2016 Miniature Horse WORLD Issues December 2016 Volume 32, Number 6 | Page 44

Do You Need

Equine
Insurance?
By Melissa Powell with Debbie Martin

You happily enter the barn,
whistling a peppy tune. The horses
all greet you with hungry nickers,
wanting their evening feed as is usual.
But as you open your gelding’s stall door,
you realize all

is not well.

H

is left eye is practically swollen shut
and the tearing down his face warns
he might have something still in it.
You try to pry his eyelid up for a look but he
is having none of it. With a sigh you call the
vet to relay the problem and once she arrives,
you get a sense the required treatment is way
beyond your capabilities. One ointment 4
times a day, two others 5 to 6 times per day.
No turnout, no daylight exposure…a horsekeeping nightmare!
A horse in my barn recently experienced this
very same malady. Eye injuries are very common with horses, especially minis, possibly
because of eye placement on their heads or
their natural curiosity and noseyness. Whatever the reason, horse owners find themselves
in the predicament of making a life changing
decision. Your horse will need extensive daily
medical care for this eye injury which entails
a long hospital stay, a multitude of medicines
and all with an unsure outcome and a final
mystery price tag.
The vet suggests having the eye surgically removed as many horses adapt fairly easily to
having only one field of vision. A feasible alternative, but one you can hardly fathom. After all, he’s the best horse in your barn with
multiple champion titles to his credit.
So you bite the bullet, load him in the trailer and he stays hospitalized six weeks. At
$150 per day, plus medications. You do the
math…ouch!

42 Miniature Horse World

D E C E M B E R 2 0 16

Hindsight is 20/20

But what if you had the foresight to insure
your prize winning horse before just such an
injury? Equine health insurance has been
around for many years and is proving to be
an affordable safety net for even a hobbyist
horse owner.

If you have a Breeding Stallion you can apply
the following formula:
(SF X M) X 3 for established Stallions
(SF X M) X 2 for young Stallions in their
first or second season
SF = Stud Fee / M = Average number of
mares covered per season

We asked the owner of Asset Equine and
Ranch Insurance, Debbie Martin to evaluate our situation to see how much out of
pocket expense we would have incurred had
the horse been insured before he was hurt.
Typically your insurance agent will start by
asking the value of your horse. This can be
difficult to assess if your horse was “home
bred” foal. Generally you can look to insure
your youngster at around twice the amount
paid for the sire’s stud fee. As the horse gets
older and develops through training, you can
increase his value.

Perhaps the most important indicator would
be that if you were to sell your horse tomorrow, what would somebody pay for that
horse? To establish your horse’s worth for
insurance purposes, the underwriters may
ask you to supply records proving the price
you paid for him. They’ll also compare him
with horses of similar age, breed, discipline,
level of training, and competitive success in
the current market. If you believe his value
has increased since you purchased him, you’ll
need to substantiate that with performance
records and/or receipts for training fees.
Before approving an application for horses
worth $50,000 or more, you’ll be required
to pay for a veterinary exam to prove his fitness and soundness. For horses being insured for less than $50K, you’ll be asked to
complete a declaration-of-health form listing
any previous illness, injuries, etc. Note: Be
“up front” about your horse’s medical history. Most insurance companies will insure
your horse from foaling day until age fifteen
to eighteen years. (Vet certificates are re-