How much does your horse cost a month

[Okki]

Hi

I've not had a horse for a few years and am thinking of getting one again. I was wondering how much people pay. I e found a DIY yard that is £140 pcm including worming and they have a floodlit School and great hacking. I'm in NE Derbyshire if the region makes a big difference. (Was in Oxfordshire before and DIY + all expenses was about £300-£350). The horse would be thoroughbred - rehomed after racing/not being suitable for racing. I'm a happy hacker. Thanks very much.

For one native pony.

Livery that includes Hay and straw £160/pcm
Feet £30 every 6 weeks
Insurance £22
Dentist every 6 months £60

Plus about an extra £200 per month in lessons and competing

£90 a week for full livery + special feed + insurance + shoes etc.
Previous yard was £80 a week but £10 discount if you mucked out on weekends. DIY was £35.

Mine costs about £350 a month give or take but that doesn’t factor in lessons or competing which make it considerably more when I’m competing regularly I get too scared to add it up!

Bare in mind an ex racer may need extras that a native would be less likely to need.
My MIL has had several ex racers over the years, all lovely horses but all needed a shed load of hard feed, all needed shoeing ever 5 weeks, regular massages as tight backs...the list goes on.

I've had ex race before but am a bit out of practise

I've been thinking of trying bitless and barefoot as a couple of friends have had great success with theirs. Hmm

Thanks all for your responses.

DIY livery is usually between £25 to £35 a week around here (s yorks).

Farrier every 7 weeks for trims, £25. Though this might increase if baby pony needs shoes.

Worming I think is about £15 on average every 3 months.

Insurance £33 pcm.

Feed is so variable. Might be nothing down the summer. But with hay/straw and hard feed as much as £75 pcm over winter.

I wouldn't have a TB for happy hacking if I am honest. Too high maintenance. It would be like buying a Ferrari for a run around.

Good luck with your search.
Mine is barefoot, I tried just with hinds off first and she coped really well and now she’s barefoot all round and has been for about 8 years.

In a cheap part of the country we budget £9k a year all in to keep and compete one showjumper.

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion not in a cheap part of the country! I pay £180 for stable good grazing but not year round because its clay and on a flood plain, unlimited hay, good off road hacking, a floodlit manage and walker but no help, I pay any assistance. This is typical/even on the cheaper side round here. Part livery round here you're looking at min £110 +.
Insurance £35 PCM, shoes £90 every 5 weeks, worming we do a worm count, then target worms, I feed a very tiny amount hard feed 1 bag (about £16.50) last me a month, I feed a balancer about £37 a month, alpha A oil 18.80 lasts me for ever. I use shavings 1 bale £7.50 1 lasts me 7-10 days. Insurance £37 excess £500! Dentist I recently paid £40, and £50 to the physio,
Then there's all the other stuff; lessons, tack, rugs, grooming kit. treats, fly repellant (lots this year), buckets, wheel barrows, clothes, wellies and God knows what else. Its a never ending expense!
"I wouldn't have a TB for happy hacking if I am honest. Too high maintenance. It would be like buying a Ferrari for a run around."
I sort of agree with this.There are of course happy hacking ex racers out there and they are usually very well handled especially if they come from a reputable trainer, and a lot does depends on their history: many have spent their formative years leading a very very privileged life, and also life with a very strict routine, but as my vet said they are generally very high maintenance horses many have foot problems, old leg injuries which will need careful maintenance to keep them sound, often sacroiliac problems, gastric ulcers I could go on! Im very used to arabs which look fragile but are actually as tough as old boots TBs especially ex racers often aren't tough. This makes good reading and google tendon injuries!

And gastric ulcers!

There are 2 TB 'happy hacker' on our yard.

One has been here 3 years. Never seen it ridden. Owner works ft, can't keep him sane enough to ride with only the odd hack. He's happy enough with her strict, work enforced routine, but she doesn't have time to ride regularly enough to stop him turning himself inside out if she tries a sunday morning hack.

The other is actually quite a sweet mare now she has settled in. Shes really good with the farrier now. Shes seen him every week for the last 2 months. Can't keep shoes on for longer than that. She's got the most horrendous back legs I have ever seen.

Owner started riding her in the school and shes kind enough. But doubt she will stay sound enough to do anything other than a 20 minute walk trot schooling session a couple of times a week.

Some ex racers make cracking leisure horses. But for me a happy hacker is something less intense.

Our budget is £300pcm competing and doing PC with a cob.

On diy grass livery which costs pennies. (Well compared to most horse things!) The insurance and tax for horsebox is £80pcm which is a huge chunk of the budget. He has a high quality balancer (forage plus of equimins) but not much hard feed. Lessons a few times a month and competing 2/3times per month.

Sometimes we’re over budget, very rarely we don’t spend all £300

All of it.

And your soul.

for 6. 5 proper horses 1 tiny fat pony
12 bedding £78
1.5 Hayledge £60
Feed £20

Physio every 10 weeks for the 4 in work £280

They're kept at home and I'm married to a farrier but otherwise there would be a £360 shoeing bill as well.

Plus vets,lessons, saddler, dentist, BS membership, classes.

Yup pretty eye opening

"There are 2 TB 'happy hacker' on our yard"
"One has been here 3 years. Never seen it ridden. Owner works ft, can't keep him sane enough to ride with only the odd hack. He's happy enough with her strict, work enforced routine, but she doesn't have time to ride regularly enough to stop him turning himself inside out if she tries a sunday morning hack."
Not exactly a "happy hacker" and I suspect a very common story. Ex race horses can be picked up for next nothing so often end up in the hands of novices who don't really know how to manage them. For this reason many ex racehorse rehoming charities will only rehome them in TB experienced/knowledgable homes

I have a happy hacking ex racehorse, he's happy to be in retirement, he's on assisted livery and costs me about £300 a month.

He's brilliant. I work full time and he's my release from a stressful job. We do all sorts, he has a routine in the yard and I ride 2/3 times a week and we generally Just decide what we fancy doing then, he's an absolute darling and follows me around everywhere.

He's traffic competent with everything, he gives anything a go for me but honestly he's sometimes too laid back despite his huge feeds that none of the girls at the yard know how he was ever so successful! I'd trust him with my life, he's my world. I followed his career and when he retired I went into a field where the trainer said I had the pick of 4, he and I walked towards each other and that was that- never looked further.

I did spend 15 years in racing tho, so I like to think my experience plays a role but deep down- I know that he's just taking retirement very seriously

His only vice is 'he thinks postboxes eat racehorses',buses, bikes, coaches, galloping horses not a bother. But post boxes= evil beasts

I have a TB and a cob. They live at home so no livery fees. Last year they ate 21 large bales of haylage, this years price is £37/bale. They are both on shredded paper, £4/bale, use a bale a week in winter, but only about a bale every 3 weeks in summer. Insurance costs me about £75/month, the cob is not insured for vets fees or anything apart from 3rd party liability. Hard feed probably averages out at around £8/week with my TB mare eating very much most of that. Neither have shoes which saves a fortune, ten years ago I was paying £80/4 weeks for eggbars and wedges plus another £80 for sedation to have the mare shod and I still couldn’t keep her sound. Vets fees probably around £300/year , rest on mares insurance. I clip them myself. Spend many many £££ on lessons and competitions 😀🐎

That should be a bale each a week in winter for bedding, not between them

I don't look at my bank account currently as I'm paying vet bills too. The rule is you don't look if there's vet bills right?

It's around £120 a month for diy livery here. Will be more in winter but not stayed here in winter yet so no idea how much it's going to cost me yet. It's probably less than it costs to feed him.

We are on full livery for one warmblood in the SE which is 540 pcm, then insurances for vet, trailer, rider etc, feed (he has special feed not provided), shoes on front. I usually end up spending £800 pcm.

We are thinking of moving somewhere cheaper in a few years and having land to stop paying livery but can’t at the moment until dc older.

it’s probably more if I include clipping and completion fees, clothes etc.

I have a happy hacking ex racer too. He is very low maintenance. Lives out 8 months of the year and is generally fit and healthy so don't be put off.

I pay £80 per week in winter for full livery and £35 a week in summer for grass livery.

Shoes are £70 every 7 weeks and insurance is £35 a month. Minimal hard feed in summer ( maybe £10 a month). I do pay more for extra hay towards the end of the summer which can be expensive.

Dentist, vaccinations etc I would allow £200 a year.

Varies as I have horses in different places and with different requirements.

If you want local info shout as I might be able to help.

My yard is DIY grass livery in the summer (£30 per week) and then full livery in the winter (£65 a week which is really cheap). It's also around £20 - £25 a month for use of the arena - this is optional and you can do pay as you go or not pay at all if you don't use arena.

In the summer I have to bring in to manage weight so I'm about £6 a week on hay and I pay £25 every 6 weeks for supplements. I also pay YO for assistance i.e. bring in. My bill this month was around £240 including livery, services and hay. This is on the expensive side and most people at my yard just have to pay the £30 per week as they don't have a fatty that needs restricted grazing. I'm also £80 every 6 weeks for shoes.

Winter full livery includes all services(bring in, turn out, muck out), basic hard feed (chaff, nuts, sugar beet), haylage. I also pay an extra £5 a week for additional hay as I find my horse eats the haylage too quickly so I put hay in a trickle net.

Hopefully that helps!

Mine is £410 a month on full livery. This includes everything except his supplements and anything extra like wormers or new pads for his hoof boots (transitioning to barefoot).