She did say "I've called the vet twice for anything other than for 3 births and the usual vaccs in all that time." (bold is mine)

speaking of vets and teeth.....another way to save money is to use a specialist in horse dentristry.  i used the vet the first time and they automatically gave him a tranquilizer of some sort without asking me.  that bill was $120.  the dentist uses hand floats and doesn't tranq him and she charges $60.

and my horse seems to really like it, so, he's not a problem at all to work on.

" I haven't bought a store bought feed bag or supplement in the same amount of time."

missyclare, i am curious.  where does your feed or supplement come from if not a store?

That's just it,it didn't come from anywhere, it didn't exist. No need for it until now with horses getting older. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I never needed to fix it. Just the way it turned out, I guess.

I did start out supplementing feed, but it was then that I started running into problems...Feeding the flames of physitis, feeding sweet feed that smelled like beer, not knowing any better and just about killing my horse. I jumped off the bandwagon and haven't been back since. They lost my trust.

Survived for 20 years, no problems.  Then five years ago, I took a horse nutrition course. I knew I was not going to start jumping on the feed wagon again after all this time, despite the lack of problems, but those same horses were getting older and I wanted to make sure I was still doing right by them. It was a huge leap of faith for me that the new knowledge wouldn't send me back to the feed wagon and it didn't. I now can jump up on that feed wagon and give them a run for their money instead. I've learned not to be swayed by all the touting and that ingredients not mentioned, means they're being hidden, but no matter, I can read between the lines of that long ingredient list and smell it anyway. Now that I'm in the thick of it, my distrust has been concreted by the many experiences that are so numerous that it runs like an entertaining, yet sad soap opera.  Thankyou, thankyou, Dr. Kellon!!!!! for the empowerment I always wanted...to be able to advocate for my horses like I should be able to....its been a long wait. Her Dog Nutrition course is next....

 What have I accomplished by not doing anything for all those years? I have older horses now that have never suffered laminitis, founder and are still laughing in the face of Cushings. Even if these things do come along in the course of aging, I'm set up to avoid it because I am treating them like they are already. If it comes, then the only thing to do is add the Pergolide.....now that's advocating. 

i only feed my horse a bit of grain for a treat after a ride.  maybe 1/2 pd of cob?  other than that, hay, grass if available, carrots and apples for treats and a salt block in his manger.  but, i still need a feed store for the salt and cob.

people always comment on how fit and healthy he looks.  of course, he should.  he's only 6 yrs old.

i was curious, missyclare, what your feeding program consists of?

Now, my nutrition is balanced...completely. It starts with a hay test, then I balance it, so whatever is needed for this year's crop of hay.

This years, its...8.3g phosphorus, 20g magnesium, 92mg Copper, 426mg of zinc, 1oz. salt, 2oz. flax, 4-400mg Vit E gelcaps from Walmart, 3.3mg iodine and 1mg Selenium, 2oz. yeaSacc Brewer's Yeast. This is the recipe for my hay, for my 25 year old at maintenance. 

Needs met, no added sugar or iron and completely balanced.....no guessing.

wow, that's exacting.  i'm impressed.  i don't know how to test hay.  my solution is to buy my hay from a stable that sells wildly expensive horses (olympic quality dressage and jumpers).  they started growing their own hay, because they couldn't find hay that was high enough quality to meet their needs.   so, i figure if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for my boy.

My dad hated the idea of getting horses so I've learned to be frugal in a lot of ways when it comes to horse items.  Thankfully my dad allows me to keep my horses at home so I have no board to pay every month (though I do use a fair amount of fuel driving home every other weekend from school to see them).   Having them at home also has other perks.. we grow our own hay so I don't have to pay for hay, and we have about 50 acres of woods and pasture fenced for the 2 horses and the 10-15 cows that we raise.  Having cows and chickens also means that we get a discount on feed.  Our feed store gives a discount if you buy 6 or more bags of grain, so my dad set up big barrels that we can store the sealed bags in, whenever we go to the grain store everyone in the family is asked if they need anything (we also have a list on the fridge), we never buy less than 6 bags of grain so we always get the discount.  We also make sure we always have at least 2 mineral blocks in the pasture at all times, and we alternate between a trace mineral block, and a sweetlick for beef cattle and horses.  We also set up our vet appointments so that we only ever pay for the farm call once.  It also helps that being a pre-vet major and having an amazing vet I can usually get on the phone with  my vet and send her pictures of what is going on and get talked through basic things which saves us money.

As for tack, I buy everything used, or I make it.  I've also volunteered to fix people's blankets, saddle pads and other items for a small fee (usually about $20) and I wash them too.  While I'm working on them I look them over and with my mom's help I can make patterns that I can utilize later, I then use fabric that my mom already has/is given to her (4-H sewing leader) and make stuff that I can keep for myself and sell.

I also have my horse's shoes pulled while I'm at school as I don't ride nearly as much, and my farrier will save them if they are good to reset when the late spring/early summer comes around.

Going to tack swaps, yard sales, and a give and take that my 4-H group set up I can save a ton of money.  I got my dressage saddle, pads, girth, leathers and irons that fit my horse perfectly for $75.  I've also gotten brand new blankets (Weatherbetta, State Line Tack, and Rambo to name a few brands) for between $10 and $20.  With my former 4-H group what we do is every summer we go through our barns and find things that we don't need or use, we bring them to the meetings and you trade with other people.

 Also I worked it out with my vet so I let her bring her new vet students and interns out to float my Thoroughbred's teeth since he loves it so much, and in return she does both my horse's floats for free.  I must admit my vet is one in a million, my pony had a growth that I was tracking and after some time my vet came out and removed it, sent it to the diagnostic lab and gave my pony a perscription antibiotic and only charged us $25 since I helped, and I gave her some orange cones for her own barn/riding ring.

 Thanks for your input -- there are some great tips there.

1) Take good care of the things that you have.  I buy pretty much everything second-hand or from auctions or tack swaps.  Just because it's used doesn't mean it should be abused!  Take care of something, repair as needed, and you won't have to deal with replacements.  Don't obsess over matching "things".  Your horse doesn't care if his halter doesn't match his blanket.

2) Buy in bulk!  Places like horse.com offer discounts for buying things like wormer, leadropes, and flyspray in larger quantities.  If you don't need a large quantity of something yourself, split it with a horsey friend!

3) If you're fortunate to have plenty of property, rotational grazing is a fantastic money-saver.  You'll get the most out of your land and cut your hay bill to practically nothing during the peak months.

4) Barter goods and services.  My neighbor puts out round bales of hay for us in the winter when he puts them out for his cattle--my mother grooms his dogs for free (she's a professional groomer).  Another neighbor mows and bales our pasture, and we give him all the hay to feed his cattle.  What he spends in diesel mowing and baling is less than the price of hay.

5) If you can, schedule routine vet and farrier calls one the same schedule as other horse people in the neighborhood.  Or have your horsey friends bring their horses to your place for appointments and split the farm call fee.  We're on the same farrier and vet schedule as my 2 aunts and godfather :)

I have a whole other list that applies to horse showing... that's where people blow a lot of $ for no good reason!