Am I living in cloud cookoo land??

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Ditto! I'm depressed.
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Without explaining the entire situation it's v hard to get accross what my plan is, but trust me, it will work! No, it's not cruel, it's not reckless and yes, I'd do a pretty constant supply of back up cash. I share the field so back up for holidays already included, field rent won't increase for 5 years, due to lease agreement, etc, etc...
Anyway, back to the point of the post... Best/cheapest insurance....
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Ditto! I'm depressed.
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Without explaining the entire situation it's v hard to get accross what my plan is, but trust me, it will work! No, it's not cruel, it's not reckless and yes, I'd do a pretty constant supply of back up cash. I share the field so back up for holidays already included, field rent won't increase for 5 years, due to lease agreement, etc, etc...
Anyway, back to the point of the post... Best/cheapest insurance....
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Well the cheapest will be E&L, but there are hundreds of reasons why that is not a good thing.
 
So if you know your plan will work, why ask if your in cuckoo land in the first place???

Its a forum you will always get those who agree and those who dont/come up with situations you perhaps hadnt thought of.

Doing a budget without getting quotes in the first place is a bit daft, but you seem to of remedied that now.

My only concern was you "forgot" foot trimming totally in your budget..... are you sure there are no other hidden extras you've left out?

If not then good luck to you, hope it all works out well and you can still afford to feed yourself by the time payday comes round!!! LOL
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depends what you are covering for. You essentially need Third Party Liability and maybe death of animal. It's vets fees and Loss Of Use Cover that hike fees up.
 
I basically agree with Katy here.

The horse world is full of people who think you shouldn't do anything unless you have an unlimited supply of cash. What the OP is saying, as far as I can work out, is that she can budget and afford extras if needs be, but she is trying to keep regular monthly payments down - no harm in that!

Provided she has access to enough money that she can provide for emergencies or extras that come up every so often, its fine to keep a horse on a limited budget. My first pony cost around £150 a month - £80 livery, £40 shoes every 8 weeks and £30 insurance and extras such as wormer or feed.
 
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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............

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Ditto!

Horses are expensive and you never know what is going to happen.

Both mine were 100% fine two months ago, now I have two out of work and have spent a fortune on vets, physio, mctimony, farriery, bute, supplements etc etc.

You can keep a horse on a budget, but if an extra £20 a month is such a big deal, you should NOT be getting a horse!
 
A couple of years ago I was paying about £10 a month to KBIS for my old mare's insurance cover.
Third party and vets fees for external injuries only.Something like that anyway!

ETS: I agree and sympathise with St Bernard(I'm there too
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)Horses have a nasty habit of throwing one thing after another at you. I think I'm right in saying that St Bernard has an enthusiastic, supportive OH as I do, Can you not find another husband
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I'm with PetPlan for my new horse (6yo TB) and have the vetran plan for my 20yo Arab, pretty sure it's around 10-15pm for the Arab that's loss of use and vet bills.

I'm a gold member of BHS for the 3rd party liability insurance and would recommend it for you, think it was £56 but that's for the year.

Good Luck with your new pony, I hope it's everything that you dreamed it would be
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LOL good idea Annie!

Yes I am lucky that OH loves the horses as much as I do, and he is fine about spending whatever needs spending.

I forgot to mention insurance!

Lance is almost 19 and is insured with Petplan for vets fees, accident and illness, public liability, tack and death, and that is £21 a month.

Beau is 6 and is insured with NFU for the same voer as Lance, and he is about £32 a month I think.

I only insure for £1000 value though to keep premiums down, having the vets fees cover is what matters to me.
 
Really sorry but horses are not animals you can keep on a budget, don't think you can afford it !. Spend the money you do have on lessons at a riding school or something! Sorry to be harsh but we've all seen situations where the animals go without cos owner ' can't afford it' and you're in exactly the situation as a local woman I know whose partner said only if ' cheap' an they now row constantly cos they have both realised its not cheap !!
 
I had my very old pony insured with KBIS. For basic insurance - sudden death, theft, straying and third party it was only about £60 a year!! Any vets bills we just paid out of our own money.
 
Oh nonsense! I did it for 4 years and my horses were always happy and well looked after.

OP has quite clearly said that she has access to money for extras etc, she simply wants to keep the monthly cost down. Doesn't sound to me like shes going to let the horse starve. I am sure she has worked out the other costs and agreed it with her OH.
 
I agree it can be done on a budget, but it needs to be a realistic one..... saying she forgot to budget for foot trimming isnt realistic, (may be other things not bugeted for), which is why I think peeps are saying she cant afford it!
 
you need to think about what you want this insurance for as I'm assuming the pony is worthless?

Anyway the cheapest way to get 3rd party is to join the BHS, after that well a 15 year old would likely only be covered for accidents and the excess would be £125 at least on most policies, this normally is about the cost of 1 call out and 1 follow up and possibly some drugs. so you would only claim if the pony had a serious accident and in this case you'd need to stable full time as well and insurance does not normally cover this.

In your case I'd just join the BHS, put some money away and accept that should the wprst happen I may have to face some tough decisions.

hope that helps.
 
True, I just think people are sometimes too quick to say "no you can't" without knowing all the circumstances.

I would hope she had been realistic about the budget to start with, although I think no matter how much you plan to spend, it will always be more than expected
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Yup expensive litle buggers our four legged friends! Which is why I share.... as I know I wouldnt have the money for all the disasters they tend to throw at you every now and again! (Well when I ad my own he did...... poor student, nag runs into fence, HUGE hole in shoulder, even HUGER vets bill!)

ETS... oh and if you are on a really tight budget, an extra £50 every 2 months could break the bank!
 
"Really sorry but horses are not animals you can keep on a budget"

I keep my horse on a budget as I suspect do a lot of people on here as few of us have unlimited funds. Ok horses are not cheap and you can't scrimp on the essentials but it makes sense to do things like shop around for the best insurance deal which I think is what OP was asking. (However I would say the best deal isn't always the cheapest).
 
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Oh nonsense! I did it for 4 years and my horses were always happy and well looked after.

OP has quite clearly said that she has access to money for extras etc, she simply wants to keep the monthly cost down. Doesn't sound to me like shes going to let the horse starve. I am sure she has worked out the other costs and agreed it with her OH.

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I agree.
Whatever happened to the days when people just put a horse in a field and it had grass and it's feet looked after and that's it. Horses aren't supposed to have rugs and physio and supplements. Horses can be kept and fed with the minimum of fuss and expenditure and still live a happy life. If you're competing then that's a different kettle of fish, but an everyday horse, especially a pony, can survive on relatively little of your modern fancies!
 
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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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Sorry to sound hard but totally agree with the above. Why don't you try a part share for a pre agreed amount of time just to see how it goes say for 6 months?
 
NFU are good and cover all aspects, are reasonable and actually pay out.

I notice that a lot of the thread reverts to advising about keeping a horse on a budget.

As I know nothing of your situation (OH a millionaire, in laws own half of Suffolk), I couldn't possibly comment other than to say that my budget spreadsheet lies. I think excel has a bug in it or something. For any budgeting you do add on £150 a month. I have a special line in my budget for "miscellaneous" and another line for "must haves". I have survived like this for 17 years of horse ownership, without input from OH or in laws and working full time.

IMHO it is very possible to keep a horse perfectly well on a budget, but there are times when it is necessary to compromise. Good luck!
 
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Oh nonsense! I did it for 4 years and my horses were always happy and well looked after.

OP has quite clearly said that she has access to money for extras etc, she simply wants to keep the monthly cost down. Doesn't sound to me like shes going to let the horse starve. I am sure she has worked out the other costs and agreed it with her OH.

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I agree.
Whatever happened to the days when people just put a horse in a field and it had grass and it's feet looked after and that's it. Horses aren't supposed to have rugs and physio and supplements. Horses can be kept and fed with the minimum of fuss and expenditure and still live a happy life. If you're competing then that's a different kettle of fish, but an everyday horse, especially a pony, can survive on relatively little of your modern fancies!

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I totally agree with that, until the pony breaks out of its little field, and causes a massive road traffic accident...... insurance needed me thinks!
 
Why are you getting so shirty, I don't get the impression she has worked out all the costs, she forgot trimming after all and there will be other things not taken into account. The original post didn't mention access to other funds, this seems to have been an after thought after other posters also thought she couldn't afford it. Putting £ 10 per month aside for medical care in replacement for insurance is ridiculous, even the annual booster will use at least half of this. l
 
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The original post didn't mention access to other funds

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But subsequent ones have, and if you read the post you should know that.

It annoys me when people are so quick to say what others should and shouldn't do - its a 15yr old native that shes probably going to hack about with a bit - when you remove all the extras that most people these days think necessary, I doubt its going to cost the earth. A word of caution about the cost of a horse is always good, but I don't think its fair to say she shouldn't get one at all when nobody knows the exact circumstances.

Insuring a 15yr old is not going to be easy anyway because of all the exclusions - if the worst happened the horse could always be put down, it wouldn't be the worst thing.
 
Perhaps the OP should share her budget with the forum just in case anything else has been missed? Perhaps those of us familiar with horse management could suggest any alteration or additions that should be added in our experience. I remember getting my first pony, I was totally naive regarding the costs but we managed. My ponies have always had everything they need but I come a total second place. Husband moans about it plenty. You might be able to get more objective advice that way. I'm afraid having an equine of any age shape or size does not come cheap. I'd hate to think of the horse becoming ill, insurance being claimed, an exclusion being placed and the OP not managing. As an example my pony had laminitis. I had free treatment for a year , then from the end of that year to the time when I sadly had to have her put to sleep I paid over £7,000 in vet bills and medication. It took just 8 months to rack up that bill. I hope that wouldn't happen to OP but it is always an unfortunate possibility.
 
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Really sorry but horses are not animals you can keep on a budget, don't think you can afford it !. Spend the money you do have on lessons at a riding school or something! Sorry to be harsh but we've all seen situations where the animals go without cos owner ' can't afford it' and you're in exactly the situation as a local woman I know whose partner said only if ' cheap' an they now row constantly cos they have both realised its not cheap !!

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i think youve got the definition of budget mixed up.......yes horses are expensive but you have to have a 'budget' (definition: a sum of money allocated for a particular purpose) while looking after a horse - its just clever and common sense, if you dont have a budget you just end up wasting money.
 
I got my boy on a "budget" but that was all thrown out of the window by circumstance.

I hate to say it but if £20 extra a month does blow the budget then maybe now is not the time to get a horse. (I waited until I was 27 for mine so I know it is not easy)

Lots of things come up - examples that were not in my budget originally:

Shoes - he was barefoot part of the allure.... had to be shod up front within 1 week of riding him and shod beind within a year. £60 every 6 weeks.

Suppliments - diagnosed with COPD so now spend £30 per month on supplements.

Haylage - £50 per month - was on hay but due to COPD now has haylage

Bedding - £40 per month on shavings as he is allergic to dust!
In total £160 extra a month
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I am not saying you will have these issues but if you are on a budget with absolutely no contigency it could end up in heartbreak
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I am with scottish equestrian, they insure my 16 & 19 year olds and our new 5yo TB. I am not covered for physio and alternative therpies, however they do your bog standard vet bills, i am just about top make my first claim so it will be interesting to see how they are when the chips are down. I think this years premium is just under the £500 mark (for all 3). I know when I was first ringing around they seemed the cheapest.
 
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Whatever happened to the days when people just put a horse in a field and it had grass and it's feet looked after and that's it. Horses aren't supposed to have rugs and physio and supplements.

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You cant just put a horse in a field and look after its feet!
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Any horse can have an accident or become ill, her horse might needs shoeing, WILL need worming, vaccinations, teeth doing, and of course horses need physio and rugs and supplements, yes not EVERY horse needs all of these, but most horses will need one or the other at some point, and its these REALITIES that the OP needs to grasp.

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Horses can be kept and fed with the minimum of fuss and expenditure and still live a happy life. If you're competing then that's a different kettle of fish, but an everyday horse, especially a pony, can survive on relatively little of your modern fancies!

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Especially a pony?

A pony is just as likely to become ill or have an accidnet etc as a horse?!
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Also the OP is getting a horse that is 15 I believe, what happens ina few years when the horse may need joint supplements, or have more medical problems?
 
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