When I purchased my first horse, the previous owner highly encouraged me to purchase horse insurance. Since then, I have purchased it annually, but am starting to wonder WHY?

Do you purchase horse insurance?

Let me know if no, why not?

If yes, why?

What is the breed and age of your horse?
How do you use your horse?
Have you ever used the insurance? If so when?

Thanks!

My agent told me I had to have it on my homeowners. He said it was for theft. I wonder if they will provide coverage if I wreck one

We have had full mortality on a couple, the rest are covered on the ranch policy. The ones that had full mortality were horses that cost more than our normal horse budget would allow to replace. Two were breeding stallions, one was a show mare. The full mortality insurance cost us anywhere between $250 and $500 a year depending upon the value. The company we used charged us about $5 for each $100 of coverage. A $5000 horse cost $250 a year for the insurance. The problem that I had was basically the same problem that I have with all insurance companies. They are not going to pay off a claim without a fight and they have the lawyers on their payroll that are experienced in finding ways to get out of paying claims or to reduce the amount. The one real problem that I had was that there needed to be a vet inspection to verify the actual cause of death. I asked them that if I had a horse that was seriously hurt and needed to be put down immediatly to stop the suffering, would I be covered. They said if the horse died on its own, I was OK. If I put down a horse that was suffering before the vet got there I wouldn't be covered. I didn't like that, there is no way I could let a horse suffer for a half to a full day waiting for a vet to get to our place. Remember that we live in the outback and vets are a scarce as honest politicians and used car salesmen.

The horses we have are all listed on our ranch policy which covers them for liability situations and for deaths caused by act of God situations, wild animal attacks, or by lightening. We collected on two; one that drowned in a willow slough when she got hung up in the willows and one that was struck by lightening. There was a deductable paid to us but for the most part, the purchase price was recovered.

A few years ago I ran into a group of people that self insured their horses. They had a group of about 20 people that knew each other rather well. Each year they would each put $250 into an account. They then listed their horses and a realistic value of their horses. If a horse listed in the group died, they were paid out of the account. As the years went on, their account grew fairly large. For that group, their program really worked. I would consider doing this if I could get the right people to go in with us.

As usual, very good information. I will inquire with our home /farm insurance agent on liability through that policy and what other coverage they provide. I checked with them last year but wasn't as specific about liability.

I am interested in some emergency surgery coverage and mortality. Just like you said NW, to cover the replacement costs. Your point about having a Vet inspection is very eye opening. I have some good Vets close to me, but any animal that is terminal should not linger for any amount of time.


Sparrowhawk, let me know if you find out anything about paying off on wrecks and check out fender benders too!

Sparrowhawk, let me know if you find out anything about paying off on wrecks and check out fender benders too!
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Yea, I shifted his ear into the wrong gear and backed him into a fence, next dang horse is going to be an automatic.

There are riders that can be put on a mortality policy to cover lose of use and major medical. We considered loss of use on a stallion but never put it on. If the stallion became unable to breed, they would pay off but they would also take the stallion and more than likely it would be sold at a kill sale. The policy owner has the right to buy it back from the insurance company much like a totaled out vehicle at the time of a claim. The riders are usually an additional $2-3 a hundred along with the mortality.

There is stallion owner in our area that has a stallion that he has put about 125 AQHA points on and has taken it the the AQHA world show numerous times. He was upping the value of the insurance but said it was getting too expensive. Besides that, if the horse died, he would be able to buy a replacement but it wouldn't be what he had. He dropped his insurance and took the stallion to a collection site and froze about 150-200 straws of semen. He said that if the horse dies, he can basically still have him around to breed with. I thought that was an interesting alternative to insurance.

If anybody is considering insurance, I will put in a plug for Justin Insurance from Justin, TX. When we have had insurance, they treated us right. They don't require vet inspections on some horses to get them listed. Some companies require an initial examine and then an annual exam to renew. They only require exams over a certain dollar amount of value.

We carry theft and liability insurance.

The provincial horse council to which I belong provides with our membership third party liability and rider insurance. We have to carry it in order to ride in some of the indoor facilities, but other than that, I have no other insurance on the horse. I think some of the pre-qualifications such as vet checks, etc, are a bit stringent for my horse an the type of riding I do, so I'm not about to shell out any more dollars than I already am. I think it really depends on the horse, to what use it's put, and how much real value, (and I'm likely to get criticized here) we put on our horses in terms of affection and friendship. For some, that's priceless, and cannot be insured, but on the other hand, how much can we afford with all the other expenses we have with them too?

I've never insured any of my horses, but I guess that's where you have to think about the kind of horses you have. As for monetary value, none of mine are worth insuring. Nothing could replace the relationship that I have with my Mustang mare, but as for her $ value, I could replace her fairly easily (especially with the market the way it is!)

BTW, anyone need some really nice Foundation Quarter Horses??? A friend of mine has way too many and he's taking them to auction because hay is so high this year. Some of the registered FQH fillies have gone for between $90 and $150!

If one insures, I think one needs to think about WHAT one insures. For me, vet costs are the most important as it is easy to get a serious injury or illness (e.g. colic) that can set one back thousands. Noone is going to steal my horse, so theft insurance isn't a priority for me.

Also, the small print and the reputation of the insurance company are important. No insurance company wants to pay, but some are much worse than others. I have a lot of horse breeder and horse owner friends, so get to hear the horror stories.

There are some useful tips at horse insurance , and I note the one about the guy who lost $20 000 insurance because he took his horse to the clinic.