Owning a horse

[chanel925]

asking on behalf of a friend

Please tell me what horse ownership involves with rough costs. Thank you

I’ve three at home, only 1 ridden, live in Yorkshire.
so no livery costs but obviously when we had a mortgage it was significantly more than it would have been on a property without land and stables.
This winter I was spending £240/month on haylage, down to about £60/month over summer
i have them on a plan with my vets which includes annual dental, inc sedation if needed, vaccinations, worm counts, saliva test for tapeworm, annula health check - this is £42/month for the 3 of them
Farrier is £180 every 6 weeks, the bulk of that is for my ridden horse’s shoes ( yes i have tried barefoot)
Feed merchants I probably spend about £60/month.
replacement stuff etc I am a low spender, several of my rugs are 20 years or more old, but budget maybe £2-300/ year.
Third party insurance is with our property as we are with NFU but the ridden ones insurance is £130/month
Bedding I buy by the pallet which absolutely trims the cost, maybe £15/week averaged over the year.
The killer is training and competing - easily north of £500/month.

I used to reckon on £450-500 per month on DIY livery

Dentist.

Two horses, one unshod companion pony in the north west

Kept at home so no livery. I pay for someone to come and spray but we do the rest ourselves. Grass seed/fertiliser/ spraying costs around £400 a year.
Hay = 4.70 per small bale, get through 55 bales in around 7-8 weeks in winter, less in summer.
farrier £210 every 6 weeks
NFU insurance for horses and rider £260 per month
Feed around £100 per month incl supplements.
Tack cleaner, shampoo, new brushes, lead ropes etc maybe £15 a month on average. Fly spray is £20 a bottle and we go through so much in the summer
straw - big bale every 3-4 weeks £40
muck truck emptying £20 every 3-4 weeks
Dental - £200 every 6 months (one horse has dodgy teeth)
vaccinations/fecal worm counts/wormers - prob about £50 a month for all of them

Lessons/arena hire/pony club rallies/competition entries around £100 a week
Annual riding club/BD/pony club membership probably around £400 a year
This peaks in July/August with the national competitions that are always hours and hours away. Upcoming one the entry fees are £90 (fair enough) stabling for 2 nights is £150 and hookup for 2 nights is £70 (daylight robbery) plus a tank of diesel £160. And the commemorative tshirt and photos.

Wagon - we have a 3.5 ton wagon, costs £1000 a year in tax, mot, service etc excl fuel.

Rug/tack - always more than you think. Saddles are so expensive. Saddle fitter costs around £400 a year.
Physio £70 a pop, around 4 times a year for one horse

Fixing fences, repainting stables, replacing hoses on the yard etc - £500 a year

We clip our own, but clipper services/rug cleaning is around £200 a year.

Despite what my husband thinks I do try and keep costs down, like sharing arena hires or lessons, clipping the ponies feet when he's sedated for his teeth etc rather than paying separately, but I'm rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic.

I have mine on DIY and don't compete or get lessons and budget £400 a month. Its a bit cheaper than that in summer and a bit more in winter, so thats the average.

Stable and grazing £30 per week
Hay £40 for big round, lasts 3-4 weeks in winter, don't feed May - October
Feed about £10 per week, mainly herbs and supplements for various ailments
Shavings £10 per bag, use 2 a week over winter
Feet trim £30 every 6 weeks
Insurance £75 per month
Jabs and dental annually £180
Worming or counts about £20 every 8 weeks

That's the bare minimum, then you can buy nice stuff til the cows come home.

Eta this is DIY so I go twice a day in winter, once in summer. It's £13 per day if I need someone else to do her.

I've got 2 horses & it costs about £500 a month for the 2. That excludes vet & ad hoc costs eg new tack, rugs etc. Vet bills are the biggest unpredictable (and often very big costs)

Some people think nothing of spending the same amount on 1 horse for a week.

A bale lasts you 3 days? Can you please explain this to my greedy bastard loan horse? He eats nearly 3 bales a DAY!

Including purchase, £60,000 in the last 4 years.

3 bales a day?! As in standard small square 2 string bales?

That's not possible surely.

75kg of hay a day!

Does your horse get turned out? My horse is a greedy bastard but even he couldn't eat anywhere near 3 bales a day.

I have absolutely no idea- I'd rather not know as I will cry! We are in North London.
We now have 3 -one practically retired aged 25, one competition pony ( currently injured and on box rest) and a new 16.3 showjumper.
Both ponies are on DIY and I reckon we spend around £1200/1500 per month.
Box rent £200 x2
Livery help £280 x2
Hay £100 x2
Feed/supplements £100 x2
Bedding £80 x2
Insurance £180 ( comp pony)
Insurance £30 ( retired pony)
Farrier £30 ( comp pony- barefoot)
Farrier £120 ( retired pony- remedial shoes)
Medication £120 ( retired pony's diet meds!)
Lessons £200
Fly sprays/mud stuff etc £50
Rugs/fly masks £100
Saddler £ 60/visit x 3 yearly
Physio £80/visit x3 yearly
Oesteopath £60/ visit x 3 yearly
Current vet bill at £1500 for injured pony
Flu/tet jabs £60 visit yearly
Dentist £80 x2 (vet does with sedation)
Worming £50/year x2
Then you have tack, clothing, grooming stuff, transport, clinics, competion entry......
New showjumper horse :
Livery £1100/month
I'm stopping there!🫣🤣

I'm on DIY livery.
My horse is a 17hh Shire x TB
Rent is around £300 a month for stable and field. Yard offer one free bring in or turn out a day.
Horse feed £30 a month.
Supplements £60 a month (to stave off ulcers).
Shoeing £220 every 6 weeks.
Hay £6.50 a bale, I only get through 1/3rd bale a day as horse out for 16 hrs a day in paddock. In winter it will be 1/2 bale a day. Hay reducing to £5.00 a bale going fowards.
For the stable bed: wood pellets for using under shavings £10 a bag - lasts about 8 days, shavings £10.75 a bale - lasts about 12 days in Summer, 5 days in winter.
Horse insurance - £187 a month.
I haven't worked since March and I'm using my savings to live on. I work at the yard picking up shifts which reduces my rent. Make sure you have savings to fall back on.

Ohh we're in North London as well and also have 3 competition ponies. I spend a similar amount to you per month and I would also rather not know 😭

Yep. He's on limited turnout as he's a laminitis risk so is in an almost dry paddock most of the time, 1 hour a day on the nice grass field.

He has a massive slow feeder net that you can fit a bale and a half in, he has one in the morning which lasts him almost all day and another at night. I mean, he's a huge draft cross but still.

That is still a hell of a lot. Are you wasting a lot or is he genuinely eating it?

75kg!!

That's got to be a record.

We have 3, well technically 4, but I have one out on full loan. We’re in the South East and costs are astronomical. Two ridden veterans who cost:
Part livery- £698 x 2
Extra feed- £40
Shoes- £200
Insurance-£120
plus the dentist, physio etc
Then we have a pony on full retirement which is £480 a month but we may move him.
It is very very expensive and in future we will have no more than one or two at a time. I love them but it’s becoming unsustainable tbh.

Even if he’s 1,000 kg and eating 5% of his body weight (both of which are right at the top of the scale both in size and appetite) that would still ‘only’ be 50kg - and I doubt he’s standing in the grass field doing nothing for the hour he’s there so he’ll be getting more nutrition/calories from the limited amount of grass he’s allowed. I suspect you could cut down quite a bit without him being in danger of fading away …

Will it decide to trip over on day 2 and land up in the hospital and requiring box rest.

basically I’d say from 4/500 pm for a very basic set up, to infinity!

He's wastes some. Not loads. Most of it is eaten. There's usually about a flakes worth left when we refill it. Weighs about 1600lbs and is healthy. Not overweight but he's in quite heavy work. He is prone to ulcers so we never let him run out.

If u have to ask the question it probably means you can’t afford it.

This…and those of us who know would rather not think about it, how many of you grossly exaggerate when friends ask you how much you spend, I mean i wish it were “only a couple of 100 coz i help out” 😂

My boss asked me once and I stopped half way because he was adding it up as I went along and I didn't want to know. His jaw was already on the desk.

How are you people even finding any hay to buy?

Where our pony is the owner has 3 regular suppliers so we’ve been fine . We are SE and on the local equestrian FB page people are often looking for hay and there is always replies from sellers .