New horse - to insure or not?

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I’m getting a new horse who should be arriving next week. I’m torn whether to bother with insurance or what to get. She will be used as a general low level all rounder, maybe some trips to the beach and out and about - no hunting and not a competition horse. She’s 12 years old. I can’t decide whether to insure for vets bills. My plan if I don’t is to get a 0% credit card for emergencies and in the meantime put money away each month.

the only thing I can think is something like colic surgery - how often is surgery needed for colic? How much roughly does it cost?

Not a horse, but I rehomed an older dog last September and had the same dilemma. I decided to insure for the first year whilst I got to know her and her health.

Let's just say that I'm very, very pleased that I did! Her insurance has paid out over ten times what I've paid in premiums already.

Yes, a pulled tendon larking about in the field, kick, cough/tub of ventopulmin will all set you back a fair bit.

I’ve not insured. I put money away into an account to cover emergency vet bills.
I insured my first horse and only had one insurance claim in the 11 years I had her.
I have self insured 2 horses now for 7 years and have just had one inicident where I may have claimed.
I always tell the vets whether the horses are or aren’t insured as soon as they arrive and I find it affects how they treat ie offering x rays if not essential.
However, I already knew that in the event of colic or even something else needing a big operation, I would pts as I personally don’t agree with box rest for such a large animal and would struggle time wise to care for an animal on box rest due to work.

Can you afford a 1-2K vet bill at zero notice? Thats the fundamental question.
Things can, and do go wrong, and the majority of issues I've dealt with have happened in the field.
A cut on knee = close to joint so 4 x joint taps, 8 call out + exam fees etc = 1.8K
Torn tendon in field = scans etc = 2.5K
Admitted to vet hospital for colic = 2K
Ulcers = 3K inc medication for 4 months
Abscess (because farriers are no longer allowed to dig them out) = £500
Kicked in field = xrays, scans etc = 1.6K

Price of vets + treatment is only going to rise so unless you can afford when things go wrong then get insurance.

Yes you should get insurance. Horses are idiots who will injure themselves on fresh air.

Unless you're very rich. Are you very rich?

Have you had the horse vetted?

Have you had her vetted and if so is there anything that wouldn’t be covered by insurance?
What about public liability cover and/or personal injury for you - do you have that in place already?

I am not renewing my insurance this year as so much has been excluded thanks to previous claims but am looking into the Harry Hall One Club to cover some risks as well as keeping some savings for emergencies.

I personally don’t insure, it costs a fortune, so much is excluded, I’d never put a horse through colic surgery and my vets have a really good payment plan system

We insured the horse we bought 3 months ago, and relieved we did as we are now starting treatment for ulcers - no previous history of ulcers!!

We don’t insure (apart from public liability) as the premiums for six would be ridiculous. However I do have enough to cover unexpected vet bills - if I didn’t a) we wouldn’t have 6 and b) we would insure! I did have a look into the lifetime policy from Agria - you’d still have to pay out quite a hefty amount (excess plus 25% co-pay) but at least you wouldn’t have the pressure to get problems completely sorted within a year before exclusions kick in.

We wouldn’t opt for colic surgery or anything which necessitated lengthy box rest as from what I’ve seen the results of either are rarely good.

Ha I saw this thread yesterday and had been thinking about cutting back on the insurance - and this morning DHorse has come up with a badly swollen eye. So, keeping my insurance for now!

I thought you needed a 5 stage vetting to get insurance ?

I don’t bother other than public liability which you can get with BHS or BD membership - probably others too.

Savings accounts so far have worked better and I say that after paying out £1700 last week for a lameness assessment with X-rays and mri.

@twistyizzy Eh what? “Abscess (because farriers are no longer allowed to dig them out) = £500” Have you got a reference for this, because my farrier digs out abscesses still. Having seen a vet trying to dig at a hoof with a blunt knife and butchering it, I would call my farrier every time. As would my vet! Last abscess we had around here was in 2023, and cost me around £100 in farrier visits and poultice materials.

That's what hoth my vet and farrier have told me! Seemingly it's classed as invasive now 🤷‍♀️
I agree, I have always gone to farrier for abscesses but mine now won't do it and my vet confirmed that too.....

I don't insure - I wouldn't bother with a 5 stage vetting either, they are pretty worthless. I used to have a number of very elderly ponies (daughters first/second pony, my ex competition pony, companion pony - they just built up!) who in their late 20s, early 30s were uninsurable in any case. My current horse I bought as a youngster and self insure through money in premium bonds. My vets know this and over the years we have worked together to make decisions - I always prefer to treat conserveatively, if possible and am prepared to take time out on field rest eg for a tendon rather than expenive intervention for a quicker outcome. I've had horses for over 20years (and before that horses as child), vet treatments and costs have grown expontentially, I like to keep it old school as much as possible.

Same here ie qualified instructor, had horses over 40 years and prefer prevention over cure BUT I would never not go to vet when needed. Early intervention can often mean different between quick Vs longer recovery.

DO make sure you have 3rd party cover. Look at Harry Hall and BHS Gold. With Harry Hall you can relatively cheaply add on colic/external injury insurance as well as personal injury. to tailor it.
Also see if your household insurance covers 'sports equipment' eg tack, ours does, we have one fairly pricey saddle.

A good relationship with a proper equine vet is invaluable - not an interchangeable vet from a mixed practice.

Who wouldn't use a dedicated equine vet? Are you not in UK?

The horse is coming on a trial so will be vetted when she’s here during the trial if I decide to keep her. I can get a credit card to put emergencies on and we have savings but I think my DH would rather I didn’t use that for vet bills

Yes I am in the UK - do you not have the experience of vet practices being brought out by large conglomerates and increasingly relying on newly qualified staff, with limited experience, who do not specialise in horses? Lucky you !

No, only specialised equine vets around here.

Thirty-odd years ago I insured DD’s pony when she went up to a 14.2 and was doing more. Eventually he did a suspensory ligament and had a raft of X-rays and scans, although treatment was really just rest and pain relief. It was hundreds rather than thousands and I probably shouldn’t have bothered claiming but I did, PetPlan paid out for the vet fees but at the next renewal they excluded ALL veterinary fees.

I argued that while I could understand them excluding that leg, or ligament damage on any leg, the historic lameness would not predispose the pony to a wound, or head injury, or colic, or strangles, but they wouldn’t budge. I never insured again and after five ponies over 20 years, all but one staying here for life, only once did I have a vet bill that ran into four figures and the practice kindly allowed me to pay that in three instalments.

We had liability insurance with BHS membership in those days.

Last spring, one of mine broke a splint bone kicking her stable wall and massive cut. Had to take her to vet hospital. Post-operation, she came down with colic. I said I wouldn't operate (various reasons) - it was touch and go.

Total bill for the hospital stay was 6000 pounds, plus the emergency vet call out which was several hundred, plus the vet call outs to take out stitches, to check lameness before bringing back into work etc. Total over 7000 pounds.

We put it on an emergency, but I'm still paying that off and frankly crapping myself about anything else happening as now we've used the credit, I couldn't afford to pay the same again.

And colic surgery would have bumped it up into tens of thousands total bill.

So just to say I won't get another without insuring personally, although I only insured one before that. I don't think I can afford not to. But if you do insure, ask around for recommendations, as not all companies are as good at paying out.

I only insure third party, then have savings and credit card for emergencies.

There are certain things i wouldnt do whether i had insurance or not, such as colic surgery or treatment for a broken bone that required extensive box rest.

i had a two year old that had a knee cut and had to have it tapped etc. my vet didnt come everyday as im a confident experienced bandager and she just came every other day. the taps, materials and visits only came to £680 and that's the most i've spent on an individual vet required incident in the last 15 years! (aside having my elderly childhood pony PTS and individual cremation)

My vets are wonderful, i have my ponies on health plans for teeth and jabs, also pay them £50 a month to get in to credit for anything else 😂 i got in to that habit as my elderly pony had Cushings and was on Prascend and anti inflamms for the last 15 years of his life. Life is much much cheaper now my favourite old boy is gone.

I had my old horse insured with PetPlan until he aged out. He'll be 30 this July. He's in excellent health and roars round his field, pushing over the electric fencing and barging through the electric gates. He is not always the favourite horse of either the livery owner or her grooms. He does the "Can't Catch Meee" dance when he's in a particularly jolly mood. However, she bred him, so I remind her of that, when she's getting irritable about him.
He has regular teeth inspections, vaccination updates and a regular trim by his excellent WCF master farrier.
On his specialist equine veterinary hospital his notes clearly state that he should be pts should if his injuries require invasive treatment. The YO is best friends with the lead vet and I trust her to do whatever is best for him. I would make every effort to be there with him at the end.