"cheap as possible please"

[smellydogjack]

I have just had to unfollow my local horse and pony Facebook page. I find myself unnecessarily enraged by all the cheap as possible posts.... "looking for a instructor- cheap as possible!".... "looking for transport- cheap as possible"...... "farrier- cheap as possible!" .... "riding school --- cheap as possible"

I am not as poor as I have been previously in my life but I am by no means rich. However I do appreciate horses cost money. And often in the horsey world "cheap as possible" comes at a sacrifice of something - more often than not - the horses welfare.


Pointless post. Needed a rant

 

[smellydogjack]

Was meant to put this in tack room now I can't work out how to move it ! Apologies

 

[silv]

I see this all the time as well, it drives me nuts! Paragon of horse described in wanted adverts then followed by "free or cheap" or farrier wanted must be cheap...in NZ anyone can set up as a farrier with no training, so you can guess the standard of the cheap ones! or when hay is like gold dust due to shortages people seem to think it should still be cheap and state that in their adverts. The list goes on.......

 

[FfionWinnie]

And don't forget they must be available immediately too!

 

[*hic*]

And delivered free

 

[AmieeT]

Drives me crazy too...

As much as I like saving money, you're paying for a service, a specialised one (in the case of the farrier) that requires a lot of time and training, and could potentially cripple your 'beloved' animal... Why go cheap?!

Just so happens my excellent farrier has extremely good prices (that have risen a lot over the last year, but I pay for his skill).

 

[smellydogjack]

Glad I'm not the only one. The instructor one gets me. I'm aware you can enter into a world of expense with certain instructors. But generally round here they are competitively priced. It's hard enough for them to make a living as it is one you the of being self employed.

 

[Flicker]

My favourite one ever was a girl on our yard with her own horse, lovely quiet mare, asking our local FB group if anyone had a quiet horse for her friend to get back into riding on, after a few years out of the saddle. 'Only a couple of times a week'... No offer of help with chores or financial contribution.
I wrote back suggesting that she either uses her own horse, or the friend goes to one of the very good riding schools that we are lucky to have nearby, and does it properly under qualified, insured tuition.
Didn't go down well.

 

[wills_91]

Yup irritates me to.

 

[webble]

Oh yes these posts really wind me up. Also the ones that say not too expensive. How much is too expensive?

 

[luckyoldme]

my sign on the workshop door reads as follows
Here We do Three types of jobs
1)CHEAP 2)QUICK 3)GOOD
YOU CAN HAVE ANY TWO
A ) A good quick job (wont be cheap)
B)A cheap good job (wont be quick)
C) A quick cheap job (wont be good)

 

[Penny Less]

love that !

 

[fairyclare]

Drives me nuts!!

We have a woman on our yard who's teenage daughter has a pony on full loan (owner pays some towards it too but unsure of the actual arrangement) and I have had to unfollow her and turn off all notifications for all the local fb selling groups as she posts almost hourly wanting something or other, always 'cheap and local' or free!

Now, I am a bit of a horse tack/gear snob, openly admit it and my bank account suffers because of it - but..... sometimes you just cannot 'cheap' for things, horses are expensive, even when you are careful with the pennies.
I always shop around, look for deals, buy in bulk when I can afford to do so, utilise BOGOF's etc or buy secondhand (somethings, not all)

 

[Greylegs]

I agree that all the "cheap as possible" posts just get out of hand. People need to get real and accept the cost of keeping a horse (or not have one at all!) ... but just going off at a bit of a tangent ... there's also the posts where someone posts pictures of a load of used gear ... usually dirty or very well used, and actually wants to sell it for decent money and adds ... "Want gone as soon as possible" ... like people are going to be falling over themselves to buy their old junk!! ... Just an extension of the "cheap as poss" mentality, I fear. I worry for the horses involved in these situations ....


ETA ... I keep my horse at a good yard for his own welfare, but it costs me and I accept the cost willingly. The downside of that is that I sacrifice a lot of other things to pay for it, so no lavish christmas pressies, nice girly stuff, expensive hair-dos etc etc.

 

[peaceandquiet1]

OH is farrier-the other day someone went nuts because she had asked for road studs-then expected to get then free.....eh no, he has to buy and fit them. Nothing worse than a cheapskate with a horse.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Drives me crazy. Keeping horses is not cheap, when will people realise this?

 

[fishy]

Another one that gets me is cheap transport!!

 

[happyclappy]

The saddles one really bugs me, as do most of these things. I skimp on my own stuff and do not go for BIG brands like Musto, but for my horse, I want quality and for that I will pay.

 

[atropa]

Yes, it's so annoying. Horses are expensive, and not everyone can afford them, people need to realise that. There's absolutely no harm in trying to save some money where you can, and shopping smartly, but expecting other people to subsidise your hobby is not on in my opinion. Agree with the poster pointing out about people trying to sell their very well used gear too!

 

[Flicker]

Free loaders at the yard also get my goat. We don't have to pay to use the school, but the lights are paid for by tokens, which gives you 30 minutes at a time. Well, honestly, I could swear that this one livery at our yard tacks up and then lies in wait for someone to pop a token in the machine because she turns up about 30 seconds later to ride... And never an offer to share the costs.

 

[luckyoldme]

its not unique to the horse world.
There s a certain type of person who wants everthing for nothing, and its the same type who want top prices when selling their own ware. My great aunt called them tight as fishes ********s.

 

[McFluff]

my sign on the workshop door reads as follows
Here We do Three types of jobs
1)CHEAP 2)QUICK 3)GOOD
YOU CAN HAVE ANY TWO
A ) A good quick job (wont be cheap)
B)A cheap good job (wont be quick)
C) A quick cheap job (wont be good)

Brilliant. Applies to so many aspects of life!

 

[smellydogjack]

Luckyoldme I love that quote!

 

[Spilletta]

Luckyoldme I love that quote!

Agree!

Also agree that it's annoying to read "cheap as possible". As others have said, it's usually people who wouldn't dream of selling something at a reasonable price. Wonder how they would feel if their employers decided to reduce their pay cheques as they need the work doing CAP! Only fair...

I had something on Preloved that was £10 (or thereabouts - can't recall) but stipulated that it was cash on collection because the cost of posting was more than the item was worth. Someone offered me £8 including P&P and said they were on a budget. So, basically, their budget meant I was going to sell at a loss. My budget meant I said no thank you - I need enough money to pay fair and reasonable prices to my farrier, etc! And I don't begrudge any of it.

 

[Dancing_Diva]

I see a post on Facebook earlier, someone wanting a cheap horse trailer for their loan horse. Max of £200

After a few replies they then said they don't mind a project. Even for that price they'd struggle to get a project trailer I'd think, I'd been shopping for a project box for a while and found none that cheap!

 

[Andalucian]

Annoys me too, if I had anything I thought was really cheap, I'd donate it to a charity before selling it to these out And out scroungers.

 

[littletrotter]

I don't know. I know a family who have been doing this the past wee while. The horse is the teenage daughters, she has had a really hard time the last few years. Mum has recently been diagnosed with a serious progressive illness, daughter has by default become a carer (there's no assistance available to them) and dad was made redundant as the company he worked for folded in the wake of the banking crisis. He's no longer working in his chosen field (he was on nearly 6 figures, now on about 25k a year i think). He's still looking but he's in his 50's and the longer he's out the harder it is to ever get back in. They have already lost their home, the fee paying school she was at, are driving a banger and wearing ancient and charity shop clothes. The mum is really worried what will happen to the daughter if they have to sell the horse, and is doing everything she can to prevent it. The horse is her sanity just now. They are literally scraping through, and it's through no fault of their own. Should they sell the horse? Maybe. Would you all sell your horses in this scenario? Or your beloved dogs? Or would you go on FB and try to replace a torn rug as cheaply as possibly and hang on until spring? Life can be very cruel.

 

[smellydogjack]

Agreed that is very sad. However there is a difference between wanting cheap things. Or wanting things cheap.... for example... I have seen people asking for instructors, rambo rugs, farriers the lot. Life can be very tough but you must always be realistic. So in your friends case yes I would sell the horse. I don't feel bad for making that statement as when my mother died when I was 19- I had to sell my horse to a college and I cried for months. But I just couldn't afford him.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I don't know. I know a family who have been doing this the past wee while. The horse is the teenage daughters, she has had a really hard time the last few years. Mum has recently been diagnosed with a serious progressive illness, daughter has by default become a carer (there's no assistance available to them) and dad was made redundant as the company he worked for folded in the wake of the banking crisis. He's no longer working in his chosen field (he was on nearly 6 figures, now on about 25k a year i think). He's still looking but he's in his 50's and the longer he's out the harder it is to ever get back in. They have already lost their home, the fee paying school she was at, are driving a banger and wearing ancient and charity shop clothes. The mum is really worried what will happen to the daughter if they have to sell the horse, and is doing everything she can to prevent it. The horse is her sanity just now. They are literally scraping through, and it's through no fault of their own. Should they sell the horse? Maybe. Would you all sell your horses in this scenario? Or your beloved dogs? Or would you go on FB and try to replace a torn rug as cheaply as possibly and hang on until spring? Life can be very cruel.

I feel very sorry for the family in this scenario but no, I wouldn't post on FB asking for a cheap replacement rug; I would repair the torn one!

I can see no need at all for any-one to be asking for a cheap trailer, there are plenty to be had at various auction sales around the country, they may need some work but they are certainly available and I can th9nk of no scenario where any-one 'needs' to buy transport - just leave the horse at home or hack to wherever you want to go.

 

[xxcharlottexx]

I had something on Preloved that was £10 (or thereabouts - can't recall) but stipulated that it was cash on collection because the cost of posting was more than the item was worth. Someone offered me £8 including P&P and said they were on a budget. So, basically, their budget meant I was going to sell at a loss. My budget meant I said no thank you - I need enough money to pay fair and reasonable prices to my farrier, etc! And I don't begrudge any of it.

Same here.

Got a le mieux seat saver on preloved. Was bought for 40. Selling for 30, brand new as too big for saddle!

One girl insisted I accept 20. Even said I'd meet half way at 25, but no she would come and collect tomorrow for 20, despite saying twice I would not be available or accept 20 for it.

Would rather pay 20 to get it adjusted to fit saddle than take a £20 loss!