I have a character concept in mind that has a horse as a pet/companion/means of transportation. It is probably a quarterhorse or maybe a draft horse, unsure at this point. Maybe even a paint or appaloosa. I just need to know what a good price for a horse would be? Maybe extrapolating from current prices a little but I have no clue right now.

What do you guys think would be a good price range?

My google-fu suggests ~5K for a 3-6 year old horse of reasonable quality and 10K+ for an excellent horse.

Your main worry is probably going to be the horses upkeep cost, not the actual purchase cost of the horse. The upkeep on the horse is probably something like low lifestyle by itself (1000Y/month).

And... with a low lifestyle... you won't actually have room for a horse.

You will either have to live out on the countryside, or at middle (or even high) lifestyle.

Bye
Thanee

I think he ment a Low lifestyle by itself, separate from the character's lifestyle.

Yes, I know. Wasn't replying to that 'low lifestyle' specifically, but rather to the assumption, that most characters probably have a low lifestyle in SR4.

Bye
Thanee

A horse is worth several times its own weight in krillburgers.

I wouldn't charge them specifically for the horse. I'd just increase the monthly cost of the character's lifestyle, and require it to begin at least at a Middle level. An increase of 1000 would work, I think.

I wanted to make a witticism about horses and sauerbraten, but frankly, I can't think of one. Oh, well.

Sorry, leasing rates are a little higher for the Westwind, but we can give you a Dodge Scoot for 50¥/mth.

But seriously, doesn't lifestyle actually say something about cars once you get to a certain level?

Bye
Thanee

<shrug> Personal vehicles don't last long in our games.

As for a free horse, I doubt it's a game-breaker (unless it's a reall bad-assed horse) and is really only for flavor it seems, so why worry about the cost? Just write it in and move on. If the horse, for some reason, was actually more important than that, coming up with an actual cost would be necessary.

Of course every GM is different. That's just the way it would be handled in my games.

As for a free Eurocar, our team is leaving Seattle (for their own good), and I'm sure someone has one parked in a garage somewhere. Just make sure the opposition didn't boobytrap it first...

By the same token, check the free horse too, just to be sure...

For a good quality Quarter horse (assuming good bloodlines, training, yadayadayada) you'd probably want to plunk down $15,000. We sell new babies (arab-quarter cross, similiar price ranges) for $5000 - $10,000. That'd be for regional show quality or even a good, competitive trail horse. A 'pet' quality (mongrel, enough training not to buck you off, wouldn't take it on a road, probably an older horse with several bad habits) could start at $1,500.

Most people board and in Portland, that means $1,000/month for fancy barns close in the city or show barns to about $300 per month for barns in the countryside (20-30 minute drive from most suburbs). Living in some pasture is generally around $100 per month, but you really need someplace inside to ride around here. Unless you really like the rain.

I'd say that in 2070 boarding facilities are a lot more rare. So are horses, for that matter. So I'd think you'd spend a bit more, especially for boarding, since you'd want to keep out those people looking for a free meal.

I was thinking along the lines of a 3-5 year old quarterhorse mostly for flavor but something that could be used for labor, i.e. like it worked on a farm. I'm not really into showing horses or using it as a main means of transportation, just a nice way to unwind after a job. Something like that.

I bought myself a middle lifestyle in Snohomish and figured that bought me a low lifestyle apartment across the street (or a few miles away) from the stables where I keep the horse. My cost is 2k for the apartment per month, his is 3k per month. I was thinking something along 5k for the horse initially. After that it's just the 5k lifestyle cost.

I picked Snohomish because New Seattle (don't have Runner Havens yet) states that Snohomish is mostly agri-corp and pasture land. What do you think?

Well, if you're going for realism (in your make-believe game ) then I'd say pick a 5 year old QH, say its had 2 years under saddle so it's pretty well trained and a bit more mellow. Currently, horses aren't really used much on farms for labor. Even ranches these days rely on horses less and less (and ATVs more and more). Most people in and around cities have horses for pets or to show. $5,000 for a pet horse is a fair price.

And although I haven't read Runners Havens yet either, Snohomish has always been 'rural' in past editions. That's the most sensible place for a stable IMO. Say it's a stable a few miles out of a smaller town, since there aren't many apartment complexes built next to horse barns.

As a secondary note to your very cool horse hobby, you could potentially pick up some good contacts at your stable. Most of our clients are middle-aged executives/doctors/sucessful professionals who either A) finally bought themselves that horse their parents never gave them or B) have horse-crazy kids. And people are (in my experience) very friendly at stables. After all, they won't see your bad shadowrunner side. They'll see that nice man/woman who always has a few extra peppermints for all the horses in the barn.

"And if wishes was horses, we'd all be eatin' steak."

Nail that regenerating paracritter to the cutting board and it's steak ever night!