# Yearly Cost of Vet Bills?



## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

I don't know what costs are like in your area, but without an emergency 400 sounds reasonable for regularly yearly upkeep (shots, coggins.) I think I actually pay that for 2 horses, but we give our own shots so it saves on the farm call. 

My emergency bills for last year were about 3,000 give or take. Plus another 600 for two boys getting gelding.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

The answer to that question depends on about 3000,000 different factors!

But if you have no issues I'd say you are probably safe at between $400-$600.

Just keep one thing in mind...Horses can be Murphy's Law on four feet.


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## Island Horselover (Apr 4, 2012)

It is really not that easy to say x amount will be sufficient, it totally depends. But it sounds fairly reasonable to me. My vet bills for the last 5 years with an average of 5 horses (sometimes more), keeping them at home was: ZERO :0) Guess I am lucky but still I have enough money to cover the vet costs if something would come up that requires vet care. It also depends how much you are able to do yourself. We do deworm our horses (getting the paste from the states which is wayyyyyy cheaper than getting it in Canada)...


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Well...we paid approximately $750 for spring shots and Coggins for 5 horses.

I think $400 is quite sufficient for 1 horses annual vet costs. And like you said...that does NOT include the emergency bills. 

Since you don't have a horse yet...make sure you have money aside for a PPE. Around $500 so you can get a thorough lameness exam and XRAYS as needed.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Having $400 in your bank account to fall back on is a good idea but certainly isn't going to anywhere near cover you for an emergency situation - the cost of colic surgery could set you back anything from $2,500 for the simplest to $8000 for the most complicated. 
Its scary how fast vets fees can add up if blood tests are involved or X rays so if you aren't going to insure your horse for medical costs you need to have at least $1000 and be prepared to have the horse euthanized if you can't afford to pay for expensive treatment


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## beverleyy (Oct 26, 2011)

It really depends on your location too. 

I own two mares in a pricey area (think top barns, international shows/vendors, a good handful of olympic/GP riders). So vets are obviously able to get away with higher prices. 

My vets call out fee is somewhere between $90-$110 depending on the day/time of call out. Emergency fee is higher of course. I believe to get teeth floated on my well-behaved mare it is around $300 give or take. On my demon-spawn mare it's more just because of the extreme hassle she causes ...so lets just say $350 for her (she also needs hers done 2-3 times per year). So for just one horse the minimum I pay just for a teeth float is $390-$400 per year.

Vaccinations I generally do myself, and that ends up being about $100 per horse per year. If I were to have the vet out ...I'm going to guess it would be around $300, probably more, per horse.

So $400 for very basic routine vet care, if there are no emergencies, may or may not be reasonable depending your location. 

IMHO, every horse owner should always have a separate bank account for the emergency vet fund. I actually wound up spending close to $2500 last July alone in emergency fees. That's not including the others months, unfortunately.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

That's probably about right for the basics. I think that's approximately what I spent on my horse for two round of vaccinations and dental last year. If things like chiropractic, acupuncture, saddle fitting, etc also fall under your definition of vet bills (it does for me since my vet does them) then you may want to add a bit more.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

I would say that's a pretty solid estimate. You can always call around to local vets to see how much they charge for inoculations/worming/the routine stuff to get a better idea.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Well for the month of March for two horses I have spent around $1,100. 
That included chiro, farrier, yearly shots, dewormer, teeth, and lameness eval / injections (for one horse). 

Last year I spent over $3,000 on one horse. Got his leg in the fence and had a few other problems during the year. 

$400 is a reasonable amount to expect for one horse for routine care. As others have mentioned, the emergencies are what can add up very quickly.

Horses are *money pits*, no matter how you want to slice it. :wink:


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

beau159 said:


> Well for the month of March for two horses I have spent around $1,100.
> That included chiro, farrier, yearly shots, dewormer, teeth, and lameness eval / injections (for one horse).
> 
> Last year I spent over $3,000 on one horse. Got his leg in the fence and had a few other problems during the year.
> ...


OT: Beau...can you PM me info on the injections you got? I'm making the decision to try hock injections for Rumor. I'm looking for people's experiences...
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## LemonZeus (Oct 6, 2013)

If your vet tries to keep costs low, then $400 sounds right. Especially if your horse doesn't have issues that lead to "recurring" bills, aka chiro, xrays, etc. My gelding gets adjusted every 2-3 months in the summer, at $65 a session. My shots for two horses is about $200, but you could cut costs there if you give them yourself. I show across state lines sometimes so I have shot records and coggins each year. 
Emergency fund is a whole other beast, though. I had a mild colic and my mare slice her chest open last year, probably $1,000 total. But, like I said, vets around here tend to be cheap-- $40-60 for a farm call, if that gives you a comparison


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