Can I pick brains?

[r0450111]

Potentially moving my tb from the uk to co. Cork. But have no idea on the cost of everything! Can anyone give me a rough idea to farrier costs, bedding costs (looking for something along the lines of bedsoft), hay cost and feed costs? Looking at buying a house with land ect attached.

Thank you all so much!

 

[amage]

Whereabouts in Cork? Either way it's a huge horsy areas. Hay big round bales 25-30€ or haylage €30-35. Shavings €6.50-€10 depending on where you buy. Straw €15-20 for large round bales. Not sure what bedsoft is but I use StrawChip Rapid bedding which is medicated rape straw and buy it for €6.75 a bag. Feed....depends on what you want but anything from €7-20 a bag. I use RedMills horsecare range which is excellent and around €12 a bag. Dengie Alfa/HiFi products €15-20 a bag depending on where you buy. Shoeing is €60-90 depending on what you want/quality of the farrier. I pay €75 for hot shoeing with a master farrier inc stud holes. Shoeing is not as tightly regulated here and there are unqualified charlatans out there so go with word of mouth recommendation only!

 

[r0450111]

That's fab! My UK farrier did say to be careful who I used if I did move over.. My lad is a very sensitive TB so would be happy to pay whatever to get the best farrier to keep him sound. Bedsoft is a chopped straw, supposedly sprayed to make it unpalatable but may lad eats it anyway! Possibly moving dunmanway area depending on where we end up buying. Prices aren't as much as I thought they would be, which is a big tick! Thank you so much!

 

[Aoibhinn]

That's fab! My UK farrier did say to be careful who I used if I did move over.. My lad is a very sensitive TB so would be happy to pay whatever to get the best farrier to keep him sound. Bedsoft is a chopped straw, supposedly sprayed to make it unpalatable but may lad eats it anyway! Possibly moving dunmanway area depending on where we end up buying. Prices aren't as much as I thought they would be, which is a big tick! Thank you so much!

Dunmanway is the middle of nowhere in relation to anything horsey, meaning you will be far away from competitions, hunter trials etc.! But it is a lovely place best of luck!

 

[rogerted]

Hi and good luck with the move! I moved over from England in 1999 and you will find a few differences. The main one, I suppose, is the lack of bridleways. However, in the Dunmanway area you might well have some nice quiet lanes as we have here ( I'm only 20 mins away from Dunmanway, in Clonakilty) I would disagree about being far away from competitions. Depends what you do, but there are certainly more events with an hour and a half's radius than there used to be and as for show jumping, which is what we do, there is one centre on the outskirts of Cork city ( less than an hr away), one only 20 mins away and then you can travel a bit further to Ballyrafter, Millstreet, Killarney... Dressage-wise, there are a number of enthusiasts in the area and a leading German trainer only half an hour away from D'manway so it's not so barren as you might think. When I visited a friend in Warwickshire, I was surprised that the centre she visited most regularly was about 2 hrs away when you take into consideration traffic jams, which we don't get here!
Great thing is that you can buy a place cheap enough here to have your horses at home. We're lucky enough to have done that and would never have been able to have afforded that in England. Would echo what your farrier and Amage said about farriers here but as long as you get one who is trained properly and comes recommended, then you'll be fine. Our farrier is very good, worked in Newmarket for years and is €60. PM if you want to find out more about the area!