Am I living in cloud cookoo land??

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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I have just managed to convince my hubby to let me get a horse, well pony actually, on the proviso that it doesn't cost too much (yeah right?!
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). I have done my budget and stupid me only put in £10/month for insurance!!! Just got a few quotes on the 15yo that I'm getting and it's coming up with anything between £20 and £40 a month! Bug*er!
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As it's a hardy pony, kept in a friends field, with very little feed/hay/bedding and no shoes on, then this is almost doubling my budget!!
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I really am living in cloud cookoo land!! Any ideas for cheapy cheap cheap insurers?!
 
Ideas: Unless you don't have a savings account, get a money box. Put the tenner (Or as much as you can) in the box every month, and use that when you need to "claim on the insurance", and for nothing else!!
 
I would imagine a new insurance policy on a horse in it's mid teens would have so many limitations it may not be worth having...

As insurance companies go I would recommend the NFU or KBIS.

To be honest, if another £20-£30 a month is screwing up your budget then you may want to reconsider if you can afford a horse at all - little bills of that amount and more, that you've not budgeted for, will pop up all the time!
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Ideas: Unless you don't have a savings account, get a money box. Put the tenner (Or as much as you can) in the box every month, and use that when you need to "claim on the insurance", and for nothing else!!

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But that will only give a £120 a year... that would be nearer enough one call out on a weekend!
 
That is an idea.... Would need a good solid lock and possible throw the key away too, but it might just work!
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Might not cover 3rd party things, as am quite concerned about things like if pony escapes and runs into someones car and they sue me!! That could run into thousands and £10/month, isn't going to save me then!! But there's always the In-Law's....
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Check what you're actually insuring for, and what you're going to be doing with the pony. If it's just a happy hacker you may not need Loss Of Use cover and that would save you some money? You could also try PetPlan's higher excess policy as that makes it a lot cheaper, and I think if you ensure with them before the horse is 16 or 17 you get vets' fees covered until the horse is 20 or something - worth looking at because it's hard to get cover for vets' fees if they're older.

All that said, you do need to bear in mind that extra costs come up all the time with horses and you need to have room in your budget for them. You never know if the horse will get ill and need stabling for a while, or may need more hay over winter than you've planned on etc, so you need to make sure you have the funds available.

All sounds very exciting though, tell us more about the potential new ponio?!
 
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That is an idea.... Would need a good solid lock and possible throw the key away too, but it might just work!
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Might not cover 3rd party things, as am quite concerned about things like if pony escapes and runs into someones car and they sue me!! That could run into thousands and £10/month, isn't going to save me then!! But there's always the In-Law's....
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join the BHS as a Gold member...3rd party ins included £50 per year.
 
Bluntly, yes you are! If you cannot afford an extra £20-£40 a month then you probably can't afford a horse, you get bills like that all the time for one reason or another I'm afraid.
 
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To be honest, if another £20-£30 a month is screwing up your budget then you may want to reconsider if you can afford a horse at all - little bills of that amount and more, that you've not budgeted for, will pop up all the time!
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I know I know but this is like my last chance at a horse, in the anything like forseeably future!! As the horse is actually free!! And wonderful!!
We do have savings, etc, so should be able to afford most unforseen bills, it's just then hubby would feel like he was paying for the pony too, and I don't really want that. I want to be able to do it all myself. Luckily I have the option of working as much overtime as I need, so can always use that too.
 
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To be honest, if another £20-£30 a month is screwing up your budget then you may want to reconsider if you can afford a horse at all - little bills of that amount and more, that you've not budgeted for, will pop up all the time!
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I know I know but this is like my last chance at a horse, in the anything like forseeably future!! As the horse is actually free!! And wonderful!!

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That may be, but I think we all know it's not the buying them, it's the keeping them that is what really costs!

Like Spottedcat has just said, if you can't afford that much more per month (for a horse on limitted feed and no shoes) then you probably can't afford a horse full stop!
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What happens if the horse does need shoeing in the future? Or develops a condition that needs more expensive management (quite possible with a horse already in its teens) etc etc, I could list no end of examples of how horses can suddenly be more expensive - especially an older one. My oldies got more and more pricey to keep with age!! More than the competition horses.
 
Ditto putting money in a savings account or box. You can always add an extra tenner here or there.

The problem comes when you get a 2k bill.

I'm with SEIB and pay just 15 pounds a month on a pony worth 500 pounds. That's FULL insurance.
 
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people keep horses on a budget all the time. It doesnt mean they're any less loved or well cared for.

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And I'm one of them! But in the world of horses £20 would not even get (for example) the girth straps on your saddle replaced....

It's the cost of call-out for my vet, and don't forget even if you have vets fees insurance the excess is usually around £125 ish, so anything under that you can't claim for anyway.

I'm not suggesting you can't keep a horse on a budget, I keep and compete one on a budget. I'm saying if you can't afford an extra £20 a month, then you probably can't afford a horse - my budget has contingency built into it for just that reason.
 
I am insured with NFU, I don't have loss of use or public liability (I get that with my BHS insurance) and it is £36 a month. I don't want to put you off as I know how exciting it is having just got my first horse at the ripe age of 37 when OH said 'go for it' BUT I have been surprised at the cost of all the incidentals, and of course don't forget the cost of things like vaccinations (£63 a time) and things like having your saddle restuffed/checked or having your horses back checked if necessary. Insurance is all well and good but in my mind it's only there for the catastropes like theft or major surgery - most vets bills I would pay out to avoid an exclusion going on the policy, and of course if you claim there will always be the £50 excess.

I'm sorry that this sounds really mean but I am just so glad that I'm in a position that if George needs treatment I can afford it as well as lessons for me and him but perhaps that's just me, I am a worrier!
 
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Bluntly, yes you are! If you cannot afford an extra £20-£40 a month then you probably can't afford a horse, you get bills like that all the time for one reason or another I'm afraid.

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very true............
 
Sorry but I would also be concerned about the fact that £20 or £30 could make so much difference too! They are expensive animals and always need something buying or funding. What if your horse needs a rug, supplements, gets poorly...have you thought about injections and boosters, wormers etc.
My horse is a native and lives off nothing too but I still have to account for supplements, hoof creams, rugs, repairs to tack etc etc.
You most deffinately need 3rd party liability cover too!
 
I think OP is saying the less she has to pay for insurance, the more she can afford for other things each month (ie extras). A girth strap being replaced isnt a regular monthly thing, but insurance is. If you can keep the monthly costs down as low as possible, you can then put any extra into a tin for all the little things which crop up (dentist farrier etc).

If i said to OH that we had to find an extra 20 pounds a month for the pony he'd say it had to go, as the cost was getting too much. But if I say to him "oh, can I have 30 pounds for the dentist?" he'll see it as a one off and give it to me.
 
For me the dentist and farrier are part of my budget as they are regular costs. I would have thought most people keeping a horse on a budget take them into account.
 
you may want one but are you being fair? kepping an old pony in just a field, admitting that you cant really afford it. It just sounds a tad reckless to me.

Sorry but i think you shouldnt do it. Instead try sharing a pony/hores. you will only have 1/2 the responsibility and 1/2 the costs and all the enjoyment.

DONT go down the road of streatching yourself, your hubby will end up resenting the horse and contantly go "get rid, get rid, get rid" mine certainly does. and as for working lots of overtime where do the hubby and looking after the pony come in???????
what happens when you go on hols, you will HAVE to pay to get someone to at least check over your pony every day.

Forgetting about insurance and rent of the field id expect to pay about £80 p/month on keep. Dont forget about suppliments or special hard feed he may require due to his age.

I spend on average £280 p/m on my mare. Please Please if you do love this pony ask advice to se if you can realy afford it. It would be crulety beond belife if something happened and you couldn't afford to sort it out.
 
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For me the dentist and farrier are part of my budget as they are regular costs. I would have thought most people keeping a horse on a budget take them into account.

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Ditto. And what if your livery goes up by say a fiver a week, your farrier goes up by a fiver a time and there is a hay shortage...suddenly that £20 doesn't look so much after all....and I don't think those are unreasonable price increases. After all, I expect my salary to go up in line with inflation, so why shouldn't my farrier increase his costs each year? (which he does).
 
I was planning on paying for any tack/supplements/injections/wormers from my own everyday money it was just the monthly costs I needed to convince my hubby about. Oh, I didn't include hoof trimmings in my costs either! I thought I'd budget costs to a mega minimum, hubby'd agree to it all and then just keep all the other costs out of his line of sight!!
I know they're expensive, I know there is loads of unexpected costs, but I do have back-up.
Ok, just done a re-budget and worked out that only need to work an extra 4 hours a week (at home on an evening) and it'd have all the costs (at a max now) covered plus nearly an extra £80/month.
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Oh and yes would defo get 3rd party, although worth looking into BHS membership for it.
 
Yeah, whatever Katy.
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I am genuinely surprised that people wouldn't budget for such obvious, regular costs as the farrier or dentist.
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Just check the wording very carefully on the third party bit of some policies - make sure it covers everything you need. I looked at one that didn't cover damage to fences or other animals.
 
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perhaps they don't need to.

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Given that the OP was talking about keeping a horse on a tight budget, you are now making no sense whatsoever!
 
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