Jan 25 2009
Life insurance for your horse
The title of this blog post sounds like it is only directed at people with horses that are worth millions of dollars. After all the only time that the general public has heard about life insurance for horses is when someone gets caught killing an expensive horse for the insurance money. Would it surprise you that many horse owners carry a life insurance policy on their horses at one time or another during the horse’s lifetime?
I had one of my mares insured during her first pregnancy. She was nine years old when she was bred to a stallion for my dream foal. Since I worried about complications during her pregnancy and the possibility of her dying during or just after giving birth I thought it was best to at least cover some of the expenses that might occur should she die. She was a highly trained show horse with a champion pedigree. I had her insured for $5,000.00 at a cost of $150 for one year. Thankfully I never had to file a claim but having her insured also meant I had proof for the IRS of her value.
I have friends that have had their horses insured for periods while they were at the horse trainers barn. The horse trainer usually carries their own insurance for a horse dying while under their control but more often than not the amount awarded to the owner is far under the real value of the horse.
