I just updated our horse expense list through October 2006 and pulled together this quick, if un-sexy line chart showing the trend. That big blip in the middle is due to annual vaccinations (I told the horses it hurt me more than it hurt them). With only two more months to go to wrap up 2006 expenses, it’s becoming clear to me that my earlier assertion about horses not costing that much may have been premature. Well, relative to say, a child, they’re not expensive. But relative to a dog, cat or lawn ornament, they are indeed expensive. So if you’re tight on cash and want a nice pet, a dog or cat is much cheaper. If you want a nice lawn or pasture ornament, consider pink flamingos, though I heard that the company that makes them just stopped production so you better snap them up at a yard sale before they move to “collector” status. If you really really like horses and have no qualms about putting off a car payment to buy feed, a horse is right for you and you should run out this weekend and buy the prettiest one you can find. Just kidding about that last part but we all know you’ve thought about it.

Year-to-date horse expenses, not including acquisition costs and expenses for February-May (we have yet to estimate those) is $786.