Adding up the costs...

[historyrocks]

I know this has been asked many times before, but I can't find anything particularly recent.

We're thinking of buying a horse to share between myself and DD1 (13 years). I've ridden since a child and had a Fell pony as a teenager, but he was dirt cheap to keep and we had a field for free as I helped out with the farmer's horses.

At the moment we pay £55 per week for a 'part' share of a riding school pony for DD. She does all of the work of caring for the pony, but is only getting to ride 2-3 times a week because her pony is one of the favourites for lessons. She also isn't allowed to hack out or jump (not even trotting poles!), so she basically gets to ride round the school for 30 minutes a few times a week. We pay for her group lesson (£10) and my private lesson (£35) per week. Obviously, only DD can ride her school share. I really miss just spending time around horses. She's getting frustrated that she's very limited in what she can do.

So we're considering getting a 15hh-ish cob-type horse, but I really need to do my homework on the costs.

The livery is £62 per week, (they will turn out/bring in and throw some hay over the door), otherwise it's DIY, although it includes hay and bedding. Would it be ridiculous to be looking at £115 per week, along with a contingency allowance for rug repairs etc? Plus some money for lessons, but would probably drop the group lessons and stick with some private lessons. We'd have about £5k to spend on the horse, maybe up to £6k for the right one.

FYI, I'm in NE Scotland so things tend to be cheaper up here.

I'm in the north west and this is a rough idea of my costs for keeping DHorse

Livery (full 7 days pw) £115 per week
This includes everything, bedding, haylage, rug changes etc
Regular training £100 per month - I have a young horse so very much need this!
Extra clinics/competitions £50 per month
Vet insurance £36 per month
Trailer insurance £36 per month
Farrier £85 every 6 weeks
Feed/supplements £50 per month

DHorse has physio every few months at £65 per session, and the dentist is £50 every 8/9 months. He has annual vaccinations, but this can sometimes be 6 monthly for competitions. Saddle check is 6 monthly and is £65 upwards, depending on alterations needed.
I clip him myself, but have to keep the blades sharp or replaced as needed, and I always keep about £50 per month back for rugs/grooming stuff etc. Also need to factor in clothes for myself, decent riding boots/hat/gloves/winter coats etc.

It's costly because he's in regular work and we compete a lot. He's a native but not particularly hardy! He has bad allergies and needs supplements/special feed to manage them. This year has been costly as we've needed all new tack, but hopefully won't need to do this again we look after it and get it checked regularly.

Best of luck finding your new horse!

I think £115 per week is manageable. Does the yard allow 24/7 summer turnout? Mine is out at grass between April and October so the cheaper summer livery balances out the higher winter costs.

Many thanks for the replies.

@emmac78, there’s very little turnout. That’s one of the problems with using the school we go to at the moment. But DD is very happy there and has loads of friends (she was always an extremely nervous and anxious child until we got the school share.)

I also think it’s quite expensive for DIY. I’ve heard of other liveries in the area for £45 per week and full livery for £70 per week. . But it’s a lovely place. The owner is always present and very good.

There’s an article on the Horse & Hound website from a couple of days ago about costs which would be worth a look.

DD’s horse is on assisted DIY and our basic monthly costs are:

£220 livery
£30 trailer parking
£40 help turning out/bringing in
£60 haylage
£35 shavings
£25 feed
£45 insurance
£80 lessons
£10 trailer insurance

Plus vaccinations twice a year, farrier every six weeks, dentist once or twice a year, sedation for clipping twice a year (his only vice is he’s not good to clip), competition entries, Pony Club/BHS/BD etc subs, saddle check every six months, physio every 3-6 months, transport hire if you don’t have your own ... it all adds up scarily quickly

I would look for somewhere with more turnout if possible - standing in a stable for the majority of the day for most of the year is not a recipe for a happy, healthy pony by and large

Your costs sound about right but like Please I would be concerned about the lack of turnout - riding school ponies can be fine with minimal turnout because they get used to it and are worked hard every day in any case, but your own horse which would be ridden for a max of an hour a day (and you might struggle to do that much in winter) could struggle particularly if s/he has been used to a lot more field time. Weight management could become an issue too, something that's always there with cobs and to be fair limited or poor turnout can actually help as my cobs only have to glimpse a big field with lush grazing to balloon outwards, but I certainly wouldn't be happy keeping them in 24/7 or only out for an hour a day for any length of time either, a hard fit competition horse or hunter maybe, but that would be a recipe for lunacy and bad behaviour from my very average little ponies unless I worked their little socks off for hours a day every day which is just never going to happen!

That combined with the fact that the DIY livery seems expensive compared to others in the area (although coming from the pricey SE England I am very jealous of your relatively cheap livery!), makes me wonder if you could dip your toe into other options by seeing if there are any shares available at the other local yards? This could be for you or for DD (sympathise that DD likes her current yard and her friends there so it will be difficult to move, but she could always go back to 'old' yard for lessons or pony club or whatever) - a share of a privately owned horse will be a world away from the riding school pony (riding school 'shares' can be great as a first step to ownership but do often end up being a bit crap for the reasons you say, and pricey for what you get to boot). Plus you can find which is the best yard without the commitment of full ownership.

Also, this may not be an issue at all as obviously I don't know you, and I don't want to put you off, but a 15hh cob might be quite a lot of horse for a slight 13 year old to manage, particularly if she's only used to riding school ponies. I'm sure she's a lovely rider but at the best of times the step from horses to ponies, and from riding school to privately owned is a big one, so ideally I wouldn't want to do both at once. That's why mother daughter shares, although a fantastic idea in theory are not always easy in practice unless the mother is unusually small or the daughter very tall and strong! Cobs can be particularly strong-willed and bolshy if not kept in their place as well, they aren't necessarily all gentle plods! Potentially giving it another year or 2 might just make the difference between you a bit smaller and thus easier to find something that'll suit you both? But do ignore me if she's already happily riding the kind of horse you want

When you say little turnout how much is that? You might find a quiet horse that’s used to going out everyday becomes a very very different animal on no/limited turnout

I also think no turnout is a welfare issue horses are meant to move around and graze

A yard with limited turnout would not be an option I would ever consider. As others have said a horse with limited turnout has the potential to become very difficult to ride/handle.

I’m SE and pay £120 per week for full livery ( retired pony so no riding) , I agree with all the pp re turnout , I’m in my 40th year of horse ownership and turnout is probably one of the most important things when looking at yards .

I also agree re the lack of turnout but also don't forget that sometimes shit happens and you have unexpected costs that can be substantial and even a minor injury can mean no riding for weeks.