by Keetee » Sun Jul 17, 2005 9:16 am
Costs are very variable with your goals, type and age of horse.
If your goals are to compete, you will have lesson, training and show
costs (incl. trailering if you don't own your own truck and
trailer). As Patricia said, you will have some large up front
costs such as tack, blankets, boots, etc. and although the hope is that
you buy these items and they last for several years, it is also
possible that your horse changes shape and you have to buy a new saddle
or your horse is a blanket ripper and you have to replace blankets
every year (you can buy tougher ones if this is the case but they are
also more expensive). For basic care you will have farrier and
vet costs. These are also hugely variable depending on if your
horse needs shoes (from regular shoes jst in the front to special shoes
to deal with various problems to shoes with corks for show
jumping/eventing) or just trimming. For vet care you may only
require basic vaccinations and care some years whereas others your
horse could get sick or hurt itself so that your vet costs go up.
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In terms of taller versus smaller for arthritis, alot depends on
whether or not the horse is well put together. A horse with bad
conformation is more likely to have soundness problems, regardless of
size. A vet check with x-rays is important. A vet will give
you some idea of problems that could crop up due to conformation but a
good indicator is if the horse is working at the level you want to work
at, and has been doing this for several years, then it is likely
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If you need to keep costs low, it might be best to try and buy a horse
that is low maintenance, i.e. doesn't require supplements, shoes,
doesn't have allergies, has a clean vet check (or close to it), is an
easy keeper and so is unlikely to require tons of blankets, is
competing/riding at the level you want to ride at, and has the
temperament and training that you won't need a ton of lessons and/or
training. Horse ownership is definitely a financial burden but it
is also worth the sacrifice.#ed_op#br#ed_cl#