Horse acreage? Hay price? COSTS? equipment? I might get to have my horse on my property!?

Question

Hi all, My family is moving to a larger house this year and we are looking into getting an acreage. Would 1-2 acres be okay for my horse? I'm thinking yes. I know a lot about horses and how to take care of them, just not building fields and barns. I would get a friend for my horse so he wouldn't be alone. Here are all my questions, pleas answer in detail and pleeeeeeeease no rude comments.
1) how much will a barn cost. (not fancy, one level, 2-4 stalls, wash stall, feed room and tack room+an outside hay shed/cover. the barn would have to be heated.
2) how much would a small indoor heated arena be (cheapest?-most expensive?)
3) how much does it cost to put in wood fencing?
4) All I need is a farrier and vet right?
5) How much does hay cost-in Alberta?
6)EQIPMENT!!1 What equipment would I need. EG. wheelbarros, scoops, buckets etc. Please add every detail.
I am soo exited. I'm also going to get a book on management. When i work at stables I know how to feed horses and everything.-basic first aid and stuff like that (I want to learn more about it though so

7)does anyone know any camps or courses for a 14 year old? (vetrinary or first aid horse stuff and equine stable care)

Answer 1

EDITED:

Well, if you are building on some of it depends how much that takes up. The rule of thumb is a horse per year acre but you must split it up so parts can grow and you can rotate them. I am not sure about Alberta but here is about what you I'm thinking

barn- about 30,000

Indoor arena- 80,000-100,000.000 It really depends on how nice, heated usually makes it more spendy. A indoor arena is just like a house and costs are similar.

You need a farrier vet and trainer ( if you plan on riding)

Wood fencing is not the best choice ( I have found) It looks GREAT but it stains easy ( hard to clean) the horses eat it. it rots and cracks. Invest in metal or wire fencing

hay in America cost between 5-8 dollars depending on the quality DO NOT get cow hay, ever!

You will need grooming supplies ( brushes, hoof picks, water slickers, shampoo conditioner curry combs etc) wheelbarrows, rakes, scooper's, bedding ( shavings), water buckets, emergency kits ( horse and human) water trough, horse tack ( saddles bits blankets etc) and alot more but I cant think of it right now

oh your a 14 year old girl( not being rude!!!! :) )... ya not sure you can afford this. Your looking at about 600,000 to 1.8 million or more.... if you want a indoor arena, stable, nice fencing and all new grooming and supplies. But who knows maybe your a milliner :) To save money you could get a outdoor arena and just have lights outside and you could forget the " barn" ( what you are talking about it more like a stable) I mean they are nice but you really dont need them. You could just put a washing area ( if you get a indoor) in the arena and get 3 panels and put them up in a square against the walls of the indoor arena. This can work as a emergency stall or all the time stall if you have the room. Just make sure your horse/horses have a shelter and you have blankets for when it gets cold. Hope this helps and good luck

Answer 2

For the first three, no idea. Technically, I think you are supposed to have 2 acres for the first horse, and one more for each extra horse. So if you end up with 3 horses, you should have 4 acres.



4) Sounds about right, unless you want a stable hand to clean up around the barn or something.

5) In the summer, hay is pretty much 2-4 a bale (square bale) depending on how many cuts the farmer gets and how much it rained. In the winter the price will usually go up by about 50 cents.



6)Depends on what you intend to bed the stalls with as to what kinds of scoops you get, pitch forks work well with straw, and a many pronged scoop shaped fork works well with saw dust or wood shavings. Also depends on what you intend to do with the manure. If you are going to make a muck pile, you need to chose an out of the way place for it where it isn't going to pose a fire hazard or anything, and could probably get away with a wheelbarrow. If you are going to be spreading it on the lawn/in a garden or whatever, you will probably want to get a gator.



Also, you will need muck buckets to put in the stall while shoveling poo, makes it much easier. You should also have a shovel, either flat tipped or arrow tipped. Mats to go on the floor in the stalls would be nice, and shallow rubber buckets for grain, and you will need water buckets, but if you cant get hanging water buckets, you can get an old rubber tire and put a five gallon bucket in the middle so the horse can't knock it over. You should have a hay net. Hoses are also nice, as are indoor pumps or faucets.



7) no idea. Good luck!

Answer 3

Well that is a trick question. You won't need a vet if your pony isn't sick (I was raised on a farm with many horses.) In 35 years, we never needed a vet for our horses. They don't need annual check ups (they really don't unless something. It depends on how much hay costs, around here it is $1.25 a bail. Since we only buy bails I cant help you with rounds. Roughly $500 for hay add in grain. Unless you trim the hooves yourself, figure at least $300 for the ferier. Under $4,000 since there is no boarding involved, is more than enough for your pony. However, some ponies and horses get lonley. You may eventually consider a companion of some kind. I had a horse who didn't like other horses, but loved the chickens. Go figure. Every animal is different. You do not need to Float their teeth (unless there is a problem, that is crap. Shampoo, you can use your own) since moste pet shampoo's and cleaning items are actually human items relabled. If you invest in a good quality of grain, with tobacco, you don't need to worm. A cigarette once a month will do just the same thing. How do I know, not only have I had horses ponies and mules all my life, my daughter is a vet and owns 35 horses. All healthy and happy. Don't let anyone try to sell you on all this crap you have to have. Keep your pony in good physical shape. Horses have lasted thousands of years without humans to "Care for them". Just be sure if you do suspect something seriously wrong, then call the vet. Good luck.

Answer 4

1-2 acres is fine for two horses/ one horse+buddy but keep in mind you want to put a lot of stuff on it. The house+ front/ back yard+ horse+ buddy+ barn+ arena is a lot of square footage and I don't think 1-2 acres is big enough for all that. You also need to check building codes as well. I live in Washington and the area I live in, you would need much more space to put an arena, etc. because of the land use codes and permits. My mom and dad built a little two stall shed row very inexpensively because my dad found some lumber from a home remodeling project and was able to use some of it, and we just kept building more shedrows as we got more horses. As far as arenas go, when we looked for our indoor arena, we found that the steel building kits were far less expensive than other kits or just buying the materials alone. We also put up wood fencing, and the price wasn't too bad, but I would definately use some hot wire along with it because our horses are always leaning on it and eating the boards. You should also be OK with just a farrier and vet. We do alright here with two or three wheelbarrows, a hay cart, a metal pitchfork, and a plastic poop scoop, but I really wish that I had one of the big cherry picker type forks, especially in our arena. I also like to use dish soap and sponges to clean up buckets and use metal garbage cans for all the food.