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For those who don’t know we have been urged to apply for Non-Profit Status. We had looked into it in the past but at the time the requirements didn’t exactly fit our needs. Now with another aged mare adding to the herd, we have elected to pursue it with a little more vigor this time. We plan on incorporating the Dragon Stable’s name at the end of October in the state of Oklahoma (our home state). At this time we are also searching for at least 2 more like minded people who can meet in person at least once a year; IRS prefers quarterly but says once a year is fine.

Our goals and visions are simple at this time we would like to provide a secure place for retired mares to roam. We understand that retirement can come at any age although we would prefer to focus on aged mares. We are hoping to be something of a cross between OUR MIMS (Paris, Kentucky) & UNBRIDLED SPIRITS (Lisbon, Iowa).

Until we become an incorporated Non Profit & 501C3 we can only fund raise for $5,000 a fiscal year, our fiscal year runs April 1st through March 31st; mainly because I didn’t start keeping track of funds spent until April of this year. TO DATE we have fund raised $300 for Zepper’s Jaw Surgery & are hoping to fund raise $1200 for DAD SAYS YES; that leaves us $3,500 for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. if you chose to help us please donate to our GoFundMe as it will show a goal completion bar & assist people in seeing how close we are. While we are not a non profit & there for no donations are tax deductible, we can and will provide information on how the funds raised were spent on our Financials Page

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Time for some crazy math

We spend on average $1500/year on each of our retired friends, that doesn’t include labor (we like to think we are worth something). Here is how we arrive at that number:

GRAIN; our grain is recommended to be feed at 5 pounds per 1250 pounds body weight. this comes out to about 3 bags a month for each horse our grain is blended locally and price does fluctuate but it tends to be about $11 a bag. Each horse will eat about a pallet a year; a full pallet costs about $400.

HAY; we like to stick with one supplier even though it might cost us more because it is as close to our pasture grasses as we are going to get. He charges us $62 a bale delivered. We could save $12 a bale if we manage to get a truck. At $62 a bale and about 6 bales a year as we tend to feed hay from Mid November until Mid April depending on the weather. Hay will cost each horse $372 per year.

FARRIER; our farrier charges $25 per a trim and $70 per a set of shoes, we tend to prefer barefoot in the pasture for safety, (mares are very moody creatures at times). Josh comes around every 8 weeks or more often if we need him. If the horse is comfortable barefoot they will only run $150 at the Farrier if they need shoes they can run up to $420 or more.

VET; our vet comes out twice a year while each visit varies in cost depending on horse needs they tend to average about $250 in the spring & $275 in the fall. This means each horse gets about $525 in Vet visits each year, the items covered in each visit can range from something as routine as shots, coggins, dental, fecals, to not so routine in the form of X-Rays, ultrasounds, and other diagnostic imaging.

So here on the farm we can spend anywhere from $1,500 to $1,800 on a horse without cushioning for emergency circumstances. I am hoping to set up either a monthly sponsorship routine for each horse at a more reasonable amount, along with a capital improvement subscription to assist in general improvements around the farm (there are many). We don’t want to over load our selves here on how many we have roaming the pasture but traditionally at 2 to 3 acres a horse we can comfortably hold 12 (12 x 3 = 36) or max capacity of 18 (18 x 2 = 36). We personally do not want more than that as we run the risk of having to supplement with Hay year round and increased grain consumption to maintain body weight.