Cheeky/ridiculous posts you see on Facebook.

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

It can be done considerably cheaper than that.

I spend about £500 a month on mine who is on Part livery (full during the week, assisted at the weekend) and if I went either just onto assisted or DIY it would be much cheaper.
But he is a little welsh fattie and not shod

I think it depends on the area of the country as well - my 5 day part livery is £625 and that's without any feed (£29), shoes (£120), insurance (£26), supplements (£27)
The purely DIY on our yard is £270pcm, so by the time you have added on the above un-negotiable extras (£202) and a bale of hay (£50 this year-ish) you are already at £522 and literally bare bones.

 

[KikiDee]

It probably can be done cheaper but if you're at the absolute top of your budget just for keeping your horse month-to-month what happens when you have an unexpected cost? I see it constantly and the horse always suffers. "The saddle fitter says my saddle doesn't fit but I can't afford a new one so we'll have to make do", "my horse has been lame on/off for a while but I just can't afford the cost for the vet to look at them", "I think my horse has ulcers but I can't afford the treatment, do I just give it a supplement and hope for the best?" etc.

I'm not saying every horse has to be kept in the lap of luxury and you're a bad owner if you can't afford Equitex pads, a sports massage every 3 weeks and a crystal healer than aligns your horses chakra with the cycle of the moon. But cheap-to-buy horses cost the same to keep in good health as expensive-to-buy horses.

 

[ester]

Usually what happens is interest free credit cards….

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

It can be done considerably cheaper than that.

I spend about £500 a month on mine who is on Part livery (full during the week, assisted at the weekend) and if I went either just onto assisted or DIY it would be much cheaper.
But he is a little welsh fattie and not shod

Genuine question... how?

Assuming you meant £500 spent to keep your horse per month total, not just the livery.

 

[lrw0250]

Genuine question... how?

Assuming you meant £500 spent to keep your horse per month total, not just the livery.

I manage to "keep" my daughters 2 ponies for approx £650/month over winter, much less in summer when they are out 24/7 but then more of the budget goes on camp, competition fees etc.

Last month my livery bill for 2 on DIY with stables, hay bales for field and barn and wood pellet bedding came to £469. Add in approx £60 for feed and supplements, £30 for the wee ones Prascend, £60 insurance and £30 put aside for feet trims every 7 weeks.

I think it really does depend on where you are in the country

 

[nutjob]

I spend about £500 a month on mine who is on Part livery (full during the week, assisted at the weekend) and if I went either just onto assisted or DIY it would be much cheaper.
But he is a little welsh fattie and not shod

5 day a week livery is £500-£600 a month in my area, so you're presumably somewhere cheaper. Typically there is also a restriction on hay/haylage/bedding so maybe enough for a pony but definitely not for a horse. I've hardly seen yards turning out round here recently so in most cases where they only supply one bale of bedding this wont be enough. DIY is £150 upwards and I'm spending ~£150 on hay and ~£100 on bedding for each horse.

 

[conniegirl]

Per month:
£420 on Part livery,
£20 on feed & vits (as I said, he is a fattie)
£35 every 8 weeks for the farrier
He is 25, so only insured for 3rd party through harry hall at £6 a month.


so thats £463.50

Other costs
Vaccines, Dentist, worming and saddle fitter all organised as a yard so costs kept minimal. Last time I had the saddle fitter it was £60, Vet for vaccines was £90 because of the split call out, same with the Dentist). We do FEC's which is £7.50 every 3 months and then a tapeworm wormer once a year. probably around £400 a year.

 

[maya2008]

Costs me about £200 per pony in the winter, £120 per pony in the summer + competing costs.

 

[conniegirl]

5 day a week livery is £500-£600 a month in my area, so you're presumably somewhere cheaper. Typically there is also a restriction on hay/haylage/bedding so maybe enough for a pony but definitely not for a horse. I've hardly seen yards turning out round here recently so in most cases where they only supply one bale of bedding this wont be enough. DIY is £150 upwards and I'm spending ~£150 on hay and ~£100 on bedding for each horse.

No restrictions on Hay or bedding at all, though only straw and rapestraw are included, the only caveat is be sensible and dont waste it. If you want shavings you have to pay extra. TBh I've found rape straw better than shavings.
He has had turn out all but 3 days this winter. He is turned out from about 7am to 3.30pm

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Per month:
£420 on Part livery,
£20 on feed & vits (as I said, he is a fattie)
£35 every 8 weeks for the farrier
He is 25, so only insured for 3rd party through harry hall at £6 a month.


so thats £463.50

Other costs
Vaccines, Dentist, worming and saddle fitter all organised as a yard so costs kept minimal. Last time I had the saddle fitter it was £60, Vet for vaccines was £90 because of the split call out, same with the Dentist). We do FEC's which is £7.50 every 3 months and then a tapeworm wormer once a year. probably around £400 a year.

Do you have hay and bedding costs on top?

Thanks for replying - I know I'm being nosy! It's just I'm trying to work out how a part livery could be covering their costs at that price.

ETA - just seen answered above

 

[conniegirl]

Do you have hay and bedding costs on top?

Thanks for replying - I know I'm being nosy! It's just I'm trying to work out how a part livery could be covering their costs at that price.

ETA - just seen answered above

nope, adlib hay and bedding (Straw or rape straw) are included in the livery including for the days he is diy (hence why i called it assisted rather than straight DIY.

 

[conniegirl]

And before someone says that we must have a quagmire, this is him yesterday.

At the front is a gravel path to the next paddock

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

nope, adlib hay and bedding (Straw or rape straw) are included in the livery including for the days he is diy (hence why i called it assisted rather than straight DIY.

Thanks again - in my head part livery is everything except riding and assisted DIY could be anything from complete DIY up to not quite part livery so quite variable.

 

[KikiDee]

Thanks again - in my head part livery is everything except riding and assisted DIY could be anything from complete DIY up to not quite part livery so quite variable.

Round here Part Livery can mean anything from full livery Mon-Fri with DIY at weekends, to DIY with the addition of turn out and bring in, to turn out and muck out but owner responsible for evenings etc. Hay/bedding generally included. It is normally around £600/month. Full Livery is generally full-care but no exercise. Full livery including exercise is usually marketed as Schooling Livery or Competition Livery.

 

[conniegirl]

Thanks again - in my head part livery is everything except riding and assisted DIY could be anything from complete DIY up to not quite part livery so quite variable.

For clarity, on the 5 days during the week the full livery is full care, the only thing they dont do is tack up, ride or clean your tack for you. The only extra you have to pay for is feed and fattie gets a handfull of chaff and a vitamin suppliment so thats minimal. They will hold for farrier/vet/dentist at no extra cost.
One of the grooms will ride at extra cost if you book her a week in advance.

At the weekend the yard owner still does morning and evening feeds, 10pm checks and hay top ups if needed. We do everything else. Hay and Straw/Rape are put in the barn for us to use.

Last year instead of a price rise she included bank holidays as DIY days.

 

[Jenko109]

I just think it's hard to keep a horse properly for less than £700/month these days.

Say you're basic DIY livery is £50/week. Hay is costing about £40/week this winter. Bedding - couple of bales of shavings at £20/week. £30 a week for a bag of feed (because your cheap TB probably isn't going to live off a bag of balancer all winter). Farrier every 5 weeks at £90-£100. Physio every 6 months at £95. Saddle fitter every 6 months £120 if you're just needing a basic check and flock. And say you don't insure and chuck £50/month in the pot for vets bills - you're at £700+ already.

If you have that, you can save it for 6 months and buy a £6k horse instead of a £1500 one.

Jeez.

Admittedly, mine is only a seven month colt, but still.

I pay £40 PCM for his spot in the field (3 youngsters on maybe 5 acres)
Hay in the field is costing about £100 a month for all three, so £33 a month for his share.
They get a bucket feed of sugar beet and chaff each day, which doesn't work out much when the cost is split three ways.
His insurance is about £30 a month in total.

Throw in the odd trim and wormer and he isn't costing me more than about £130 PCM through winter.

I appreciate I am very lucky to have a cheap field, but £700 is miles off what I would even expect to pay if he were on a livery yard.

 

[Ambers Echo]

It is enormously variable: horses at home, rented fields, basic fully DIY livery can all be pretty cheap.
Plus feed can be mininal, trims are a lot cheaper than shoes.

But vets are expensive and any horse can need one. Any horse can develop a need for farriery, specialist shoes, meds. I think you can do it for a LOT less than £700 a month but at the time same horses on a shoe-string is only ok when nothing much is going wrong. Bills can rack up very, very quickly. And if you own them long enough, eventually will.

 

[KikiDee]

Jeez.

Admittedly, mine is only a seven month colt, but still.

I pay £40 PCM for his spot in the field (3 youngsters on maybe 5 acres)
Hay in the field is costing about £100 a month for all three, so £33 a month for his share.
They get a bucket feed of sugar beet and chaff each day, which doesn't work out much when the cost is split three ways.
His insurance is about £30 a month in total.

Throw in the odd trim and wormer and he isn't costing me more than about £130 PCM through winter.

I appreciate I am very lucky to have a cheap field, but £700 is miles off what I would even expect to pay if he were on a livery yard.

Round here DIY livery is normally around £50/week so a monthly bill of £216. Hay is currently £80 for a big bale, you could probably stretch that out to last 2 weeks so £160/month. The cheapest bale of bedding in the local feed store is £10/bale so 2 of those a week gets you to £80/month. A bag of feed at £30/week unless you have a good doer, but if you're picking up a cheapie OTTB I'd expect to have to feed it something over winter. Farrier £90 every 5 weeks for a full-set, which works out at £78/month across the year. Physio at £95 every 6 months is £16/month. Saddle fitter everr 6 months for a fit and flock is £120 for me so £20/month. £50 in the pot for vet bill contingency if not insured. Gets you to £740/month for your average ridden horse on livery.

Of course there's lots of variables like shod/not shod, fed/not fed and you could cut out things like physio and reduce saddle-checks but that's not including anything else like having to pay for arena lights, supplements, lessons etc.

 

[conniegirl]

Round here DIY livery is normally around £50/week so a monthly bill of £216. Hay is currently £80 for a big bale, you could probably stretch that out to last 2 weeks so £160/month. The cheapest bale of bedding in the local feed store is £10/bale so 2 of those a week gets you to £80/month. A bag of feed at £30/week unless you have a good doer, but if you're picking up a cheapie OTTB I'd expect to have to feed it something over winter. Farrier £90 every 5 weeks for a full-set, which works out at £78/month across the year. Physio at £95 every 6 months is £16/month. Saddle fitter everr 6 months for a fit and flock is £120 for me so £20/month. £50 in the pot for vet bill contingency if not insured. Gets you to £740/month for your average ridden horse on livery.

Of course there's lots of variables like shod/not shod, fed/not fed and you could cut out things like physio and reduce saddle-checks but that's not including anything else like having to pay for arena lights, supplements, lessons etc.

most horses are not on 5 week farrier cycles, most horses dont get or need twice yearly physios. You don't buy one or 2 bags of bedding from the feed store which is normally the most expensive place. Get a pallet of it delivered and either keep it at the yard if you have room there or wrapped on the drive at home. Works out much much cheaper than £10 a bag. I have NEVER gone through a bag of feed a week for one horse, even when I had finely built horses. what are you buying that is £30 a bag that you are going through in a single week?

 

[Cloball]

Im on part grass livery 220, shoes every 6 weeks 100, share a large round bale 55 lasts 2-4 weeks depending on the grass (been weird this year), basic Harry Hall insurance 6, basic feed speedibeet, chaff 40 every 8 weeks if that (a bag of speedibeet lasts forever), saddle fitter was 60 last time she came has been up to 120 depending on work needed, vet 186 for teeth and jabs every year at the moment, supplements are probably the most expensive thing she gets and she refuses to ear them in the summer . Im probably forgetting something. Lessons 30 a week.

 

[maya2008]

They cost me approx £200 per pony per month in the winter. Less in summer but probably the same with arena hire and competitions for those who do that.

We’re in a field though so no bedding and less hay because we still have some grass left in the winter.

 

[KikiDee]

most horses are not on 5 week farrier cycles, most horses dont get or need twice yearly physios. You don't buy one or 2 bags of bedding from the feed store which is normally the most expensive place. Get a pallet of it delivered and either keep it at the yard if you have room there or wrapped on the drive at home. Works out much much cheaper than £10 a bag. I have NEVER gone through a bag of feed a week for one horse, even when I had finely built horses. what are you buying that is £30 a bag that you are going through in a single week?

I've had all my shod horses done every 5 weeks, 6 is acceptable but I wouldn't stretch a shod horse any further, though I know people do If my farrier can't fit mine in on 5 weeks and we do 6 I can definitely see the growth/inbalance and that they need doing. Decent shavings are actually £13/bale here if you buy them alone, but you can get for £9/bale if buying pallet load of 60, I know people who buy the cheaper unbranded stuff but it is a bit dusty, but I guess you could make do. I don't know how it compares to using wood pellets etc. as I've never ventured down that route. My poor-ish doer gets through a bag of mash in just under 2 weeks at £22/bag and a bag of cubes every 8-9 days at £23/bag so I based it on that.

 

[chaps89]

I think my two retired ponies cost around £500 a month to run, haven't split them out from the cats (they shared account) in a while, but that includes prescription meds and the cost of vaccinations, muck heap removal etc spread out over the year.
I've been lucky over the years to loan and share a number of very nice horses. Some via word of mouth, some by adverts - honestly written and without some sort of sob story/begging theme!

It's a moot point now as I can't see myself having another one soon, but if I did, I'd really struggle mentally with buying. I reckon in the current climate I'd be looking at needing a budget of £5-10k, which is about 3 years worth of saving. It's also a chunk of money that might also be needed towards a new car or a boiler or new windows etc. Somehow I hit being a grown up
Whereas when the same type was in the £2k bracket pre COVID, that money was easy to 'lose', not feeling like it would be helpful elsewhere.
I would be loathed to spend that much on something that could go out and break the next day. I see it the same as lending money to someone - never lend (or in this case, spend) more than you could afford to lose.
Extra edit - this doesn't mean I would then go on the beg for a freebie though! Be worse to lose that money belonging to someone else

Edit because hit post too soon

 

[silv]

Think your first sentence is, as you say the reason..
65 years ago I rode my bike 5 odd miles to a riding school, (sometimes my dad took me) I along with other pony mad kids, mucked out, groomed, tacked up and now and then led small children on ponies, altered fences etc etc, sometimes we got a lesson on an actual pony, but our greatest joy was riding the ponies bareback along the road on the verges back to their field, we were not supposed to get out of a walk, but you can probably guess that as soon as we hit a grass verge zoom…
Best 2 years and when my dad thought I could look after a pony properly he bought me a pony, we were farmers so pony lived out…
I must also add that my sister and I rode anything on the farm with four legs, definitely the cart horses if we could, but also the older calves!!!
Certainly often it wasn’t safe as you say, but we had great times, learnt how to care for ponies, how to stay on, and never ever abuse….
Technical things were learnt from the Pony Club blue book!!

This was me too.