Get a family horse?

[Chocolatecakeandcoffee]

I love riding/horses and have ridden Since I was a teenager (44 now). Never owned a horse although I loaned a pony when I was younger. I’m now in the position to get a horse for me and my two daughters (They are almost 11 and 13) to share. We’d be looking for a fun ride 15hh cob. How much extra work would this be? The riding school we ride at charge £100 per week for full livery. How much extra would worming/shoes/insurance/bits and pieces cost? Thanks 😊

On full livery it would be as much work as you want to do as they will do it all . As for costs that’s like how long is a piece of string but I reckon I’ve bought our equine vet 2 new land rovers in the course of our horse ownership .

Only two ??

Shoes - if you get a native cob type you may find they don't need shoes esp if ridden in a sand school mostly, then how often they need trimming depends on the hoof and the time of year, and how much they're ridden. Our native type had a trim 3-4 x a year. Our shod is every 6-8 weeks, and the cost varies according to whether you need stud holes or not, and the farrier, but say £65-85 a time. Wormer - twice a year about £18 a go. Insurance varies a lot depending on age, value, and whether you have a high excess/full cover for everything or just accidental etc, and you can get 3rd party insurance through eg riding club membership and not insure for any other risk.
But perhaps allow £100 a month.
Then you'll probably need a saddler to check saddle fit twice a year, and reflock the saddle as required. @ £50 a visit, dentist once or twice a year depending on the teeth @£50 a visit (obviously costs vary in different areas.
The on top of the cost of buying you have the tack, plus rugs and kit - buy secondhand or new? Rugs - do you wash and re-proof yourself or pay for a firm to do this? (typically £15 or so each)

Shoes £65+ every six weeks.
4 worm saliva tests £60 (then extra for wormers if needed). Our vets now do an annual package for injections, worm tests, teeth checks. Might be worth looking at local vets and what they’ll offer.
Insurance varies depending on the coverage you want and what shows up on your vetting.
Extras - how long is a piece of string! Depends on how much you’re all into matching saddle cloths etc, and costs seem to vastly increase if you’re doing shows/events.

Hmm, all sounds good apart from the vet!! How often does the average horse need a vet called out?

Ooh depends how accident prone/stupid/unlucky your horse is. I’ve got one that hardly ever needs the vet and the other that always needs it!

You can get a quote for insurance before you've bought your horse.

Check what is included in the livery package - hard feed, supplements, bedding etc? Do they groom included in that? Administer any medications, exercise, rug changes, turn out/bring in, hay and bedding?

You could also give your local equine vets a ring and see if a knowledgeable receptionist or nurse will chat to you about how much vaccinations, wormers etc will cost. Also call out fees for emergency and routine stuff.

Shoes - depending on if your horse needs them, (do try to buy a good sound horse with good hardy feet!) and if they need all round or just fronts. A trim can cost as little as £15, two shoes in the region of £30-60 and a full set £80-120. If you're planning on using the farrier who visits your riding school, ask them for his/her number and give them a ring for advice on costs.

You'll need a dentist every 6 to 12 months. (I'm out of touch on prices). A physio once a year is a good idea too.

You'll need to buy a saddle and bridle, and pay a saddle fitter, and have them come back to adjust the saddle after you've had the horse a few months and they've changed shape. You will probably also buy a couple of rugs minimum to start out. You might want your horse clipped, which the riding school might offer as a service or hire an independent.

It's a good idea to factor in the cost of lessons for all 3 of you, particularly when your horse is new to you.

Vets are how long is a piece of string, I had two full TBs that were barefoot, sound as a pound and only ever had the vet for jabs.
I have friends with on paper hardy Irish things that have cost them £10k a year in vet bills for 2/3 years running

In your scenario I would really recommend trying to find a share horse First especially if all your experience is riding school based.

Also I’d not keep a horse at a riding school unless there were September facilities for liveries, I’e your own school/ set of jumps and poles.

How much will a vet cost a year really is a how long is a piece of string type of question I'm afraid. Get good quality (not the cheapest) insurance to help with the big bills, but a lot of £100-400 bills for lots of different little things can add up.

I've had traditional cobs. Lost my mare at 27 and have my traditional boy rising 5. Natives can live out all year, rainsheet to keep them clean for riding. Vet for jabs, good farrier (mine is barefoot £25 a time), equine dentist at least once a year or good equine vet that can do teeth with jabs. Get good horse insurance. My late mare I claimed £15k but had her another 12 years riding and having the best life as she was insured. Then feed, treats, extra bits. Living out mine averages £300pm all in x

Contrary to @lastqueenofscotland I think a livery at a riding school you already know is a brilliant place to keep your first horse. The advice and support of a decent instructor and yard owner is not to be underestimated. That's how I started horse ownership.

(Good point to check about use of facilities though)

Thanks for all of the great advice. I will check what’s included and how much lessons would be etc. Will start looking at insurance options etc

Separate not September!!

Also, just need to point out, cobs are viewed as plods and they can be, but they can also be trouble 😂 they are wonderful horses but need consistency and a strong leader, if not they do it for you. A novice can buy a bombproof plod cob for £1000s then end up in trouble. They are fantastic, intelligent horses (I'm biased) and your best friend but they need to know it! Here's my young lad, breaking him bareback and bitless. Rode my late mare bitless too.

DD’s supposedly hardy ID/TB cross had no vets’ bills ever apart from vaccinations until 5 days before his 11th birthday when he had a freak accident in the field which resulted in him needing a plaster cast on his foot and weeks of strict box rest and multiple vet visits. He recovered well and was back in work and just about to start competing again when he suddenly developed severe asthma - cue emergency call outs, referral to equine hospital, expensive nebuliser etc. So in the space of 5 months we’ve spent more than £6,000 on vet fees, most of which will thankfully be covered by insurance but the asthma won’t be covered next time we renew.

My only other question would be how are you going to share the riding with you and your dc so that you all feel it’s fair and the horse isn’t doing too much work?

@Pleasedontdothat how is your horses breathing now ? That is a good point about how you are going to share - not so much you but the children after school and weekends . When we were kids and got our first horse my sister and I were supposed to share and we’d got our second within the year .

@Floralnomad thankfully he’s completely back to normal (albeit still on nebulised steroids twice a day). He’s got his first competition since March (yikes!) on Sunday - just a local clear round so nothing too taxing - he is full of beans and raring to go! Our next challenge will be weaning him off the steroids and then keeping our fingers crossed that whatever it was that triggered him is no longer in the atmosphere...

@Chocolatecakeandcoffee to be honest my first thought reading your post was ... you’re going to end up with two, so whatever budget you were thinking of, double it 😬

Off topic slightly but really pleased to read @Pleasedontdothat 's horse made a full recovery. We're two weeks into the plastercast and box rest for DD's 11 yr old ID/TB cross after freak field accident and it's good to know it's possible to come out of the other side. Hoping for no asthma though!

Other than this freak accident, our vet costs were minimal - vaccinations, and dental treatments etc. Farrier either £60 or £70 depending if shoes were reused. Our big expense is lessons (£25 a time) and schooling sessions (£30 a go) at various local venues, pony club sessions (£15 a time fortnightly)and competition entries (£30-£40 a show) and new matchy matchy Le Mieux kit. We are out and about a fair bit though in the evenings and weekends.

My native is not cheap to keep! It irritates me that people assume they are, she costs way more than a lot of bigger horses as she can’t live out in summer and she’s had 3 whopping vet bills of £5k+ each (thank God for insurance).

She costs me £500 a month on average on assisted livery plus vet bills, saddle fitter, chiro, dentist, and lessons and competing when we did that (now semi retired).
My livery is £50pw inc hay and straw. Feed and supplements is £120 (she is not cheap to feed!), front shoes only £45, insurance £100 (used to be £50-60ish but now she’s old with claims). I allow £50 a month for chiro/dentist/saddle etc
In summer I can spend £40 a month on fly spray. In winter there’s pig oil and other things for mud fever.
Then rugs, repairs, clipping at £40 a time.

I probably spend more like £550-£600 I bet. Lessons were another £100 but Ino longer have them,

It’s a marvelous thing and I love her utterly but now I have a 1 year old DD it’s financially crippling. If I lose my lovely girl I’ll gave to have a break until no longer paying for nurser.

I don’t rate riding schools for livery, usually limited winter turnout and busy facilities when you want to use them. I used to be completely DIY vut now on 5 day part livery as juggling work, commute and now baby was stressful.

@OhMrDarcy fingers crossed your DD’s horse recovers well. Annoying though the plaster cast is, it actually cuts down on recovery time in the end. I have to admit, dd found the rehab very frustrating as it took about six weeks but the vets were very strict about not rushing things - they said it was impossible to take rehab too slowly but very easy to rush it... it was hard for dd to watch her friends start getting out and about again after lockdown and she was stuck doing 10 minutes walking. But the upside is he’s actually going much better now as he lost a lot of muscle and then had to build it up again but as DD’s a much better rider now than she was when she got him he’s now much more supple and balanced

@Pleasedontdothat thank you - can i ask how long your box rest lasts and when you can go back to turn out (however limited) again?

Yes it's really a how long is a piece of string with the vets bills - mine are both bog standard, not particularly well put together 14hh cobs under 15 years old and one has never had a sick or sorry day in her life and not cost a penny in vets bills over than standard jabs. The other must have racked up 4-5 times her actual value in bills (thankfully covered by good insurance although we're reaching the end limit now), she's had field injuries needing stitches and subsequent cellulitis, a foot abscess needing antibiotics, 2 bouts of colic caused by breaking out of her paddock and eating god knows what, and most recently lameness in first one and then the other hock, which is looking like it might lead to her being permanently crocked . Pretty much all random/disconnected things that couldn't have been predicted, other than maybe the hocks which have always looked dodgy (although same could be said for a lot of cobs and not all go lame). I think the PPs who said don't assume cobs and natives are automatically totally sound, bombproof and easy/cheap to keep are right, not all are, IMO particularly those that have been bred and raised indiscriminately/on the cheap like my two, it can ends up being a gamble on whether they are conformationally sound enough for a lifetime's work, plus issues with weight management, laminitis etc... not to put you off OP, I love cobs and they can make super family horses but just do be mindful when you buy, don't buy anything suspiciously cheap, always get a 5 stage vetting and good insurance and budget to always have the excess available (and then some).

Also do budget for regular lessons for you all, and if your DDs want to start competing even at a low-ish level your costs will really start to rack up, running or hiring transport is pricey plus extra lessons, clinics, outfits etc. They will probably start to nag you for more than one horse soon enough too, as otherwise only one can do a class, a PC rally etc. And heaven help you if they start to want to go affiliated or do PC teams, you may as well empty your bank balance now . Seriously, this is why, whilst there are disadvantages to being on a big riding school/competition yard (more expensive than a little friendly DIY and facilities usually packed out with lessons esp weekends/evenings/school holidays), I'd recommend it. If you can find somewhere than has a lively social scene, people to hack out with, on-site clinics and competitions, PC rallies, people to share lifts/transport with and so on, your DDs will be happier, make friends, can be on yard with less supervision when older and have much less need to box out to all these activities and have more than one horse, since the DD that doesn't ride yours can borrow or hire a horse on the yard so they can both do the same activities...

@OhMrDarcy he was on box rest for six weeks (thankfully he was a saint) then he was allowed out in one of the medical paddocks for a couple of hours a day for a week with short in-hand walks, then ridden rehab started - 10 minutes a day in walk, gradually building up. Once he was doing regular trot work he was allowed back in with his herd in the big field. It was painfully slow at times but worth doing it properly.

We had a miniature Shetland pony that we bought for £80 ( in the 80s) to be a companion for my thoroughbred and he racked up about £10000 in vets bills he had pneumonia , strangles , leg issues , laminitis you name it , he had it . He also had to have specialist shoes for his laminitis and we had to pay to put rubber mats in his stable in an age where they were fairly uncommon and very costly . He was also a useless companion because he could barely go out - laminitis in the spring/ summer and his poorly chest the rest of the year so we ended up having to get her another companion . That’s how you end up with multiple horses / ponies .

I agree with the previous poster,please don't assume all cons are plods. DD1 took an 20 year old eventing cob on loan 5 years ago and he still has his moments.
We started out with just one ping for the DDS to share,it was around 6 months later that we started looking for a second one. We've always kept ours on our farm,so I don't know what livery/ hay/ straw costs. I have the back lady once a year at £45,dentist every 9 months at £30, wormer only twice as year because I cross graze with sheep, shoes £60 a full set every 6 weeks,trim is £15. Turbo cob requires Bute for his arthritic hocks,but only half a packet a day,so £180 odd a year. He isn't insured for vets fees as he is too old,his recent companion,who also was too old to be insured,got cellulitis and there was something else going on too,we had to have her put down. That was £630 gone in less than a week.