Coping with rising costs

[paddy555]

Ah was it across the board then rather than just my local store? I assumed a power supply issue.

AFAIK it was all of them.. Certainly in Devon. It was on our West Country news so I knew it had happened, I felt safe after a week to visit. Couldn't believe it was still ongoing. A computer issue not a power supply. They only let a couple into the store at a time, no browsing, basically you walked around with the staff member, put it in the basket and they wrote everything on a piece of paper and added it up using a calculator!!

 

[kerrieberry2]

I'm very sad to report that after 2 months of paying my increased livery bill, I've been hit with another increase. Another 15ish percent! I will now paying £10 less than what it would have originally cost per horse! not much improvement on the feed front! our farmer has run out of big bales of hay and they can only offer small bales, which would cost me double per month, so I've had to order in externally, at and increase price! after 23 years of horse ownership I'm thinking I might have no choice but to give it all up! :'(

 

[SantaVera]

Sorry to hear your predicament. Have you looked into other places? I find a card in local shops often finds somewhere and post on local Facebook groups, village web site etc. maybe you'll find somewhere cheaper. The hay situation should ease, this year there could be a bumper crop and it would be cheaper than now.

 

[Jambarissa]

I'm very sad to report that after 2 months of paying my increased livery bill, I've been hit with another increase. Another 15ish percent! I will now paying £10 less than what it would have originally cost per horse! not much improvement on the feed front! our farmer has run out of big bales of hay and they can only offer small bales, which would cost me double per month, so I've had to order in externally, at and increase price! after 23 years of horse ownership I'm thinking I might have no choice but to give it all up! :'(

This sounds very sad.

Can you give any numbers? Was it very cheap to start with?

Mine was overly cheap a few years ago, like yours it's pretty much doubled now but that has just made it average for the area, and I don't think anyone is taking the P with the price of hay or bedding either.

Really, what can you do? Cut back as far as possible and try to save more for next year over summer. Move somewhere cheaper. Get a sharer. Sell or loan one so you can afford to keep the other. Earn more.

Theyre not particularly palatable choices and I think a lot of people are in the same position.

 

[teacups]

Would it not be possible to cut out the physio, rather than give the horses up altogether?

 

[expanding_horizon]

Would it not be possible to cut out the physio, rather than give the horses up altogether?

Where is physio mentioned as a cost?

 

[teacups]

Physio cost rising is mentioned in OP's opening post

 

[dorsetladette]

Our grazing is quite poor and we were feeding a pelleted balancer but switched this for a powder mineral supplement as it worked out far cheaper when I did the maths. Grazing, hay and minerals in a basic chaff do the job for us for the most part.

Ours live out and don’t work anymore so we need limited things which helps of course. If we do need something, like a rug for example, then I always buy secondhand these days.

This is how I do it.

Everyone has a balancer of some sort in mollichaff and a treat ball with own brand pony nuts in for breakfast. They live out 24/7 and have a round bale in the field in winter.

I'm really lucky to have my own land. it's very sandy soil so the grass doesn't really grow in summer as soon as it's dry. But I don't really get mud in winter, so I'm happy to compromise. I also have natives who would need restricting on good grazing.

Rugs all come from the lady up the road that repairs, reproofs and sells for charity. Never more than £30 a rug and most around £20.

None of mine are shod now, just trimmed every 8 weeks.

None of my tack is new, all second hand. I try to get to all the tack sales locally if I can. Got a pair of Dublin river boots with the tag still on for £60 at the last one. I don't use fancy gadgets and I'm not a matchy matchy person. In fact I'm probably quite dull. But my dullness means I can afford 3 (very cheaply purchased) ponies.

 

[whirlwind]

My biggest cost by far is hay. Luckily they live out barefoot on our own land so minimal other costs but they’ve been going through nearly 120kg a day between the 8 of them since they’ve eaten most of the middle grass . No way round it though until the grass starts coming through so just making sure it’s all netted so no wastage.

 

[Jambarissa]

My biggest cost is bedding, which I hate because it's just like shovelling money onto the muck heap!

My horses are gross though, partly FWS which was resolved but has comeback since the storms, partly the way the stables are set up which encourages them to move about - door at front, window at back, grill to friends at sides - which is a good thing but they just poo and wee wherever and mash it all in

 

[Surbie]

I'm learning to trim my horse, with regular farrier checks and I got a second job. A couple of late shifts a week and my horse's costs are covered. It does mean I am working 6 days a week, but on the other hand the hours mean I could still ride every day if I wanted.

 

[IrishMilo]

Unless you have your own land and make your own hay/straw I don't think it's possible to keep horses on the cheap anymore. I worked out the total cost for my DIY horse the other day - £665 a month. And that's with livery at an absolute steal of a price.

Livery - £120
Services - £110 (this makes most economic sense as it's a half hour drive so I pay to have him turned out or brought in once a day)
Hay - £125
Straw - £30
Petrol - £180 (based solely on trips to yard)
Farrier - £30
Feed - £70

This doesn't include a 6-weekly routine physio or additional hay or straw I quite often need. Granted he's a big horse and he eats a lot, but still!

 

[whirlwind]

My biggest cost is bedding, which I hate because it's just like shovelling money onto the muck heap!

My horses are gross though, partly FWS which was resolved but has comeback since the storms, partly the way the stables are set up which encourages them to move about - door at front, window at back, grill to friends at sides - which is a good thing but they just poo and wee wherever and mash it all in

Could you look into changing bedding? We get ton bags of sawdust/ shavings delivered from a guy who does logs for people. They’re £15 a bag delivered and 2 does a very generous bed in a 24ft shelter. We put 6 down across the 3 shelters in autumn and then top up with a bag across the 3 maybe 3/4 times during winter? Then just let it get used up until time to redo the next year. They might be a bit dusty in a stable, although haven’t noticed any problems in ours but could maybe be used as an under layer with something dust extracted on top?

 

[Landcruiser]

My biggest cost by far is hay. Luckily they live out barefoot on our own land so minimal other costs but they’ve been going through nearly 120kg a day between the 8 of them since they’ve eaten most of the middle grass . No way round it though until the grass starts coming through so just making sure it’s all netted so no wastage.

Same. We are on clay and it's been so wet they've spent most of the winter on the yard/turnout, on hay full time. I'm limited to small bales due to having to store in a 11 x 11 stable - I can just about squeeze 100 in there. With 4 of them walloping through it it I've been re-ordering far more frequently than I'd like

 

[whirlwind]

Same. We are on clay and it's been so wet they've spent most of the winter on the yard/turnout, on hay full time. I'm limited to small bales due to having to store in a 11 x 11 stable - I can just about squeeze 100 in there. With 4 of them walloping through it it I've been re-ordering far more frequently than I'd like

We strip graze the middle of a wide grass track over winter- it’s at least 5/6 acres in the middle and normally does them with just a bit of extra hay for roughage. This year they’d completely cleared it by the new year as had to let them in so early due to the wet weather. With hay at £150/ ton it’s a bit scary how much you can use especially during that cold snap

 

[suestowford]

I keep native types on my own ground and even without livery costs or feed it's still a struggle. Mainly because they are both old and need meds (both on Bute and one on Prascend). Vet bills have more than doubled over the past couple of years and when they age they need more visits. I do buy their regular meds online now which has cut those costs by more than half.

 

[maya2008]

Wow at people’s hay costs! I pay about £35 per month per pony - hay at night, straw in the morning, no grass so totally dependent on what we give by this time of year.

 

[Sealine]

I'm another shocked at what people are paying. I'm in Herts which isn't cheap but it sounds like I'm very lucky. I'm on DIY livery and pay £27.50 week livery, £4 bale of hay and £1.50 bale of straw. I spent £24 on 6 bales of hay in January. I don't spend much on feed either. I give one Stubbs scoop of Hi Fi senior a day with a vitamin and mineral supplement. My biggest cost is one sachet a day of Danilon and the farrier at £90 set every 6 weeks. I could cut my bedding costs but whilst I can afford it I will stick to Hunter shavings.

 

[criso]

£4 bale of hay and £1.50 bale of straw. I spent £24 on 6 bales of hay in January. I don't spend much on feed either

That is very cheap for Herts. Even hay off the field is being advertised for much more than £4 a bale and poor supplies have pushed straw prices right up. Ours went up from £2.50 to £3.75 as they've had to buy in.

Also lucky that you don't need much, I've moved onto haylage now but last year I used 20 bales of hay in January. I use more than 6 in the summer when he's out overnight and comes in to hay, maybe 10 a month.. But then that's TBs for you

 

[IrishMilo]

I'm another shocked at what people are paying. I'm in Herts which isn't cheap but it sounds like I'm very lucky. I'm on DIY livery and pay £27.50 week livery, £4 bale of hay and £1.50 bale of straw. I spent £24 on 6 bales of hay in January. I don't spend much on feed either. I give one Stubbs scoop of Hi Fi senior a day with a vitamin and mineral supplement. My biggest cost is one sachet a day of Danilon and the farrier at £90 set every 6 weeks. I could cut my bedding costs but whilst I can afford it I will stick to Hunter shavings.

I'm in Herts as well - £1.50 is very cheap for straw! Where are you buying from? We pay £3. I get though around 31 bales of hay and 10 bales of straw a month.

 

[Alibear]

I moved to a yard where they live out in summer. We pay the same monthly price all year round, but it makes it a lot more affordable, and Amber is much happier. Being somewhere where the livery is the sole focus is so much better.

 

[GrassChop]

I've worked out mine per year as it all varies and not always monthly, sort of wish I hadn't but here we go...

Feed (Veteran Vitality, Mollichaff Hoofkind, Wessex Pony Nuts, Linseed): £537
Supplements (ArthriAid, Boswellia and oily herbs): £277
Farrier (One fully shod, one barefoot): £820
Haylage (Only over winter): £540
Livery (DIY Grass Livery): £1320
Wormer (Equest and Equest Pramox - one tube between them is enough at the moment): £84
Vaccinations/Dentist (Dentist twice a year for old mare, flu/tet for both and dentist once for the other): £335

Split that over 12 months and it's £326 a month on average but as it's not literally every month, it's not so bad and I don't feel like I actually pay that much! It's not bad compared to some others on here though. Especially for two horses.

I've cut down everywhere I can at the moment.

I've also had the horrible thought of considering giving up too because everything costs so much everywhere else that it's really tight each month now.

 

[Sealine]

I'm in Herts as well - £1.50 is very cheap for straw! Where are you buying from? We pay £3. I get though around 31 bales of hay and 10 bales of straw a month.

We have to buy our hay and straw from the yard which is also a working farm.