Horsey money saving hints? (merged)

countrygirl27

Thanks for the advice. Im lucky, I keep mine at home where we have some old stables and a field so I dont have to pay rent, livery etc. However they are turned out all the daylight hours and in during the night, (a fast B road is 20feet from their field - if they were out all night I would spend my time worrying they were escaping) and when I used straw, even good quality they all got coughs, needed the vet, EXPENSIVE! so i stick with shavings.

Last summer I bought rubber matting, it cost £160 to do a 10 x 12 stable, but I have to say I think its been worth it. The horse in there walks around a lot, and it is saving on shoes as well as bedding. He still has a proper size bed on the top of it, but Im convinced I use less.

Also if ever your horse looks under the weather, put garlic in their dinner! Buy the granules rather than the powder as its cheaper and works just as well and it always seems to perk them up and help them over whatever it was they had.

SDH

I volunteered myself at Milton Keynes equestrian centre last year (as a XC fence judge) and each time I got "paid" in schooling vouchers - which considering a schooling session on their XC course costs 20quid, I though was pretty good going.

There wasn't really any special skills required - esp if you are "horsey" already - just the ability to judge whether a horse has refused the fence or not.

They also fed+watered me on the day and I had a lovely day out watching a cross-coutry event!

Am sure other equetrian centres / organisations around the country are in need of willing volunteers

SDH

Also - I "groom" for my friend on the same yard when she goes to the bigger shows (e.g. unaffiliated 1 day event last weekend).
It mainly involves doing the 'dirty' jobs at the show (putting studs in) when she is dressed in her prestine show gear!

In return she pays for my food & drink throughout the day and I get free lifts when she takes her horse to smaller shows/events (my jumping ability isn't quite on her level!)

Also I got a free bag of feed last week - it had split - so the feed shop said i could have it for nothing, YAY, okay its only 9quid but every little helps right?

Savvy_Sue

I'll try to merge this with the older thread ...

Jellicat

Very much a pipeline dream for at least two years down the line, but I'm in love with horses and have always wanted one. Had one on loan when I was a kid but she nearly killed my family (in money terms, although she did have a pair of devil horns hidden under the mane too) which should put me off but I'm one of those nuts who would go without shoes to look after their animals, and when it comes to horses I'm like your average 12 year old girl...you'd think you grow out of that after two decades of living.

So...the question...who keeps horses? Specifically who keeps horses at grass? What are your average monthly costs (sorry for the instrusive question lol)? Does horse insurance cover day-to-day vet bills or is it only for big accidents or illnesses?

I've worked myself out a budget for my future but there's always unexpected stuff. Unless I win the lottery I'm looking for a tough breed of pony or cob that can live out 24/7. Would really love an Arab but I might as well wish for my own helicopter, what with stable and bedding costs lol. However my second favourite breed is the haflinger which I'm sure would be happy in a field. So far have factored in livery costs, feed and hay in the winter, insurance, the farrier, yearly jabs and wormer as ongoing things to be paying for. Anything I'm missing out?

Scenic_Route

I bought a horse about 3 years ago (don't ask, long story). He is an Irish draft and quite healthy (thank god!). Initial out lay for him and his tack £3000 (I was robbed, you can get a beastie much cheaper, then again he was a bargain cos he is wonderful and looks after me when I'm hacking and has taught me loads, he is the more experienced of the two of us, had only ridden for a year when I got talked into buying him, really long story and not an ideal situation but you roll with the punches, it would take a lot more to talk me out of £3K since I've found MSE)

My monthly expenses run like this (Me and the beast are in Scotland)
DIY Livery £220 includes stable, grass, hay and hard feed, use of outdoor arena, use of secure tack room
Horse insurance £30
Food supplements (he is 17 and a bit stiff sometimes) £25

In winter I get one bale of shavings per week and most weeks I spend £5 getting a second one to keep his bed topped up

Vet bills this year have been £240 for his yearly injections and a wee tooth niggle sorted out

Wormer I pay £51 for a year packet which does 2 equest and 2 paramox worming session throughout the year.

I have no idea how much I spent last year on rugs, brushes, treats, toys for him. He has two rainsheets, two stable rugs, two medium weight outdoor rugs and two heavy weight outdoor rugs. He has been known to rip them. He gets mud fever so I have to get ointments etc for that when it flares up.

I budget like crazy to keep him.

Hope this info is of some use and if anyone has any tips on how I could reduce the equine outgoings (without getting rid of him) I'd be grateful to hear them!

SR

tasha83_2

I have 2 horses. One's a part bred Arab and the other a Thoroughbred cross, aged 26 and 20. Both live out at grass, 24/7/365. It is pretty easy to keep breeds living out that are not traditionally thought of as able to do so - it all depends on your livery yard. I've kept mine out and partially stabled over the past 7 years and have found living out at least halves the price with much less effort - no mucking out stables daily and mine are happier, therefore keep the weight on better.

Kally and Tali are out on between 10 and 25 acres, depending on what is being rested and when. They are in a herd of between 8 and 12 (including them) and have constant access to hay in the winter - in the summer they dont touch it! I feed hard feed once a day all year round, upping and downing the amounts as required (I only bother in the summer to get their supplements in them). As long as they have ad lib forage and are rugged as necessary any breed can live at grass.

A quick breakdown of my day to day running costs for them:

Livery - £80pmph
Hay - Total cost per month is added up and divided by the number of horses in the herd. Last winter it averaged about £50pmph
Feed - Mine are on high fibre diets - cheaper, doesn't heat them up and they keep weight on better. Roughly averaged out over the year I reckon it comes to £15pmph.
Supplements - I feed whichever oil is cheapest in the supermarket - c£3, lasts 3-4 weeks. I also feed one a joint supp which is £17.95 (unless I find a money off voucher in magazines ) and lasts 2 months.
Worming - every 13 weeks at £13ph
Farrier - One has front shoes on, done every 6-8 weeks at £30 a pop. The other is unshod, and is done as and when (about 10 weeks or so) at £20. I aim to have the other barefoot next winter to save money!

Also need to think about vaccinations (£40 a go, yearly) and dentistry (£35ph every 6-12months). One has Bowen therapy as and when she needs it at £30.

I must stress that I think I manage to keep mine pretty much as cheap as I possibly can get it. I dont have riding lessons, compete very little, have them uninsured (they are too old to be covered for vets fees so not worth it) and have all the tack, rugs etc so dont need to pay out those initial costs.

A BIG help is www.manage-my-horse.com which is a free site that helps budget in everything, produces reports when you want them as well as reminders for when stuff is due.

Hope this is of help - please do ask if you have any queries You get so much more out of owning one than you could ever pay for. Mine are my friends, shoulders to cry on, stressbusters and babies and I couldnt imagine not owning one for the rest of my life

Jellicat

Thats very helpful, thanks Scenic route, I am also based in Scotland and most of the budget advice I've come across has been English...I'm in Edinburgh and the livery prices at the nearest place are appalling, but I've managed to found £20 a week grass livery not too far away which is great! With regards to money saving, I found this thread yesterday... http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=485219&highlight=horse Somebody had an interesting prevention tip for mud fever . Some interesting tips regarding field rental that I might keep in mind too!

Tasha I've heard of keeping Arab and TB crosses at grass, but never pure ones...I might look into that more . You are lucky, I have been absolutely enchanted by Arab types since the first time I seen one, they are like fairytale horses (god I sound so girly lol). I'm always in favour of keeping horses on grass as much as possible anyhow, not only cheaper but far more natural for them. I do still love the little haflingers though, too cute for words lol. Dentistry wasnt something I factored into my budget at all, thanks for that! And thanks for the site, looks really helpful too! All I need to do now is get saving .

orlao

Hi Jellicat

If you've read the other thread I won't bore you by repeating my posts:eek:
At my yard we have pure Crabbet ( english!) Arabs that live out all year round with no problems except getting too fat in spring.

I have a haflinger called Strudel ( well he is Austrian:rotfl: ) who also lives out 24/7 with only a supplement in the winter with no problem except he does need rugging in very wet weather as he has no undercoat unlike the natives and the arabs. The other thing about the haffys is that a lot of them seem to buck and they are very very good at it:eek: but most of them, despite that are very sensible regarding traffic, flapping things and other scaries....

I don't know if you ride at all at the moment? If you don't would you consider having lessons and/or hacks somewhere locally before you look to buy your own? Then you can get an idea what type of horse you need/can cope with and what kind of budget you need cos TBH safe sensible horses don't come cheap!!!Cheap horses are usually cheap for a very good reason....and they cost just as much if not more to keep. Sorry if I'm preaching to the converted so to speak but I've seen so many people go wrong particularly after a break from horses. Also, the very best moneysaving tip is to ALWAYS pay for a full vetting before you take a horse on. It's only about £150 which is around the excess on your insurance......

As far as insurance goes, the excess is about £120 - £150, avoid E&L or any other firm that charges a percentage of the claim, most conditions are only covered for 12 months and will then be excluded:eek: from future claims and when it's a horse new to you you can usually only get full vets cover up to 16 years of age ( up to 20 years when you've had them insured from 15 years or younger), most firms allow up to £5000 per year/ condition p.a which sounds a lot but is basically a colic op and aftercare.....plus tack cover ( with conditions about where it's kept and security), public liability cover which IMO you can never have too much:D in case the horse causes an accident, and various other bits and bobs. For my welsh cob with a value of £1500 NFU charged £279 p.a paid in one go and that included a trap and harness plus other tack.....his value is low btw because he is ahem difficult to say the least:D but Strudel isn't insured for anything but public liability cos he is too old for proper vet cover so that is the chance I take and I won't reinsure Tuft this year as he doesn't do much so fingers crossed....but if need be I CAN find the money for a vet....if things were really tight I probably wouldn't take the chance IYSWIM.

Honestly, I'm not trying to put you off:o I just think forewarned is forearmed.

HTH
O x

Jellicat

No worries, Orlao, we ended up having to move house from our gorgeous country place last time, not only because of the pony but partly because of her, I felt guilty as hell for partly being responsible for putting my family through that. There's no way I'd put myself into that situation again unless I was totally hooked, which is why I'm try to start planning now although the horse is at least two years into the future! Currently I'm not riding, but I was up until two months ago and will be again very soon, also hoping to take some part time work at a stable over the summer. At the moment I'm sort of re-learning everything. its very annoying, I can remember how to do it but my muscles are a bit confused. Its strange how when you back to it as an adult things look very different, but the bug is definitely still there. And yep, I know how much a good horse costs nowadays, remember being gobsmacked when I started getting into it and seeing how much the prices have gone up lol. I suppose the good thing about me is that I'm so sodding short I can get away with buying a dumpy little git of a pony who will cost less to keep. :rotfl: