DIY help

[BipolarBabe34]

Hi everyone! I'm putting together a budget for keeping a horse on DIY livery and would love to hear from those with experience. I've been around horses for over 20 years but never kept one on a livery myself, so I'm trying to get a realistic idea of the costs involved.

I know what feed, farrier, and bedding costs are generally, but what do you typically spend each month on these things specifically when keeping your horse on DIY livery? Also, what other essential costs should I be aware of?

could I also get any pros and cons of being on a DIY yard?
Any insights or tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

You need to be aware that turn out times and also turn out accessibility may change depending on the time of year and ground conditions. For instance, if the yard says that horses need to be in at midday, can you do that?

If you're aware of costs of hay and straw etc then that's fine, but do you know the cost for your horse? Ie my ISH could get through a bale of hay a night, but my Welsh X was only a couple of slices.

Other costs are vet, worming schedule (yard dependent), saddler, clipping, lessons (especially if a first horse or a new horse - you need to bond), insurance.

Advantages - cheaper. Disadvantages - pretty much everything else as you'll still have to follow the yard schedule. (I've mostly done DIY but to be honest when I could afford full livery it was bliss).

Also be aware you'll need holiday cover and "emergency" cover - which can be as little as snow or being held up at work. If your yard doesn't have cover that would be an issue for most people.

Im DIY assisted so morning nets/feeds chucked in but prepared by me and everything else is on me. Livery is £250, bedding is £40, feed and supplements are £50. This is probably the bare bones that I can go to. Then stick on dentist at every 6 months at £60, farrier is £65 every 8 weeks, annunal vac is £100 including callout. I then factor in lessons, outings and comps and it can average £500.

Pros are everything done to your standard and things being cheaper. Cons are what you'd expect for sticking loads of people together, cliques but also friendships can form.

Hi thank you for the information. I currently have an all year turnout arrangement but unfortunately I have to move and there isn’t much option for that in my area. My choices are very limited.
I wasn’t aware about yard rules no as I’ve never been on a yard I am so interested to learn more.

xx

Thank you so much for the insight I really appreciate it. That’s something I’ve always feared is the cliques. Xx

Mine are at home and i generally try to avoid adding it up but
Shoes every 6 weeks £110
haylage ( i have 3 so averaging it out ) £1000/ year
hard feed/balancers probably about £50/ month
insurance 130/month
plan to vets ( includes worm counts, wormers, annual dental, annual vaccinations) £13/month
lessons/ competitions anywhere upwards of £200/month, often a lot more
probably missed things

Ha ha yes read other messages, forgotten bedding!

You've got to find the right yard, and know what you can compromise on.

Finds a yard who's rules fit your lifestyle and the way you want to keep your horse. Mine allows 24/7 turnout in summer, all day in winter. There are lots of us and we help each other out, although as you'd exoect some people are foul and want to cause drama.

Costs:
DIY £30 per week
Hay £20 per week Nov - April
Shavings £20 per week when in
Feed varies, expensive if you get into supplements
Insurance £50-£80 per month
Farrier £30 trim or £80 shoes every 6 weeks
Holiday cover is £15 per horse per day on my yard, thats quite cheap
Routine jabs maybe £80 annually
Dentist £65 once or twice a year
Worming £20 4-6 times a year depending
Rugs, tack, tools, grooming kit, fly spray, first aid stuff, etc, etc

Thank you for the insight. I really appreciate it xx

The only way we could do it when dd’s horse was on DIY was to go to a yard which offered assisted DIY. There were two freelancers attached to the yard who would turn out or bring in, change rugs if need be and would muck out etc if we were away. We’d book which days we needed help during the following week and pay them directly at the end of the month. Dd was at school, I was at work and caring for my elderly father so it was the only way we could manage it as it meant that we only had to be there one end of the day. I kept a spreadsheet of costs and it averaged about £550 a month (in the south east, a few years ago so costs will have risen now). That included DIY livery, hay, bedding, farrier every 6 weeks, feed (not much as he’s a good doer), turn out/bring in, trailer parking, worming, routine vet costs, two lessons a month, pony club rallies etc. Tack, non-routine vet costs, competitions, fuel to get to the yard etc were on top of that.

The other thing to bear in mind with DIY is some people may be putting out at 6/7 am so your horse needs to be ok being left behind if you are a later person or you need to be prepared to fall in with other people’s schedules . Likewise for bringing in and being the last person left out

I'm on DIY

£50 per week livery
£55/60 per bale of hay at the moment. Lasts about a month for my horse who just has one very large net overnight/daytime if stabled.
Shavings £10 each. Can get away with an average of 1 per week at the moment with the odd extra.
I only feed chop and balancer. Chop is £16, balancer is £30 ish. Chop lasts a couple of months, balancer a month.
Only shod on front which is £45-60 every 7 weeks.
Lessons are £40.
Add on services are extra at my yard. Always check you have services available as saves twice a day visits.
Other costs- dentist, winky washer, vaccines.

Also stuff may go wrong or just be unknown so factor in costs of medicines, vet, physio etc. Unknown quantity. Also costs of extras eg new rugs, muzzles, riding gear as necessary.

DIY bonus is cheaper and you get to be in control of everything. But it's very time consuming and takes up a lot of headspace. Most important thing is finding a yard that works for you e.g all year turnout, turnout into herds, availability of services, availability of extras like arena and horse walker.

FWIW my total horse budget is £550 per month plus insurance costs at the moment. My yard is the cheapest in the area though. That doesn't include any unforeseen extras. When he was 5/2 it was another £200 (again very cheap for our area but the standards are low where I am lol)

Mine are at home but minimal costs as live out all summer and in a yard with the stable left open all winter (so they come in when they want, thick rubber mats rather than bedding usually). £28 per week on hay in winter, around £5 per week for hard food, £30 for feet trimming every few months, around £150 per year for vet check ups etc and probably £10 per month for worming, fly spray, occasional replacement buckets etc. I do seem to spend around £100 per year on replacement electric fence stuff though. I don't insure any longer- public liability is covered on my house insurance and I didn't feel the £1000 per year I was paying to insure against vet fees was worth it given that they only need a routine check up and I've saved over £10000 on premiums to date towards anything bigger. It would be different if I were competing

Hi. Thanm you all for your input I really do appreciate it. I’ve taken on board everything

We’ve been on DIY before with individual turn out, the most difficult part was we had to manage our own fields, fences and water in the fields, so that’s something else to think about. We only lasted 3 months there because individual turn out didn’t suit our pony. We are now on assisted DIY with herd turn out and the yard owner manages the fields which works well for us.