Breakdown of costs for someone looking at getting a horse.

C

Cedars

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 May 2009
Messages
7,830
Visit site
Hi guys,

Would REALLY appreciate it if you could give me a brief overview on how much you spend on your horse per month, and what you spend it on?

A friend is looking to buy a horse who shes fallen in love with and seems totally perfect for her, and she is wondering what the overall cost is and whether she can afford it.

Thank you so much. For comparison, the horse is a 16.2hh grey, who is VERY skinny and needs fattening up. Will come with no tack or rugs, and is shod. xxx
 
Per month at the moment in winter (I have two so I've just halved what I spend. Should work out about right)

DIY livery £80
Haylage £60
Feed (poor doer) probably £30 or so but I'm not entirely sure
Shoes £35
Insurance £40

I usually end up buying at least something as an emergency as well, fence posts, buckets, destroyed rugs. Obviously the dentist comes every six months so that's another £25 on those weeks.


So that's over £200. I don't have a calculator. Too much is what it is. Have I forgotten anything?
 
I spend:
£90 stable DIY (£22.50 per week)
£18 for straw
£72 for hay
£30 feeds
£65 natural balance shoes with road nails every 5 weeks
£22 insurance
16'1 TB - pretty good doer
 
Upfront costs:
Tack: Cheaply around £500 for all of it but more if she wants new stuff
Mucking out equipment: £100
Grooming Kit: £20
Rugs: As its winter, £200

After the basics are bought:
Shoes: £65 per month
DIY Livery: £30 per month
Shavings: £20 per month
Haylage: As above
Lessons: £20 per week
Alfa-A: £12 per month
Blue-chip: £15 per month (bags sound expensive but last a long time)
Insurance: £50 per month (this could be a lot cheaper though)

Overall that would be about £1000 but after the basics are bought it becomes cheaper. This doesn't include my competition entries and memberships to BE and BS.

Hope this helps :)
 
Hi, Im paying per month
DIY £100
Haylage £28
Feed for good doer, £30
Shavings £40
Insurance £37
Shoes £65 every 6 weeks

Friend will have to buy all tack, rugs, brushes, buckets, haynets, boots, head collar etc etc etc.
Not trying to put a dampner on it but I bought a very skinny horse years ago and she cost me a fortune to feed, vet treatment etc, ended up looking well but was a complete nutter once she had her weight back on.
 
Thanks for all advice - even the one about the skinny horse being a nutter!

I think this is all going to be more than she can afford but thank you anyway, keep it coming please!!

She thankfully already has headcollar and grooming kit. And with christmas coming up some of the rugs etc can be accounted for =] xxxxx
 
17hh ISH - good doer, fit and hunting

DIY - £140/month
Feed - approx £50/month
Haylage - approx £40 month
Straw -£20-25 month
Shoes £65 every 6 weeks so £43/month
Total £298 (gulp!!)

plus insurance, vets bills, dentist, supplements

Initial set up costs of tack, rugs, etc as previously posted
 
don't forget about the extras such as worming and vaccinations too, they can creep up on you without warning other than vet's card!
also think about transport costs too as needed.
 
DIY livery £35 a week
Shavings (when in at night) 1-2 bales/week, £6-12
Hay (when in) 1 large bale £25 lasts ages (but not in every night)! so maybe £5 a week
Feed - bag of hi-fi light ~£10 lasts 3 horses ~a month so £3 a month.
shoes £40 every 6 weeks (fronts only)
Insurance £35 a month
saddle check £50 every 6 months (or more often when he was growing out of his saddle every month!)
£40 dentist every 9 months
Worming/ worm tests £10-20 4x a year
£50 vaccinations- yearly
£45 rug washing/reproofing - yearly
£60 BHS Glod membership to cover public liability!

not to mention lessons, competition entries, bags of apples/carrots, petrol and all the other things I've forgotten!
 
Last edited:
Don't forget to factor in the added fuel going to the yard and back twice a day - the increase in my monthly petrol bill was one of the things that caught me unawares when I got my first horse.
 
Tannenbaum said:
Don't forget to factor in the added fuel going to the yard and back twice a day - the increase in my monthly petrol bill was one of the things that caught me unawares when I got my first horse.
Click to expand...

Good point.
I have my own yard but people at DIY livery locally pay £25 a week for stable and turnout,shoes about £12 a week, bedding varies, if its shavings they are over £7 a bale so 14 to 21 a week there,straw is cheaper. Hay was £2 a small bale at 2 or 3 bales per week per horse but I think its gone up,I would put aside £70 a week for 1 horse,becuse of other needs such as vaccinations wormers etc. THen theres insurance , you need to get quotes but most people I know pay about £300 per year. 3rd party only is about £60 but can you afford a large vet bill ,say £2,000 or £5,000? You might need to buy new tack,saddle ,rugs, if you go to competitions then the costs can escalate.
I think its easily do-able on £350 a month with some stsh of savings for one offs/emergencies. theres also travel costs s indicted above.
 
Just take all the money you have left when you have paid out for the most basic elements of your own life, such as charity shop clothes and furniture, wellies (you won't need any other footwear other than riding boots as you won't be going anywhere), a large car for all the horsy rubbish you will cart about that is about 22 years old and keeps going on a wing and a prayer (well, it has to -you can't get the parts), a shed to live in, a very small terrier (cheap to keep and catches the odd rabbit for you to brighten up the lentil soup you are going to be living on) and quadruple it and throw it at the horse and all it's needs. That's how much it costs. In my experience, anyway.

Oh, and don't forget to double it once you've quadrupled it, as you will inevitably end up with another horse. And another terrier. It's the law.
 
£220 - part livery, inc all hay/haylage and bedding
£35- insurance
£40 - shoes (6 week cycle for a £60 set)
£10 - dentist (6 month cycle at £60 a pop)
£20+ - feed and supplements

so £325 (ish) a month for basic expenses, plus vaccinations, worming, rug repairs and reproofing, tack, rugs, back person, competing, transport for the horse and a further £80-100 in fuel for my small car in going to see him. Don't underestimate the fuel factor - that is actually a really large expense in the scheme of things.
 
I pay £600 a month, at least, for my 2.

Full Livery with excellent quality home grown haylage £60 a week x 2
Feed £30 a month now Cappy is only on beet and chaff.
Supplements - a lot! £30 a month approx.
Carrots/ apples etc. £15
Feet £30 a month - once every 6 weeks.
Dentist £40 per horse per visit.
Vet - £63 per visit of dentist ( Cappy needs sedation)
Insurance - £62 a month.
Rugs/ tack/ treats/ vaccinations etc.- how long is a piece of string?

Worth it? Too right! My horses are the reason I work full time. ;)
FDC
 
Last edited:
I have a cob who's a good doer and lives out 24/7 (5 min walk from home) so I reckon I'm keeping her as cheaply as I can:

DIY grass livery - £50 (£10 per week)
Haylage (winter only) - £20
Farrier - £50 (£60 every 6 weeks)
Insurance - £35
Big tub of treats - £5

So around £160 per month in theory.

In practice, in the 9 months I've had her I've bought:
Clapped out jeep for towing - £1000, plus tax & insurance
Annual vaccinations - £30
Annual dental - £30
New reins, headcollar, lead rope, grooming stuff, riding boots, jodhpurs, gloves, wellies, shampoo... you get the idea....
 
Eurgh not sure if I can face writing this down ;) OK here goes.. Mine in 16.2 WB needs a bit more condition

Livery £35 pw
Haylage £10 pw
Baileys no2 £9 every 2 wks
Hi fi original £10 every 4 wks
Speedibeet £10 every 4 wks
Pink powder £15 every 3 months
Brewers yeast £6 every 6 wks
Insurance £78 pm (with 100% lou)
Farrier £45 every 6 weeks
Dentist £40 every 6 months
Saddler £45 every 6 months (or when changed shape)
Ttouch £35 per month
Back lady £40 every 3-6 months
Lessons £30 every 2 wks

Add to that tack, grooming stuff, competing
 
Hmmm... My old two cost alot less than some of these! :o Although was free livery - at my dads :o

£40 per month for 2 large bales of haylage.
£30 for farrier
£40 food.
Adding in worming and dentist make £7.5 per month.

Adds up to £117.5 per month for 2.


In summer it was £37.5 for 2... :)

This time around I wouldn get insurance, which would obivously add to it.

Obivioulsy need to add in tack/rugs/accesories etc. These tend to be one off expenses though (well except if you have a rug hating horse like I did!)
 
DIY livery inc haylage £110
Rapport bedding £5/ bale, I prob use 3 bales a month.
Shoes £60 every 8 weeks
Feed - mix £8/bag, lasts about a month, Mollichop £5 ish/bag, lasts a couple of months.
Insurance about £30 a month I think.

Also miscellaneous things - wormers, vet costs (I am lucky I can do it myself, just have to pay for the drugs!), dentist etc.

Don't even start me on running the horsebox!
 
Think of a number and double it!;)

And don't forget all the wet/cold weather gear, extra hats, gloves, wellies atc that she wouldn't need otherwise.
And then there's the 4x4 that she'll need to get to the horse.

Sorry not a lot of help but I lose count of all I spend on them.:D
 
diy livery - £97.50
Hay - £30
Shavings - £28
worm - £5
vacc - £4
feet - £9 (barefoot)
teeth - £3
bhs gold member - £5
feed - £5.50 (very good doer)

£187 per month



ive worked everything out over the month so you have a roundabout figure. this is for a elderly cob. my other horse who is also elderly but bigger is the same. the only thing i havent included is her pergolide which is £4.20 per week they are in at night and out during the day
 
Initial Outlay if done via ebay and other bargainous places:

- Secondhand tack (wintec or thorowgood style) £200
- 2 x HW T/O's second hand and fleece to get started £110
- Feed bins, buckets and co £30
- Grooming kit £15

INITAL OUTLAY TOTAL: £355

Monthly outlays:

- DIY livery £125
- Shoeing £35
- Feed and supplements £25
- Hay £48 (last year's prices)
- Insurance £30
- Bedding £10

TOTAL: £273

Needless to say I (was) a good-doer owner who lived out!
 
£120 DIY
£40 hay
£16 straw
£45 shoes (just fronts) every 8 weeks
£15 insurance
£10 food

That's a good month when nothing goes wrong, and he doesn't break something or rip a rug :)
 
atm am spending around £500 a month on my 2, one is a 16hh heavyweight cob, and the other is a 7 month TB foal. In the summer it's usually £400 depending on the circumstances and no vet bills :)
 
My original post was meant to be jokey, but quite honestly, it really is the truth. You can budget for all the basics -livery, feed, hay, shoes, vaccinations, wormer etc, but horses being what they are, there are always unexpected costs. or should I say expected unexpected costs. The best investment we made was to increase the mortgage by buying a place with 11 acres. I have 5 horses and they get turned out in March and live on grass alone till October/November and cost me nothing but the increased mortgage payment, which is way less than livery. They are in fact still out 24/7 at the moment despite us having a foot of snow. They have 4 rugs on each with neck covers, 6bales of hay a day, which we took off our own land and we will move on to haylage at £30 a large bale soon which will last a week to ten days. They are not shod nor insured -too old, but I have not had the vet out in the 3 years we've been here except once for an abscess in the foot. They get their teeth done every 12 months and their feet trimmed every 8 weeks. They are as fat as butter and have coats like grizzly bears.

The cost of horses is so variable depending on your circumstances. A native type on your own land with your own hay will be nothing compared to a poor doer kept at strictly run livery with little turn out. It also depends on whether you have one or several. If you have several it begins to make sense to keep them at home if you can. One may well be cost effective at livery, especially an all in livery. The only thing that is constant is that horse owning is an expensive business and you have to earn a reasonable amount or be prepared to sacrifice an awful lot for your passion. It really isn't for the faint hearted, though I do appreciate the desire to own your own horse. It's like a compulsion or addiction with no prospect of a cure!
 
16.1hh ID x

£80 - DIY livery
£20 - food
£15 - hay
£ 6 - shavings
£22 - insurance

Out most of time.

£55 for shoes


I share so those costs are split. Might this be an option for your friend?
 
I have a 9yo TB who I keep at a friend's and he has 1 1/2 acres of decent grass and a nice stable in his field. He used to be on livery and the livery cost was more than double the price below but it really depends on where your friend is planning on keeping the horse.

Ok, here goes.......

'Livery' - includes friend feeding in morning: £65 per month
Hay (ad lib) - £25 per month in winter (big bales are the way to go!)
One chaff - £7.00
One speedibeet - £10.00
One mix - £6.50
Balancer - £15.00
Straw - 4 bales at 50p!! - £2.00
Insurance - £56.00 (ouch)
Shoes - £30.00 (£60 every 8 weeks)

Monthly: £216.50

Annual costs include jabs - £50, dentist - 2x £30, saddle fitter ???

Realistically I need to budget £250 per month + a contingency for emergencies/treats during winter. During summer we compete so although hay costs are obviously removed this is more than made up for in entry fees.

Ouch. Wish I hadn't just put that in black and white.

As for start up costs I reckon its do-able on about £500 - but IME this tends to be a slippery slope and I end up buying something new most months!
 
Assisted DIY £200pm (includes bedding and ad lib haylege)
Shoes 45pm
Feed 40pm
Insurance 36pm
Vet plan for vacs and check up 11pm


So thats £332pm......eeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!

Then she needs all the basic equipment, saddle, bridle, bit, saddle clothes, girth etc etc which (good quality second hand) will probably cost around £400/500

A poor doer that hasn't got any condition will probably need rugging now - so your friend will need an advance on her christmas money!! Rugs for the winter will probably cost around £200

Then, in my opinion, she will need AT LEAST her insurance excess (around £130) in the bank at all times in case of emergencies.

Then there are all the other extras

Wormers £10/15
Saddle fitter £50
Dentist £35
Back specialists £80 <<------- these are all per year

Then she has to dedicate herself to the horse twice a day, every day (if on DIY)

Buying the horse is the cheapest part of being an owner
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top