>Price of hay at $250.00 per ton< I guess it's all relative... we are paying $23.00 a BALE for 100 lb bales of compressed timothy hay (11% protein/7% sugars/carbs). We will breath a sigh of major relief when our house here sells & we move to Bend where grass hay is $250.00 per ton/$9.00 per bale. This is why I only keep as many horses as I know I can care for in the manner I prefer...calculating the horse keeping costs prices (farrier/hay/supplements/Vet/dentristry) in 20 years which would be close to my horses life span. As they age, they may not be able to eat hay & may need special feeds which need to be factored in as well. My 3 horses are all 20+ yo now & care costs will rise as they age.
14 years ago when I got back into horses & my two Iceys were 8 ish, I would have loved to buy more Iceys as I truly love them, but realized that cost of horse keeping would keep rising & the reality was I could only afford my 2 Iceys+ my old retired mare. I probably won't be able to afford another riding horse even if one of my boys becomes unridable until my mare passes over....& at 26yo , I swear she keeps getting younger looking/acting each year.! Kaaren
