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Just wondering if anyone has seen this and your thoughts? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOUWyuTT7cg&ab_channel=LindaEastburn

I checked the costs for hay and my folks usually get 10 ton a year for their two animals. They can't go pick it up anymore due to age, so they have it delivered. $275 per ton is the going rate these days. That's $2750 per year just for hay, or $230 a month for two animals. They try to pasture as much as possible, but their little pasture doesn't last the entire summer. Throw in grain, supplements, vet bills, and farrier costs and I can see why my dad figured about $250 per animal per year. I love horses and mules and they are a huge advantage in getting game out of the woods, but they are way, way more costly than vehicles. But, there are many places where horses and mules are the only option since ICE vehicles are not allowed and/or the terrain is too rough.

You only need to feed an ATV when you ride it. Being inanimate, they don't have attitudes or psychologic problems to deal with. ATVs don't run away when frightened, angry, or hungry for something they smell in the next valley. ATVs don't kick when the switch is turned off. Parts for older vehicles can be a problem. Different types of ATVs have different strengths and weaknesses (Argos float, all others don't, tracked rigs shine in snow, but are slower and can throw a track in more solid terrain, etc). Your rig dictates the geography you can navigate (interior Alaska is riverboat territory, but you're limited to the rivers and not much beyond). In the end, your rig needs to match your mission and area of operations. Even helicopters have limitations, especially legal.

As someone who grew up with horses and mules, I would have to vigorously disagree with that statement. My folks currently are down to one horse and one mule. They have their own barn and about 4 acres left of the 500-acre homestead. They bought the mule last Fall for $1500. He's a smaller mule and 18 years old. Their horse is a larger quarter horse and 20 years old. They have them because my mom refuses to not have horses and mules. She is over 70 and can't ride. I asked my dad last year what the monthly cost was of feeding and maintaining a horse or mule. He said it was about $250 per month, per animal. By the time you factor in the hay, grain, tack, vet bills, farrier bills, etc, it is quite expensive. The last moose my dad got was hauled out using his 1987 Honda 300 ATV that he bought in 1992 for $1500. He has changed the oil a few times and put new tires on it once. He has about $500 in maintenance costs into it over the past 30 years. No way you can claim that ICE vehicle maintenance and upkeep costs are anywhere close to costs for a horse.