The Cost of Horse Ownership

Let's talk numbers. I'm already crunching numbers for 2025 taxes and decided to do a little horse math. I've been keeping track of how much hay each horse is eating and other costs to determine an accurate cost of a horse per year here at Heritage Oak Rescue & Rehabilitation. I wanted to share details of our situation and give insight to people considering horse ownership.

In about (~) 1 week our 5 horses eat 21 square bales of hay. (Our horses also go out on pasture about 2 hours a day)

1 bale Tifton hay = $11.50

That's $241.50 per week

1 horse eats ~4.5 bales a week

That's 234 bales in a year

$2,691 in Hay for 1 horse/year

The feed is tricky to come up with an exact number because the horses get 3 different kinds of feed (Unbeetable, Timothy cubes, and Renew Gold). I vary the ratios depending on each individual horses' current needs and it's constantly changing.

I spent ~ $1,200 so far this year on feed (and I may be missing some receipts).

Per month that would be ~ $150

Per horse that would be ~ $30

$360 in Feed for 1 horse/year

Hoof care is necessary for a healthy happy horse. Our horses are on a 4 week trim cycle.

Average cost of a trim is $65

On a 4 week cycle that would be 13 trims a year

$845 in Hoof care for 1 horse/year

Annual Dental, Vaccines, & Coggins test are performed by a Veterinarian once a year. Coggins is a must if you plan to bring your horse anywhere, including the Vet. Yearly teeth floating helps your horse chew properly and get the most nutrition from their feed. It is also important to get an equine dentist that will be able to balance the horse's teeth. Costs can vary but this is what I paid this year:

$250 equine dentist

$100 vaccines

$50 Coggins

$400 in Basic Veterinary Care for 1 horse/year

Our horses are on a strict worming schedule. Three times a year they get a rotation of Quest Plus, Zimecterin Gold, and Fenbendazole. It's relatively cheap, the hard part is remembering to administer the medicine.

Each wormer is ~ $20

$60 in Wormer for 1 horse/year

That brings the total cost of basic care for 1 horse to $4,356/year

This will vary depending on the quality and quantity you feed. Our horses get very little feed. It's just enough to give them their supplements and medication. I didn't include that in basic cost, because it's highly variable. It will change depending on a specific horse's needs at a specific time.

To give you an idea, each horse at Heritage Oak Rescue receives additional supplements of vitamins and minerals totaling $800/year per horse! Our senior horses are on Previcox, $354/year & an intramuscular injection (similar but much cheaper than Adequan) to support their joints, $120/year. Maz gets Cimetadine to control his melanoma, $567/year. So you may want to factor in additional supplement and medication costs ranging from $800 - $1,800 per year.

Other costs you may want to consider are boarding, lessons, and tack. I don't want to discourage people, but I do think being financially realistic saves horses from neglect. I can admit to getting in over my head taking on horses I didn't have the time or money for. It was an important lesson for me to learn and the reason why we're not able to take in any horses at this time.

We currently have 5 horses at Heritage Oak Rescue. They would love to meet you if you are interested in learning more about horses or would like to volunteer your time to interact with them! Apply for our FREE lesson program by clicking this link.