How much does it *really* cost

[carolinesbaby]

To have a pony or horse on loan, in livery?

Would need to be a cob or similar, around 15hh so could be ridden by me and DD.
Had a loan horse in my teens but parents were responsible for paying for it and I never gave the cost a second thought, as I was a normal teen!
We are not in an expensive area (midlands) and wouldn't be looking for a super fancy yard, just somewhere small and friendly.
But how much would it cost?

Oh yes, forgot to add that because of said horse I can't afford other things, like new clothes for example 😂 I couldn't care less though!

Totally outing but this is my boy 💙

I am a single parent and never thought I would be able to afford to own my own. I keep my pony at a small yard of 7 where I originally shared a horse. I pay..
Livery fees (stable and field) £160 a month
Farrier every 6 weeks £45

She is now living out so much cheaper! She has a big round bale in her field which I paid £20 towards.
During the winter it was
Bag of chaff £10 which lasted 6 ish weeks
2 bags of wood pellets every week £10
round bale of hay which lasted 6 ish weeks £40
Insurance with NFU £32 a month

I think @MyLifeNow20 post illustrates to me the differences in how much different horses will cost, eg hers can make a bag of chaff last six weeks, my two eat the £15 a bag stuff and go through 3 in a month, ditto haylage they eat a giant bale between them a week, but certainly cob types ( thinking of my sons old pony) can literally live on fresh air food wise and get ill if over fed, whereas my current pair of ex racers are eating my bank account to the bone 😊

I am new to horse owning so I have my pony on part livery at a lovely yard a)so that I can't go too far wrong and b) because I have a FT job. I also live in a super expensive part of SW London ... I reckon its costing me about £1000 / month. That's for a lesson every week ( I needed it having not ridden for 20 + years) all livery /food/ supplements / bedding / basic care if I cant get there; and the farrier for a full set of shoes every 4 weeks (she needs them) ...
Its not cheap, bur she is worth every single penny ( and so is my peace of mind knowing she's well cared for)

Everything. It costs everything. And your soul

Warning: once you have more than one, economies of scale start to kick in! ;-P

The thing I found, OP, is that it is less about costs and how willing are you to make your horse or pony your lifestyle? Because, they take over, they really do. When I got my first horse 23 years ago, my DH agreed to it only under the condition I could afford her bills and that she went on full livery so we could still have weekends away. Now we live on a smallholding with five native ponies and we eat, sleep and breathe them, especially with two pony-mad children! We afford them by having no holidays, no new cars or clothes and by rarely going out (too tired after five ponies and a full time job!). They quickly go from being a hobby to a high maintenance family member. As RatherBeRiding said, be prepared to give up your soul!

All the money you have in your bank account plus more if you let it.

I have 2. 1 is retired though and costs a bloody fortune in pain relief and supplements that I’m not convinced work but am too scared to stop just in case

Basics:
£30 a week each livery - stable, field, use of school, electric and water (we pay extra for school lights)
Bedding - they’re on shavings which is about £8 a bale. They had 5 bales each when we started their beds then we use about 3 bales a week between them - £12 each a week
Hay - £80 a month between them, so £40 a month each.
We’re in a huge hay shortage here so am mixing haylage in to make the hay go further at £6 a bag and we use 3 a week, so £9 each a week.
Hard feed - varies depending on how much work the ridden one is in - £30 a month ish between them
Farrier - my retiree only has front shoes - £50 every 8 weeks. Our ridden pony is barefoot so just needs a trim every other farrier visit at £20.
Flu/tetanus - £60 each for flu, we don’t pay a call out as they do the yard all at once, but a call out is about £35. Can’t remember if we pay for the tetanus every other year.
Wormer - £10 each for a worm count, then about a tenner each for a wormer if needed
Dentist - £60 each, twice a year
Chiro - £60 each, twice a year
Saddler - £60 - we get it checked once a year, if it just needs reflocking or minor adjustments it’s included in the price.
Insurance - £60 a month for the ridden pony - we use Petplan as our vet does direct pay with them
£100 or so for water buckets/feed buckets/haynets/head collar, etc

Other stuff:
Rugs - second hand ones off FB selling pages do the job anywhere between £10 - £25.

Rug cleaning and re-proofing - I’ve just paid £65 for 7 rugs
My saddle pad addiction - less said about that the better tbh
Tack - depends what you want, DD’s saddle came with her pony and I got a shock when I looked it up, but you can pick them in fairly reasonably 2nd hand and have them fitted. We bought a micklem bridle recently as pony struggles with poll pressure which was about £150
Lessons - £25 for an hour, private lesson
Hat/boots - get a new, well fitted hat!

Then trailers, transport, etc, etc. Pony club? Show fees? Body protector, matchy-matchy shit,

On top of all the stuff your horse needs there’s all the stuff you need, and the other stuff. Just lots and lots of stuff.

I no longer have horses but still have all the stuff. (And their ashes)

But, it is the wind of heaven that blows between a horse’s ears.

And you can’t put a price on that.

Like a pp said, so much depends on your area. Where I live it's mainly arable and clay so unless you have your own land it's in at night Oct to May. If you are very lucky they will be out more than 4-5 hours a day. Then, if you work, you will probably need to pay for turning out/bringing in even on diy. Other areas grass livery may be easily available.

We were paying £850 per month for full livery when DD went to Uni in London!!! Plus vets, insurance, wormers, saddle checks, dentists etc. etc. Now in Ireland full livery is about a 1/3 of that plus all of the other costs. Always prepare for the unexpected and either self insure with a minimum of £5k available for vets bills etc or pay for insurance. So really all depends where you are.

If you're loaning rather than buying, it's worth bearing in mind that major vet bills won't be your responsibility in most cases. In most cases, the owner will want the final say on vet treatment, so they will pay for anything major and not routine (this should be written into your loan contract). You may be asked to pay for insurance, though, or the owner may continue to pay this (which is a saving compared to owning).

But this is something to discuss before taking on a loan!

Obviously if you buy, vet bills can get very expensive, very quickly!

One of the girls at our yard has put together a website where people can share their costs anonymously - the difference in what people spend is fascinating!

pleasedontdothat that website is fascinating, Thankyou!

I think a part loan might be the way forward. But I am sure that finding the right horse will be tricky and take a while.

SE here 1 horse, cob type
DIY stable/grazing £120 p/m
Shoes £90 every 6-8 weeks depending on wear
Bedding £32 p/m
Hay £50 p/m
Feed £20 p/m
Insurance £12 p/m
Mine has medication and supplements which are another £40 a month but they are age related.
Extra’s obvs vet for yearly teeth and jabs etc and money set aside for replacement tack/rugs etc.

I don’t have lessons or travel to shows, he is purely a happy hacker/ fun horse

I'm in the Midlands. My costs are roughly:

Essential regular costs:

£130 a month DIY
£14 a week bedding in winter, less in summer.
£40 a month hay
£35 every 2-3 months for a barefoot trim
£50 a year vaccination
£25 ish wormer a couple of times a year (we worm count to keep the use of chemicals down)
£90 a month insurance (would be less if I didn't compete)
£60 a year BHS membership
£45 twice a year for the dentist

In addition there is hard feed, which depends a lot on the type of horse, lessons, physio, saddle fitters, replacing equipment, services in addition to DIY, vet's bills that aren't covered by insurance, competitions, transport.

£500 is a reasonable budget if you can do mainly DIY but you need to save a contingency fund and think about expectations and the type of horse you buy. A cob or native will be cheaper to keep than an ex-racehorse or warmblood type.

@RatherBeRiding you made me laugh and @krustykittens. I will have three natives by the end of the month and a pony mad child. In summer I could say they haven’t cost much but that would be ignoring the fact I have spent a significant inheritance on land and the last two months spent over l my monthly wage on fencing wood alone - not including the work of making it into an actual fence