I've been reading about people who are protesting high gas prices by riding horses to work. Besides being a logistical (what do you do with the horse while you're in the office?) and safety (ride in traffic during rush hour?!?!) nightmare , it doesn't even come close to making good financial sense.
As much as I love T, he is not cheap. Board is $500 a month. Shoes are $110 every six weeks. Supplements, equipment, vet bills, etc. add another $50 to $100 per month. My monthly average for basics is around $650. If I had a place to keep my horse at home, I'd still have feed costs, farrier and vet bills, increased property taxes, a larger mortgage, and I'd never be able to go on vacation again because stabled horses need regular, reliable, constant care and all my spare time would have to go to maintaining the stable/pastures/etc. Plus I'd still need a car to, at a minimum, haul grain and hay.
My car, on the other hand, gets fairly good mileage. I fill it up about once a week. Even with today's gas prices, I spend about $200 per month for gas. The car sits quietly in the parking lot while I'm at work requiring no care, it doesn't shy in traffic, and, when lousy drivers have run into me, we've both come out of it relatively unscathed.
So, buy a horse if you want, but don't expect to be saving any money.
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BTW, the picture on my blog is of T, all gussied up for a horse show. Isn't he handsome?
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