£200 a month to keep a horse? Really?

My last horse share was £80pcm - which was a 50/50 split of all costs excluding insurance, and the last time I did a rough calculation on budgetting for my own, I think it came in at around the £200 mark, give or take. Costs seem to vary so much across the country as well, I think that it would be do-able, given the right area, the right horse and so on.:)
 
For 2

Livery £200
Bedding £48 (wood pellets bought in bulk) for £4 per bag
Hay £36 (bought in bulk for £3.50pb)
Fed £30
Insurance £50
Shoeing £70
Wormer £20
Horsebox £25
Fuel £70
Entry fee £50
£599 pm

Please don't ask me to work this out ever again :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

And I haven't included Lessons and girls PC!
 
Last edited:
I personally wouldn't want to but it is certainly possible I'm sure.

Assuming you purchased a hardy good-doer of course.

Even in my area you could find grass DIY for £80pcm
Add to that a basic insurance policy for £25pcm
Wormer £5pcm
Front shoes/hind trim £30pcm
Basic pony nuts/chaff/beet (if needed at all) £10pcm
Hay for good-doer (average over year) £20pcm
Slush fund for annual vaccs/teeth/vet - £20pcm
 
Keeping daughter's 2 ponies at home on grass 24/7, barefoot is a LOT less than £200/month. What does cost is all the pony club rallies, trainings competitions, shows, lessons, and the cost of running the trailer and car (£70 on fuel a month just for pony club stuff as a minimum). It is approximately the annual cost of a family summer holiday for 4 somewhere hot with everything all in. (a friend wondered how we afforded to run the ponies and I said probably the same way as her posh holidays - and it worked out about the same cost !)
 
Ive got 3 so easier to work out yearly then split it up!

Farrier 8 times a year = £480
Hay 400 bales a year = £2000
Straw 50 large bales a year = £750
Wormers = £130
Insurance = £1116 (inc trailer)
Livery (rent small yard then 2 surrounding fields = £3600
Feed = £500
Vax = £120

All 3 cost me £8676 per year

so one costs £2892 per year

so £241 per month on average
 
My livery bill costs me £250 ATM as it is .. God knows what it's going to cost for the winter .. ATM I pay £38 a week for assisted DIY.. Thats one feed and one turnout or bring in .. And that doesn't include my hard feed I pay for that seperatly she's on Allen and page C&C and Dengie hifi original.. Shes on haylage but I pay per haynet which is about £1.80 a net but come winter I'll be having my own bale £45 but I'll half it with another livery. She's on straw bed and I split a big long bale with about 7/8other liverie we all share it..

Then I have insurance which just cost me £300.. Then her vaccination is due Wednesday which is another £40.. Then I have shoes ATM is every 4/5weeks from a previous farriers poor shoeing which is another £60 per set.. Oh and because we've moved yards recently she's in at night now whereas before she was kept out I'm having to get all new rugs for her and her old rugs repaired .. She has 2 stable rugs ATM lol ..

Oh the joys of having a 6year old tb! Expensive animals but I wouldn't be without .. Oh and also I havnt added in shows etc but I only go once a month or so!
 
during the winter for the more expencive of the 2 i have :)

livery - £80
hay - £54
shoes - £65
insurance - £69
bedding - £60 ish
feed - £25

so he is roughly £353... although he has a nack for getting unexpected vet bill which arnt worth claiming for about £200 and we are also looking for a new saddle so many saddle fittings costing £40 per visit and looking at spending around £650 for the saddle :o

the cheaper being a 2 year old

livery - £80
hay - £48
trim - £20
insurance - £5
bedding - £7.50
feed - £5

so all together £165.50

so for the both it is £518.50 just for basic up keep... and im the cheapest yard around, only pay £3 for a bale of hay and on the cheapest bedding (more expencive one cant go on straw but the 2 year old is) feed is just basic tbh i dont know how i afford them :o
 
Livery £151.66
Shoes £50 (every 5/6 weeks)
Feed £30
Insurance £22.50

So thats £254.16/month on the basic essentials for mine!!

And it would be a lot more expensive if I had to get my own bedding & forage :eek:


There is a girl on my yard who gets free livery for her pony. It is barefoot, doesn't get hard feed, never gets taken out of the field and most probably not insured, wormed or vaccinated.. So cost's her (or should i say her mum!!) practically nothing .....
 
Nov - March (in at nights during hunting season)

£32.50 hay
£26 straw
£25 feed
£35 insurance
£75 shoes

£193.5

Apr - Oct

£35 insurance
£75 shoes
£10 feed

£120

Horse kept at home.
 
I am very lucky as I keep my horses at home. Also living on a farm I do not have any hay, straw, fertilising, spraying or muck removal costs.

My horses are shod every 5 weeks at £70 a set, so I pay £56 a month for this and £56 a month for feed, per horse per month £112-00. It is actually a bit more than I thought!

I sometimes wish my horses were kept on a yard as the maintenance of the paddocks and stables is hard work. I have a healthy dislike to strimmers and do whinge a lot prior to heading out with it!
 
Dont know what happened :o

Well heres mines for two horses per month

£25 haylege
£25 Straw
£50 feeding
£40 shoes
£19 inurance for veteran
£35 insurance for younger one
£40 lessons

My horses are walking distance from my house, my towing car part of my house budget being our normal use car so no extra, trailer is insured by my friend who co-bought it with me, I dont have livery costs as horses are kept with friend who rides my veteran, my horses areou 24/7 as much as possible, I alsways keep my paddocks in good nick so as to always have grass.

My horses have rugs, I have only bought about 2 new rugs since i got my second horse, my veteran had more than enough rugs for two and my old horses rugs fitted my new one and I dont count rugs or vets bills as monthly costs as i dont pay for things monthly.

Also with comp costs, I choose to do those they are not an essential running cost so i dont count them in the monthly costs of my horses as I could live without doing them, but if I was to add it in then I would put down about £100 including diesel.

No leccy cost or water costs as water is fresh water spring tapped, if we need to get leccy then it will be generator so small petrol or diesel contribution would be required but not at the minute

So yes it is possibe to keep a horse on 200 quid a month considering I can keep two on about £350 :)
 
I always feel on here that my horses get minimal hay/haylege compared to a lot of people on here. I am amazed that £25-£30 a month on hay covers two horses! I feed my horses mini quads and it's very good quality and one bale lasts me a week for 2 horses. They are £70 a bale (that's what I would have to pay if I paid for my hay). I would be paying £140 a month on hay per horse.
 
Aces_High said:
I always feel on here that my horses get minimal hay/haylege compared to a lot of people on here. I am amazed that £25-£30 a month on hay covers two horses! I feed my horses mini quads and it's very good quality and one bale lasts me a week for 2 horses. They are £70 a bale (that's what I would have to pay if I paid for my hay). I would be paying £140 a month on hay per horse.
Click to expand...

I worked out my haylage costs as we had 4 on a big bale last winter & it was lasting about a week, so that would make it 1 bale a month per horse, we were paying between £25 & £30 a bale.
 
Aces_High said:
I always feel on here that my horses get minimal hay/haylege compared to a lot of people on here. I am amazed that £25-£30 a month on hay covers two horses! I feed my horses mini quads and it's very good quality and one bale lasts me a week for 2 horses. They are £70 a bale (that's what I would have to pay if I paid for my hay). I would be paying £140 a month on hay per horse.
Click to expand...

I take it this is aimed at me :)

I get large rounds from the next doors farmer for £25 for both straw and hay. As I explained, I have plenty of grass so my horses get what one very large haynet each perday in winter and not anything in summer unless indoors.

So is it really hard to imagine??? My horses are both poor doers being a veteran and an WBxTB, the haynets are soo full of good dry haylege that I have bother tying them to the hay rings as I am soo short :D

Question what is a mini-quad??? Never heard that expression :)

ETA - meant to say are we talking a calender month or 4 weeks??? I am payed ever four weeks and buy hay and straw then alon with feeding and shoeing.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
marmalade76 said:
Both mine together don't cost £200 a month to keep.

1. I get mate's rates livery at only £6 a week for the two.

2. They are both natives so feed costs are minimal, add to that the fact that I feed straights, some of which I buy straight from the farm.

3. Only one is shod.

4. They live out.

5. My OH makes hay so I have that for the cost of making it only.
Click to expand...

Haylage IS my biggest expenditure. Making your own hay I think is the key to it all really.
 
Horse 1
60 livery
27 insurance
40 front shoes rear trim
40 hay, feed bedding
Horse 2
120 livery inc haylage straw
37 insurance
61 shoes
40 feed over winter
Pony
60 livery
32 insurance
85 farriery-remedial
30- hay,straw etc

Plus dentist,chiro, saddle checks vaccinations and of course the endless Vet visits. Daughter pays half , no wonder we are broke!
 
Vetwrap said:
For one - £174.40 per month:

Livery - £108
Feed - £10 (he is only on calmer chaff and a supplement)
Trimmer - £30
Insurance - £30

I'm hoping my husband doesn't read this thread - as we have three...
Click to expand...

Doesn't he ever need haylage or bedding? These are my biggest costs. :o
 
firewell said:
I think it's those with good-doer horses who live out and don't wear shoes that can get away with spending less than £200 a month.

Theres no way I could keep my horse on that, competing, lorry hire and keeping him up together with lessons ect adds a lot.

Briefly in the summer mine cost around:-

Liverty - £110
Shoes - £52
Feed - £28 (Bag of balancer and a bag of Hifi)
Insurance - £42

= £232 per month for the basics
plus costs for wormer, back man, saddler (new saddle!), dentist, lorry, lessons, shows, buying fly spray, new overreach boots ect ect and I dare not add all that up!

Winter my horses costs loads more per month:-

Livery - £110
Shoes- £52
Insurance - £42
Hay/Haylage - £80
Feed - £45 (Bag Hifi, 2 bags fibre nuts, balancer, supermarket oil)
Bedding - £32

Basic winter cost for a month is = £393

I do less shows in the winter but I have more lessons so that probably equals the same. Then he has his winter back check, dentist, saddler, wormer, plus the odd new rug and he has his Jabs in November. Plus other stuff like cream for mud fever, antiseptic spray for when he cuts himself nobbing in the field and a million and one other things I havent thought about.

On average the horse probably costs around £500 a month all year round all in (obviously some months are less, some are more! October is expensive and so is March as thats when he has his checks).

I wish my horse cost less than £200 but then I wouldn't be able to do all the things I wanted with him and he wouldnt be in as good condition/well trained to do the things I want with him :).
Click to expand...

Sounds like a very well pampered horse! :) But I know of people who spend twice that when their horse is on full livery and jobs such as clipping, trimming, mane and tail pulling are just done as and when the livery yard feels they 'need it' and it's charged to the bill.
 
It's a mini so slightly smaller than a quad. I live in a much more expensive area but I am surprised at your hay prices. Is a 'big bale' a hesston or a quad? My horses always have hay twice a day when stabled.

I wasn't aiming it at anyone but I was surprised at £25 a month - hence queried it.

I have worked mine out to 4 weeks.
 
Aces_High said:
It's a mini so slightly smaller than a quad. I live in a much more expensive area but I am surprised at your hay prices. Is a 'big bale' a hesston or a quad? My horses always have hay twice a day when stabled.

I wasn't aiming it at anyone but I was surprised at £25 a month - hence queried it.

I have worked mine out to 4 weeks.
Click to expand...

Big bale...as in a big round one, thats pretty much all we have round here, that or small hay bales size ones.
 
nikCscott said:
For 2

Livery £200
Bedding £48 (wood pellets bought in bulk) for £4 per bag
Hay £36 (bought in bulk for £3.50pb)
Fed £30
Insurance £50
Shoeing £70
Wormer £20
Horsebox £25
Fuel £70
Entry fee £50
£599 pm

Please don't ask me to work this out ever again :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

And I haven't included Lessons and girls PC!
Click to expand...


Frightening isn't it?
Wormer £20 per month? :eek: ETA just realised it's for two.
 
I reckon if I averaged out my yearly costs, including hay, insurance, feed, etc., I would spend about £500/month - but that's for 5 horses (the advantages of renting your own land!)- in other words approx. £100/horse/month. So it's definitely possible, but I appreciate that not everyone's that lucky.

None of mine are shod, and OH and I do routine foot trimming ourselves. Only 2 are fully insured, the other 3 are covered via BHS membership. All except the 30 year old are extremely good doers, so I have very little to buy in the way of hard feed. Haylage in the winter of course, nothing extra in the summer.

It suits me down to the ground having my gang living out all year, not only financially, but because I get to the farm each day and see a gang of happy, healthy horses, who I don't have to worry abut exercising if I've ended up working late (happens a lot) and who don't get stressed if I don't keep to a strict yard routine (which would be impossible with my work anyway). Even if I could afford it, me and my horses just wouldn't fit in at a livery yard trying to adhere to somebody else's timetable!
 
Big bales to me are large rounds :) Dont see hestons etc round here much, mostly the farmers do rounds.

HAy prices and straw prices round me are good as if your local no charge for delivery or if you pick up yourself. Also helps if you know alot of he farmers through family as well :)
 
Field/yard rent incl hay and straw £108
Insurance £30
Bute/sups £45
Feed £10
Shoes/teeth/physio/jabs for whole year/12 £50

Total £243
More than I thought it was gonna be, he is incredibly low maintenance
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top