Cost of keeping a horse?

J

Jake10

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 March 2010
Messages
1,293
Location
UK
Visit site
This is probably going to be a bit long winded and confusing but here goes :)

I'm hoping to buy a horse in the next few months (with my own money not parents) but parents want guarentees (sp?) that I can fully fund a horse as well as the car and dog that I own and fully pay for. I don't think it's an unreasonable request. Car and dog cost around £2,500 a year leaving me with around £5000 spare, horse would cost £2-3000 possibly a bit more to buy. Then there's:

Insurance-£20-40 a month
Vacs- £70 ish a year
Shoes- £50-55 every 6-8 weeks
Dentist- ???
Have a separate account for emergencies £4-5000 (car, dog, horse and me)
3 livery quotes
Feed- ???
Bedding- ???
Tack/rugs- depends if horse comes with any and if they are good fit (budgeting about £1000 if horse comes with nothing)

Am I missing anything else and can anyone suggest where to look for prices of ??? bits

Hot choc if you made it this far :D:D:D
 
Mine has just racked up about £300 of vets bills in an afternoon - you have to be in a position where you KNOW weather you can say yes or no to further treatment.

Shoes -£64 a set
Dentist £40 - six monthly
Saddler - £35 every four months for mine.
I have rubber mats in both stables - high outlay, low running cost - Shavings at £5-6 per bale bought in bulk

Hay costs
Lesson costs
Feed - depends if its a good doer/poor doer. Mine are one good doer, one fairly normal - they cost the same to feed as my OH's poor doer...He can spend £90 per month on hard feed alone.
 
Thanks for the quick reply :D I don't want to commit to owning a horse if I can't definitely fund it long term. I can say as long as further vet treatment isn't massive (over £1000) in one go then I can afford that part. Trying to work out how much the overall cost per year could be... So much to think about...
 
One of mine costs me monthly;
£130 livery diy
£50 services
£65 every 6 weeks shoes
£40 hay
£30 hard feed
£25 insurance
£15 approx every 2months wormers
£60 monthly lessons
£45 bedding

eek roughly £450 a month for 1 horse and i have 2 of them. Thats not counting extras like fly spray, shows, bits at the saddlery, carrots etc etc.
 
Dentist - £45 not including vet for sedation, can be bit cheaper if few at yard done at same time but cost does seem to go up every year.

Lessons/ competitions - can vary widely I spend £30 a month on 1 lesson and prob £20 fortnightly on comps

I also spend fair bit on trailer and 4x4 each year

Feed - can vary, one cost £10 a month in winter as good doer but other cost about £25 a month - ideally look for a horse that can manage on little hard feed.

Bedding - again varies I ued to be on shaving which was costing £8-12 a week, now on straw and it's about £5 a week (with very big stables)

Generally, things like tack and rugs once you have them don't cost too much ongoing, it's just cost of replacements and repairs.

I reckon if you can easily spare £2-3k a year you will comfortably be able to provide everything and have lots of fun doing stuff
 
I'll leave it to others to total it up, if you want to see evidence - you're local, pop round and i'll show you the bills!!
As long as you have your eyes open you should find it cheaper than quoted, shop around, buy when price is right and you'll save money. Always budget at minimum times for shoeing, big feeds and messy horse and you may well come off lighter.... Some horses are 'high maintenance', others seem to live on fresh air and keep the same trainers on for most the year.....! Good luck!
 
Farma- Thanks, I forgot all about wormers!! Currently paying £80 a month for lessons in RS. Not sure what services are (use of school...?)

£450X12... They are worth it though... right :D
 
I would agree with the other replies, about right for average. However, just so you know about the other end of the scale. My part-bred arab for the last 10 years approx -

£20 p/w livery
£15 every 10 weeks for hoof trim, he was in full work much of the time but never needed shoes.
£5-20 p/w hay/feed
£7 p/w shavings when in, but has spent a lot of time living out.
£40 vaccs once a year.
Dentist/saddler/back person once a year as above. Wormer as above.

Just goes to show that it doesn't always have to cost the earth, although I have another who probably costs 3 times as much.
 
They are all worth it, just go find one when you're down and you'll feel much better. You'll probably be dirtier and hairier because he wanted to rub his head, but he'll enjoy it too! Mine are doing little as I can't ride and Tony's busy working, but they all seem happy and you never know, I might find someone who wants to take them to parties one day ;o)
Shoes can become costly if you find a horse that likes removing his own.....
 
oooo Lets see how much mine cost and all the stuff i buy see if it helps you at all

£120 Livery per month
£65 farrier every 8 weeks
£1.50 a bale for hay (mine use 1 a day between them)
£2 a bale for straw - prob use 4/5 a week
£140 for vacinations for both
£80 every other month for feed bought in bulk
£14.50 every month for no bute
£15 riding lesson a week
£100 a year to get them clipped

plus if you plan to show then theres the cost of that - plus like for me I make my own fly spray and things like mane and tail detangler etc

I have a type of rubber matt for both stable, both needed 6 each and were £50 a matt, BUT lol they are the best thing ever as they are so light and i can just pick them up on ma own.

Hope that helps =) x
 
Bear in mind that you need to include in your budget still being able to save.

It is all very well having a contingency fund, and something we should always do, but say you need the vet for something not covered by insurance and you spend 50% of it, you need to be able to build it back up again.

I would aim to put a set amount, £100 a month maybe aside for contingencies, if you don't need it you can use part toward a big purchase but you will be glad if you ever do need it.

I would also suggest looking into getting a cashback credit card. This can be used for big/unexpected purchases, and as it is a cashback one you get rewards for spending. Especially good if your savings aren't quickly accessible (no bad thing stops you spending them on treats!).
 
Mine:

£35 per month insurance
£70 per month for stable and field
£56 per month for haylage
£28 per month for shavings
£13 a month for feed

£20 every 6 weeks for a trim
extras if he needs tack, rugs or whatever else...
so your looking at approximately £202 before you count feet and extras!

Wow, i didnt know i spent that much :P
x
 
Jake10 said:
Thanks for the quick reply :D I don't want to commit to owning a horse if I can't definitely fund it long term. I can say as long as further vet treatment isn't massive (over £1000) in one go then I can afford that part. Trying to work out how much the overall cost per year could be... So much to think about...
Click to expand...

Thing with vets bills is you don't always know....and its a bugger!

We spent 4 hours, and about £300 at the vets yesterday and still no closer to an answer...it is most certainly a labour/wallet bleeding of love...
 
Mine:

£62 pm livery.
£25 pm unlimited haylage.
£12 pm straw.
£28 every 7 weeks front shoes.
£12 worming.
£40 per year vaccination for tet
£30 pm feed.
£7.50 week lessons.
£100 a month competing.
30 per year dentist.

In the past year I have also spent around £1000 on tack/rugs/stuff, £300 on vets bills, £30 saddle check etc.

Oh and not forgetting £30 a week petrol to and from yard.


Thank god for student loans lol!
 
Well...here goes:
Full Livery(including hay, straw, mucking out, standard feed etc.)- £45pw
Shoes- £50 every 6 weeks
Back lady- £40 every six months
Vaccs- £40 a year
Feed- £60 per month approx for poor doer
Lessons- £18 every two weeks
Shows- £16 entry fee for two classes, not including fuel, trailer insurance etc. most weeks
Clipping- £40 once a year
Insurance- £30 a month
Worming- Not sure how much, can't remember :p
Tack- £900 saddle and girth stirrups etc, £100 bridle, probably about £400 on rugs, £100 on boots- don't forget, usually one off costs ;)

Ok...maybe I spend a bit too much! :(
 
Oh dear, I hate counting up the cost of Fella!

Livery - £960 per year
Farrier - £180 per year
Insurance - £360 per year
Forage over winter - £195 per month he has to be in overnight for, obviously depends year on year depending on the weather, this year I think it was about £975
Bedding over winter - £55 per month, again dependant year on year, but around £275 this year
Then there is all the added extras, vaccinations, dentist, broken tack/rugs, wormer etc to take into account.

Without extras, Fella costs me around £2750, so with extras about £3000 per year.
 
jake10 they are so worth it - and services are things like having them turned out or bought in as we have time limitations on our fields to prolong the grass.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top