No, Riding A Horse Is Not Cheaper Than Driving A Car

In the day and age of high inflation, record-breaking gas prices and teetering on the edge of a recession, people are trying their best to find ways to cut costs at every corner.

With the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline headed for $5 this summer, it’s no wonder people are looking for ways to save on their daily commutes and at the pump. One of the silliest headlines I’ve seen among the gas hysteria is this: “Is it cheaper to ride a horse than drive a car?”

This article, shared by a local radio station affiliate tries to calculate the cost of “riding a horse.” The data from “NewsNationNow.com” estimates car drivers spend about $5,000 annually for gas, on top of $1,000 a year for insurance.

Now get this: They estimate that a “horse rider” will spend about $3,000 to buy a horse and pay about $4,000 a year to stable it and $1,800 to feed it (“That’s one hungry horse,” the article says). Throw in $700 a year for lessons to learn how to ride.

The end result: $7,000 a year for a car to about $10,000 for the horse.

At least they realized the horse was more expensive, even if their figures seem like they came from the early 2000s era of horse ownership, LOL.

If they really wanted to get an accurate estimate cost of ownership, they could have talked to any equestrian on the block. They would have given you a stiff drink first, then laid out the costs as so:

Boarding a horse: $500 to $2,000 a month, give or take – depending on how fancy you want to be, and how much drought and gas are affecting hay prices on any given month.

Routine health costs: Don’t forget the $220 for four shoes every five weeks or at least $50 for a trim, plus the $250 vet visit twice a year for vaccinations. There’s usually one $500 *surprise!* vet visit in there a year if you’re lucky, for colic or stitches or X-Rays or ultrasound… and $500 is low-ballin’ it.

Sales Price: The average $3,000 off-track, no training Thoroughbred from 5 years ago is now $12,000. Not sure if you’d want to see what you can get for $3,000 in the year 2022, but it might not make it to your workplace and back without dumping you once or twice.

Tack & Equipment: What the original article failed to include is all the proper dressings one needs to ride a horse – a quality saddle, bridle, bit, girth, boots, etc. Even for the cheapest brands, we’ll estimate $700 to $2,000 here.

And the chaos: Because horses, all you newbies thinking you’re gonna save a buck by riding horse don’t realize all the ways in which horses try to murder themselves daily. It’s not for the faint of heart or for anyone thinking they can “save a buck.”

It’s quite the opposite.