# Equestrian hobby expenses

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equestrian-hobby-expenses/838602>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 13, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equestrian-hobby-expenses/838602 "2019-08-13T15:06:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equestrian-hobby-expenses/838602/21 "2019-08-14T17:00:52Z")

</div>

My mother raised a couple of standard bred horses for harness racing. My experience with horses was that one end kicks and shits and the other end eats, kicks, and bites. She always said if she ever hit the lottery for a big jackpot she’d just keep raising horses until it was gone.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equestrian-hobby-expenses/838602/22 "2019-08-14T19:23:22Z")

</div>

> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#):
>
> But it’s true, you can find free horses pretty easily. In my youth I was good at training horses–well, after the first one, where I made a lot of mistakes. But if I were getting one today I would definitely want to spend enough money to assure I had one that had a good temperament, to begin with, and a certain amount of training because I am too old to start from scratch on a horse. Pretty much looks like it won’t happen, but I can dream.

I don’t know the situation now, but before the Great Recession you could sell a horse, at the beginning of it you could donate a horse, and as it wore on you couldn’t even do that. We considered ourselves lucky to be able to donate the horse for a tax break. A lot of horse were put down because no one could afford them, even when they were free.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\
**Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equestrian-hobby-expenses/838602/23 "2019-08-14T19:40:12Z")

</div>

> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#):
>
> Wow. :eek:  
> At least it’s not meth, but…damn.

Really good documentary about her called All the Queen’s Horses.  
IIRC, she was embezzling more than the town was spending on schools AND police! 😃  
Gotta respect that kinda chutzpa!

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/equestrian-hobby-expenses/838602.md?page=1)