To ask is it really affordable to have a horse?

[Fruitshootjet]

We are moving to an area where it's possible for my daughter to have a horse. My DH wants to her one when we move in.

I have absolutely no idea about horses. Haven't the foggiest how much it would cost in upkeep. So to you mumsnetters who own horses - what are we letting ourselves in for.....

put it this way - i am horsey, have been brought up with them and know everything it entails and i will not be getting one for my DC! The costs are huge and it will be you doing the brunt of the work.

If you are not horsey yourself and don't have a burning desire to become horsey, DO NOT DO IT!!!

Can your DD even ride? It is an expensive hobby and time-consuming too. Might be worth seeing if anyone can loan her a horse so that you can all get a taste of what horse ownership entails.

We had several horses when I was growing up and weren't well off, but that meant doing EVERYTHING and also loaning them out on occasion. If your daughter doesn't know how to groom, tack, catch, muck out etc I wouldn't even begin to consider it, and those are the basics. Horses require a lot of knowledge - I spent 15 years riding and studying them and still don't consider myself expert.

Sorry, I assumed she already rode

I agree with going for a loan or share before buying one. DD helped out at yards for years and had a share before we entertained the idea of buying her own.

I also agree that it’s a bit like setting fire to £50 notes.

I dread to think how much £££ we put in one end of the horse and how many hours we spend shovelling it up when it comes out of the other

Just wanted to add that when I started out, I wasn't horsey either. I started riding lessons as a teenager and love it so much I volunteered at the yard in return for more time in the saddle. When I bought my first horse, I had her on full livery at a fantastic yard and learned to care for her alongside the yard owner who was very patient with me and I still paid for weekly lessons and intensive courses. So your daughter can do it if she is not from a horsey background but please make sure she really, really wants to do it and you have the cash to fills the gaps in your own knowledge and time, as PP have said. It is a dangerous sport and your daughter will be safer and happier for it. I would get her lessons at a good riding school first anyway and really get to know good horsey people you can trust who could help you find a suitable animal if you do decide to buy.

We are a professional horse household and aim to only keep one of our own at any one time. Keeping a horse properly in your own home isn't much cheaper than keeping one at livery and you have all the work to do - which will be much much more onerous if, by your own admission, you don't know what you're doing.

Add in the costs of competing if your DD wants to get into that and you're talking mega bucks. We were on the international eventing circuit for years and reckoned to spend at least £1000 for a week away at a three day event in the UK, double that if abroad with cost of diesel, ferries etc. For one day events locally allow up to £300 each event.

Dressage is our game now and you're still looking at up to £150 or so in entry fees, diesel, subsistence - more for championships.

If your DD needs lessons, which most people do, then you're looking at a whole other world of expense. DH teaches people in their own homes on their horses and holds clinics - a lesson with him is £50 for 45 mins. Most of his clients have a lesson once a week and a number of them have more than one lesson / more than one horse.

We have had an interesting life in horses, but god, the money we've spent could have bought us a mansion by now or a pension. I have actively discouraged our children from getting involved and thankfully neither is remotely interested, although DDiL is hinting for a pony for DGS .

Good luck with whatever you decide to do, but go into it with your eyes open.

Get a part loan instead! I did that as a kid/teenager until I was old enough (and responsible enough!) to buy my own. No way could my folks have afforded my own. Local Facebook groups are great for finding these, as is preloved and the horse sites such as horse quest/horse mart.

Even now on a fairly decent salary, my girl costs my an arm and a leg as I need her on some Livery services with working full time. She recently had a £180 vet bill for an ear infection, and £350 for a wound injury on the knee that required X rays on a Sunday as it was on the joint. That was in the same month and no point in claiming due to the excess.

My costs are roughly;

£60 per month insurance (with a huge £500 excess so I haven’t even claimed yet!)
£25 every 5 weeks for a trim (unshod as still a baby)
£140 stable fees per month
£65 haylege per month
£40 per month roughly in shavings
£100 - £150 extra in services per month around holidays/work
£30-40 per month in hard feed

The above is just the minimum costs at £500 ish a month if you don’t have your own land. That doesn’t even touch the vet bills and I guarantee your horse will find the most inappropriate time on the most unobvious object to slice itself open somewhere or stick its legs through the fence.

You also need to factor in transport costs if you want to train or compete, or even just get to the vets. My 3.5t box cost £18k, and then you still have to insure it (£50 ish a month), service, MOT and diesel. Even hiring a box can range from £40/50 per half day to £90/100 per full day. (Trailers are a cheaper option but I don’t like them personally plus also need B + E licence)

Equipment costs, saddles/bridles/boots/rugs/bits/buckets/haynets, all of the cleaning/show stuff, and don’t forget stable stuff such as wheelbarrows, buckets and haynets!!

It’s an endless money pit, and I’m glad my parents didn’t fork out all that for me and I can see it for myself.

I will say however, owning a horse is so rewarding and for me keeps me sane after some very very stressful days in the office! (I was even mad enough to have 2 at 1 point... however 1 is more then enough!)

I echo the PP with costs of about £500/month. If that is a stretch or you didn't grow up with horses to know what to do, don't even think about having your own horse. Better solution is lessons and working in the yard where taking lessons.

My three are at home, out 24/7 so as “low maintenance” as horses get but...
i still pay for shoes, insurance, hay in winter, feed, vets, one gets injures its a time consuming expensive nightmare and i have an idea what im doing.
Loan, share and learn about ponies with DD first. Enjoy the nice things without having fork out for all the shit bits!

I agree you absolutely shouldn’t go it alone unless you are experienced. Go for livery if so.

And yes - go for a Native! They’re hardy as anything, don’t need stabled, barely need fed and have lovely, easy temperaments. A highland pony or a highland x (they breed beautifully with thoroughbreds) is a great, fun first horse.

They cost more than you can ever imagine 🙄😳😂. I agree with the "like ripping up £50 notes" comment. Very basically, mine breaks down to:
Livery: £150 every four weeks
Shoes: £85 every six weeks
Insurance: £37 monthly

Add to that daughters private lessons on her own pony (£25 hour), feed, stuff like grooming kit, tack replacement bits and bobs and loads of other non essential essentials, vet bills, teeth, horse chiro, entry fees (bloody fortune there!), horsebox...It's never bloody ending.
I love it. I really do. It's been my life and now is my daughter's too, but if you want my advice and you are not inherently horsey or at least have some experience, don't do it. It's very, very expensive, takes so much time, you spend winter stinking of horse piss from mucking out, you get hurt (even unintentionally) sometimes badly, and it's hard work.
If you are set on it, first have at least a few years of riding school and pony days at riding school.

Well this has been educational. My SIL has horse, no wonder they always seem poor 🤣 luckily I've never been that interested... But all my money goes on the kids clubs anyway

So glad you mentioned Highlands AuntBeastie! I have one and have fun doing local shows with him but you could stick a toddler on his back and he will amble around with you on a lead rein. He is a lovely family pony, very affectionate and loves to be involved with people. There is no amount of money that would make me part with him!

And even in death they cost money. Latest one was PTS unexpectedly (and by unexpectedly I mean ridden out and ate up tea at 6pm, dead by 10.30) and the cost of PTS plus removal of carcass was £800. You get nothing back for that - nothing.

Oh and never get that invested that you end up in the showing game 😂😳😳😳. Now THAT'S chucking money away, especially when you pay for HOYS entry fees every year

@AuntBeastie, after a lifetime of owning bloody TBs or TB types (eventing/SJing), I'm seriously considering buying myself a nice, honest, overheight Connie who'll just get on with the f*cking job without handing in a sick note every couple of days.

If you aren’t horsey you’ll need full livery which you are looking at £400+ pcm
Food
Rugs
Tack is ££ and then it stops fitting and it costs £££££££££ to get someone to fix it
Petrol too/from the yard
If she’s a novice rider then lessons.
Pony club membership and fees
It spirals.

If you have to ask you can’t afford it. Basically.

@Solenti - we're just back from HOYS with my NN coloured mare.

It was fun and we placed well, but it is basically like being handed a £2k fine.

Another life long owner here...

For the love of all that is holy DO NOT get a horse if you know absolutely nothing about them! Seriously, it's a basic welfare issue. So many horses in this country live at the mercy of very well intentioned and utterly clueless owners.

If your daughter has regular lessons at a properly run establishment and is at the "I want my own" stage then take the advice of qualified people like her instructor. And plan to keep your new money-muncher on full livery until you at least have some experience in basic care. They can arrange everything that needs to be done and do it for you. But it'll cost you. Lots. And lots and lots and lots! Livery, forage and feed prices will be on the up this winter because of the very hot summer.

You've got your initial purchase price, which for a nice, healthy, safe first horse for utter novices could be well into the thousands. Then you have to buy his wardrobe. Bye bye at least another grand. Then you have to pay your livery bill circa £85-£100 a week. And he'll likely need shod so there's £75 ever 4-6 weeks. And the vet, he'll need vaccinations and his teeth done so there's a few hundred quid. And the physio she'll want a bit as well. And then your daughter will want to compete so you might as well just wave goodbye to every penny you have!!

You have to be seriously devoted to stay a horse owner. And a wee bit mad

And also having one at home if you don’t know what you are doing is frankly, downright dangerous.
They weigh about 500kg and have a flight instinct.
It’s daft at best and genuinely potentially fatal at worst. I’m incredibly experienced, owned horses from before I could walk, competed to a decent level, ridden racehorses and was put in intensive care when trying to take an injured horse that had been injured out walking in hand. Something I’ve done more times than I can count.

Amen to that Thistle...all for a bit of bloody ribbon as my wise old Dad says 🖐🙏🙄. 2k fine and a nervous breakdown!

Lol Solent, so true, my show horse cost more to keep than my house!! I must be insane.

Right on affordability, take £500 of your cash right now out of your bank and burn it. Now does that make you stress or not bothered? What about £1000?

Does your daughter ride or does she just likes horses? If it's the latter you'd be insane to get one. None of you know what you're doing and most likely will end up unintentionally neglecting the horse.

Horses don't always just cost a basic amount like people are suggesting. Mine has been a problem.

He cost £3000. He's had two operations totally around £8000, I've bought a trailer for £3500, 3 saddles at around £600 each and numerous other stuff like feed, grooming stuff, shoes etc let's say in 3 years that's about £5000. So in 3 years he's cost around £20,000. Although thankfully the insurance paid most of the operations. If I'd had no insurance he would have had to have been put to sleep.

Basically if you're having to ask, you can't afford it. Don't bother.

I keep a highland pony at full livery.

For the un-initiated, this means he's a very good doer (someone up thread mentioned this - it means he lives well on very little food) and lives at a stables where the (excellent) staff take excellent, full time care of him on my behalf. Even so, my livery fees are £450 per month - which is quite cheap by some standards - can be much more in more expensive areas of the country.

He's not shod, so the farrier trims him every 12 weeks or so at £35.00 per time - shoes (every 6 weeks or so) are £70-85 per set, depending on where you are in the country and your farrier.

Full livery is a good option if you have no horse knowledge as (with luck) you'll end up on a yard where the horse will be cared for by people who know what they're doing. (This isn't always the case, however, so check the place out thoroughly first). Other replies have detailed all the other expenses, but, to me, your biggest stumbling block is your lack of knowledge/interest in horses OP.

You do need a basic level of knowledge within the household in order to make informed decisions and deal with instances where the horse may become ill or injured (they're shockingly fragile!!) and need a vet, physio, dentist or any one of a number of other professionals to help it. My vet charges £45.00 just to arrive at the yard - that's before he's got out of his car: it's another £35.00 for him walk to the stable and pat the horse on the nose. After that just think £££££££££.

If you keep it at a DIY type yard you are committing yourself to going there twice a day, every day, rain or shine, regardless if it's christmas, your birthday or you want to go on holiday.

In short, horses are amazing things but expensive, time consuming and heartbreaking in equal measure. Unless you, your DH AND your DD are 110% committed to this level of care and upkeep, putting up with the mud, the expense and the emotional stress, please, please please do not even contemplate getting a horse.

Spent my childhood and teenage years working for rides, desperate for my own horse...now I can afford one, no chance would I get one, a dog is restrictive, a horse is like marriage. Think I missed how old your daughter is, but many find other interests such as boys in their teenage years, and you'll be left mucking out. You also really need to know a lot about horses if you wanted to do DIY or part DIY, and there is so much to learn.