This seems to be the most important question of all.... And even though some people actually think that rescue horses might be low-priced or even free, this is not the case. Actually quite frequently it might even be cheaper to buy a horse from a breeder than to adopt a rescue-horse. But the question is: "What do you want, and what are you able to do ?" Do you want to adopt a rescue-horse for a your own reasons, and to give that poor creature a second chance in life ? Or do you simply want to buy a horse for the lowest possible price ? Well, the decision is yours of course....
The rewards of rescuing a horse are priceless. We can guarantee that knowing you saved one of these fabulous creatures (from slaughter or a life filled with neglect and/or abuse) is very much worth the money, but that is something that each individual has to decide whether he/she is willing and able to do.
Everyone who has rescued a horse before knows how much time, efforts, emotions and $$ is necessary until each horse is ready for adoption. Expenses like the initial purchase price of the horse, transportation to SD, border-fees for Canadian horses, Vet bills for exams - vaccinations - castration - sedation, farrier bills, cost for supplements, Antibiotics, wormers, lice-duster, halters, feeders, corral-panels, shavings, feed, hay, other supplies, maintenance, not to mention the cost for the barn, tractor, trailer, stocks, etc. etc. And then there are also occasional MAJOR expenses for some of the especially ill or poorly neglected horses......
Some other rescue groups are charging $200-$300 more per horse, some are asking less - depending on the time and cost invested. The ones that are asking less are usually the "brokers" who never actually take in any of the horses they adopt out - these horses go straight from the farm to the adopter, which means these groups have minimal expenses, but the adopter will have to pay a lot extra for all the initial fees and expenses mentioned above.....
Please send any comments or questions to Horses@LazyHorseRanch.org
I-M-P-O-R-T-A-N-T STATEMENT 07/20/2006:
Some people (who obviously think rescue horses should be free or "cheap") have asked me why most adoption fees for our horses are "so high"....
Well, here is the answer:
LAZY HORSE RANCH is a very small private rescue - our ONLY "income" are adoption fees, and all rescue efforts are funded by said adoption fees only. We do not receive a lot of donations, and if we do, they are usually smaller amounts or they are being sent for a particular horse. And we also do NOT receive grants or other contributions of any kind like most bigger rescue groups do....
Please keep in mind, the horses that we rescue are NOT given to us - we have to pay for them, and against all common believes, we always pay more than meat-price. If the places where we buy them from (PMU farmers, feedlots, etc.) would be happy with receiving “only” meat-price for them, they would rather spare themselves the trouble and the time of working with people like me, and send the horses straight to slaughter - one phone call and one truckload at a time - it’s a lot quicker and easier for them. With that being said - besides the purchase price of the horse, we also have to pay for the Vet fees to get the horses ready for transport, then we have to arrange and pay transport to SD or to a foster-home. And for Canadian horses there are also all the border fees that need to be taken care of.
When the horses finally arrive here, we need to pay for their vaccinations, castrations, exams, pregnancy-tests, blood-work, medications, sedations, farrier costs, horse-wormers, lice-treatments, supplements, shampoo, shavings, fly-spray, etc. Well, and then we still need to pay for halters, lead-ropes, grooming-tools, feeders, corral panels, water-tanks, water heaters, heat-lamps, tools, etc. And we pay just as much as everybody else does - retail prices !
Well, and in all these expenses the horses' feed is till not included - it costs about $100 per horse per month - more for the big ones, less for the foals. After a 6-year drought in our area, hay prices are up to $100+ per ton of hay - not including the high costs for delivery. We live in a high-desert climate, and with the drought on top of it, our 80 acres could support an average of 4 horses - needless to say that we need a lot of hay..... Plus, water is VERY limited and we can't take it for granted - our well is dry, so we have to haul water several times a week in a 1000 gallon tank, from a public pump station about 8 miles away.... For that we needed to buy the tank and an affordable 1960 truck that was strong enough to carry all that weight.
And last but not least, there are more expenses that most people tend to forget - things like barn-, land- and tractor-payments and -maintenance, fencing, electricity, water and of course property taxes – not to mention any kind of office expenses, phone bills, internet fees, or the endless hours we put in for free…… Yes, for free - we don't get paid. In fact I work 2 jobs to help support this little private rescue and my mission to SAVE ONE SOUL AT A TIME.
Now after you might have gotten a better idea of the financial aspect, one last comment to adoption fees:
Sometimes the adoption fees for a horse are a lot lower than his/her actual expenses, just to give the horse a better chance of getting adopted. And to make up for that loss, we need to ask higher adoption fees for other horses – horses that are especially beautiful, uniquely colored, pure-bred, healthy & sound and/or trained to ride or drive. We try to stay away from outrageously high fees, but we also have to try to stay as close to “market-value” as possible. Sometimes it might be cheaper to buy a horse straight from a breeder, and it’s almost always cheaper to buy a horse directly at auction, but please don’t forget the initial expenses that you will face after you get your horse home……
If you are looking for a free or cheap horse, then this is not the place. But if you are committed to adopting a rescue horse, if you're willing to give him/her a loving home for life, and if you found a horse here that tugs on your heart-strings, then please don’t let the adoption fee stop you. Instead keep in mind how many good things could be done with those funds, and that in the end you would save a horse’s life. Even though the horses that are here right now, available for adoption, are safe - please remember that prior adoption fees made it possible to save these horses’ lives – and the adoption fee of the horse you’re considering to adopt could safe the life of another lost soul..... Thank you.
