I agree with Porkpal. I used to have a couple of horses and they were relatively inexpensive to maintain. I trimmed their feet myself , and they had pasture in summer and local grass-hay we put up ourselves plus a bit of grain during the winter. Back in the day, I think we paid $1/bale to the hayfield owner and our neighborhood all helped one another during haying season. We piece mealed the equipment with what we each owned, which all broke down on a regular basis, lots of laughs and cold beverages, usually followed by a BBQ. The teenagers would try to out-buck each other, and the youngest kid was driver of the pick-up truck, often barely able to see over the steering wheel. Fond memories.
That said, it is easy to spend tons of extraneous money on any animal (just check out any big-box pet store, my word...).
