The other day, while on a trail ride, Marlene and I began talking about my partnership with Belle, and we figured out that I need around $110,000 in order to afford to buy Belle from Debbie and be able to care for her properly for the rest of her life. I know what you're thinking-- that's the most outrageous sum you've ever seen.
Granted, the sum itself is far from a conservative estimate. The actual year-to-year cost of her ownership would likely run somewhere between $4,000 and $7,000, which includes funding for board, hay, grain, injections, supplements, regular shoeing, dentistry, tack, and incidental expenditures. The final number, the absolutely shocking figure passing the 100K mark, includes a sizable buffer for medical emergencies, and it also assumes that Belle, a 15 hand, 16 year-old quarter horse, will live for another fifteen years.
Take it month-to-month, or even year-to-year, and it seems more feasible. Roughly $400/month. The average person might be able to cut their cable budget and kick the Starbucks habit and be more than halfway there. Me? Might be a little more difficult. Right now I could probably afford it. But hypothetically, someday soon, I'll be living off a grad student's stipend, and that might be quite a bit more difficult.
Marlene told me today that Maya, an eleven-year-old family friend of Debbie and Trina's, will be coming for a month-long visit this August. She usually comes three or four times a year for a few weeks at a time, and does a lot of riding. She usually rides Cash, but for some reason, the last time she was here, over spring break, she and Cash had a falling out, and Anya complained to Debbie that Cash just wasn't working well for her. Now Debbie is convinced that Belle can be calmed down to the point where she'll be safe for Maya to ride. Unless Marlene and I can convince Trina to let Maya use her horse, Turbo, for eventing while she's here, then I'll have to stop running Belle in early July, and I might not get to ride her at all in August.
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