The Thrifty Boarder!

I'm sure a lot of folks who self board their animals have had this happen once or twice.. 'Oh look, the feed bill came, how much is it this month?'... -insert jaw drop, eye pop, and then possibly a thwack after hitting the ceiling + string of expletives- Mine got to 700 dollars for TWO HORSES a few months ago FOR ONE MONTH. 'WTF!'

My first mistake.. buying hay from the feed store. You will ALWAYS pay more at the store or from big distributors. Time to rekindle my relationship with local farmers. Off the field, five dollars a bale cash for what I was paying ten fifty plus tax for in the store. Half of what I was previously paying!

My second mistake.. the supplement trap. Time to get over myself. My gelding jumps three feet once a week.. I have him supplemented up like he's the most nutrient defficient horse on the planet going to London 2012. (Upon the advice of the local feed store.) I decided to cut back to a basic mineral supplement. Twelve dollars a tub, the tub lasts 3 months.

My third mistake.. Grain up the wazzoo! What does that mean? That's Canadian for TOO MUCH DAMN GRAIN. The more grain he eats, the less hay he eats, he burns off the grain, and then doesn't have enough calories to keep him going between feeds. Not to mention being a total nut bar to ride. Do we really need to do all our six stride lines in four? I don't think so!

My fourth mistake.. The fancy @ss food. If I do recall correctly fifteen years ago before the invention of highly processed step feeds we fed oats, barley, corn, and molasses in various combinations depending on nutritional needs. None of them were starving.. all of them were in great form

Now the 3 year old gets nothing but hay. He's in excellent form. The gelding is on a yogurt container of oats am one barley am, and the same pm and five or six flakes a day first cut local, he's in great condition and has dapples all over. HOW ABOUT THAT.

The cost for one month you ask?

Hay = 107.50

Minerals = 12.00

Grain = 20.00

Total cost for two horses = 139.00

For a total savings of....*drum roll please*

561.00!!!!!!!!!

Yeaaaaaaaaah. I think the results speak for themselves! Don't get caught in the feed trap folks! It'll kill your pocket book as well as your horses digestive system.

Happy Trails!

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Comment by Marlene Thoms on July 29, 2011 at 11:18am: Congratulations Michelle on using your horse sense when it comes to feeding costs. I can't believe how much some people spend on board. Horses are generally healthier on a basic simple diet and don't benefit from buckets of grain. I have a very economical situation, an Arab (they live on air and sunshine, and get fat just looking at pasture), and I board an elderly mare who does need more attention to her condition. But I have a very lush pasture, so the mare is out 24/7, doing nicely, and the gelding gets a couple of hours turn out in the morning, and a couple of hours turn out in the evening, and free choice really basic grassy hay when he's not out. And he is fat, hardly eats very little hay when he's in his dry lot pen, so that bit of turn out is keeping him very well fed. His hoof trimmer says NO GRAIN, no fancy stuff, because otherwise he gets tender feet. In winter, he still just gets grassy hay and he's still fat. If anyone wants a really economical feeder, get an Arab. I buy my hay baled not bagged, so even in the coldest part of winter this Arab costs about $150 a month to feed,it would be even less if I used the large rolled bales used commonly around here. He's living outdoors with just a run in shelter that he hardly bothers to go in, even during storms, not even a blanket. I was pretty anxious when I saw him do that the first winter (we get down to -23 C) I had him, but somehow he survived, and I actually had to put him on a diet that year because I was overfeeding him! For the tough Albertan horses, that is nothing, they have it colder and a longer winter than we do and manage just fine as long as they have plenty of hay.

Comment by vickie lawson on July 26, 2011 at 4:01am: i love it! here in nz, the local farmer will charge $7 out of his barn. right now in winter, that becomes $12. im feeding fiskins brood mare mix to my rising 6 and 4 yr olds, it has 12% protein and is a mixed feed. until this week it came in 40kg bags for less than $40. a good buy. now its in 25 kg bags for $27, so its gone up. what about shavings for your stalls. im odd in nz as i actually stable my guys, and im paying $65 for 100kg of shavings which last about a month. yup, your right, it sure adds up!!!!! i registered theolder horse and me and it costs over $350 for that too. now what to do about the younger brother- i bred him for my daughter, but she's too busy lately to ride so now i have 2 it seems. loved your blog!!