Talk me through the advantages of having your own horse... Except the obvious one of actually having your own horse!!

[ShouldHaveMarriedTimDowling]

My daughters ride once a week (age 6 and 8), I ride once a week too. They have an hiur group lesson, I alternate between a private or group.

I went back riding last year and have been very apprehensive untill the last few months when I seem to have finally relaxed. I love it. They love it.

Obviously the dds want a pony. I never thought about one for me. Niw I read on a thread that owning your own pony will make it soo much easier for you to learn.

But how expensive is it? And is it worth the labour (aside for the joy of having one -my ultimate dream).

London suburbs.

We have a pony on Loan, we don't pay anything for the loan, but we pay his grass livery at the pony owners yard - 200 a month. Then there is flu jabs - 30 a year? big yard so don't have a call out fee
He is shod every 6-7 weeks, but only fronts so about 30 pounds

He came with rugs and tack. The rugs are ok, but not the best condition so he is getting a new wardrobe.

Lessons are cheaper and my son is benefitting from the relationship, and my daughter who is still too young to do lessons (for insurance reasons), is loving the involvement she has. The whole family rides and it is finally something that she is involved in.

We are however about to join pony club and rent a trailer...which was not a cost we factored in, but something they will both really enjoy I think.

I think the advantages are:- Lots of fresh air and exercise, shared family interest, children learning responsibility and patience, you can ride when suits you best rather than when you can get booked in, there is nothing better than your own pony whinnying with the pleasure of seeing you, freedom to do fun stuff like ride to the pub, opportunity to compete if that's what you want (I know you can do this at a riding school but it's never going to be as successful without building an exclusive relationship with your pony),
The labour varies depending on what help you can afford to pay for or want. Even on DIY you can certainly minimise the labour depending on how and where you choose to keep your pony, for example you could have a sharer for a couple of days if you need time off for other things. The cost obviously varies too, depending on where you live, what sort of livery, whether you compete, what sort of pony you have etc. It might help to tell you that I share my horse with my mum (therefore shared workload and costs, he's on DiY, lives out 24/7 with shelter) and we worked out that he costs the same to keep for a week as we would spend if we each had a 1 hour hack at the local riding school.

Given that you need three it will bankrupt you. Our 4 make us poor but very happy

Given that you need three it will bankrupt you. Our 4 make us poor but very happy

50 I doubt very much we can afford three. Could start with one, either for me or the girls.

But need a lot more convincing re the practicalities.

Go on poeple... Made me do it!

Do it.

Im going to do it.

You will be hard pressed to find a pony to do all three of you properly (ie be suitable for learning on) I'd suggest two, one for you one to share so dds can really ride theirs. Sharing splits the work load for the girls which is always nice.

I started out with 1, this progressed to 7 so I'm now whittling down again to 3 ok number 4 arrives next week but he's not here yet so he doesn't count

It's totally worth the work but, unless you can afford full livery it's definitely a lifestyle that you need to embrace!

Thank you. I'll get some figures from the school this week.

Tbh I have got quite a few pressing sad situation to desl with so thinkinb of this can work as either escapism or some hope for the future.

You need a really nice horse for yourself and a nice old schoolmaster for the kids. Shame you're not near us, we could do with a sharer.

We have a miniature on loan for the kids and i plan to buy something for myself. My daughter will no doubt expect to be lead around on and hopefully eventually share with me (I plan to buy something reasonably young for me).

Advantages are definitely getting the kids outside - I'm terrible for mustering up the energy to go for walks etc but with the pony i have to. My two year old likes a little ride on, grooms the pony, and if the sand paddock is free (Which is most of the time as we only have 5 horses on the yard, 2 of which aren't ridden at all) he plays in there, runs around, makes sandcastles.

Obviously depends on the yard as to whether this is a possibility - ours is very child friendly.

Being able to go out for hacks is an advantage too, you learn a lot riding over different ground. This is something my riding instructor encourages to keep us from going stale in the school. My daughter loves it, we had amazing fun this weekend exploring the hills and went through some water :)

Where we are it would cost me no more to keep a pony plus a part loan than it will to pay for riding lessons each for me, dd and ds1 (Assuming he is still interested, he is only 2 and a half at the minute so the obsession might die off yet) plus travel (My lesson would be a during the day, DDs at weekend as she lives with her Dad, DS afterschool or weekend), So if you can dedicate the time, then cost of your own vs cost of lessons for you all is definitely something to work out and consider.

I'm going to go against the grain and say don't do it!

It's lovely having your own but it's a huge, huge commitment and cost. I've not had a horse for about five years and while I miss it I do appreciate my new found freedom.

Getting up early every day, in all weather to sort him out before work, rushing there after work. Unexpected bills. Strange folk at livery yards ...

I loved my horse and on nice sunny days miss him a lot (I had him 15 years before he passed away) but I wouldn't get another one and really hope DD doesn't want one as she gets older!