Horsey money saving hints? (merged)

trudij

Im at livery - and am moving her on Saturday, to somewhere with better grass, half as far from home, and £20 a month less. bit of a no brainer really, my only concern is that I have NO scooling facilities at all, and shes not done much at all. Back to schooling on hacks for a while...

cally6008

I'm a horsey person that no longer has horses but I run TracingEquines.co.uk and that keeps me busy.

Phyzelda

I've got a 17.1hh ISH who is 7yr and an 8yr old Welsh section D

bouncydog1

DD has 15.2 hh TBxID who is a honey. Competes at dressage, sj and x-ctry. At part livery - lovely on cold dark mornings - about 10 mins from home. Loves her stable, and has about 8+ hours turnout a day. Not a horsey person....but plucking up courage to start riding again.

TillyTrippit

We've just got a 15.3 Welsh section D on full loan - a delightfully 'cobby mare' called Gill. she's the delight of my DDs (12 & 7) and the reason I'm permanently freezing and trawling ebay for stuff!! Been the best thing that has happened to our family in many years - everyone involved - even asthmatic OH!
She's on part livery - absolute joy when the alarm goes off and I can just snuggle under the duvet for an extra ten minutes or so!!
I've learnt loads from earlier threads on how to save money - baby shampoo and house contents insurance to cover the saddlery and tack. So if anyone more experienced has any more tips - I'd be ever so grateful. Our girl came without anything - saddle, tack or rugs - cost a bomb so far but oh so worth it.
Re. the insurance debate, our vet told me that whatever we saved in pounds would be more than equalled in stress getting some cheaper insurances to pay up. Went through Quidco to PetPlan - cashback and first month free online. The vet said that they would just send the bill straight to that insurance if ever there was a problem, unlike cheaper insurances that vets don't like dealing with. Not remotely expert in all this, just passing on what I was told.
HTH
Tilly
xx

WolfSong2000

TillyTrippit wrote: »

We've just got a 15.3 Welsh section D on full loan - a delightfully 'cobby mare' called Gill. she's the delight of my DDs (12 & 7) and the reason I'm permanently freezing and trawling ebay for stuff!! Been the best thing that has happened to our family in many years - everyone involved - even asthmatic OH!
She's on part livery - absolute joy when the alarm goes off and I can just snuggle under the duvet for an extra ten minutes or so!!
I've learnt loads from earlier threads on how to save money - baby shampoo and house contents insurance to cover the saddlery and tack. So if anyone more experienced has any more tips - I'd be ever so grateful. Our girl came without anything - saddle, tack or rugs - cost a bomb so far but oh so worth it.
Re. the insurance debate, our vet told me that whatever we saved in pounds would be more than equalled in stress getting some cheaper insurances to pay up. Went through Quidco to PetPlan - cashback and first month free online. The vet said that they would just send the bill straight to that insurance if ever there was a problem, unlike cheaper insurances that vets don't like dealing with. Not remotely expert in all this, just passing on what I was told.
HTH
Tilly
xx

Welsh Section D's are generally "good do-ers" (forgotten how to spell that properly...typical. lol) and odds are the horse wont need a rug for turnout for most of the year, and should be economical with feed. Do watch out for things like laminitis, though, as they do seem to be more prone to this (usually the smaller breeds like Section A's, but still worth noting). Also if she has a lot of feathers and is turned out in muddy fields a lot, keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't turn nasty. You could also have her mane hogged during the warmer months as having dealt with a welsh section D myself (not mine, sadly, but I used to look after him from time to time) their manes can get rather matted if not brushed regularly. Adding garlic granules to feed (if she's fed anything) will also keep her overall health up, and should put off horse flies, etc (garlic makes blood taste foul).

Also. if she's a mare keep an eye out for mood changes if she's in season...90% of the time I have dealt with geldings, but one mare who I had on loan could be an absolute cow (or more of a cow than usual I should say) when she was in season. However I haven't dealt with enough mares to see how common this is.

bouncydog1

Mares vary - we used stroppy mare with ours, which seemed to help when she was in season. Then we moved yards and she doesn't seem so affected, so we think part of the stroppy behaviour was down to being stressed. Tried garlic for flies for 2 years then changed to "Think fly" which you add to feed during fly season - no bites at all this year.

lostinrates

I prefer mares, in many countries they think mares are more temperamental and ride stallions more than we do, and in other countries again, mares are more prized.

Katie-Kat-Kins

Hi I love sections Ds and Mares, and to be honest have rarely come accross a mare who wasn't fine as long as your remembered that she was a mare and prone to be a bit sensitive at times.

The old saying you can tell a gelding, but have to ask a mare and negotiate with a stallion is very true, but generally the extra sensitivity you need to deal with a mare is more than rewarded by the loyalty and intelligence they show.

I wouldn't hog a section D, if you ever wanted to show her she should have a full mane, tail and feathers and once hogged they take ages to grow out properly. If you struggle with the mane getting matted use gallons of coat gloss (or furniture polish) as a detangler, human detangler works the same too.

She sounds lovely, I'm very envious!

Katie-Kat-Kins

Interested to see that a few are keeping theirs on their own land. I'm considering buying some land with a view to being able to keep my own and offer DIY livery to a few as company. I just haven't a clue what it would cost or how much work it would entail!