Choosing a Boarding Barn: The Questions to Ask Before You Sign
A boarding barn tour can look fine and still hide a billing, feeding, or safety gap. Here's what to ask before you sign, grouped by what it protects.
Category First-Time Horse Ownership
Full Board vs Pasture Board: What Each One Actually Costs
Full board and pasture board differ by two to four times in price because of what's bundled in. Here's what each typically includes and misses.
Leasing vs Buying a Horse: The Money and the Exit
The real difference between leasing and buying a horse isn't the monthly bill. It's the purchase price and how easily you can get out.
How Old Is Too Old to Buy a Horse?
There is no fixed age cutoff for buying a horse. Here is what to evaluate instead, and why the pre-purchase exam matters more on an older horse.
The First Two Weeks With a New Horse, Day by Day
A sequenced two-week plan for a new horse's arrival, covering quarantine, feed transition, routine-building, and the first slow rides.
Common Mistakes First-Time Horse Buyers Make
The specific, sequenced mistakes that trip up first-time horse buyers, from the first viewing to the final offer, and how to avoid each one.
Hidden Costs of Horse Ownership
Beyond board and feed, these are the horse ownership costs that catch new owners off guard, grouped by when they actually hit your budget.
What It Actually Costs to Own a Horse (Year One)
A category-by-category breakdown of first-year horse ownership costs, from purchase and tack to board, farrier, vet and insurance, with sourced ranges.