What's their worth?

What's their worth?

That question was posed to me recently when I applied for an equipment loan. I'd been thinking about a Utility Vehicle for our little farm for about a year. As with most people, the time has to be right to make the purchase.Paid off the tractor at the beginning of the month and immediately,as fate usually works, found a sweet UV for sale.So, back to the Farm Credit Service to start another loan.


Amid all the questions about the things we owned and or owed on etc, the one question that stumped me immediately came when I was asked about my horses.They're still considered livestock for farm loan purposes. 

What's their worth? 


My mind went blank. I shrugged and stammered, I don't know. The loan officer waited. It shouldn't have been hard to answer. How much did you pay for them? Well, that doesn't quite figure into the total worth, was silently whirling in my mind, but I had to come up with something. So, I gave the amount I paid for them six years ago. 


This got me to thinking about what my horses are worth to me. As far as monetary worth, there's really no compensation. I don't use my horses for anything that brings in an income. No breeding. No showing. They are just mine. I feed them,take care of them,ride them, worry about them, which goes way beyond their net worth. As with most "pleasure" horse owners, you put more into them than you can ever recover.

When the question was posed to me I hadn't considered it. I know what they're worth to me but I really don't know what they're worth to the bank! I guess it doesn't really matter in the long run but I was amused that this simple question had me stumped for a few, uncomfortable moments.