realistic costs for a 19 year old mare?

[struwellpeter]

Very sadly my father died during the winter, leaving 2 horses whom he loved very much. We have found an excellent home for one of them and are now thinking of taking on the other ourselves, though my experience of horses is limited to a pony in the field when I was a teenager. DD aged 12 is very keen!

We really need to know the likely costs for this. I am thinking of grass livery at a local stable but what other costs are likely? What should we set aside for feed/hay etc? She has a sweet nature but a recent x ray showed arthritis which is being treated, but means it is unlikely she will be able to be ridden. I'm sure the vets bills will mount up but I would like to be able to give her a happy retirement/shut DD up about wanting a horse.

Any advice gratefully received!

[Pixel]

Sorry about your dad. There's an old thread here that might give you some ideas on costs.

For an older horse you should get her teeth checked twice a year but if she isn't ridden you shouldn't have to pay for shoes so you will save money there. Don't assume you won't be able to do anything with her just because she has a bit of arthritis though. Often older horses are better off if you can keep them moving with some gentle exercise. My sister's pony is 22 and she has been advised by the vet to work him to keep mobility in his joints. He thoroughly enjoys going out for a hack, he's certainly not ready for retirement. I'm sure your dd would be thrilled if that turned out to be the case with your mare and hopefully at 12 she can be sensible about not overdoing things but of course you will have to see what your vet says. What treatment are they giving? If it's bute then it won't be too expensive.

[Booboostoo]

Sorry to hear about your dad.

Glad you've found a home for one of the horses! Unfortunately your question is a bit like how long is a piece of string, so I won't put figures to items as such, just list possible expenses:

• livery: grass livery is the cheapest option, but has the horse lived out before? If she is used to this, that's fine, but if not you may find you need to provide her with some shelter in the winter.
  

• vet bills: standard vet bills include vaccinations (as long as she is up to date she needs boosters once a year for flu and tetanus - while some people do without the flu vac it is a risk and I wouldn't really advise anyone to do without tetanus) and teeth which need doing at least once a year (you can also get a qualified equine dentist to do this for you). You can get insurance for vets fees, but you may struggle to find a policy that really covers what you need for an elderly horse. Other vet bills depend on the situation from 200 pounds to treat an infected cut to 4,000 pounds for a colic operation.
  

• farrier: depending on the condition of her hoofs she will need to be shod or trimmed if barefoot every 5 to 8 weeks. A trim is not very expensive.
  

• insurance: you should have third party liability insurance, e.g. if you are a gold member of the BHS this comes as standard. Don't scrimp on this, should the horse get loose and cause an accident you could be facing massive bills.
  

• arthritis: generally horses with arthritis are better off if they are kept in gentle work, but your vet should be able to advise on this. If she is worked you will need to get her saddle checked about twice a year (I assume she comes with all her tack, rugs, etc. otherwise getting all these things sorted can be quite costly). She may need some longterm medication, but your vet should be able to advise on this.
  

• feed and hay: again this is a tough one because the cost of feed depends on how much feed she needs to keep condition on which depends on the type of horse, how well she copes with cold weather and her general state of health. As a general rule you should be able to get away with just feeding grass and an older horse supplement during the spring/summer (if your grazing is good), but will need to supplement with hay and some hard feed in autumn/winter.
  

Good luck with her!

[marge2]

Hi there, Sorry about your Dad too.

Echo all the above, but be careful with grass livery for older horses. It is perfectly do-able, but you must be careful not to let her get too fat in summer. My 19 year old mare was turned away to grass livery the Oct before last for the first time ever. She coped fantastically well through a snowy winter, but come Spring, started getting fat and then developed Metabolic Syndrome with Laminitis as a symptom. Aparently it's a risk iin older horses who get too fat. Now the vet advises she can't go out for more than 2 hours a day or the laminitis will strike again.

I turnede her away to save money and it has ended costing me an absolute fortune in vets bills, remedial shoeing and back to part livery bills.

Hope it goes OK.

[PlanetEarth]

About the shoes - just to say that we have a 33 year old pony at our yard who wears shoes for medical problems. Also, a friend's horse was ridden barefoot until he got arthritis, then he needed shoes to help his feet - although he was hardly ridden at that point!