A DIY expert question!

[rosieapple1]

I have kept my horse on part livery for over 5 years and now moneys got a bit tight and something’s got to go! Desperate to keep him so a friend has suggested a local DIY livery.

There monthly cost is £125 which includes stable, grazing, straw & hay but nothing else.

The only hard feed he has is a big scoop of pony nuts & Alpha beet twice a day – how much would this cost per month?! I can find out how much a bag costs but haven’t got a clue how long that would last.

Thank you,
Another poor horse owner!

 

[smiffyimp]

Hi £125 inc hay/straw is good!! A sack of alpha beet would last me 2 weeks for 2 boys on 2 scoop/day, i make it sloppy though. Its about £10/sack. Pony nuts about a week, depends what make you buy £6-7 a bag??

Another poor horse owner

 

[letrec_fan]

We keep Pete, my horse, on DIY. I think it is best to opt for DIY assisted, unless you have loads of time. For example, weekday mornings, the yard owner turns all the horses out and feeds them. And then everything else is up to you unless you want to pay her extra for the occasional mucking out if you cant make it down or something. Here it is £180 a month and then you have to buy hay/bed/feed seperatly. Managed to cut bedding and haylage costs down to around £60 in summer. With feed we are considering changing to topspec so that will cost more but hopefully be worth it.

£125 a month is quite a good deal (but then £180 is alot for DIY!).

With feed, it depends how much your horse will eat.

At the moment, with a 20kg bag of Baileys feeding a large half scoop twice a day we use a bag up in about 10 days roughly. (I think!)

With the pony nuts it really depends on stockist and brands but for example, Spillers horse and pony nuts are around £6.25 for 20kg. You would probably use a bag up in about 5 days I would say if not less considering Pete has large half scoops and uses it up in around 10 days. So probably £6.25 every 5 days. So about £37.50 if my calculations are correct per month for pony nuts? My calcs. might be off, but I think thats right. I am pretty sure you can work the same out for the alpha beet if your using the same amount as the pony nuts. Again, if its a 20kg bag and you use a large scoop twice a day..

Hope this helps.


Laura.

 

[dwi]

Where in the country are you? I pay £85 month DIY for a nice yard with good facilities. I don't get hay and stray included but I don't spend anywhere near £40 a month on them, even in winter.

 

[michelleice]

I pay £80.67 month on DIY livery and i get hay (extra charge) from the yard for £2 a bale. My hunny on feed every day (even summer) as he requires a suppliment feed costing me (1 horse) about £20 every 5 months mabey more in winter and i have to buy my own shaving so that works out at what hmm have to use brain £7,20 a bag hmm 5 to fill stable start up cost is £36 then say bag a week normally so it total think i pay
£80.67 livery
£4 feed
£7.20 shavings
£6 hay
= £97.87 month charge (more over winter)

 

[Birker2020]

Our DIY is £44 per week with bring ins £1 per day, £2.00 each way weekends, free haylage/hay. No feed or bedding is included in this and we have to pay approx £3 per week for trailer/horsebox parking.

1 scoop of Alfa Beet = 1.6kg so depends how much the bag weighs but its approx £10.50 a bag. Pony nuts are normally in 20Kg bags and I would have thought a bag would last you at least 3 weeks. So probably about £16.00 every month should cover it.

 

[letrec_fan]

[ QUOTE ]
Where in the country are you? I pay £85 month DIY for a nice yard with good facilities. I don't get hay and stray included but I don't spend anywhere near £40 a month on them, even in winter.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unfortunatly in Surrey. Very expensive and not that great facilites! But the people at the yard are very helpful and friendly. My sister has just put her horse on loan due to going to uni and since moving to stratford upon avon he can survive on grass ALONE because it is so rich and plentiful. And he is well covered on it! The grass is surrey is naff. Or rather, the soil is. Over where I keep pete it is clay like and gets cloggy and horrible in winter. The grass at the moment is quite coarse and sort of yellow. Not very green. And hardly any growth.