Horses on a budget? Nay!

[annieapple7]

I am currently keeping 2 horses (TBs - gah) and it is costing me a fortune. I haven't added it up properly as I would panic but it is too much. Haylage is £30 for a big bale and they get through 2 in 3 weeks; £8.50 bale shavings (3/4 week); Alfa A (12 a bag, one a week); sugar beet not too bad there; shoes every 8 weeks £60 each. Thank gawd spring is nearly here and I can chuck them out in the field 24 hours but we son't have much grass so there will be hay for some time yet.
So does anyone have any tips or advice for cutting costs while maintaining weight and welfare?

Do you have anywhere to store your haylage/hay so you could buy in bulk? Can you team up with others and buy larger quantities of haylage together? That should make it cheaper. I've also heard of shavings being available from timber mills, but I've never tried to track any down myself. Also, it wouldn't be dust-extracted, I suppose.

I'd deffo look into pooling your resources with others in order to snag a bulk-buy discount.

Do you have to feed haylage and use shavings? Are they in full work or can you cut back on the hard feed because they are roughed off? Do they absolutely need to live in - the vast majority of horses can winter out all year with the right care.

We've got 3 (A, B and Connie) in but they live out from 7.30am until 5pm.

We're only using one bag of shavings a week (between the 3) but that is because we poo pick by hand with a thorough going through and top up at weekends (plus two are very tidy and only muck in one place!).

Also we only have shavings in the back half of each stables - rubber mats at the front.

Feed seems about right - you can only judge that yourself based on how they look and the amount of exercise they are given.

We feed hay rather than haylage although we have to wet nets for the B.

Would love haylage but struggle with storage and using it quickly enough.

Go barefoot. Leave the shoes on until the feet are quite long, then get them taken off, this will mean that the nail holes are mostly gone once the feet are trimmed. They may be a little footsore for a while, but it will pass, and the hooves may look tatty for a while, but and any cracks or chips will resolve when the nail holes are gone, and the foot will be strong. The hoof should be fairly self maintaining, wearing down naturally on the roads, or you or the carrier can file them. (we do ours ourselves) if you find they wear down faster than you'd like, get some of those trainers for horses, you only use them when you hack, and they are much more cost effective than shoes.

Do you deep litter your shaving's?
I managed to get my messy mare on to just under one bale a week as a top up. 3-4 bales for two horse's is quite alot. If your clever and carefull with what you take out you could easily get that down to teo!

I used to really bank up the sides and then gradually bring them in throughout the week.

Agree with deep litter. We muck out with gloves and a bucket, then remove the wet when the bed gets squishy. We can do a bag a fortnight.

You don't really need to feed much hay when they go out 24/7 . The grass constantly comes through even if it doesn't look like it.

You could probably half that (or more) then.

Bloody hell Saggy . A bag a fortnight is impressive!

I invested in PVC stable matting and now have zero bedding costs. I just put down a small amount of paper shavings on top that I get free from work. Agree re; barefoot- though that might not work with TB's. All mine (IDx) have happily hunted regularly with front shoes only. If they are in light work they probably won't need hard feed if they get plenty of haylage. Maybe just a bit of sugar beet which is cheap if it makes you feel happier. Also, I only worm twice a year as I worm count and they are always zero.

Thanks for all your tips guys. In previous winters I fed conditioning cubes for veterans to my 21 year old to keep weight on in addition to the Alfa A and sugar beet; I cut this out this winter and he looks just as good - so you have to wonder! I also used to feed a joint supplement and that has stopped and again - no difference!
I wonder if I need to feed hard feed at all - they are only ridden twice a week!
It is the bedding that get me down really. I must get rubber mats for next winter.
I am agog at how frugal you can be with shavings. I clearly need lessons there.
I can't see barefoot working sadly - we have to do quite a bit of roadwork to get to the beach and dunes and their feet are not hard.
And I should harden my heart and not bring them in so much. But if I don't they stand in the mud fetlock deep at the gate and look miserable.
For those stabled at night in winter, when will you turn them out 24/7?

Can you not just bring them in when the weather is really bad? Just make sure that they are rugged up well.
I think if I still had my mare she would have been out 24/7 about now. Probably still rugged. Only be bought in from now on if the weather gets horrendous.

I do feel for you though, I used to put my girl out, watch her blow off steam with a gallop and a roll, go and muck out, only for her to be at the gate and neigh at me when she saw me go to the muck heap 15mins laterwanting to come in! they have a knack at pulling at you heart strings!

Cod liver oil is good for condition, and cheap (or used to be, haven't bought it for a while.) And i would also cut the Alpha A for a bag of mollichaff, Much cheaper if you still want to feed them.

annie, mine and DH's woolly mares stay out 24/7 all year so are really cheap. New pony's in at night at the minute but will stay out when the clocks change (she comes in at night as GD's working her in the indoor school 5 nights a week after school and I can't be bothered to walk back down to the field in the dark).

Little old pony likes his home comforts so he comes in at night in summer as well as winter, and has expensive feed to keep his weight up (gets skinny but had a bout of laminitis 2 years ago). He's the most expensive to keep.

Try front shoes only; most of the weight is carried on the fronts. Or see what your farrier says anyway. Mine will probably go out 24/7 later this month or April but with rugs on.

Given a while for the nail holes to grow out, and the foot to get itself together, you would probably be surprised at how well they do barefoot. It takes a little while to get acclimatised. Having metal shoes nailed on makes the hoof weaker. Ours (shetland up to warmblood) hack for miles shoeless.
These or similar are very useful and better value than metal shoes.

Thanks Saggy - are they a faff to put on? Don't they fall off? Is it only the front that you need to use with bare back feet? Do you do much work on the roads? I tried one of those rubber boots withe metal ties as a stop gap if the horse threw a shoe - could not get the ruddy thing on! How much does your farrier charge to come and trim barefoot and how often does it need to be done?

We usually think about turning them out full time in early April once I'm back from Dubai. Depends on state of paddocks and night temperatures. Even though their main job is showing we still have them out full time in the Summer. We just bring them in the night before for a bath and tidy up.

The Houston police force horses are barefoot and they do a fair bit of roadwork ;) - however, rubber matting in combination with barefoot is a terrible choice.

If you do go barefoot, do it in the spring so the transition is when they're out 24/7 and moving.

My warmblood has been barefoot since spring 2006 and I'd never go back to shoes. It makes me wince when I see a badly shod horse on tippy-toes.

I don't think they Are a faff. Ans some varieties come with gaiters that go round the Pasterns and help keep them on.

If they are only ridden tierce a week could you get a sharer?

And my dd's little Arab mare lives out all the year round because she goes ballistic in a stable. Have to watch her like a hawk for losing condition, but she's 18 now and is still doing fine with an extra feed at lunchtime.( her field mates are very jealous!) She looks like a walking rug rack when it's really cold though!