Im just wondering on about an average of a upkeep cost of a stallion.

B

Billybob776

Lurker
I have been thinking about buying a stallion for a while now (when i have the money of course) and im just wondering the average upkeep of a stallion is and if there is certain areas that i can cut my spending just a little to save money on if that possible at all?
Thank you for all the help.
 
Take your average salary..then double it. That's just for a starter. Don't forget you need a decent amount of land, fencing, etc, etcetc..plus years of experience in handling stallions and their needs (and I don't mean "handling" in *that way* :) A stallion is not just a sex object - it's a living, breathing, and potentially LETHAL, creature.
 
I wouldn’t say it’s too much really. Find a nice colt, raise it your way. Have an emergency vet fund. Feed is relatively cheap, and cheaper if you have land with good grass.

I say this because I was raised around well cared for horses and honestly it wasn’t that expensive. Ours were more ‘pasture ornaments’ as we called them.

You may want to invest in training it, that’s a a chunk of change - but if you’re knowledgable it’s just time.
 
Depends heavily on the size of said stallion (mini, or full-size etc), as well as your region and how you plan to do this. Also what you want to calculate into this (like the car able to pull a horse trailer, is that a horse- or a your-life expense?).

But if you are in the US near a middle-sized city, and it's a middle-sized stallion, you keep it at a professional facility, expect 500 to 800 USD/month absolutely all in all. But there is no upper limit, really. Could as well be 1500 USD. Insurance is gonna be high for stallions, and general breakage of things should be double to triple of what my mare breaks.

Of course you can keep that guy in your backyard, but then you need two horses because you can't keep a horse alone. Except this is a stallion, then again....

Coarsely, you can approach this another way: Do you life on your own? Just double the money you spend on your life at the moment. That's probably at least what you will need (this way we integrate the cost of everything at your place, clever, eh...). If you life with a spouse or children, only deduct what those eat (and similar) from the total household expenses, then use that as the base for doubling.

There are example budgets what horses cost on google, just go through these and construct a theoretical way you wanna do this, than add up the single items from those example lists to estimate where you will end up. Cross-check in the end that you have enough reserve in addition and that your constructed way of life is animal-friendly for the animal, too.

Also; If this is your first horse, rather don't get a stallion. Like - seriously. If they notice that you only wear the drill-instructor hat but nothing else is behind this, then you are fucked. Can you ride and/or do you have horsecare/horsemanship knowledge? If not, then rather don't get a horse. Rather first take riding lessons, take classes in horsekeeping, maybe start easy with a riding-share and after one or two years of building up to it, buy your own horse. Cause if you don't know what you are doing, you really can screw up badly here.
 
pferdefreund said:
Depends heavily on the size of said stallion (mini, or full-size etc), as well as your region and how you plan to do this. Also what you want to calculate into this (like the car able to pull a horse trailer, is that a horse- or a your-life expense?).

But if you are in the US near a middle-sized city, and it's a middle-sized stallion, you keep it at a professional facility, expect 500 to 800 USD/month absolutely all in all. But there is no upper limit, really. Could as well be 1500 USD. Insurance is gonna be high for stallions, and general breakage of things should be double to triple of what my mare breaks.

Of course you can keep that guy in your backyard, but then you need two horses because you can't keep a horse alone. Except this is a stallion, then again....

Coarsely, you can approach this another way: Do you life on your own? Just double the money you spend on your life at the moment. That's probably at least what you will need (this way we integrate the cost of everything at your place, clever, eh...). If you life with a spouse or children, only deduct what those eat (and similar) from the total household expenses, then use that as the base for doubling.

There are example budgets what horses cost on google, just go through these and construct a theoretical way you wanna do this, than add up the single items from those example lists to estimate where you will end up. Cross-check in the end that you have enough reserve in addition and that your constructed way of life is animal-friendly for the animal, too.

Also; If this is your first horse, rather don't get a stallion. Like - seriously. If they notice that you only wear the drill-instructor hat but nothing else is behind this, then you are fucked. Can you ride and/or do you have horsecare/horsemanship knowledge? If not, then rather don't get a horse. Rather first take riding lessons, take classes in horsekeeping, maybe start easy with a riding-share and after one or two years of building up to it, buy your own horse. Cause if you don't know what you are doing, you really can screw up badly here.
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I disagree with exactly one thing here. In the US, there are only two ways to board a stallion. Either the horse is a high value bloodline or you are paying for the entire facility.
 
Anything less than 50 acres puts a large cost of feeding on you. Each horse that you have will need an average of 35 acres to provide enough forage for your animal. On top of that there is the cost of alfalfa or oat hay, grains, and vitamins, and don't forget the vet bills to insure their health. All this is why so many people board their horses. Boarding costs vary widely across the US but on average you can figure on spending anywhere from 300 to 500 a month for full boarding, and that could be a lot higher if you're in a big city. For that cost your horse will have it's stall and most places that board horses will give you a tack closet with your stall. Your horse get fed either alfalfa or oat hay twice a day, and bedding is usually included. Stable hands usually feed the horses and clean and rebed the stalls. A lot of places will also exercise your animal daily but don't expect too much there. On top of this you still will need veterinarian visits and may have medicine that is not cheap.
We live on a ranch and at present have a few dozen horses. The cost does go down the more horses you aquire but not drasticly.
 
knotinterested said:
Anything less than 50 acres puts a large cost of feeding on you. Each horse that you have will need an average of 35 acres to provide enough forage for your animal.
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Around here, just a couple of acres is more than enough for a horse. 5 acres can maintain 4-5 cows or about the same number of horses. That assumes you're buying winter feed, a third to half that number of you're cutting and storing your own hay. In more arid regions, you'd definitely need more space.

When we had just the two of them in 4 acres, we mowed/baled it 3 times and kept very little of the yield for our winter feed, retaining less than 1/4 of the bales.

Routine vet care isn't terribly expensive, cheaper than the dogs, which is weird because the vet comes to visit me for "livestock" vs me going to them for dogs. Our farrier expenses are pretty nominal as well, at least 4 times a year so $300/yr.

I've never boarded, so I can't comment on what that would cost around here.

Excluding land/boarding, they're a tad cheaper per animal than our dogs. Ours aren't stallions so it's not an apples to apples comparison, but close enough for generalities.

Absolutely agree on having an emergency vet fund!
 
As you can see, cost are going to vary depending on your location and your own property, if any. I recommend starting small and young. Mini or pony will eat less and easier to handle as you learn along the way. Keep in mind if you intend to have a mare also it will change the attitude of you stallion. In particular during here heat cycles. Most important read up and know what you are getting into before any purchase of a stallion.
 
knotinterested said:
Anything less than 50 acres puts a large cost of feeding on you. Each horse that you have will need an average of 35 acres to provide enough forage for your animal. On top of that there is the cost of alfalfa or oat hay, grains, and vitamins, and don't forget the vet bills to insure their health. All this is why so many people board their horses. Boarding costs vary widely across the US but on average you can figure on spending anywhere from 300 to 500 a month for full boarding, and that could be a lot higher if you're in a big city. For that cost your horse will have it's stall and most places that board horses will give you a tack closet with your stall. Your horse get fed either alfalfa or oat hay twice a day, and bedding is usually included. Stable hands usually feed the horses and clean and rebed the stalls. A lot of places will also exercise your animal daily but don't expect too much there. On top of this you still will need veterinarian visits and may have medicine that is not cheap.
We live on a ranch and at present have a few dozen horses. The cost does go down the more horses you aquire but not drasticly.
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Decent pasturage of a couple of acres will suffice, and a goat or adopted burro can be a companion animal....even a cat can work and has a bit of advantage around a barn. 1500 a month can probably buy you such a place possibly with a small cottage and barn or run- in shed, at least in some areas, such as Nevada. You might think about adopting a mustang....you MIGHT be able to get an ungelded one if you can believeably express an interest in breeding that bloodline back into, say, a quarter horse line. Adoptions can be had for around two hundred bucks. It will never be cheap, but it is within reach. I had two on 2.5 acres up in Washington, although that was custom built pasture and maybe the best grass I've seen in the past sixty years
 
Given that this is being posted in a zoo forum. I suspect that boarding in a public place is not really a good option, esp for a stallion :) Anyway..as an aside to the poster..this sort of " How much" question gets asked endless times in more traditional horsey forums..you might get good info from them as well as here. Best of luck :)
 
newsirocco said:
Given that this is being posted in a zoo forum. I suspect that boarding in a public place is not really a good option, esp for a stallion :) Anyway..as an aside to the poster..this sort of " How much" question gets asked endless times in more traditional horsey forums..you might get good info from them as well as here. Best of luck :)
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Perhaps there are special expenses for people like us. ; ) - Don't laugh but my mare gets all the expensive herpes shots.
 
Just to piggyback on the question, how much would the expenses and troubles decrease (or increase) if it were a (intact male) donkey instead of a horse? Historically peasants/farmers keep donkeys as beasts of burden because they are cheaper to care for than horses. Is this still true in this century?

However I have heard that jacks (intact male donkeys) are even more unpredictable and dangerous than stallions. Is that true though?
 
northernlair said:
Just to piggyback on the question, how much would the expenses and troubles decrease (or increase) if it were a (intact male) donkey instead of a horse? Historically peasants/farmers keep donkeys as beasts of burden because they are cheaper to care for than horses. Is this still true in this century?

However I have heard that jacks (intact male donkeys) are even more unpredictable and dangerous than stallions. Is that true though?
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Jack Donkeys are frequently kept as livestock guardians because they are more aggressive than horses. They are also notoriously horny little fucks. I've had a few hours of entertainment watching a pair of Jacks trying with great enthusiasm (and occasionally succeeding) to breed a neighbor's cows.
 
northernlair said:
Just to piggyback on the question, how much would the expenses and troubles decrease (or increase) if it were a (intact male) donkey instead of a horse? Historically peasants/farmers keep donkeys as beasts of burden because they are cheaper to care for than horses. Is this still true in this century?

However I have heard that jacks (intact male donkeys) are even more unpredictable and dangerous than stallions. Is that true though?
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We had one, he wasn't a big problem or difficult to deal with, but he did carry some very bad genetics that would have been a travesty to spread.
Aside from that, he's been a good donkey; a bit of a jerk at times, but that's expected.
We seem go through around 10-15lbs feed/day per donk, which really isn't much. They graze all summer rotated through the pasture, but 1/2 acre per donk around here (good, but not great land) is plenty. Certainly less than horses or cows require.
 
egoldstein said:
We had one, he wasn't a big problem or difficult to deal with, but he did carry some very bad genetics that would have been a travesty to spread.
Aside from that, he's been a good donkey; a bit of a jerk at times, but that's expected.
We seem go through around 10-15lbs feed/day per donk, which really isn't much. They graze all summer rotated through the pasture, but 1/2 acre per donk around here (good, but not great land) is plenty. Certainly less than horses or cows require.
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Was he an intact male or a gelding? And what other animals did you keep him with? Just being curious
 
northernlair said:
Just to piggyback on the question, how much would the expenses and troubles decrease (or increase) if it were a (intact male) donkey ...
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The money needed would in comparison likely decrease if you keep the donkey on your own property. Donkeys are often more indestructible healthwise and similar. I can't say anything about something with public stables, the problem would be that you don't fit in there then. You might as well ask to stable a zebra.
 
I assume you have to be a millionaire to own any horse. That's just from my personal observation.
 
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