Horsey money saving hints? (merged)

GemmaB78

Just whiling away some time when I'm SUPPOSED to be working and was wondering how many other horse/pony/donkey/mule owners are on here!

I'm owned by a 14.2 and a half part-bred arab chestnut mare. Despite the reputation she 'should' have, she's a total babe. The kindest of temperaments but still feisty when she wants to be!

We dabble in a little bit of everything, but endurance is where our hearts lie. Until she damaged a tendon earlier this season, we were doing brilliantly. Now, she's living the life of riley, getting very fat, hairy and muddy. Hope to pick up next year.

Any good money saving tips (apart from not having horses!)? Mine is to try and keep them out as much as possible. Marygold lives out 24/7, which saves me a fortune in feed, hay and bedding. With ample grazing, decent shelters and a good set of rugs, most thrive on this lifestyle. I know Marygold does!

So hello to any fello horse owners!

orlao

Hiya

I have a very silly but sweet 15.2 12 year old Welsh cob and a 14.2 18 year old Haflinger "who knows his own mind" as they say:D , both boys.

Agree with you about keeping them out, better for them, much better for my pocket and as a bonus saves loads of time.....the only thing I try and avoid is the ample grazing.....both of them are very good doers:eek: The haffy is ride and drive, absolute little star as long as you do things his way, if not prepare for a serious tantrum including bucking and going backwards but no malice involved!!!! Just quite a bit of bad language on my part:o

The welshie is on "early retirement" as I don't like riding him and a loan didn't work out but he doesn't seem to mind but I used to show him, in hand mainly and a little bit of ridden:D I don't compete these days (at anything!) as I don't really have the time or money anymore, just a happy hacker these days, as long as the weather's good of course.....

I know a lot of the arabs in this area and most of them are as good as gold....very fast but sweet, the only ones that are generally naughty IME are the ones that "rule" their owners IYSWIM. Hope your mare comes sound soon.


O x

Asher

I hope she is sound soon as well.

breezerockz

Hi
looks like theres a few of us on here.
i own a 16.3hh mare. unfortunatlely she has also injured tendon this year and wont be doing much for a while now, she also lives out 24/7. and is very happy getting a bit fatter than she should, i am able to walk her down road and back, but not more, if i didnt she'd go mental in the field,

SDH

Hiya
I've got 2 chestnut 16.2 geldings!! Well one is mine, the other is on loan to me.
Mine (Sam) injured a suspensory ligament in his knee a year ago. Went out on loan (as happy hack/dressage horse) in March and did it again and I am just going through a loss-of-use claim with insurance for him. Rusty (the one on loan to me) is a ID x TB and seems to be under the impression he is 12.2hh not 16.2hh, he very cheeky & naughty & generally behaves like a kids pony but lots of fun and will jump anything i point him at.
Going to be out doing hunter trails with him this autumn.

Am also about to move yards (currenly Rusty on part-livery and Sam on different yard on grass livery) - gonna have them both on grass livery (with big field shelter), really looking forward to it .... although ask me again if i regret it when its 6pm, dark, raining and i'm trying to locate my 2 beasties in a muddy field .....

SDH

Also its very nice to 'meet' other MSE people with horses. I do feel a bit in minority in the horsey world where everyone is flashing their cash, buying expensive 4X4's and i'm telling them about the fab quidco'd car insurance deal i just got for my Fiat Punto. LOL

Savvy_Sue

As we already have a thread on moneysaving with horses, which you did ask about, I'll merge you into that one.

GemmaB78

Thank you Sue!

Glad to hear that I'm not the only horsey owner on MSE.

MDJO_2

Hi - I'm a horse owner too - have two on DIY livery. Having just had one horse have a foot abcess, my first aid saving tips are....
- Vetwrap from R&R country online at just £1 a roll! Normally £3 - £3.50 in the tack shops (R&R normally go to the large events like Braham, Burghley etc so you can get them there too - i think they even had an offer at Bramham of 12 for 10, so 12 rolls for £10 - i bought a dozen)
- Gamgee is an expensive padding, so I used Tesco's cheapest nappies as a padding over the animalintex.
- To protect the foot from wet and dirt, i was originally using ducktape but that was quite expensive - but have discovered silage bale tape - about £3.50 from agri merchants for about 10m. Really strong and waterproof and protects the foot.

Other non first aid tips are
- Find a local timber merchant and they will normally let you take away their sawdust for free (but probably need to provide your own bags)
- Feed from an agricultural merchant is sometimes cheaper than a traditional tack shop as they tend to buy in greater bulk with other animal feeds.
- Mend and clean your own rugs. I use plaiting thread and needle to sew up any rips and then seal over the sewing with Stormsure waterproofer (normally designed for waterproofing seams on tents etc and available from outdoor shops at c. £4-5 and lasts for ages) Don't waste money on professional rug washing (it tends to reduce the waterproofness in any case) - If rugs are really bad I would just give them a blast with a power washer and leave to dry - you just know they are gonna go roll straight away anyway ;-))
- Tesco ! Say no more
- If you're in the market for making your own jumps, I have used old carpet roll inners (ask your local carpet fitter who'll be glad to get rid of them) and fill them with shavings / dry sand (depending how heavy they are) - seal up the ends with silage tape. They won't stand to be left out in the rain and probably not a lot of bashing around but they're free so can be easily replaced. Synthetic carpet underlay, especially the blue or black colour, makes for a good artifical ditch too, and they won't crack if your horse stands on them
- Buy what you can in bulk - websites like equestrianclearance.com do really cheap rugs but can be offset with high delivery costs, so we team up on the yard twice a year to buy several at a time and share del. costs
- BHS personal liability insurance is generally cheaper than with your insurance company - but good insurance is essential.
- Share vets visits for routine work
- Barefoot where you can.
- Live out where you can

Tae_Lia_2

Thanks everyone for the superb thread. I have never been lucky enough to own my own horsie yet but watch this space.

Delighted to find quite a few peeps on here happily keep their horses bare foot, had always considered it myself if and when I get one. To save even more money I intend to take a barefoot trimming course so I can do it myself, and maybe even earn a few extra pennies locally trimming others.

Happy Riding Everyone