THE COST OF A HORSE

I have a wonderful cousin. Well, I have many wonderful cousins. But this one in particular found me a horse.

You see, ever since I was about 4 years old, maybe earlier, I have wanted a horse. Or a pony. Whatever came first. It didn't have to be a gorgeous, perfect horse. It just had to be a horse, that maybe I could ride. If I couldn't, I would've probably been satisfied anyways. I took lessons around the age of 8, maybe even earlier, for a couple months at this one barn, then later took a couple months more at this other barn. Then, for about 5 years or so, probably longer, I stopped riding. It was a very sad time, and whenever I would see little kids riding along I would mourn for my dashed dreams. Last year, I began nagging my parents again for lessons. They told me if i wanted them, I had to pay for them myself and organize them myself. So I did. Now I take lessons.

Horses have been in my family for a long time. Since I was born, I guess. Two of my aunts breed horses, and live on farms. Another of my aunts rides, and three of my other cousins ride. So, I guess I could say I have experience with horses. I've been around them all my life. I don't have as much riding experience, only 1-2 years. But I love them TONS.

Anyways, so my cousin rides horses for this guy just to help out at his barn. She found a bay (brown, in case you don't speak equestrian) 6 year old Thoroughbred (same breed as racehorses) for me to buy. He's $3,000 initially, but he's very quiet, easy to ride, laid back, and apparently wonderful. So the point of this BEDA blog is to calculate the cost of Sparky, the horse I want to buy, for the first month I own him. (Maybe) These are all approximate numbers... they can vary.

Initial cost: $3,000
First month of board: $300
Saddle: $400
Bridle: $100
Extra Miscellanious Horse Apparel: $200
Weekly Lessons On Sparky: $150
TOTAL FOR THE FIRST MONTH: $4150 - $4500

This all doesn't include vet and farrier (which can range in cost) and lessons for myself, too. So yes. It is going to be quite hard to convince the parents to buy this horse for me, as I have nothing to contribute to the buying of the horse except maybe $40 in savings, $50 in my bank account, $40 floating around my wallet and $100 from my birthday. So I can contribute about $230. Oh my.