Buying a horse - it’s been 10 years!

[mumof3]

Hello all,

thank you in advance for reading.

im hoping you will all be able to give me some much needed advice.

so, as the title reads really, it’s been 10 years since I last had my own horse … now 3 children later, I’m in a position to get myself a horse again. I’m absolutely thrilled and beyond excited but I’m also realising just how much I’ve forgotten!

Ive booked in for a few private lessons to refresh myself with the riding side of things but that doesn’t phase me at all, I’ll never forget how to ride! It’s everything else!

my thought are to find a livery yard and then the right horse but I suppose I want a bit of advice on what to feed, rough costs of diy livery plus everything else, vets/insurance, shoeing……. Everything really.

im sure it will all come back to me pretty quickly but I want to do it right.

thanks in advance

kirsty

 

[milliepops]

Welcome to the forum and how nice to be starting your horsey life again.
a lot of the answers to your questions will depend on the horse type and your location. I'll kick off though

I'm in the SW and my DIY livery has varied between £25 and £55 per week depending on the yard.

Hay can be expensive on a bad year, my OH makes mine but it normally sells for about £35 a big round which lasts one average horse about a month unless turnout is very limited. This year there's been a shortage so the prices have gone up in some areas.

Bedding - some people find straw economical, it's hard to get at the moment in this area. i use wood pellets which i buy by the pallet load for about £300 which lasts 2 horses about 6 months +. sometimes add in a bale of shavings about £8 a pop.

Shoeing - you might not need it in which case a trim every 6 weeks or so won't set you back that much, often about £25 in this area if you're not sharing a visit with another livery, a set of shoes would be more like £70 upwards

Feed wise, I generally feed a basic diet of grass chaff and a balancer which caters for most horses, a sack of balancer lasts about a month at £25ish and a sack of chaff £10. If you need more than that the options are endless and vary in price.

Insurance is highly variable and depends on what you want on your policy. I have insured leisure horses for £40 a month and my competition horse is more like £80.

I'd ask around for recommendations for vets in your local area. I am registered with an equine practice. they do zone days once a week where your visit is half price. some offer a free visit on the zone day etc that is useful for routine stuff like vaccinations. but cost isn't everything, experience and good service are often more valuable

Other incidentals - always need a budget for replacement stuff that breaks, worming/egg counts (your yard may dictate this), lessons, shows, transport? consumables like fly spray, saddle soap etc

soon mounts up...

 

[mumof3]

Thank you so much for your help Millie I really appreciate it! Excited to get everything sorted! ???

 

[Firefly9410]

I budget about £100 per week per horse. That is for covering livery, bedding, hay, feed, wormers, farrier trim quarterly, flyspray, hoof dressing, shampoo, vitamin supplement, annual vaccination and teeth rasping. I have unshod good do-ers around 14.2hh

 

[mini_b]

How exciting!

One thing to add..I was on DIY pre children, but had to change between part/full livery as my work/home balance went out the window.
All the travelling work school horse (even though all fairly close) left little time to actually ride or do things like clip or tidy once I’d finished essential jobs.
if you work, check out full/part livery costs just in case this is a service you need to use!

my IDx is in light work 6 days a week, he’s a RC type horse.
he’s massive but gets a handful of chaff and speedi beet just to carry his vitamins. I certainly do not feed what’s on the back of the bag.

shoes are £70 every 6 weeks

I am on a worm count program which is £16 per time then if wormer required cost of wormer on top.

dentist 1x year £85 including sedation

I think my vet is very reasonable, for non emergencies I drive there to save the call out fee (£40) or split it with someone else on yard who might need a visit. you can not guesstimate vet costs unless you’ve had a similar problem before, how long is a piece of string?! Either have some savings set aside or a credit card only for vets.

don’t buy loads of stuff to begin with, as you’ll find out what you need as you go along really. Really stick to the basics.

you can buy a cheap new bridle for £50, or search high and low for a £300 bridle second hand. I always do the latter!

you always end up spending more than you budget for - good luck!