Before you buy a horse...RANT

I couldnt agree more. Buying is the easy part. Its the up keep, i think alot of "first time buyers" struggle to realise how expensive and unpredictable the cost is.

To budget is near impossible, you never know what illness/injury they are going to come down with from one day to another.

A while ago my NF pony cost me £200 a month maximum, i budegeted that every month for him, however he then got struck down with Laminitis... gutted.. so my budget then rose incrediblt quickly through that month.

sorry to waffle.
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The best advice I ever heard was that the purchase price of any horse is just a down payment - the real expense comes later. Hence why I haven't had a haircut for months
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But shils matey, I disagree in some cases!!!! - mine were all relatively normally priced and I have been blessed (thank you equine god in the sky) with no major inflictions on any of my lot in the last 10 years.

Other than the normal costs, its been easier to keep them day to day financially than it ever was to buy them...does that make sense????

Only one of mine (section A pone) is borrowed, others were purchased.

I think some people do however underestimate how much they cost to keep.

I certainly couldnt have them if I didnt rent my own yard etc, livery would be in excess of £2k a month!!
 
ahhh shils am with you now, sorry didnt realise people could be quite so dense as to miss that important point, hence didnt get your first point!! its my age!!! xxx
 
I agree. its all to easy to buy a cheap horse.
Then they have difficulty in affording to look after it properly.

People should think properly before making such a big dicision, its not just money buy time and comitment that you need.
 
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ah now thats not on!!! - those types shouldnt have any animal let alone a horse!

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tell me about it...this was one of my moans a while ago....feeling like you're feeding someone elses horses because they can't/won't fork out for an extra bale or so to chuck out in the fields....
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By change of heart I meant being in a position to making a dream reality. I've ridden since I was 11 but have never been in a position to have a horse, but now as an adult I am and its what I want. It's not a whim by any means.

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I've read your posts, and I don't think you know what you are getting into (just my opinion, and I hope I'm wrong).
If you want a happy future with a suitable horse, firstly you should be able to see, meet and try the horse before you buy it, taking an experienced (trusted) person with you who will give you unbiased advice.
Then, if the horse seems perfect to ride, you should get it five stage vetted; this will check it is the right age (I assume you don't know how to age yourself), and physically capable of undertaking the role you desire, even if that's just paddock ornament. A vetting will also help you to get the horse insured for vet fees etc.
From your posts, I understand you hope to buy a French horse, unseen, untried, with only the word of a dealer that it is suitable (and dealers are not impartial), unvetted, by raising the very small cost price by selling your possessions.
To me, this looks like an inadvisable course of action; I really wish you would reconsider how you invite a horse into your life to avoid heartache to you, and the horse.
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S
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Shils,

I totally agree with you that people need to budget and make sure they have the money to afford a horse including unexpected vet stuff / extra feed if the horse drops condition. But in your OP you did say that if someone couldn't afford to buy the horse in the first place they couldn't afford the upkeep. I think what many people are saying that their monthly income will cover the keep of the horse (and all added extras) but a few grand is a lot to get together in one go, so if selling spare things or trading the car in for a cheaper model etc helps to get the lump sum together then so be it.
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I do agree with what you're saying esp about buying a cheaper "problem" horse or maybe a youngster because it's cheaper nad then not having the experience to deal with it - that's a no no in my book.
 
yes...and first-time owners buying young horses because they tend to be cheaper...and then find they are too novice to bring the horse on properly, or have problems handling it.....thats what seems to happen a lot on our yard....bugs me chronic actually
 
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Hmm, I agree to some excent. BUT, not many people have a few grand lying around ready to be spent on a horse, so will have to save, but their monthly income could very well be enough to keep the horse well.
I got a loan to buy a horse once, I earned enough money a month to keep the horse, but just didnt have the initial few grand to actually buy the horse.

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I agree with this statement, when i got my first (second, third and fourth) horses, i could comfortably afford to look after the horses, pay their insurance, pay for their keep but it was the initial outlay to pay for the horse itself that was a struggle... I was lucky because my parents were willing to contribute financially to the first and second purchase and abit to the third, as long as i didn't expect to recieve any xmas or birthday presents
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tho I found that my horses did recieve excellent xmas gifts of tack and rugs
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Ooooh.....I get it now. I hasten to mention that my boy was previously bought for £200 by two teenagers. They bought him because he was cheap without realising that he was cheap FOR A REASON! He needs specialist care due to his age and the fact that he is a nutter. He then was passed through 7 homes in 8 years before he ended up with me. It REALLY gets my goat since the horses that are suitable for novice owners are usually worth their weight in gold.
 
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Shils,

I totally agree with you that people need to budget and make sure they have the money to afford a horse including unexpected vet stuff / extra feed if the horse drops condition. But in your OP you did say that if someone couldn't afford to buy the horse in the first place they couldn't afford the upkeep. I think what many people are saying that their monthly income will cover the keep of the horse (and all added extras) but a few grand is a lot to get together in one go, so if selling spare things or trading the car in for a cheaper model etc helps to get the lump sum together then so be it.
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I do agree with what you're saying esp about buying a cheaper "problem" horse or maybe a youngster because it's cheaper nad then not having the experience to deal with it - that's a no no in my book.

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So if you scrape together the money to buy your £1k horse, and, before you have a chance to insure it, it requires colic surgery, what then? Or if you are made redundant?
People need to think about the expected, and unexpected costs of owning horses, before they buy, not afterwards.
Credit is easy, but it can be dangerous if relied on - look at the current economic problems
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I did exactly that to buy mine - sold a load of valuable items on ebay and most of the contents of our house to buy my horse and then still paid him off over time!

Im sorry but that post has wound me up - i never reply to this sort of thing but i had to! I agree with your principle which is stop and budget first as i dont think everyone, the minority anyway do, but the way you phrased it sounded very elitist!

Having a chunk of money (3k) easily accessible is very different to paying 350 a month to keep a horse.
We easily afford ours and in fact he costs us more than that most of the time.

Riding is nice as it attracts all sorts of people but i hate the snobbery! what you are saying is relevant to a small minoirty but it didnt comeout that way.
 
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Having a chunk of money (3k) easily accessible is very different to paying 350 a month to keep a horse.


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12 x £350 = £4200.
Problem solved, with some patience.
But no one has patience any more.
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I totally agree Shils and think that everyone wanting to buy their own horse should think about sharing one first.

I share two horses and with weekly lessons spend over £300 per month on both. In the summer this is great as I get to ride every day but in the winter when I can only ride at the weekend I don't get value for money.

Sharing is a huge financial commitment which is a good way of testing the water without the responsibility of ownership. If I was suddenly responsible for vet bills, feed bills, farriers etc the responsibility as well as the financial commitment would be enormous, plus the fact that I could end up not being able to ride at all if the horse injures itself or gets ill or lame.

I look at another forum for new riders sometimes and it always makes me shudder when someone has had riding lessons for a few months and then they or their OH decide to buy a horse.

I understand the arguments about finding the money if your animal needs it, and having a dog and a child, both of whom are enormously financially draining, I know that somehow the money is always found but I do think that horse ownership is completely different than any other type of pet ownership and the expense can be huge.
 
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Shils,

I totally agree with you that people need to budget and make sure they have the money to afford a horse including unexpected vet stuff / extra feed if the horse drops condition. But in your OP you did say that if someone couldn't afford to buy the horse in the first place they couldn't afford the upkeep. I think what many people are saying that their monthly income will cover the keep of the horse (and all added extras) but a few grand is a lot to get together in one go, so if selling spare things or trading the car in for a cheaper model etc helps to get the lump sum together then so be it.
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I do agree with what you're saying esp about buying a cheaper "problem" horse or maybe a youngster because it's cheaper nad then not having the experience to deal with it - that's a no no in my book.

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So if you scrape together the money to buy your £1k horse, and, before you have a chance to insure it, it requires colic surgery, what then? Or if you are made redundant?
People need to think about the expected, and unexpected costs of owning horses, before they buy, not afterwards.
Credit is easy, but it can be dangerous if relied on - look at the current economic problems
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I'd hope the horse was insured from day 1, and yes I would be able to afford the insurance immediately or I wouldn't be buying the horse in the first place.

And if I was made redundant, well I wouldn't buy the horse unless I knew I had a bit of a back up. And to be fair if no one bought a horse until they had enough of a lump sum backup to provide for it if they got made redundant then I'm sure there would be plenty of people on here who wouldn't have one! And I'm sure most people would be willing to do anything work-wise to keep thier horse, temporary, bar work, factory work. I'm not suggesting buying a horse on credit either - maybe in present times that is a bit risky but selling some things to raise an initial lump sum is different to taking out credit.
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Further to a post where someone was 'saving up' and 'selling high value items' to finance the purchase of a horse, I'd like to point out that if you can't afford to easily BUY them in the first place, you will struggle to afford to KEEP them properly, without compromising welfare.
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i'm afraid your original post did very much imply that having to scrimp to afford to buy means you can't afford to keep , which i think is clearly wrong in the majority of cases , & why so many poeple have made the commebts they have , not that they didn't get the point !

it might be relevant if the horse costs £1k but if it costs £10k its obviously likely to be quite a different story
 
Its the people that can afford to buy a horses but can afford to keep each it in the good nick, cut corners and don't feed them properly that bugs the hell out of me, then what do they do....they buy another...then another.

Why cant they just have one and spend their time, effort and money on that one horse, rather than little bits here and there on loads of them, and them all looking poor, not being worked because they don't have the time and money.

Its hard work keeping one horse fit and well and making sure you can provide them with everything they need all year round, looking after two IS hard work, anymore than 3 and you need to be full time and very well paid groom lol!
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Having a chunk of money (3k) easily accessible is very different to paying 350 a month to keep a horse.


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12 x £350 = £4200.
Problem solved, with some patience.
But no one has patience any more.
S
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Aah, maybe we are slightly talking cross purposes. I think the first thing that should be done is save up! (I've been doing it for the last god knows how many years!). And people shouldn't buy the horse until they definitely can afford it. But selling things to raise the cash just helps the saving really!
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i'm afraid your original post did very much imply that having to scrimp to afford to buy means you can't afford to keep , which i think is clearly wrong in the majority of cases , & why so many poeple have made the commebts they have , not that they didn't get the point !

it might be relevant if the horse costs £1k but if it costs £10k its obviously likely to be quite a different story

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I can see that for you, it isn't an issue. If memory serves, you have plenty of cash saved to buy a dressage horse, and have your own yard, with liveries?
I do still believe you are more likely to be in a position to keep a horse well, if you're not selling the family silver to buy them in the first place, as this suggests you would have no spare cash, in the event of any misfortune.
Ask yourself why the large UK equine charities are inundated with requests to rehome due to the 'credit crunch' and then tell me you recommend that people should focus on the cost price of the horse alone, without any thought to budgeting for the future keep?
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I agree; unforeseen things happen, people become sick, get made redundant, horses fall ill, etc, and some people end up in difficult situations not of their own making.
But if you think that buying the horse alone, is the main financial hurdle to be overcome, then you are indeed, missing my point.
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I have bought every horse i have had by paying in instalments as quite frankly am sh**e at savining money the one i have now I paid right out but he was only cheap. My livery, feed, vets etc bills are always paid on time and i still have money left over to spend on extras or an unexpected vets bill.
 
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I have bought every horse i have had by paying in instalments as quite frankly am sh**e at savining money the one i have now I paid right out but he was only cheap. My livery, feed, vets etc bills are always paid on time and i still have money left over to spend on extras or an unexpected vets bill.

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Perhaps you budget?
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I took out a loan to buy tia lol and lent £300 off my poor mother
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I'm awful at saving but I can afford her on a monthly basis, I've got a budget set up in Microsoft word with every outgoing including everything for her.

I think I'm in denial about how much she costs me though, I don't like to think about it to much let alone look at the figures lol, the last time I added it up it came to £130+ per month
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excluding shoes rugs etc
 
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I took out a loan to buy tia lol and lent £300 off my poor mother
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I'm awful at saving but I can afford her on a monthly basis, I've got a budget set up in Microsoft word with every outgoing including everything for her.

I think I'm in denial about how much she costs me though, I don't like to think about it to much let alone look at the figures lol, the last time I added it up it came to £130+ per month
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excluding shoes rugs etc

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If only all horse owners were like you...
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I agree budgeting can be a bit of a shock to the system when you see how much your horse/s costs (stiff drink required).
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I have done all the calculations including insurance, vaccinations, dentist, saddler, shoes, feed, bedding, lessons and how much it would cost to have a horse on full, D.I.Y and field livery and I don't even have a job to pay for the horse yet LOL but if I was saving for a horse I would be putting away how much the horse would cost on full livery & all extras plus a bit extra and see how that goes.
I know, I'm freakishly organised and although I ride and look after mums horse as much as I like it's not quite the same as owning your own.
 
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By change of heart I meant being in a position to making a dream reality. I've ridden since I was 11 but have never been in a position to have a horse, but now as an adult I am and its what I want. It's not a whim by any means.

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Didn't you just ask someone on another thread if you could learn to ride on their horses...?
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My husband bought both my horses for me (have sold the first one) however, I pay for my ned out of my monthly wage, I have a ned account in which I pay a certain amount each month to cover that months expenditure. Sometimes I go over and have to pay for stuff out of my normal account.

I wouldn't have been able to buy a horse myself, but I can afford to keep one - just!
 
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So if you are thinking of buying a horse...please, please, please can you draw up a budget (using Excel or on paper), calculating how much it will cost you to keep the horse per year?


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Then double it - because there are ALWAYS extras!!!
 
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By change of heart I meant being in a position to making a dream reality. I've ridden since I was 11 but have never been in a position to have a horse, but now as an adult I am and its what I want. It's not a whim by any means.

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Didn't you just ask someone on another thread if you could learn to ride on their horses...?
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Yes, but we all need to improve our riding and as she was close to me....
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Is this a court room? May all that's written be taken down and used against you without notice
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