Welcome to a recurring series I’m calling Rein It In. On the last Friday of the month, I’ll report all horse related expenses with some commentary. Think Money Diaries, but equestrian!
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Horses: 3
Discipline: Dressage, foxhunting, trail riding
8/1: Lessons, $220
My trainer recently switched to an auto-draft payment system, which means my monthly lesson fee is withdrawn on the first of the month. This covers one semi-private lesson per week. (I take a second lesson every week, which I work off by doing administrative odds and ends for the barn.)
8/5: Barn supplies, $95.75
Lured by $8 fly masks at Chick’s, I find myself adding snaps for the gates and stall guards and a 20-pack of Vetrap to my cart (in addition to the fly masks).
8/8: Horse show, $122
My friends and I head to a horse show. It’s blazing hot, and we fill a large cooler with ice so cooling the horses down at the show will be faster. Story and I win $8 off our entry fee for placing in the classic round.
8/15-16: Swimming Hole Day, $56.40
The invitation to Swimming Hole Day isn’t clear about if lunch is a brown bag or a potluck, so I prepare for both. I purchase sandwich supplies, plus ingredients for a couscous salad and chocolate chip cookies. On our way to the event, I buy breakfast for myself and my friend who’s driving and a bag of ice for the cooler.
8/18: Feed, $163.11
Feed is one of my highest costs, which is unsurprising given that one of my horses is a 30 year old Thoroughbred. The warmbloods are easy keepers, so the bulk of feed expenses belong to Moe. I don’t mind- he looks great and seems happy and healthy.
8/25: Hay, $250.00
The horses finish the last of their hay. Construction on the hay storage section of the new barn is complete, but there’s rain in the forecast all week. Since it takes my supplier about an hour to load, deliver, and unload the order, I delay my big annual purchase until next week when the forecast is clear and instead buy two large square bales of Bermuda (~800s lbs/each) to refill the feeders.
8/28: Farrier, $165
All three horses are barefoot right now, which means my farrier costs are low.
TOTAL: $ 1,072.26
While I spent more than I thought I did, it doesn’t feel like this month had any unexpected or particularly unusual expenses. What do you think? Are you surprised by any of these expenses?
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