Costs of owning a pony?

[Ormiriathomimus]

Assuming you have land and a stable to house pony. What are the average costs for feed, insuranace, vets, farriers etc. Obviously, very roughly.

Many thanks... and I know it's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question.

Dpony goes a long while between shoeings,so not a good example,but
Shoes £60 every 12-16 weeks
Feed £5.99 every 12 weeks
Insurance [she is old so accident cover only] £130
Worming 4 x times a year £60
Hay £2.80 a bale,winter only
Supplement for joints £25.99 a tub x 3 times a year.

Newboy is high maintenance,
Insurance £300
Special feed £35 a bag on special offer
Shavings as can't have straw £7.49 a bale
Hay and worming as above,but he has his feet trimmed instead,about £20 I think.

I haven't included jabs as she hasn't needed them yet,or lessons for the girls,or pony club membership or rally fees,or gymkhana/show entrance fees or the trailer to take them to pony club/shows,or the 4 x 4 to pull the trailer,or riding hats,boots,body protectors,replacement tack,spare leadropes,grooming kit,rugs,buckets,lunge lines,hoof picks,haynets,jodhpurs.I scour ebay and rarely buy anything new,but costs still spiral.I read somewhere that horse ownership is like standing in the shower ripping up £50 notes.It's a good job the girls love riding.

Thanks mirage! So the answer to 'how long is a piece of string' is 'depends'

Thing is my parents are thinking of moving (finally!) nearer us. They are getting frailer and I want to be close in case of (any further) disasters. They have been looking at places and one of them is a very lovely cottage, in a very pleasant village that happens to have stables and a couple of paddocks. I think they see it as an incentive to get DD and I to go over regularly. But I just wondered if it was feasible financially if DD gave up her lessons for us to pay for pony upkeep.

You really need the pony and the lessons I'm afraid.
I would buy a barefoot, native pony, that is slightly older. A barefoot trim is much cheaper than shoes, and with regular roadwork wearing the feet down, you'll probably only need a balancing trim now and again.
It can live out for most of the year, saving on bedding, and feed.
Get Bhs gold membership, this gives you public liability insurance, and free legal advice, and start a fund, or keep some room on a credit card, for vets bills.
We don't vaccinate, as most of our ponies are older, have been in the past, and will have some immunity to tetanus. We don't do flu, as they don't really go anywhere. The youngsters are tetanused. If you do vaccinate, it's no expensive once it's established.
I you have the land, the cost of keeping a native is minimal.
You really only have two problems.
One, lessons are important. Everybody needs them. Even top riders. Even if it's only once a month, it's important to keep up with them. One way round this is to join the pony club, and ship dd and pony off to rallies and clinics as often as possible.
Two, company. It's really not nice to keep a pony on its own. You need a companion, or someone with a pony to share the place with you.
Elderly ponies and Shetlands are often companions, but you run the risk of the old guy keeling over, or the Shetland getting laminitis.
A similar type pony on DIY livery is a better option, and would give dd someone to hang out with.

Could they rent one of the stables out to recoup some of your outlay and to provide your (their) pony with a friend?

Good points!

I did wonder if the lessons would still be neccessary.

Renting one of the stables out would be good. Not sure how parents would cope with that idea.

I've been thinking about it overnight and it looks to me as if it's not going to be feasible. We are stretched financially as it is. Just a nice idea....

thanks

It depends on how much your dd will want to ride too.In my case it is cheaper than lessons because both girls ride 6 days a week-prior to that I was paying £22 a week each for lessons and driving over there on separate days as they couldn't fit them in the same day.So it is 'cheaper' for us to have our own [or so I tell DH when he sighs about pony induced expenses]

We have 3rd party cover already in our house insurance,and the DDs are covered for other stuff through the Pony Club membership insurance,so the ponies are covered for vet bills and injury.TBH I'm considering not renewing and putting the money aside instead,as no 'horsey' person I know bothers with insurance now.

Would the paddocks be suitable for your dd to ride in? Are there many bridleways or nice rides in the area? Might be worth checking to see if there is anyone local she can ride with too.

If you rented out a stable, I think you could pretty much have the same outlay as now. The price of livery could probably cancel out the costs of a native. I wouldn't rule it out yet.

I'd agree that owning a barefoot native is cheaper - dpony gets a foot trim every 6 weeks (£20), wormed every 4 months (£10), and is vaccinated as tetanus is a problem where he is living.
He doesn't get fed, lives out, at worst has a bale of hay every two weeks in coldest winter (£4 - 6 each).
I buy tack and clothes on ebay, and as a family, we spend most of the weekend with dpony

Mine (including rent) cost about £200 to £250 a month. I have shoes done every 6 weeks at £58 a set, insurance is about £35 each horse (trailer insurance about £10) bedding costs about £7 a bale one a week all year (more in winter less in summer so I av out) then feed, hay, lessons, vet, worming, dentist, saddle checks, fuel, comp entries.

What about getting dd a pony share? Cheaper than lessons and cheaper than owning! Win Win.