Gwen Stefani Calls New Horse #BestGiftEver, But It’s Among the #PriciestGiftsEver, Too
Meet Halo Stefani, Gwen’s new horse. (Photo: Instagram; Getty Images, inset)
Gwen Stefani is the recipient of the #bestgiftever: a horse named Halo. While everyone else obsesses over whether it’s from beau Blake Shelton, we’re more like, Dang, a horse? That’s an expensive gift, not just for the giver, but for the receiver as well.
Between writing songs about her heartache and doing The Voice, Stefani isn’t hurting for cash — neither is Lady Gaga, who was gifted a horse last month — but they are pricey pets for regular folks. A quick search for horses for sale in California via Equine.com lists prices ranging from $500 for a rescue in need of a home to $25,000 for a purebred show horse.
Another shot of Halo, which Stefani called “my new bunny.” (Photo: Instagram)
But that’s really just the start. Taking care of a horse isn’t like pouring two scoops of kibble into a bowl and scooping the litter box, like you do for a cat. The Los Angeles Equestrian Center — a Burbank facility, where William Shatner, Sylvester Stallone, and Jillian Michaels have trained — charges anywhere from $500 to $650 a month for boarding. Included in the cost are twice daily feedings of hay cubes, cleaning the bedding, and adding new pine shavings to the stall. Extra fees are charged for premium hay as well as if you have someone run your horse or groom it; after all, a jet-setting mother of three won’t have time to go to the stable each day, will she? Plus, there are fees for training the animal and transporting it, if it competes, as well as any medical costs.
“The purchase price is just one part of the cost of a horse,” it says on Equine.com. “In fact, the cost of owning a horse can range dramatically depending on the breed, age, and disposition of your horse, where you live, where you plan to keep the horse, and what type of work you plan to do with the horse. Before you buy a horse, it’s important to think through all the costs associated with your new friend.”
If Blake bought Gwen her new “bunny,” he’s well aware of all the costs of ownership. That’s because he bought his first wife, Kaynette, a horse for Christmas in 2003. (We’re sensing a pattern here…) He enjoys riding himself. Over a decade ago, he told CMT.com that his friends back in Oklahoma call him, “Saddle ‘Em Up Shelton.” We assume he was kidding about the nickname, but he was serious about riding.
Lady Gaga was also gifted a horse as a Christmas present. Mother Monster was given this gorgeous “White Angel” from her record label and, conveniently, she has somewhere to keep it. In 2014, she purchased a $24 million Malibu estate which came complete with a horse farm. However, she’ll still need to pay for care of the animal when she’s, say, on a world tour or at home in NYC or Chicago.
Lady Gaga’s horse may not sleep in the stable. From the look of this photo, it may live in her living room. (Photo: Instagram)
Over the holidays, Kendall Jenner shared a throwback video of when she was gifted a pony as a tween (Is that what Santa brought you as a kid? Yeah, us either) and we also watched Lisa Vanderpump travel from California to Ohio to try to buy her husband “the world’s smallest horse” on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Thank goodness for Giggy that didn’t work out, so the Pomeranian can remain the object of her adoration.
Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder had it right when they adopted their horse Eagle in 2014. Not that it’s not expensive to maintain, but the initial costs are much lower.
As for us, we’ll stick to adopting cats and dogs at our local shelter.
