Babies... Babies...Everywhere...

[ready2fly]

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You'll have my u/s next Monday. Won't it be a little obvious though? R2F2 is the one with the big melon. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Truuuuuuuue!

[ready2fly]

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and now we have one on the way around Christmas.

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When? R2F2 is due on December 17th.

[Kristie]

let's see.. so we have kellwolf, R2F, Thewife, MQAAord, LeeD, JohnnyB, USMCmech & Bap327 that are all expecting right? any others?

Any chance you all can get me a copy of the ultrasound (not the bean, the one at 20 weeks or so).. so we can use them for a NJC contest???

just a thought I had... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[I_Money]

Still nothing on the way from camp Iain - I might purchase a horse, but those are easily sold if they become too much of a pest.

[Lee D]

A horse might just be the one pet/animal that is actually more expensive to keep than a baby! . . . Well maybe a close second. At least you don't have any diapers to change.

[I_Money]

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A horse might just be the one pet/animal that is actually more expensive to keep than a baby! . . . Well maybe a close second. At least you don't have any diapers to change.

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A horse will run $500 a month on the low end - if you want it groomed it will be closer to $1K.

[Doug Taylor]

...and if you live in a rural area, it saves on gasoline, insurance and parking! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[I_Money]

I spend more on tires for my horse then I do my car - every 6 weeks they need replacing costing $100 a pop. Gasoline is quite expensive - timothy hay is about $17 per bail, a bail will last you about 3 days. Insurance and parking are cheaper yes, maintenance is expensive (no warranty), and horses legs are more fragile then a women's emotions!

[Doug Taylor]

Good lord, so if you get your horse flowers out of the blue, you've got to convince it that they're just a gift and that you're not rectifying something that you've done wrong? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[I_Money]

They will probably think they are just a treat, and eat them - bloody expensive treat.

[mtsu_av8er]

Would it be against the law to ride your horse to work? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Tie him up to the pole in the parking lot and go inside?

[I_Money]

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Would it be against the law to ride your horse to work? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Tie him up to the pole in the parking lot and go inside?

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You could - but you can not just park your horse like you can your car. They need water, feed, movement, etc.

[CaptainChris87]

Not Yet.

[CaptainChris87]

You could do that Lloyd, just make sure PETA and other animal rights activists groups don't find ya. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[sbe]

Good LORD Iain. $17/bale for timothy? Oh wait, you ARE in Socal. Not a more expensive place to keep a horse in the country.

We pay $2.50/bale for good quality brome right out of the field. $3.50-$4/bale for straight alfalfa. Feed (Purina Equine Senior) about $10/50 lb bag, $55 each time my horse gets new Nikes (every 6 weeks...)

I guesstimate I spend about $200/mo on my horse, maybe a tad bit more (feed, hay, supplements, shoes, shavings for bedding, everyday care items, averaged vet bills). Used to be much, much more before he was retired (he's 24 now). Luckily, I don't pay board. Rent a 10 acre farm with a beautiful 5 stall barn.

[I_Money]

Thinking about it, it was $17 a bail for orchard grass. The hay this year is terrible - the alph-alpha is so green it is giving the horses’ diarrhea, and we have had more then our usual share of colic this summer too.

$55 for shoes - we are almost twice that price - and think how many horses are in a string - people are easily spending a $1K every six weeks for shoes. In England it is even worse - the farriers are unionized, and will only shoe 3 horses a day. When you have a string of 10 it takes 3 days, while anywhere else in the world it take a morning if you keep providing coffee, and the odd biscuit.

Shavings are $7.50 a bag - however the grooms who clean the stalls just shovel so average consumption are 2 bags a week.

The cheapest board I have found is $275 a month, most expensive $450. The list can continue....

[CaptainMatt]

Diarrhea!

In my best Ernest Voice, "Eeeeewwwwwwww!" [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[sbe]

Yep, it is certainly much cheaper to keep equines here in the midwest. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Our farrier is quite good, there are others in the area that charge more than $55 for a reset but that's probably about average. Bag shavings are about $5.00/bag, we just bought 80 bags on a bulk shipment for $3.50/bag.

Board tends to run on average about $250-350 around here, that's for a box stall with daily turnout and usually an indoor arena.

And our farrier probably shoes about 15-20 horses a day!

Sarah

[I_Money]

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Board tends to run on average about $250-350 around here, that's for a box stall with daily turnout and usually an indoor arena.


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The numbers I was quoting are for pipe stalls, and we all know how bad those are!

[sbe]

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The numbers I was quoting are for pipe stalls, and we all know how bad those are!

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Yeah, I know people in socal that pay $6-800/mo for a place with a box stall and full care. Price of a decent apartment around here! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Figure up some of the expenses, and it could easily cost more than I make per month to keep a good show horse out there, especially one in full training, and I don't do *too* badly!

Ok, sorry for the thread hijack, folks. Were we talking about babies? I've got a 24 year old, 1100 pound one... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[USMCmech]

Horses, Boats and Airplanes are the three biggest money pits known to man.

Unfortunatly I love all three. I'm doomed!

[Doug Taylor]

Hay IS bad this year I hear. One of my really good friends is a rancher in TX and he sells hay and they're having a bad 'blister beetle' problem in the region. A little blister beetle in your hay will kill your horse quicker than a glue factory.

[I_Money]

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Were we talking about babies? I've got a 24 year old, 1100 pound one... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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I always say - treat your horses like a 2 year old - you have to be kind, gentle, slow and comforting - yet firm when needed.

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Hay IS bad this year I hear

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I had to laugh - on JC talking about hay quality!! GOOD TIMES!!!

[sbe]

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A little blister beetle in your hay will kill your horse quicker than a glue factory.


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It sure will. Mostly a problem in alfalfa fields, especially those hayed with a combo mower/conditioner. About 10 years ago we were at a big show at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in OKC, and the grounds were selling alfalfa hay that had blister beetles (unknowingly) - 5 horses died at the show. Luckily we always take our own hay.

We've had a cool, at times wet summer, so our hay is pretty good and most people have been able or are going to be able to get a good 2nd cutting off their fields.

Now you want to talk thread hijack!!

[I_Money]

And I always thought the biggest problem about bailing hay was the timing so it did not rain on the hay after it had been cut, but not yet bailed.