mine lives out at grass and pay £50 a month for the field rent but this doesnt' include any storage or a stable, so I now rent a garage to store all the horse stuff and have space to dry rugs, that's just under £8 a week, but all in all I'd say it averages out to about £150 a month.
as meldy says, mine is much cheaper to keep (welsh cob). she basically doesnt' have any short feed or hay through the summer and has hay in the winter (this will be the first winter living out so not sure yet what the hay will be) but hay can be £2-£4 a bale depending on the area and availablility. always worth a shop round. anddepending on size of the neddy you aer looking at (using about a quarter of a bale a day in the winter possibly more if you need to keep weight on and have poor grazing)
worming twice a year meldy? depends what yard you are on and the method you use, some insist on worming regularly through the summer grazing season and wormers cost anytning from £9 - £15 a go (and depend on size of the neddy) and needs doing every 6 weeks I think in the summer, and gthen you have the twice a year tape worm ones onn top of that plus another one after the first frost for bot flies
shoes... mine doesnt' have shoes, and costs £42 every 8 weeks to have a barefoot trim but as meldy says, varies from horse to horse.
insurance, depensd what you insure, I've only got her insured for the basics, vets third party etc, and for a minimal value, no tack or anything insured. this reduces the annual outgoing and I think is about £22 a month.
then of course you've got the flu and tetanus vaccinations which will vary from vet to vet because of call out etc, but looking at an average of £70 ish, flu and tet is annual, tet alone is bi-annual
then teeth rasping and checking, annually, again probably about £70 upwards, depending if sedation is required
then on top of that you have the hidden extras, like they have knackered yet another rug, they keep going through the fencing so you need to buy electric fencing, feed bowls, water buckets, miscellaneous tat you never realised you jjust HAD to have. miscellaneous important stuff like wheelbarrows, forks, brooms, grooming kit .. it's endless
more hours in a day than you ever imagined possible
paying a premium for someone to look after said neddy if you are ill/on holiday etc
then they WILL GET THINGS WRONG THAT YOU CAN'T CLAIM FOR. so you need to allow to emergency pay outs for lotions and potions and treatments which believe me, bloody well add up. plus horsey first aid kit which will cost about £30 upwards to stock to a decent level and will need replacing when the use by dates expire.
in the winter you will be up to your eyes in mud and crap, and you will be wondering why no one told you just how cold fingers and feet can actually get without falling off. in teh summer the flies will be driving the horses mental, the ground will be rock hard. horses have no end of imaginative ways of driving you completley mental and losing the will to live. oh, and you might find you need money for a trainer/;instructor to help with said neddy/riding lessons etc
oh and in the summer you need to be prepared to pay a fortune out for fly sprays that don't work but watching said horse scratch itself like mad drives you to give it a go anyway :<
basically, get a horse and wave goodbye to your money 
research really carefully as meldy says, and above all take someone who REALLY KNOWS THEIR STUFF if you do go to see prospective horses
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Edited: 06/09/2009 at 20:30
