2019 Horse Spending

I wanted to keep track of my horse spending this year. Several other blogs to it, and I was curious. I didn't come up with a budget or anything, but I wanted to see how my spending compared with others out there. And being financially-minded, to see if there were any areas where I could decrease in the future. It was a very atypical year. I moved Mort three times (two barns and then to the property). I bought a new horse. I also bought hay and equipment for the new barn. Essentially, things were pricey. I definitely did not include the actual costs of building fence and stalls etc. But I did include the "things" that I bought for the barn like buckets, rubber mats, hooks, etc. I definitely didn't go overboard on these things (and I also got most of my mats for free), so it didn't hurt too bad. I did not include Blue's price, but I did include the tack that I bought with him. I broke it down into the following categories: Board, supplements, farrier, misc. equipment, vet/dental, lessons/shows, and trailer. Board: $5456.23--$454.69/month This is by far the biggest category. Which makes sense--horses aren't cheap to take care of. They eat a lot. The barn where I was for the first two months of 2019 only charged $275/month. But when we moved to a much better barn it got bumped to $400/month ($410 in the summer for fly spray). Totally worth it obviously. This also includes the $1800 I spent on hay for the two guys this winter. Since they moved, it is where I put the feed and bedding costs. Thankfully, it's gone down tremendously since they're on 24/7 turnout and Blue doesn't eat much. I'm really interested to see how this compares next year with two horses living at home versus boarding one. Supplements: $1055--$87.92/month Mort's supplements changed a good deal this year, but thankfully the budget for them didn't. He went from an ulcer and hoof supplement to joint, ulcer, hindgut, skin and coat, and hoof. He also gets a bug supplement every summer. Mort turned 10 this year and started showing some age in his joints. Adding the supplement (and a stifle injection) seems to have helped this. I was able to keep the costs under control by using a combo supplement for joint, hindgut, skin and coat, and hoof. I also found a very similar ulcer supplement for significantly less money. I thought about moving him to just ulcer, hoof, and joint after he moved to save some money but I haven't pulled the trigger on that at this point. Blue is currently not on anything--we'll see if that changes next year. Farrier: $965--$80.42/month This really isn't too bad compared to a lot of folks out there. Mort has simple shoes on the front only. He is thankfully not too complicated. My cost went down some when we moved barns. I had to go with a new farrier again when he moved home. The new farrier is even less expensive (not why I chose him), but adding Blue still obviously puts us up a bit. Thankfully, two horses is still less than Mort was with the original farrier so I'm still coming out on top. If Blue ever needs shoes, that will go up though, so we'll see what next year brings. Misc. Equip: $1619.51--$134.96/month I admit that this is the one that I was worst at keeping track of. There are definitely a few purchases that I forgot. It was also a very expensive year with building a house, so I kept this spending to the minimum. I bought supplies for the barn, occasional tack, fly spray, etc. This was not the year for pretty new things--maybe next year or the year after. My list of "wants" is only growing. Vet/Dental: $520.10--$43.34/month That's right y'all, be jealous. To be completely honest, I still haven't gotten the bill for Mort's lameness exam and stifle injection from the summer (though I did remind the vet when she came out to do teeth and fall vaccinations). So I imagine this will at least double. But honestly I'm still not mad about it. Spring and fall vaccinations, floats for both boys, a spring fecal exam, and dewormer throughout the year. Thank goodness for healthy horses and no major accidents. Lessons/Shows: $997.50--$83.13/month This was another category that was low this year. Not only was I aware of spending money on "extra" things, but the time commitment of building is also ridiculous. So, this year was very slow on this front--only one show and a handful of lessons. I did also cut some from this by braiding at the show. Hopefully I will have more time to spend money here next year. Trailer: $216--$18/month Nothing went wrong with the trailer. All we had to pay for was the annual tire/bearing/check-up. We spent a lot on it last year updating the frame and floor. And there are certainly more updates that we want to make, but who knows when Steven will have time for that! Total: $10,829.34--$902.45/month That's a pretty big number, but it could be worse. We'll see if the money I save (if any) on board next year will be replaced with lessons, shows, and equipment. I'll also try to do an even better job keeping track to get a more accurate picture.

Since the Move

Both boys have settled into their new routines. Blue never seemed phased and Mort was overall pretty decent. He was a little scared and spookier the first week or two, but now he's as calm as he usually is. They both seem totally happy on 24/7 turnout. I did find them cold and wet a time or two at the beginning before they learned to go to the run-in, so now I lock them in the lot if it's going to be nasty. Feeding their hay in there has helped them want to hang out as well. I've been able to ride/lunge Mort 3-4 times each week while I work with Blue about twice. This is better than I was expecting. I was worried about winter weather and the shorter days, but I'm making it work. Of course, this means that some days are a quick 30 minute bareback ride before it gets dark, but I'm still happy with that. Mort seems to be holding his fitness well with all the turnout and I even managed to get Blue to lose a little weight. And, most importantly, both boys seem happy with the arrangement. Mort has been stellar since the move. As cheesy as it sounds, I feel like our relationship is even stronger than it was before. He comes out calm and happy (his version of calm) for our rides. He's standing well in the cross ties. He is easy enough to handle that even Steven had no issues taking care of the boys when I was out of town for work. And our rides have just been a blast. I'm having a ton of fun with him. Whether it's me hopping on bareback and walking him in the pasture, or going up to the field and putting in a dressage school, we're really clicking. He's forward but soft and listening. His lateral work has been coming easier and easier (though that haunches-in to the left at the trot is hard still). His transitions are getting stronger and smoother. We may be riding on a slight hill in a 3.5-acre field, but we're killing it. I've got a lesson scheduled this weekend at the indoor where my instructor teaches and I'm really interested to see how it translates. Blue and I are doing well too. He hasn't put a foot wrong (other than stepping on Steven's foot once by accident). He's been pretty steady and easy to deal with. That's about all we did for the first few weeks. I would lunge him or ride him 2-3 times/week. I'd groom him when he got dirty. I'd feed him and give him the occasional treat. We had a good working relationship, but there wasn't a whole lot more. Thankfully, he's started to open up for me more in the last couple weeks. I started playing with some more in-hand work to get creative on getting him worked when it was dark out. And he opened up a bit more for me. Whether it was his version of settling in or it helped him get to know me and my body language a bit more or whatever else, it seems like we know each other better now. I think he probably still has a little more personality to show me when he's ready, but I'm feeling good about where we're headed. Beyond our rides, it just feels great to be the only person for my guys. Even though I still check-in with my horse friends on random decisions, I love being in charge of their daily care and feeding. With me going out twice a day, they get groomed more often than when I was boarding and I monitor every change. I get to just spend more quality time with them and it's the best. Literally every time I feed I just stand there and watch them eat their hay for a few minutes soaking in the peacefulness of it.

Blue

Blue, or Bee B's Blue's Man. Is a 14-year old Rocky Mountain Horse gelding. He was owned by the same woman from 3-13 years of age. Due to financial reasons, she rehomed him to PALS (People and Animal Learning Services, Inc.). PALS is the therapeutic riding center that we leased my old guy, Fred, to while I was in college for his semi-retirement. So I knew they were good people and his old owner was still very involved in his life as well. They were retiring him from being a therapeutic horse after a year for a few reasons. He wasn't a fan of being with so many different people and would occasionally try testing them. Nor was he great with the less able-bodied folks. But, he was still safe and sane which were my goals with my second horse. When I tried him out in late September, I had a blast riding him and never had a moment of feeling unsafe or not being able to trust him. That's big for me, as I almost never trust a horse the first time I ride it. Blue has been trail ridden in several states and been to some big show facilities (including the Kentucky Horse Park. He travels well and settles in quickly. (He travelled like a champ on the six hour drive home.) He's an extremely easy keeper (aka pretty fat right now) and does all of the things that a horse should. I worked did some ground work with him Sunday and lightly lunged him Monday. He was well behaved and definitely does better with a lunge whip. He's very treat motivated and is looking for one at all times. I rode him for the first time at home Wednesday evening and he was a pretty good boy. He definitely wanted to "test" me with being lazy and leaning that shoulder toward the gate, but he was easy to correct and was never actually naughty. I felt good on him and was getting bored riding in the pasture, so I took him to the big field on the hill and he was a good boy out there as well. I see a lot of long walks in his future to try to get him into better shape. We did gait some but I don't feel good doing that for too long of intervals for a while. Short intervals of gaiting and endless walking. If the weather holds, I'm hoping to take him along the county road this weekend sometime. We'll see. So far, I'm happy with my choice and I'm sure he'll only get better as he settles in and gets to know me.

The Big Move

As I'm sure you can imagine. Owning a horse while trying to build a barn and house (especially when said horse lives 40 miles away) isn't easy. Steven and I were really busy trying to get the property horse-ready. I was horse shopping. Work got a little (more) stressful. Basically, I'm giving you all of the excuses for not blogging but more importantly not really doing a whole lot on the horse front at all. Mort was only being ridden 3 times a week. We were purposely not working on anything hard or complicated. I knew that I wasn't in the right head space to train, nor would it be fair to him to ride that frequently and ask for serious work. We mostly worked on fun basics and occasionally would play with something from second level. But I never set goals as those would have come with expectations and stress. I definitely had more than one ride of bareback wandering (once or twice with a beer in my hand). But we finally got the property horse-safe! The fence is up and operational (tested by Steven and the poor pups). The barn is cozy and safe. The feed was purchased and stored. The million other things were accomplished. I had picked out a horse and a date to pick him up. So, Steven and I trekked out after work on the 18th to Indiana. We picked up Blue the morning of the 19th and headed back to Missouri. I had arranged the barn owner to haul Mort to our property as we got close so that the new guy wouldn't have to stay there by himself for a few hours (she's the best and I'm going to really miss riding with her!). Both boys got out individually for an hour or so that evening and there was very little excitement. They spent the night in their stalls and I put them out together in the lot the next morning. Zero drama and much grazing. They did run several happy laps when I let them into the big field but settled quickly. After spending two nights inside, I have transitioned them to being in the pasture during the day and the lot at night. They both seem perfectly content being out 24/7. Eventually I'll let them have free roam at night, but I want them to learn the routine first so I'm not hiking out to bring them in for breakfast in the dark at 5:45am. So far they come to the run-in part of the barn when they hear me prepping their food. I did start off with some buddy-sour issues the first couple days. They wanted to cling to each other and would get pretty stressed for even a minute inside alone. While they still don't want to separate, I am able to ride them now with only minor stress from the other horse. I think they longer we're there, the better they will continue to become. Thankfully, it's just the one that is "left behind" that is stressed and if either of them is the one that is being worked with--they're totally fine. Basically, we're all getting into a routine and figuring out our new lives together. I am so happy. Before I even picked Mort out the summer after college, it was 100% my goal to get back to keeping my horse at home. Now I've got them on my property and hopefully by next spring I'll be living out there too. Mort doesn't have to move again and I love that. Stay tuned for the next blog post about the new guy!

Riding Without a Plan

Mort was good last night. I didn't go in with much of a plan. I want to keep this week lighter and mostly work on the basics--no use getting either of us worked up before a clinic. Suppleness is the name of the game. He started out the tiniest bit more up than normal. I think the cooler weather is helping him feel the pep in his step. I did some walk work before trotting to get his attention on me a little more. We started off with full-arena figure eights. I tried to focus on getting him straight and only asking for a little bend. Steering from my legs and seat while just softening the jaw a bit. I've been doing better with not letting my left hand go too low and I've been working on trying to sit heavier on my left seat bone (because I'm always sitting right these days). The seat bone is a lot harder to fix. I never used to have an issue with being this crooked, so I blame Mort's crookedness influencing me a lot on this one. That's not me trying to come up with an excuse not to work on it, but it is a bit frustrating. I'm not buying a new dressage horse anytime soon though, so it's just something that I'm going to have to get stronger about. Honestly, we got to a good spot pretty early into the warm-up. He was responsive and forward without being rushed. He got a bit fast after we cantered, but nothing that some half-halts couldn't easily fix. After our walk break I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I went back to the circle exercise with bend/counter-bend and leg yields. It's a good one for loosening him up in the base of his neck. He has to tune into my seat and legs even more for directional aids. And working on 10 and 20-meter circles is never a bad thing for us dressage folks. He did well with it and I only ended up doing it twice each direction. After another break I just did some leg yield zig-zags. We ended with some stretchy trot both directions. He does so well with this at home--I can't wait for him to unlock that back someday at a show. We walked a few laps in the field to cool down. He was spooked by something back there last week and hadn't been really comfortable in turn-out since. One day he was so worked up in the lot that the barn owner had issues with him being rude coming in. So, I've made it a point to end our rides out there. He was really up and nervous at the beginning of our cool-down on Sunday but worked into a state of semi-relaxation. Yesterday he started off mostly relaxed and was fully relaxed by the end. And he was good in turnout last night, so I'm calling it a win!

Horse Show Recap--Sunday

So, my friend and I came in with a plan on Sunday. We fed, and while Mort ate she took her mare on her morning hand-walk. Mort panicked and spilled a lot of his food. I cleaned his stall and watered him etc. The love of his life came back and he settled. Then it was our turn for the walk. I walked in the barn for a bit, but every time I came to our aisle he would scream to her and get worked up. So I went to one of the warm-up arenas and walked there. He wanted to jig and I had to stick my elbow to him a few times to remind him to not get in my space but he did slowly start to walk flat. I eventually had a somewhat reasonable horse and I touched on some in-hand ground work and he was decent. We went back to braid. I checked in with the show office to see if they had any scratches that one of us could switch with so as not to warm-up together. No luck. So we came up with a plan to warm-up in separate arenas and try to sneak them around each other for the actual showing. My friend was amazing and let Mort and I have the arena that was intended for our ring. I actually ended up being able to switch with another rider and went three rounds early. We then snuck the mare in as Mort snuck out. We both still had tension, but nothing compared to the day before. I again went into this test with relaxation as the only goal. We spent the warm-up doing a million changes of direction and finding those moments when he would give and let go in the base of his neck. I actually ended up feeling confident enough in the test to let him think about some lengthens. I didn't push for them or ask for them, but I also let him build instead of throwing in a bunch of half-halts. We didn't get much in the stretchy trot, but he did give me some good free walk. We pulled a 62.9%. Then we had our final test of the weekend. His girlfriend left while I was tacking and we snuck her out after her test while I started my warm-up in the other arena. We then did a very similar warm-up in our correct arena and I felt like actually trying a little bit in this test. I asked for some conservative lengthens. I found a little stretch in the trot and he gave me some really nice walk work (earning us some 7's). His canter felt pretty good and if I felt like really asking for a lot I think we could have gotten some solid work. Overall, it was a decent test. It wasn't as good as we could put down if he had been relaxed but I was happy with what he was giving me. We got a 64.5% and both left the arena feeling confident. It was not the weekend that I expected. In my head the tension that we had worked our way down to by Sunday would have been all that we started with. I was hoping to be able to get some low/mid 60's on Saturday and pull some high 60's on Sunday. Obviously starting off with a personal-low of 50% and a very overwhelmed horse on Saturday made me readdress my game plan. I'm very disappointed in how Mort handled himself. I don't blame him and I'm not disappointed in him by any means, as he was truly just so upset that he couldn't handle life. He did his very best to stay with me and be obedient in spite of that and I am happy about that. But I'm still disappointed that all of our prep work and training had to go out the window to go back to just building confidence in each other. I understand that that's just training horses. I didn't buy a made horse and it's my responsibility to work him through these issues. We both did our best with what we were given this weekend. But sometimes reality sucks. On the flip side, I am very happy with how we were able to work through it. I got to see the worst (hopefully) that Mort will give me. We not only got through it, but we continued to get better and better with every ride. I know if we'd had a couple more rides we would have continued along that trajectory. I convinced him that I was to be trusted as a leader who wouldn't take us to our deaths. He got more and more confidence in himself and me. I got to gain confidence as a rider who can work through something like that. I also found out that I could sit a rear and keep going. I also got to work on my bravery in saddling back up after a truly bad (and scary) ride. Mort and I are both coming out on the other side better than we were. Our partnership is more solid and I've got even more tools in my toolbox to help settle a nervous horse. I also know to never stall near this mare at a show again!

Horse Show Recap--Saturday

Mort was still pretty up for our hand-walk Saturday morning, but I am better at calming him down when I'm riding so I was still cautiously hopeful. I should not have been. Poor guy was so overwhelmed by the environment that he was very on edge. I had to have someone help me mount and have my instructor lead us to the warm-up ring. He jigged the whole way there and just felt like a powder keg. We did eventually start to get moments where he'd release at the base of his neck and take some deep breaths. Then his girlfriend left to ride her test. Mort was almost back to square one of tension. We continued to circle and try to make riding boring and give him something easy to focus on. It worked but only so much. She came out and we walked in and I've never felt Mort so tense in the four years I've had him. I couldn't get him to release and breathe. His back was as solid as rock and his stride was short and choppy. We entered the arena to start our test, but instead of being able to halt and salute--Mort reared. I was shocked and didn't even know what to do, so I just circled and started our test without a halt. The whole test was filled with tension and a couple minor explosions. I added a circle after our first canter depart and took a rider error to make sure we didn't exit the arena. Mort and his girlfriend screamed for each other several times. We got a 50% and my first score of a 1. But we both stayed in the arena and I stayed on. I did not want to ride our next test, but I knew that I had to. Thankfully, his girlfriend rode at noon and we didn't ride until 2:30, so we didn't warm-up together. This made a huge difference. Mort was still tense, but didn't have the added frantic fear of losing his girlfriend. I rode very conservatively and didn't ask for anything other than moments of relaxation. We pulled a 61% with comments that I would have gotten higher if I had done any sort of lengthenings (which was fair because I didn't try to do a single one). I was exhausted and didn't know what to expect on Sunday. I felt much better after our second ride as that was the kind of tension that I knew I could work us through. But the first ride of the day was back-to-back with his girlfriend again which would cause the same trigger-stacking as it had that morning. We both were having very similar problems and were very much on the same page that we needed to keep our horses apart as much as possible (with them being stalled next to each other) to have any sort of good experience.