Can I be cheeky and ask the people of The Tack Room what you do for a living and how you afford your horse?

[Ghosty1985]

Ok so here goes. It has been a lifelong dream to have a horse but as a child my parents were not horsey and did not share my interest, then I was at uni and a poor student.......

Now I have finally been working for a good few years but I am still not in a position to have a horse. I am a solicitor, but in a small firm (I do not earn City megabucks). My working hours are long enough that I would struggle to keep a horse on DIY (I am out the house 7am -7pm on an average day for commuting and working, sometimes longer) but I have done my sums and I cannot afford full livery either, despite having a relatively decent salary. Admittedly I am in the South East where livery is more expensive than some places and as I am a novice I would want to keep the horse somewhere decent with experienced people around etc.

I know I could look at sharers but I would not want to have to rely on that in case I could not find one etc. I am quite a sensible person so would not buy a horse unless I could 100% afford one.

I have a share at the moment which is great, but I just wonder if I will ever be able to have my own? Things will only get more difficult (time and money wise) if/when we have kids.........

Oh I would also like to add that I don't have an especially glam lifestyle either - DP and I have one small second hand car between us, travel most places by bike to save cash, shop at Lidl, haven't turned the heating on yet etc. Most of our money goes on mortgage etc. We are not walking around in designer clothes and holidaying in the Bahamas!

So horsey people, what am I doing wrong? Can I ask what you all do for a living and how you afford your horses?

yes all our tack is picked up second hand from the local horse sale or aquired from kind friends, dd has been riding for 3 years and only just got a new pair of jodpurs for example

I work full time as a sales rep, work long hours but with a degree of flexibility (emails and paper work can be done at midnight and 5:30am) I have dd 3 horses and a husband. They live at home. Well my parents. I have had horses all my life and when I got my first job started paying for my horse so I have never known a life with money. Dh has a good job but we have a big mortgage but would never be without the horses it's a way of life we all love.

When I was child free, I worked FT, earning around £36K. Did DIY around work. The yard had fabulous facilities ( 3 schools, incl one lit, X country courses etc) the DIY deal included all hay and bedding and they brought horse in for me after lunch, so I was just doing the work and not having to source hay etc. Cost £420 a month ten years ago. Couldn't do it on Mat leave, so horse went on loan. Got her back and in the latter years she was on Part Livery at a lovely yard with no school, but fab hacking. That cost £380 a month very recently. South Oxon.

Farrier, vet, insurance,wormer and all other incidental costs on top of all that of course. Towards the end (lost her in Sept, aged 21 ) I was working FT again on £40K, but now with two kids under 10. Could only manage to ride once a week. Luckily yard kept her ticking over for me for free.

sorry - that was £240 a month DIY not £420 a month!

Ghosty...my hours are similar to yours and tbh, it is a struggle to ride more than 3x per week. (Horse is on Full livery so no mucking out etc) Do you commute by train? Thats normally the spanner in the works... doesnt take much of a delay to mess up an entire evening. Im lucky I share with my sister, so there is not the pressure to ride when Im feeling tired after a long day at work.
Im desperate to get another horse as my (lovely) boy is rather useless at Dressage but even though I could just about afford it, I wouldnt have the time to make it worthwhile.
I think re money, Ive managed even when I was earning £8k a year (just left school!) to upto date now earning a nice wage... Horses are a way of life and for me , I just couldnt be without one. Many times have i gone without so the horse can have stuff...

Hello I am a solicitor too, you probably don't want to hear this but I have had horse DIY over the years am 5 years qualified now, is very hard work first and last at yard often, can afford horse but not on luxury basis and very little left over shop in asda and buy clothes second hand on eBay but manage to turn out well. The kicker is that you need to either become partner and get enough money that way so can pay for horse you don't get much time with or accept that the time restraints being responsible for a horse mean that despite your contribution to the firm you are likely to be sidelined, I work in house and leave at 5.30, I enjoy my job and am happy with that but could have been more successful in lawyerly terms if able to be around at work more, that was my choice though, I know someone else who works in council for same reason....

Hi. I am a SAHM who teaches, rides other peoples and does farm secretarial work. I also run a very well known 3 day eventers fan club. The money from the farm work pays for boring stuff, the riding and teaching money is everyday stuff and the fan club money pays for the horse. I am lucky that I get cheap DIY livery as I teach the owner and also have parents farm should horse need stabling. (And I get to pinch the cows hay and straw!) They are bloomin expensive though!