How Much Does It Cost to Own a Horse?
New reports offer a fresh perspective on horse expenses
By Karen Hopper Usher
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Photo: Getty Images
W
e’re all just one emergency away from facing serious trouble. It was a sobering realization for Heather Hayes, owner and trainer of Cozy Fields Farm, in Ellington, Connecticut, as she considered the financial strains of running a horse business.
In September 2021 Hayes sat down with her accountant. Her boarding rates would need to go up. Post-COVID inflation saw her costs climbing (they still are) and, even though the rate increase she made was relatively small ($50/month), a client had some questions.
Hayes turned to Facebook, breaking down costs and writing, “at $500-$600 a month, your barn owner is breaking even or operating at a loss,” when trying to cover all the costs of running a farm (from hay to electricity to insurance to labor). She concluded by writing, “I fear that by the time my kids are grown, only the wealthy will have horses.”
Since then her words have been shared at least 10,000 times. Hayes already had broad contacts in the horse industry. In addition to her training board, sales, and lesson programs, Hayes offers bodywork services and travels to other farms in New England. The Facebook post, however, went even further.
“It was a real wake-up call for me because you know how it is in this industry. Nobody likes to admit that it’s hard and it’s scary,” Hayes says. But people started telling her they were operating in the red. It wasn’t just the small operations. The big properties with immaculate facilities and reputations for doing a lot of business were saying the same thing. “I was like, ‘You’re somebody who I strive to be like. And we’re in the same situation.’”
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Heather Hayes
has many years of experience in the dressage, hunter, and jumper worlds, as well as the Friesian and Andalusian circuits on the local, regional, and national levels. In addition to a busy competition schedule, Hayes travels for both instruction as well as equine massage therapy appointments.
Horse owners tend to do some magical thinking when it comes to money. We underestimate how much we’re already spending. One recent study completed by Synchrony noted horse owners spend three to four times more than they initially estimate.
In 2023 Synchrony published the CareCredit “Equine Lifetime of Care Study,” which offers a look at lifetime costs of horse ownership as well as horse-owner attitudes toward their horse-related spending, while aiming to help people plan for the unexpected.
Results from the study showed 83% of horse owners feel prepared for unexpected expenses, while 85% feel stress about their horse-related expenditures.
The horse world is intensely varied, however. Our expenses and our horses are individual. Circumstances, regions, and more affect how much we spend.
Photo: Getty Images
A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE HORSE ECONOMY
In recent years several entities have attempted to crunch the horsekeeping numbers. Here is an overview of a few notable reports.
Synchrony’s online survey of 1,231 U.S. horse owners divided horses into competitive, recreational, and backyard/pastured categories.
Owners reported basic yearly expenses for one horse as $8,600 in the backyard category; $11,800 in the recreational category; and $26,000 in the competition category.
But that was just the basics. Adding in events and operating expenses, annual costs rose to $11,538 for owners of backyard/pastured animals; $16,460 for recreational owners; and $36,851 for competition.
The researchers obtained lifetime costs by multiplying annual expenses by 25. (Most people surveyed for the study said they planned to keep their horses for life, or roughly 25 years.)
The backyard lifetime costs reached $288,992+; recreational $412,001+; and competitive $924,270+.
In the lifetime estimate, the report did not adjust for inflation or changing uses for the horse, such as when a competition horse retires to pasture.
The report showed what percentage of owners in a category had which expenses and what they paid on average.
For example, owners reported boarding as the most expensive cost unrelated to health care, but not everyone pays board. The report showed 53% of competitive owners paid an average of $9,324 for board annually, while 41% of recreational owners paid an average of $6,311, and 25% of owners with backyard/pastured horses paid an average of $5,946.
Owner reported basic yearly expenses for one horse:
Photo: Shelley Paulson
THE SPECTRUM OF HORSE OWNERSHIP COSTS
In 2023 then-master’s student Olivia Watson examined both horse-related expenses and the economic influence of the equine industry in Tennessee. She made the survey available to anyone involved in the state’s horse industry and requested information from 2021. It is relevant to note that the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC) reported that as of the first quarter of 2024, Tennessee is the tenth most affordable state in the U.S. in which to live.
“The average cost of ownership per equid resulting from this assessment is $6,719, with estimated costs categories being boarding, health care, breeding, training, and feed,” Watson writes in her thesis.
She found participants paid $791.81 per month, total, for boarding services, but notes on average each participant boarded two equids. By TheHorse.com’s calculations, this would equal $4,750.86 annually to board one horse in Tennessee. However, boarding facility owners reported charging $481.25 on average per equid, or $5,775 annually.
Unlike with many surveys, Watson also collected data from people who lease horses. People paid $608.58 monthly, on average, for all leases with the average person leasing 1.8 equids.
In contrast, a multidiscipline boarding and lesson facility in South Florida charges $1,600 per month for full board. Lessons, training, and other services are available at an additional cost. Many boarding facilities in South Florida also require the horse to be in training, which adds to the monthly expenses.
What Are Your Costs?
Want to estimate how much it costs to keep your own horse? Print out this worksheet and fill in your true costs to find out how much money it takes to care for your horse each year
HORSE HEALTH AND HOOF CARE COSTS
But what can a horse owner normally expect to spend on her horse each year? Under optimal conditions you can expect to spend at least $1,000 annually on vet and farrier costs, conservatively.
Watson cites an estimated $750 for routine veterinary care and $404 for farrier care in her state.
Bob Coleman, PhD, an extension specialist and associate professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at the University of Kentucky, in Lexington, estimates basic veterinary and farrier care combined starts around $2,500 a year in Kentucky. He notes, however, that regional differences, veterinarian availability, and the individual horse’s needs will affect these numbers. But the cost of routine veterinary care, including vaccinations, an annual dental exam, and a Coggins and health certificate, would likely approach $1,500 per year, he says.
Farrier expenses also vary significantly, depending on the region, access to farriers, and horse needs. “I have paid from $50 for a trim to $150 for front shoes, and for anything special the price goes up rather quickly,” Coleman says. “If you’re paying $150 per visit with an average of seven visits per year (every six to eight weeks), that would be $1,050 per year.”
In the CareCredit study competitive, recreational, and backyard horse owners reported their health expenses, which you can find below.
Bob Coleman, PhD,
grew up showing horses and harness ponies in Brandon, Manitoba. He worked as an animal nutritionist for two feed companies in Western Canada before joining the Alberta Horse Industry Branch, where he worked for 18 years as the provincial extension horse specialist. He is currently an associate extension professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences in the College of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky, in Lexington.
Photo: Getty Images
CALCULATING HAY NEEDS AND COSTS
You can negotiate bale price with your hay guy, but good luck negotiating quantity with your horse. Horses should eat about 2-2.5% of their body weight daily in forage. For a 1,000-pound horse without access to pasture, that’s 20-25 pounds of hay every day.
Small square bales ranged in price from $5-12 in the summer of 2024, notes Coleman, who advises horse owners to weigh those small bales. Don’t assume it’s a 50-pound bale based on appearance alone.
You can track hay prices through the USDA. Hay and Forage Grower magazine reported in late July 2024 that premium alfalfa prices were as high as $395 a ton in Pennsylvania (about $9.88 for a 50-lb bale) and as low as $125 per ton in Minnesota (about $3.13 per 50-lb bale).
High-quality forage (whether pasture grass or hay) is the centerpiece of a healthy equine diet. Invest in your forage and you might be able to cut other feeding expenses.
“A very large fraction of horse owners are supplementing on top of their feeding program,” says Josie Solomon, MS, PAS, a nutrition and sales consultant in Kentucky and Tennessee for Alltech. High-quality forage and supplemental feeds (balancers, concentrates, complete feeds) contain nutrients that could be better absorbed and utilized by the horse, making supplementation unnecessary.
Testing your hay or pasture can help you make smarter management choices; knowing what’s in your forage lets you know what type of ration balancer or concentrate feed your horse needs. Coleman estimates the cost of testing hay at $20-40.
Suppose chemical testing is impractical because you buy such a small quantity of hay at a time (i.e., the source changes frequently). In that case you can evaluate its physical properties, including color, smell, maturity level, and foreign objects, to gauge its nutritional value, says Betsy Greene, PhD, an extension specialist at the University of Arizona.
Coleman also stresses the importance of avoiding hay wastage and recommends using hay feeders, which can earn back their purchase price. Here, too, prices can range widely, with hay nets running $10-75 and metal hay racks typically starting at about $60 for stall sizes and reaching more than $500 for multihorse pasture designs.
Josie Solomon, MS, PAS,
is a lifestyle sales representative at Alltech. She is an experienced equine nutritional consultant specializing in performance and metabolically challenged horses.
Solomon has a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Purdue University and a master’s degree in horse science from Middle Tennessee State University. She has also received certification from the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists, with a specialization in equids.
Betsy Greene, PhD,
is a professor and extension horse specialist at the University of Arizona. She collaborated with several state agencies to develop educational materials for equine owners and producers, including the award-winning National Horse Safety on the Road Public Service Announcement.
THE HAY FORECAST
You’ve heard the adage “make hay while the sun shines.” Coleman says you might consider buying the hay then, too.
“Horse owners should always look to get the hay they need as soon as possible when it is available as you never know what the growing conditions are going to be throughout the hay harvest time,” Coleman says after noting that he’d been hearing some concerns about hay availability in the summer of 2024. “While the first cut came off in reasonable shape, the lack of rain may have a significant influence on the how second cut goes.”
Hay availability might be a problem in the years to come, too. Though farmers are using more land for grazing and crops than in recent years, they are planting fewer acres of equine food crops.
“We have spoken very candidly that we are anxious about loss of crop acreage and that might mean hay will be scarcer and, thus, cost more,” says Julie Broadway, president of the American Horse Council (AHC).
The USDA noted in the report “Major Uses of Land in the United States, 2012” that 22 million more acres were available for grazing in 2012 compared to 2007, “reversing a downward trend observed from 1945 through 2007.”
But between 2017 and 2023, the U.S. saw a 15.2% decrease in planted acreage for equine food crops such as alfalfa, clover, grass, and teff, according to the AHC’s 2023 National Economic Impact Study that used USDA data. Broadway clarified that the figures came from farmers growing and selling hay; horse farmers growing only for their own use would not have been included.
Growing your own hay or planning to simply turn your horses out to pasture has expenses, too, experts caution.
“Do you want to own a tractor, a mower, a rake, or a baler?” Coleman asks. “All that stuff that costs money to own, operate, maintain.”
Solomon suggests reaching out to your local extension agent for advice on seed types for your region, rotational grazing, mowing guidelines, fertilizer, herbicides, and other ways to optimize your forage management. Along with budgeting for pasture maintenance, you’ll need to plan what you’ll do and how much you need to spend if the grass doesn’t grow, Coleman adds.
Julie Broadway, MBA,
earned her MBA degree with a concentration in finance from the Weems Graduate School at Meredith College. She is also a graduate of the Duke University Advanced Nonprofit Leadership Program and a Certified Association Executive (CAE) from American Society of Association Executives.
Broadway was named the president of the American Horse Council in May 2016. Prior to assuming that position, she was the executive director of the American Morgan Horse Association & Educational-Charitable Trust.
HORSE CARE COST BY RIDER TYPE
Competitive horse owners report they most commonly incur the following annual horse health expenses:
- Basic health exams (93% paid an average of $332).
- Vaccinations (100% paid an average of $402).
- Diagnostics (90% paid an average of $650).
- Vet travel costs (90% paid an average of $335).
- Dental/floating costs (93% paid an average of $240).
More than half of competitive horse owners also saw bills for joint disease and therapy, emergency care, medications, gastric ulcers, lacerations and wounds, and parasites. Those expenses ranged from $237 to $930 each. The highest health-related expense for competitive horse owners was complementary care, with 76% paying an average of $1,994 each year. Additionally, 99% of competitive horse owners reported they pay $1,710 for farrier services.
Recreational horse owners reported lower annual health costs for the typical basic services. Those expenses were:
- Basic health exams (95% paid an average of $271).
- Vaccinations (98% paid an average of $253).
- Dental/floating (92% paid an average of $198).
More than half of recreational horse owners incurred expenses related to joint disease and therapy, emergency care, medications, diagnostics, vet travel costs, lacerations and wounds, eye care, and parasites. Those expenses ranged from $106 to $461 each. As with the competitive horses, recreational owners reported complementary care as the biggest health-related expense, with 60% paying $1,178 annually. Additionally, 95% of recreational owners reported yearly farrier costs reached $1,196.
Backyard and pastured horse owners also saw lower costs for typical maintenance expenses. These included:
- Basic health exams (90% paid an average of $277).
- Vaccinations (96% paid an average of $233).
- Dental/float (90% paid an average of $167).
Fewer owners incurred expenses for emergency care, diagnostics, vet travel costs, lacerations and wounds, and parasite treatment. These costs ranged from $144 to $480 each. Complementary care, again the biggest expense, reached $1,320 but applied to only 38% of owners in the category. Additionally, annual farrier costs amounted to $804 (90%).
Horse owners reported laminitis as one of the largest health-related expenses, with costs ranging from $522 to $608, though fewer than 20% of horse owners in any of the categories incurred laminitis expenses in the reported year. Reported end-of-life costs ranged from $507 to $699 in the three categories, with roughly 20% of horse owners reporting those costs.
Photo: Adobe Stock
THE COST OF LAND AND FACILITIES
Photo: Shelley Paulson
LESSONS AND TRAINING
Expect to spend at least a few thousand dollars a year on riding lessons or training. Riding lessons and other services are a critical part of the equine economy. Some barns require purchase of a lesson package in addition to boarding fees.
According to one cost analysis, it takes 20 stalls to break even on hay, shavings, and feed, says Greene, the extension specialist in Arizona. She estimates a typical boarding barn is 20 to 30 stalls at the most.
“You have to have added-value things,” Greene says. “(Boarding is) kind of the loss leader. That added value of lessons or training or breeding or things like that are the things that allow them to actually stay in business—and not necessarily pay themselves.”
The CareCredit report showed 65% of competitive horse owners paid an average of $6,747 annually on lessons and training, while 31% of recreational horse owners paid $3,620 and 8% of pastured horse owners paid $2,995, indicating it’s one of the biggest expenses some owners face.
Lessons in Tennessee cost just under $50 per lesson and a little more than $70 for training sessions for the horse, Watson’s notes in her thesis. In contrast, lessons in the mid-Atlantic area can cost $100 or more for a private lesson.
Photo: Getty Images
GETTING REAL ABOUT MONEY
When the unexpected bill comes, more than half of horse owners admitted they’d be “stressed” by a bill of under $1,500, according to the CareCredit study.
“That’s probably the majority of what we do (treatments that cost under $1,500),” Mike Pownall, DVM, co-owner of McKee-Pownall Equine Services in Toronto, Canada, about the CareCredit data. He cites typical emergencies, in-depth lameness, or wound care as routine to a veterinarian.“Our clients are more stressed than I expected,” Pownall says, referring to the data. Expecting the unexpected means coming up with financial solutions for vet bills.
In addition to savings, financial options for unexpected horse-related expenses include insurance, subscription/discount programs, and credit programs.
In the CareCredit report, a survey of 26 veterinarians and practice managers showed the veterinarians saying horses have one or two major medical expenses every year and that vets suggest having $6,500 set aside for horse-health-care costs every year.
If you’ve got a dedicated savings plan for your horse’s health-care costs, you’re ahead of the curve. The survey showed one in three horse owners has a dedicated account with savings ranging from about $4,000 to $9,000. But if your horse needs colic surgery, those savings disappear.
“That $9,000 is gone in a heartbeat,” says Pownall.
Most colics resolve without a horse needing surgical intervention, which shows in the CareCredit report, where costs ranged from $174 to $389 and were paid by 40% or fewer owners in the various categories.
Another expense—insurance—depends on the horse’s value, though some insurance companies and other programs offer coverage and reimbursement programs specifically for colic.
Mike Pownall, DVM, MBA,
and his wife, Dr. Melissa McKee, started McKee-Pownall Equine Services in 2002. They now have two equine clinics in the Toronto, Ontario, area. Pownall always had a strong interest in the business side of veterinary practice. He says that “Good business leads to good medicine, it’s as simple as that.” In 2015 he became a principal of Oculus Insights, a business education company that offers various business education opportunities to veterinarians serving all species.
Equine Care for Life: Helping Horse Owners Navigate Veterinary Costs
Dr. Mike Pownall provides actionable insights for veterinarians from Synchrony’s Equine Lifetime of Care study, a report estimating the lifelong cost of owning and caring for a horse.
Take-Home Message
Regardless of where you live, owning a horse is a considerable expense. Even if you’re keeping a 1,000-pound horse on a drylot you own outright, feeding bales of alfalfa year-round, and doing regular farrier trims and basic veterinary care, you can expect to spend thousands of dollars annually.
Some expenses are based on the individual horse’s needs—you might end up paying for shoes on one but not another. Some expenses are subject to hardship pricing, such as when drought or a fertilizer shortage causes hay and grain prices to climb. When it comes to tack, training, lessons, property taxes, pasture maintenance, bedding, fencing, and more, expenses are situational, personal, and regional.
Build these monthly expenses into your regular budget. Beyond that, consider and plan for when the unexpected happens, including emergency expenses.
Sponsor Message
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CareCredit is your card for a Lifetime of Care.
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References
American Horse Council Foundation National Economic Impact Study. 2023.
Bigelow, DP, Borchers, A. Major Uses of Land in the United States, 2012. U.S. Department of Agriculture, August 2017. www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=84879
Synchrony Bank. “Equine Lifetime of Care Study.” 2023. www.equinelifetimeofcare.com/
Watson, Olivia, “Assessing the Impact of the Tennessee Equine Industry” Master’s Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2023. trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/10145
Credits
Karen Hopper Usher
Karen Hopper Usher has a master’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University, where she reported for Great Lakes Echo. She previously worked in local news and is a lifelong equestrian based in Michigan.
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