Cost of a horse

[laura_nash]

As someone else said, it could be anything!

I'm another one who keeps a spreadsheet so I know exactly how much mine has cost me. Total costs for the year divided by 12 and rounded work out as:

2011 - £500 per month
2013 - £250 per month
2019 - €45 per month (around £40)

This is the same horse.

In 2011 he was on assisted DIY at a small livery yard in SW England, I was taking weekly lessons and also went to the occasional clinic. He had to be stabled a lot which exacerbated his dust allergy and I couldn't easily soak his hay so at times I was feeding small bag high fibre haylage. He was shod all round. He was fully insured.

In 2013 he was on full DIY at a livery yard on a nearby farm in SW England. They made their own hay which liveries could buy cheaply and he was living out in summer. He was barefoot using a barefoot trimmer and hoof boots. I had fortnightly lessons. He was insured for accidental injury only (and third party).

Last year he was living out on our own small farm in Ireland. I now do his hoof trimming myself unless I have concerns and his hoof boots last for years. Our neighbours make hay on one of our fields and give us a proportion in payment, so hay was free. I don't have lessons or go anywhere, just potter about the fields and lanes. He's insured third party only. Of course this doesn't include the purchase price of the house and land and initial outlay on equipment, fencing etc. It also doesn't include the maintenance costs on the fields and fencing as we have to do that anyway (we have other animals), the maintenance costs aren't huge though (we have our own little tractor and topper, sprayer etc).

 

[OldNag]

Think of a number.
Double it.
Double it again.
Add a bit more for unseen emergencies.
And some contingency.
Basically, all of the money and maybe some more!

 

[Summit]

Mines pretty cheap to keep ...
DIY Livery £75/month
Shoes £50 every 8 weeks
Usual feed and hay costs

I do t con

I spend the best part of about £1200 a month, that includes full livery for my older boy and youngstock livery for the baby. That doesn’t include supplements, shoes, lessons, comp fees, my matchy addiction or any of the other bajillion things that seem to crop up and deplete my bank account each month...if I added up those I’m pretty sure I’d end up divorced ?

Jesus £1200

I spend the best part of about £1200 a month, that includes full livery for my older boy and youngstock livery for the baby. That doesn’t include supplements, shoes, lessons, comp fees, my matchy addiction or any of the other bajillion things that seem to crop up and deplete my bank account each month...if I added up those I’m pretty sure I’d end up divorced ?

£1200? Jesus

 

[windand rain]

About £1000 per year per pony plus livery which is about £4000 per year as we rent a field at £20 per pony per weekish for 4 ponies

 

[FestiveFuzz]

Mines pretty cheap to keep ...
DIY Livery £75/month
Shoes £50 every 8 weeks
Usual feed and hay costs

I do t con


Jesus £1200


£1200? Jesus

I'm not sure why it's all that surprising, full livery is expensive and I live in an expensive area (which gets even more expensive when you multiply it all by 2). You wouldn't find DIY for £75p/m in the SE, and my farrier alone charges £95 for a full set of shoes every 5 weeks so I'm not sure our two areas are really comparable.

I'm fortunate enough to have a job that provides me with a good standard of living, but the downside of that is I work extremely long hours and have very little in the way of downtime...and until lockdown I was required to be on the other side of the country for half the week. Technically I could have reduced my ridden horse to part livery whilst I've been WFH but realistically my workload has only increased since lockdown and it wouldn't feel fair to take that income away from my YO who has been a brilliant support over the years. As I mentioned up-thread it's a weight off my mind to know my boys are well looked after regardless of my working hours, and ultimately helps assuage the guilt of not being able to spend as much time with them as I'd like.

 

[emmmilythinks]

I would honestly love to know what everyone does for jobs! I can't ever imagine being able to afford 1000+ a month, and I'm a secondary school teacher! (Not that well paid I know, but still).

FWIW, my on/off lame oldie costs me about 250-300 in total per month for everything, but we don't compete or ever go off the yard except hacking when we can so no travel costs.

 

[Red-1]

I would honestly love to know what everyone does for jobs! I can't ever imagine being able to afford 1000+ a month, and I'm a secondary school teacher! (Not that well paid I know, but still).

FWIW, my on/off lame oldie costs me about 250-300 in total per month for everything, but we don't compete or ever go off the yard except hacking when we can so no travel costs.

No kids is the way to go.

I can't believe what people spend on kids!

No abroad holidays either, but then we live in a lovely area and don't need to go away. No smoking. Don't dress up, clothes from Matalan mainly.

Jobs - I am retired now, but working as a TA in primary (part time).

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

I’m in Surrey in DIY and pay probably £350 a month for my pony for everything and then lessons, competing and odd bits and bobs on top.

I previously probably spent £800-£1,000 when on part livery and mare had full set of shoes (now we’re barefoot).

I’m a trainee chartered accountant and tax advisor for one of the big 4 and also own 2 houses I rent out with my OH, although I don’t “see” any of that income as it pays the mortgages and tax but takes the pressure off slightly to save as much.

 

[AUB]

I’m a lawyer and my SO is too.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

I would honestly love to know what everyone does for jobs! I can't ever imagine being able to afford 1000+ a month, and I'm a secondary school teacher! (Not that well paid I know, but still)

I work in a senior PR role and my husband is a Director of Operations. We’re also very fortunate to own our house outright, although that’s soon to change as we’re relocating. We don’t really go on holidays or have flash cars, the horses are by far our biggest expenditure, closely followed by the dogs!

 

[Pickelina]

Interesting thread, thank you. The variation is massive.
We're about to take on a new pony for my 3yo daughter and there wasn't space at the yard where I ride a horse (informal but full loan, job shares between five adults over the week, seven horses that all live out) so we were going to keep him on full livery at another yard, which is very nice but in the opposite direction. That would cost £112pw/£490pm (excluding hard feed) plus I allowed £150 for other costs (knowing that they'd be higher!). My other yard has now said they can accommodate him, and will only charge me £10pw including hay and hard feed. Very basic facilities and only a field shelter, no stabling apart from one in emergencies, but just shows how much costs can vary.

 

[mini_b]

Interesting thread, thank you. The variation is massive.
We're about to take on a new pony for my 3yo daughter and there wasn't space at the yard where I ride a horse (informal but full loan, job shares between five adults over the week, seven horses that all live out) so we were going to keep him on full livery at another yard, which is very nice but in the opposite direction. That would cost £112pw/£490pm (excluding hard feed) plus I allowed £150 for other costs (knowing that they'd be higher!). My other yard has now said they can accommodate him, and will only charge me £10pw including hay and hard feed. Very basic facilities and only a field shelter, no stabling apart from one in emergencies, but just shows how much costs can vary.

surely the costs vary so much in this situation because of the facilities you have available to you.
apples and oranges to compare the 2.
I could have had DIY for £15pw 2 minutes down the road but there was nothing except your field and a stable, not even a field to ride in (it’s on a farm, the owners are lovely may I add) No help on site if you are stuck/emergencies, it’s pitch black in winter.

So it seems logical the prices are so different.

 

[Pickelina]

surely the costs vary so much in this situation because of the facilities you have available to you.
apples and oranges to compare the 2.
I could have had DIY for £15pw 2 minutes down the road but there was nothing except your field and a stable, not even a field to ride in (it’s on a farm, the owners are lovely may I add) No help on site if you are stuck/emergencies, it’s pitch black in winter.

So it seems logical the prices are so different.

Yes, I'm aware of the difference in services and facilities, I've thought of not much else for the past week!

 

[Equi]

I don't want to know

But in reality its at least £500 a month.