
13. Horsing Around
Keeping any pet can get expensive between vet bills, food, toys, and more. However, maintaining horses, it turns out, is on an entirely different level. One Redditor shared their experience of sinking money into a horse, saying, “I. owned. a. horse. I went back and actually calculated the cumulative cost once: $56,000+ over 5 or 6 years. I SOOOOOO wish I had been on the FI track then and had invested that instead. At least I knew enough to give the horse away rather than waiting for someone to buy it because it was so expensive just to keep it.”
Another Redditor, /u/magus44, shared the sacrifices their family makes for their horses. The user states, “This is pretty much my mum and sister… They’ve got like three horses. They’re both teachers. But one doesn’t have a car, and they live in a cheap/run-down house together. All so they can spend more money on those things. I actually get worried about where they’re going to end up, but then it’s their life!” A third Redditor confirmed the love people have for horses despite the cost. The user said, “All the people I know who are poor and show up to the stables are there because they love horses; it is not because they are trying to impress anyone ‘because it is associated with wealth.’ It is still a flipping expensive thing.”