Cost of keeping a horse in 2012

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kittom

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Hi,

I live in Lancashire and would like some idea of how much it would cost to keep a horse (anything from 15 hands to 16 hands) per week/month/year.

I would like to keep him stabled but also have access to grazing. I'm not in to competing so he would just be used for hacking and lght schooling. It would also be DIY livery I am after.

I've had a pony in the past but realise costs have gone up ALOT over the years so any ideas or advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.
 
kittom said:
Hi,

I live in Lancashire and would like some idea of how much it would cost to keep a horse (anything from 15 hands to 16 hands) per week/month/year.

I would like to keep him stabled but also have access to grazing. I'm not in to competing so he would just be used for hacking and lght schooling. It would also be DIY livery I am after.

I've had a pony in the past but realise costs have gone up ALOT over the years so any ideas or advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance.
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Hi, been a long time since I kept a horse at Livery but I am told it has gone really expensive. Have you not looked into sharing a horse and splitting the time and costs? Go for a hardy cob to start with alot better doer than the warmbloods. I know shoes are around £60 a time in England up North and a bale of haylege is around £30, then bedding and food on top. Also you have got to take in your travelling costs as well. Dont let this put you off but take your time and sho around. Good Luck.
 
My friend and I have a 16.3 hunter, and we put £125 each into the kitty pcm, so £250 altogether. This covers everything - DIY livery, bedding, forage, feed, supplements, insurance, farrier, dentist, annual vaccs - and also leaves a little bit to put by for a rainy day.
 
I keep my pony on grass livery, but stables are available. Can I ask why you want a stable?

My costs are as follows:

Grass livery £65 per month (grass and stable on my yard is £100)
Hay is £5 per bale this year. Get through hardly any in summer and approximately 1 - 2 per week in winter.
Straw is £1.50 a bale and 1 bale fills a stable.
Insurance is £25 a month
Feed £10 a month in winter for healthy hoof and pony nuts
£15 a month for trimmer (£30 every 8 weeks)
Dentist is £30 every 6 months.
Vaccinations approximately £70 once a year
Wormers vary but the programme on my yard is 4 wormers a year at around £10 - £15 each.

You can keep a pony cheaply if you shop around for livery, hay, feed . A lot of people on here will tell you you cant keep a pony cheaply, but if you are a happy hacker you can :O)

My pony is barefoot, a good dooer, lives out 24/7 with no rugs and is as cheap as they come. You obviously need a contigency for extras and insurance for vet fees is an absolute must in my opinion. I go for the highest cover with cheapest excess. xx
 
SpottyFalula said:
I keep my pony on grass livery, but stables are available. Can I ask why you want a stable?

My costs are as follows:

Grass livery £65 per month (grass and stable on my yard is £100)
Hay is £5 per bale this year. Get through hardly any in summer and approximately 1 - 2 per week in winter.
Straw is £1.50 a bale and 1 bale fills a stable.
Insurance is £25 a month
Feed £10 a month in winter for healthy hoof and pony nuts
£15 a month for trimmer (£30 every 8 weeks)
Dentist is £30 every 6 months.
Vaccinations approximately £70 once a year
Wormers vary but the programme on my yard is 4 wormers a year at around £10 - £15 each.

You can keep a pony cheaply if you shop around for livery, hay, feed . A lot of people on here will tell you you cant keep a pony cheaply, but if you are a happy hacker you can :O)

My pony is barefoot, a good dooer, lives out 24/7 with no rugs and is as cheap as they come. You obviously need a contigency for extras and insurance for vet fees is an absolute must in my opinion. I go for the highest cover with cheapest excess. xx
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How times have changed! When I was a kid I had a Welsh Mountain section A. He cost me £25 to buy, £1 a week stable and grazing. 75p for a bale of hay and 50p for a bale of straw. A set of shoes cost £3 hot shod! The Clear Round class at the local show we use to walk to was 25p per go!
 
Its sickening isnt it. I reckon not many people can keep a pony as cheaply as I do and even then its around £150 a month. Classes at local show are £7 each! I imagine people on full livery who have lessons and compete, easily top the £1000 per month mark! :eek:
 
SpottyFalula said:
Its sickening isnt it. I reckon not many people can keep a pony as cheaply as I do and even then its around £150 a month. Classes at local show are £7 each! I imagine people on full livery who have lessons and compete, easily top the £1000 per month mark! :eek:
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We have a friend in London, he does not keep horses anymore (his hips are gone!) but he use to pay £500 per week and that was just basic livery. Also that was 15 years ago.
 
I have a 17.1 tb, my livery costs are::
£27 a week livery (DIY)
£40 for a round bale of hay
Shavings around 2 bales a week so £80 a month ish.
Insurance £30 a month
Wormers on yards programme so about £15 a time.
 
I read a magazine article once that advised readers to keep costs down by stripping down to bare essentials, namely:

Livery
Feed
Bedding
Farrier
Vaccinations and worming
Insurance
Lessons
Magazine subscription.

Hmmm. Spot the obviously awkward listing.
 
This is how much it costs to keep Gem:

Livery per month - £80 (stable and unlimited grazing)
4 bales per month of hay - 1 a week - £10 (1 slice in a haynet at night)
4 bale of straw per month - 1 a week - £10 (1 slice a day if needed..)
1 bag of alfa a oil a month - £12 (roughly)
1 bag of speedi beet a month £10 (roughly)

I'm lucky i get her shoeing free as my OH is a farrier, but that would be £60 per every 8-10 week's or she'd go shoeless in the winter as she can cope without.
Just about to have her flu/tet boosters which will cost me £40 call out and then £44 for the tet/flu
I have BHS gold membership insurance which covers her for 3rd party (£40 a year - i think)

Wormers - £15 every 6 months ( i share Gem's wormer with Hugo as she has 500kg and he has 200kg - ideal!)

My FIL was the head instructor at fulmer school of equitation - so my lesson's are free and with a decent instructor - but if i didnt have him, i just wouldn't have lessons if money was tight.

So in all i spend - £122 on general bills a month and roughly £12.80 a month (on vacs, insurance and wormers) :) - so £134.80 roughly a month in total :)
 
I spend £250 a month in the summer and £350 in the winter. That is for one 16.1hh TB kept on DIY with a stable. That doesn't include competing :).
 
Samba is on DIY no school.

Livery £85/ month
Hay £4.50 a bale about 1-1.5 a week
Straw £2.50 a bale but farmer normally has some for free but that's hit and miss so still buy in 5 bales a month.
Farrier £60 Ish (Boyf best mate :)
Not hard fed
BHS gold (£50 / year)
Worming £10-£12 4 times a year
Dentist £30 a year
Easily £20 a month on bits and pieces
12 miles a day to and from yard.
£27 a month insurance.

My other two are kept at home but still cost me in hay etc.

Don't compete but looking for a trailer so that will put more prices up!!
 
For my 16.3h TB it costs roughly per month
Livery - £140 (Includes stable, shared paddock (pretty small to be honest) and unlimited haylage)
Bedding - £26 (I bulk buy and store in my garage, reduces the price from about £8.50 per bale to £6.50)
Feed/Supplements - £30
Farrier - £95 every 6 weeks (although slowly moving back to standard shoes which will reduce cost to £55)


Plus you ahve to remember all of the other bits and piueces which add up such as,
Dentist every 6 months - £60 includes sedation
Physio - £50 every 3 weeks at moment
 
Where abouts in lancashire are you based?

Im in Garstang currently and this is what i pay at my yard which is very reasonable.

£125 per month each for stable, 24/7 turnout 365 a year if we wish. Plus ad lib haylage.
I pay £3.30 per bale for straw and 15 bales will last me the month. Then theres feed on top of that which is £17 every month.
I pay £20 per trim every 8 weeks for one and £45 for fronts and a trim behind every 6 weeks for the other.

Dont forget wormers (about £20 a tube now!) Annual Vaccs which are about £30 a go without call out. Insurance (£35 a month for my appy) And finally dentist every 6 months at £30

Hope that helped :)
 
We're really lucky in that me and a friend rent a private yard off a lovely lady who no longer keeps horses and just likes to have it being used!

We pay £15 per week per horse and thats with a huge amercian type barn and about 25 acres of land - she lets us just do as we please in terms of turn out (6 horses at the moment with ickle foal due next year)

I pay £30 for a large haylage
I have them on rubber matting so bedding costs mega cheap as my friends husband works at a place I can get free shavings!!!!! :eek:
Insurance is £27 for one and £21 for the other
Horse trailer insurance is £6 per month
Feed usually about £12 per bag
Free horse trailer storage
we dont have a menage but theres one behind us that lets us use it for £5 per hour :) although there's a large free public one about 20 mins ride away
Neither of them are shod - my arab hardly has hers trimmed as her feet are amazing - farrier checks them with he does my TB but she doesnt have them done anywhere enar as much as him - but he costs £20 for a trim
Ermmmmmm what else?? £££££££££ for extra rugs, extra 'esstentials' that you really dont need lol

I'd probaly say for two I spend around £250 per month?? Very cheap compared to the livery yard up the road that is £280 for two (rent only) so very happy where we are ;)
 
Victoria25 said:
We're really lucky in that me and a friend rent a private yard off a lovely lady who no longer keeps horses and just likes to have it being used!

We pay £15 per week per horse and thats with a huge amercian type barn and about 25 acres of land - she lets us just do as we please in terms of turn out (6 horses at the moment with ickle foal due next year)

I pay £30 for a large haylage
I have them on rubber matting so bedding costs mega cheap as my friends husband works at a place I can get free shavings!!!!! :eek:
Insurance is £27 for one and £21 for the other
Horse trailer insurance is £6 per month
Feed usually about £12 per bag
Free horse trailer storage
we dont have a menage but theres one behind us that lets us use it for £5 per hour :) although there's a large free public one about 20 mins ride away
Neither of them are shod - my arab hardly has hers trimmed as her feet are amazing - farrier checks them with he does my TB but she doesnt have them done anywhere enar as much as him - but he costs £20 for a trim
Ermmmmmm what else?? £££££££££ for extra rugs, extra 'esstentials' that you really dont need lol

I'd probaly say for two I spend around £250 per month?? Very cheap compared to the livery yard up the road that is £280 for two (rent only) so very happy where we are ;)
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Wow, that is good!! Is that in Lancashire?
 
I know, its ace as in winter you can just lock the world out! Massive kitchen in there too for brew time - was a pain at one point as people kept coming and going (it does get quite muddy in winter) but my friends moved on now with her four and loves it just as much as me :D

The YO is sooooo lovely she comes up in summer to do the gardens and in winter she brings treats/pressies up and does big potato ash for bonfire night :)

Think she;s buying a few alpacas too this year - new pets to play with :D
 
Victoria25 said:
I know, its ace as in winter you can just lock the world out! Massive kitchen in there too for brew time - was a pain at one point as people kept coming and going (it does get quite muddy in winter) but my friends moved on now with her four and loves it just as much as me :D

The YO is sooooo lovely she comes up in summer to do the gardens and in winter she brings treats/pressies up and does big potato ash for bonfire night :)

Think she;s buying a few alpacas too this year - new pets to play with :D
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Awww....thats sounds brilliant.....maybe I should move nearer to your neck of the woods when I get round to getting myself a horse!
 
Weekly costs
DIY livery £25
Hay - ad lib £10
Bedding - ad lib £7
feed (balancer and chaff) - about £8-9

Farrier - £20 every 6 weeks (she's barefoot)
Insurance - £35 a month
Dentist is £40 every 6 months,

plus kit and any vets fees and fuel to get to the yard
I usually have her turned out for me in the morning as it's only £1.50 on my yard, way cheaper than the fuel to get there :D

This is winter costs, in the summer she's out 24/7
 
mynutmeg said:
Weekly costs
DIY livery £25
Hay - ad lib £10
Bedding - ad lib £7
feed (balancer and chaff) - about £8-9

Farrier - £20 every 6 weeks (she's barefoot)
Insurance - £35 a month
Dentist is £40 every 6 months,

plus kit and any vets fees and fuel to get to the yard
I usually have her turned out for me in the morning as it's only £1.50 on my yard, way cheaper than the fuel to get there :D

This is winter costs, in the summer she's out 24/7
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Hi there,

Thats sounds a good deal too! Where abouts are you based?
 
Hi,

In my humble experience it can vary between yards massively - I reckon it's worth paying a wee bit more if you have good hacking on the doorstep. My Pony is mainly for hacking but I like to have the option to school him too..

I'd been offered full livery at £150.00 per month - some good hacking - no schools or any amenities (ie tack room, loo, electrics etc) and went for Full livery at local riding school - 15 minutes walk from home - 4-500 acres of woodland on doorstep for hacking - on-off road hacking, transport to local shows, can enter inter school comps too - two floodlit schools, horse walker, summer grass turnout, winter: haylege turnout, secure tack room, own stable, tea and coffee facilities, car park ..... all for £230.00 per month (full livery)
 
I have a 16month old cob, I pay £52 month for a stable and field.
I have just paid £70 for 50 rectangle bales of straw which should see us over winter, to around march time!

All horses come in for the night 1st November and livery goes up to £80 a month to inc unlimited haylage until March.

To be honest im not paying much! He's getting feed which I had left over from my tb who I sold in March this year, will probably need to buy some more chaff for over winter in the next few weeks but that's it.

I also pay about £8 a month insurance!

Obviously, he's not in work or anything so that sort of makes it easier but I'm planning on keeping him barefoot if possible!
 
I have six at home and it costs me less than when I had 3 on DIY.

Summer
Farrier every six to eight weeks £130
Wormers £60

Winter
4 live in
Straw £40 a month
Hay £150 a month
Farrier £130
Wormers £60

have dentist every six months £230
 
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