just me, so I have to pick what I can do. There are plusses and minuses no matter what your situation!
Good friends and community are definitely key!!! Jen, sounds like you just need to find you a piece of land in NC!! Hee!
ReplyDeleteHeheh... or not. Not that I don't love NC, but our roots are here. :)
DeleteI feel like I have the best of both worlds in that I do self care at a boarding facility and that the self care area is separate from the full care side. I get to feed my own hay, exactly as much as I want (and of the best quality I can get which is vastly superior to what full care feeds), I can have my slice of paradise set up exactly how I want it (especially now with the new corral set up) and I still have access to three riding arenas and trails without worrying about maintaining the property. I've got people to ride with when I want it, and the chance to ride alone if I want. I like it.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's pretty reasonable in terms of costs, and being less than full care board for two. Work in 3 miles from the ranch, so I don't really count gas as I more or less spend it getting to work. I usually spend the whole weekend day at the barn, and it's fun since I have a bench for eating my lunch, and shade from the tree by my hay shed.
Living where I am, I don't think I could ever board at home. I'd probably end up with almost no facilities except a pen, and that'd be about it. I like the way things work for me at the barn. I can have my cake and eat it too.
Lei, that does sound like a great situation! It's really nice to be able to control everything, especially buying the quality you want. Plus the facilities and buddies - so nice. I miss that most about boarding. I'm glad you have a situation that works great for your two!
DeleteIt's super. I've been at that boarding facility almost as long as I've ever had horses, but only went down to self care three years ago when I got Jet (back) and had to make it work that way with two. I avoid the drama that occurs down on the full care side, but see regular visitors as people like to ride by the self care.
DeleteI love having the space, Mitch used to live in the mare motel's 12x24, moved to a 24x36 for two and a half months and they went to self care's 24x48 (which has since been remodeled and is now 24x72). My hay shed's a dream, the guy who was there before me built it out of solid wood that'll never go bad, it's built so I can't get mice/rats/vermin in there (birds fly in when I open the door, haha, trying to get to the grains in Jet's forage) and there's a wall and a separate door for my tack so I don't get hay all over my stuff.
I love being able to get great quality hay, and a variety if I have to. Full care has a choice between "grass" (aka whatever they can get cheap enough) or alfalfa and they charge extra for grass, so I get way better there.
It's a nice situation, and one I'm certainly glad to have.
My costs are a lot less than yours! I think it definitely does vary by region. I love having my horses at home and being responsible for their care.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous! I wish our costs were less, but ... eh, it is what it is. :)
DeleteAnd I agree with you - having them at home is pretty special!
All I will say is that I'm thankful that I live (and board) in an area where stabling is unusual. The stalls at my barn are used for sick/injured horses only- the rest live out 24/7.Then again, we have pretty mild weather!
ReplyDeleteI think my barn costs $245 US (rough conversion) per month- and for that we get rotated HUGE paddocks (which is a good 90% of daily feeding), water and use of facilities.
I get free board, so I think I ended up paying $35 per week to keep Ponch- which included farriery, worming and feed.
Definitely more economical than keeping him at home!
We actually only have one stall, which I use when someone is sick/injured or we have to keep them up because of the weather (Taran bullies Cash and won't let him stand in the barn, so Taran goes in the stall). Otherwise, they're out.
DeleteYour situation sounds amazing! Nice facilities, great turnout, cheap. What's not to love!
I will never be truly happy until i can keep my horses at home. I'm at a good facility now but i had to move from my last one because if issues with the care. My horse actually needs water in the summer imagine that. At your own barn you make the rules, as a boarder you dont and you have to make compromises for all kinds of reasons. Some reasonable, some not. I'm sure keeping my pones at home wont be any cheaper then boarding them. I've done the spread sheet, its really about the same money-wise but the other benefits make it really appealing. Now if i could only win the lottery.
ReplyDeleteOh man, I've been a barn where water wasn't always fresh/clean/refilled. I almost lost Cash to colic because of it. I'm sure we've all got boarding horror stories to tell! Keeping horses at home definitely gives you control over All The Things, which is a double-edged sword. I'll definitely talk about that in another post!
DeleteI hope you do another post and include some of the "hidden" costs that you might not have thought about. I find this subject very intriguing, despite the fact that I really don't ever want to have horses at home, haha
ReplyDeleteTracy, I'll do a post on some big-ticket items that I consider a necessity (truck, trailer, barn/hay storage, good fencing, tractor). As ever, your mileage may vary. Things that are essentials for me and our situation at Wyvern Oaks won't be for everyone, but it's definitely a good thing to be aware of!
DeleteI've done both... when I lived in Virginia I had a place of my own where I could keep my horses. I had three of them at the time and I thought it was going to be the best thing ever. I quickly found out that I was a bit in over my head... I spent more time mowing, cleaning stalls, putting up fences, and dragging the arena than I did riding my horses. After morning chores, a full day at work, and chores in the evening, even if I did have time to ride, I was always SO tired. I lived by myself, so that didn't help either, and the property was 10 acres, so there was a lot of upkeep. Plus it needed a lot of work when I bought the place.
ReplyDeleteI definitely saved money on board, but the time aspect of it just wasn't worth it for me. As much as I hate boarding 99% of the time, I enjoy spending time with my horse and not having to worry about any of the other housekeeping stuff. It's also nice to not have to worry about finding a horse sitter if I need to go out of town.
Perhaps if I had a more turnkey property, especially now that I'm only caring for one horse, I wouldn't mind going back to having Lilly at home.
in2, there are days when I wish we had 10 acres, so we'd have to do less management. Then I think about mowing and tending fence on 10 acres, and I'm so thankful we don't have that much land. Every situation has it's pros and cons, that's for sure!
DeleteI board but do a lot of aditional care myself(clean my stall, installed and fill my own large water bucket, keep the stall mats flat, feed extra hay I purchase, grain and blankets) bc the BO isn't up to my standard. But this is the barn my trainer is at soooo that's how life is.
ReplyDeleteI dream of having property but am well aware it's work :)
If you're already doing a log of self care, you're definitely going to be more prepared to have horses at home, since you already have a really good handle on costs and amount of work. I hope you get your dream property sooner than later!
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