Brow Beaten Father!

[splashgirl45]

maybe a good thing that you couldnt buy the land, livery sounds good and even better as daughter will have a friendly face at the yard. to find a loan horse/pony is usually best by word of mouth. you could ask at the livery yard that you hope to use is there a trainer there who could help , local riding club or pony club, local feed merchants sometimes have notice boards, how about asking the person she currently has lessons with?

its normally the owner of the horse who sorts out the loan agreement but you could look on the british horse society website for an idea of a loan agreement. good luck

 

[Darbs]

Great to hear it is pointing the right way, and I agree that particular livery seems a good option.

With regards the first pony, horse shopping is a tricky business, but whatever you do, don't buy a youngster. For a first pony its better to get an older one that has some history and has been there and done it all before. The main thing is to build confidence and enjoy it.

Some people say that a young rider and young pony can learn together. This is rubbish, one half of the partnership has to have an idea what is going on.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Agree with above do not get a youngster. Chat to local pony club, there might be a pony that is about to be outgrown.

Also I wouldn’t get hung up on the price of purchasing a pony. That is a drop in the ocean compared to the monthly upkeep of a pony (which with a loan you will have full responsibility for most likely). A loan is a better idea for seeing if horse ownership is for you but they can be hard to come by.

Best of luck!

 

[CMcC]

Thanks for the update. You sound like a great dad and are making good decisions to make your daughter very happy.
No advice but you might be best to repost this is the Tack Room forum.
More “traffic” in there. You will get loads of advice.

 

[chaps89]

There's lots of threads in the new riders and owners section of this forum that you might find helpful.
This one is also a dad who has a pony mad daughter
https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/verrrry-basic-questions.769523/

 

[HannahB]

my first horse we had on our own land and she had sheep for company so pretty cheap to care for and pony was fine

 

[Pearlsasinger]

my first horse we had on our own land and she had sheep for company so pretty cheap to care for and pony was fine

But not advisable to keep a pony without other equine company. Ponies often seem 'fine' on their own until they are given the opportunity to spend time with a field friend and then can't bear to be parted.

 

[HannahB]

But not advisable to keep a pony without other equine company. Ponies often seem 'fine' on their own until they are given the opportunity to spend time with a field friend and then can't bear to be parted.

I agree but our neighbors kept ponies in the next field so wasn't completely alone

 

[Sit]

Evening,

Thanks for all your words of encouragement and advice, it seems the option of DIY livery at her friends farm could be a real possibility once the right loan is found.

just trying to gauge initial coatings, I am sure it’s been covered here before but perhaps someone could give me a rough idea.

The DIY livery is £138 including hay/straw, shavings are £8 a week, livery also includes wormer, no extra costs for electric (lighting in arena) or for use of arena.

Farrier we have been told is 6-8 weeks £20 roughly if no shoes, £75 if shoes.

Over and above that what other regular costs do I need to budget for?

Thanks in advance you super helpful people.

Si

 

[Cloball]

You'll need to budget for insurance and lessons I would say. Vaccinations, saddle checks and dentist ( every 6-12 months ish more if issues come up). Probably forgotten something else obvious ?

 

[Sit]

That’s great, I should of said we had factored in her lessons continuing; at present she has lessons 3 times a week. If we went full loan and DIY livery we would wind this down a bit.

With a loan are vets/dentist costs covered by owner or loaner?

I SO desperately want to make this dream a reality for her especially if we are staring down the barrel of another bizarre lockdown year ahead in some way shape or form.

Si

 

[chaps89]

Well done on doing your research thoroughly

With a loan it would be normal for you as the loaner to cover all expenses associated with the pony/horse.
The only normal exception is ccasionally if the horse has a pre-existing condition then it's likely the owner would cover the ongoing costs relating to that condition.

Dentist is usually about £50 every 6-12 months
Vaccinations are once a year and about £40 off the top of my head, plus a call out charge - some vets do 'zone days' where callout is free but your appointment time is only allocated on the day.
Physio or chiro is anything from £50-£100 a visit (about £60 would be normal) and usually if there's no problems is a once every 6 months to check everything is tickety boo.
Likewise with the saddler, similar costs and frequency to physio.
Insurance is another thing to look at.
Feed and supplements- most ponies will be fine without but may need a handful of something to keep them occupied if all the horses are fed together (unusual on DIY but not totally unheard of), a bag of chaff would be about £10 and should last a couple of months if that's all pony gets.
Unlikely at the moment, but as and when holidays become possible again, or if you need a few days off for whatever reason, factor in costs of someone else looking after pony for you too. If there's someone on the yard who can do that I'd expect to pay £10-20 for the day depending on what's involved, if someone has to come in I'd expect more like £20-30 a day.
If you're on DIY you'll have start up costs of things like mucking out tools too.
And it's always wise to put a bit away on top of the rest.

Ultimately, I find you can make horse keeping as expensive or as cheap as you want!
I have one pony who costs me probably under £150 a month. Another who costs many more times that!!!

It's a lot of hard work and not a cheap hobby to get into really but oh so rewarding

 

[brighteyes]

On the subject of loans, what size pony do you need and have you considered how to manage the duration of the loan? I am assuming your daughter is growing normally and unless the family has a succession of pony-mad kids coming through the ranks, 'just the one pony' won't be suitable for long. I also would caution against 'future-proofing' by getting one the next size up!

Speaking from experience, loaning can be wonderful, but be prepared for the possibly thorny issues of loaners wanting their animals back - or NOT wanting them back. And (since the available ponies are often older - ours was 20 to start with and we lost her at 28 but she was fabulous - see avatar) what you would do about the issues often suffered by oldies, like Cushing's and, God forbid, laminitis due to past management and oversight.

One of my children's ponies has been out on loan for over 10 years and whilst I am prepared for her homecoming, it doesn't look like she is leaving her (now adult) other person! The other two (one bought and one loaned then bought) are still here, early 20s fit as fleas and needing helpers drafted in to ride. Once they are here, they have a guaranteed life home. They are being medicated for Cushing's though, and it is a consideration, financially, to factor in.

On the subject of on-costs, think of a horrifyingly big number - and double it. Even trebled, it's worth it. Lucky child to have a parent so invested in the passion she has found.