Horse Insurance

 

Horses don’t come cheap; chances are, you paid as much for your horse as someone else might pay for a car! In fact some horses can cost as much as a house, so equine insurance is a must-have for the savvy horse owner. If you bought your horse for recreational riding you might think that insurance is silly, but vet fees can add up fast: one emergency surgery can cost thousands of dollars that might be saved with the right insurance. Horse breeders and owners who show or race their animals are more likely to understand that insurance isn’t an emotional decision: it’s important to protect your investment. When that investment also happens to be an animal, you want to provide the best possible care for it, and insurance can help cover costs that might be ruinous if you had to pay them out of pocket.

 

The use of your horse will have some bearing on the type and amount of coverage you can obtain. Race horses, being expensive and prone to injury, will likely be more expensive to cover than show horses, and recreational horses will probably bear the lowest cost in insurance, but other factors like age, current and previous health issues, will also be considered by the company that insures your animals.

 

There are four possible insurance-related outcomes of a serious injury or chronic medical problem:

 

 

1. Major Medical

Major medical expenses may be incurred as in the case of colic where a horse is placed on medication, given IV fluids and monitored constantly. Coverage can reduce the cost of caring for a sick horse.

 

2. Surgery

Surgery may be necessary to close wounds, repair torn muscles, tendons, or ligaments or remove growths.

 

3. Loss of Use

The potential end result is that after suffering injury or illness and treatment, the horse is still alive but can no longer perform in shows, racing or breeding. In this case, “loss of use” insurance can recompense the owner for a percentage of the appraised value of the horse.

 

4. Mortality

The horse might die or have to be put down.

 

In mortality insurance, your horse is usually covered not only for death but also against theft or of having to be put down. There may be age limits associated with various types of coverage, and you will probably need to have a recent appraisal for your horse. The appraised value of the horse will affect both the type of coverage available and the cost of the policy.

 

The American Association of Equine Practitioners created a set of guidelines for the justification of euthanizing a horse:

• Is the condition chronic and incurable?
• Has the immediate condition a hopeless prognosis for life?
• Is the horse a hazard to himself or his handlers?
• Will the horse require continuous medication for the relief of pain for the remainder of his life?

(July 28, 2007, AAEP).

When you are considering mortality insurance, make sure the company you deal with has a well developed sense of the humane way of handling euthanasia. Some insurance agencies demand the horse owner obtain a second veterinarian’s opinion before euthanizing a horse. In a case where the horse is in a great deal of pain, a second opinion may prolong it. Although no one ever wants to think about euthanizing their horse, it’s best to make sure your insurance policy protects your animal from undue suffering.

 

Equine insurance is a specialized product, so it’s wise to work with an insurance agency that has dealt with horses for some time rather than attempting to add your horse to another policy by a company whose representatives may not understand the complexities of equine insurance. Horses have particular medical issues needing special protections that should be considered by insurers. Some insurers include colic surgery for free in all their policies; special policies may also be available for issues related to transportation and infertility, as well as coverage for foals that have been conceived but not yet delivered.