The Barrel Racer's Journal

December Expenses

Well, the December expenses took a little bit of a wild ride, because I bought a horse! Believe it or not, this was my first time picking out and buying a horse for myself. Every other horse I rode was either bought for me by my parents or borrowed. (Or in the case of Stinger, he just kind of got stuck with me haha) Horse shopping is not as easy as it looks. Luckily Reno became available, and he met all of my requirements and was even under budget, so we brought him home. I have been saving up for a while to get a new horse, but with Stinger’s injury it just came a little bit sooner. So, I did end up taking out a loan for him, for a couple different reasons. Mainly, I already know I will have to take Stinger in the spring for more shockwave treatments and a follow up ultrasound. After those appointments, I don’t know for sure where the plan will be going, so it’s possible he may have multiple vet trips. So, even though I would have been able to pay cash, I wanted to keep a buffer in my savings. (I know everyone’s situation may be different when buying a horse, which is why I wanted to show the option I chose and my reasons). Reno was priced at $12,000, and my loan payments will be about $315 a month. I will probably end up making double payments in the future, just to pay it off sooner and pay less interest.

Since I took out a loan, I also got Reno insured for the purchase amount. The process was really simple, and the premium is paid in 4 installments. I chose to go through Markel for insurance, and I only got the mortality which includes a small amount for colic surgery. The first payment was $97.50, so I also paid that in December. I’ve never had insurance on a horse before, so this was a whole new experience for me.

Reno needed his own bucket, so he got a new bucket and strap for water. We traveled about one hour to go get Reno and bring him back, I got gas in my truck for about $70.

Lastly, I got two more bags of feed, we slowly switched Reno from oats and corn to Tribute Kalm n EZ, which is what we feed the rest of our horses. I also decided to switch my gut health supplement last month. With Stinger on stall rest and now feeding Reno, I wanted something a little more cost effective but still work. My Aunt Sue started using the Purina Outlast and really liked it for Diesel. I only bought a second bag (my first bag last month) because I had a gift certificate that was going to expire, it brought the price down to about half as much as it would be regularly.

4^th Quarter Recap

Year End Recap

Now it’s time for a recap of the whole year of expenses. I have been really curious about what my totals would be, and it is really eye opening. I was definitely not expecting to have this many vet bills in one year, but I guess that’s how owning horses goes sometimes. I actually think the total is pretty reasonable if you consider how many times we saw the vet and that I bought a brand new saddle. One thing I wasn’t really expecting was to have any winnings. I technically didn’t win that (I owned the slot race spot), but they deserve to make the recap (even though I just went and bought my saddle as soon as the check was cashed haha).

I thought we would spend more on gas, even though I only showed just my half. I was really surprised at how many miles we drove, and that the total number of barrel races was only 13. I guess it feels like more because I went to some without taking a horse or just to ride around, which I didn’t count. The mileage does include the vet trips, so that could also be why it is higher than I expected.

This new year will be interesting to track, now that I have two horses, one to ride and one to rehab. I hoping the vet bills aren’t quite as high, and that I can enter more barrel races and rodeos (and hopefully win a little bit of money while I’m at it).

Just a note: the insurance is 0.006% but is showing in the chart as 0%.