Cost of keeping a pony

[riding_to_the_stars]

Hello, my parents (im 14) are considering buying me a pony when we have finished building our house and have enough money, i have an idea in my head of how much things cost but i would like to know what people pay, i am in the south of England. I would be getting a 14-15.2hh pony that would live out all year with a field shelter. I am already on a waitin list for grass livery at £60 per month so i know how much i'd be payig for livery but its things like insurance, dentist, hay etc that i dont know how much they cost. Also has anyone got any tips about buying a pony for the first time? I know that im goin to bring an experienced owner along to viewings but any other tips would be appreciated , thanks

 

[Shay]

There is some good info on both the Pony Club website and the BHS website on the costs of keeping a pony / horse. SE England covers quite a wide area - but you are right not to be more specific on line. I'm Surrey if that helps - and a PC Mum.

You will need to budget about £70 every 6 weeks for shoes. About £150 per year for vaccinations. There is an insurance comparison bit on the main H&H website you can have a go at to find out rough insurance costs - I don't insure for vets fees so my costs probably won't help. Dentist costs about £40 per horse and need doing about every 6 months to a year.

Even on grass livery you will need to budget for additional feed. Its unlikely that you would be able to keep a pony or horse through winter without additional hay at the least. Hay prices vary massively from area to area - best bet is to ask your livery yard owner. Any additional feed needed will vary from animal to animal too. Off the top of my head and a very rough guess budget for £80 a month and you should hopefully see change from that.

Living out year round you will need rugs - probably 2 or 3 of different weights. Rugs cost anything north of about £50. The more expensive they are usually the longer they last - but not always. Budget for about £150 as a start up and probably a similar amount for cleaning and repairs each year. (Or buy cheaper rugs and chuck them - but the costs is very similar!)

If you are going to ride through the winter you'll need to clip. Professional clipping costs anything upward of £40 per horse; a set of clippers to do it yourself about £250. You might be able to borrow from another livery.

The horse may come with tack - but it is never enough. Plan for a saddle fitter to check immediately on purchase and be prepared to have to re flock or even replace the saddle. Annual saddle check plus adjustments - about £60. New saddle - anything north of about £150.

Budget for lessons - even with your own horse you'll need an instructor. You might find joining your local pony club branch is the most cost effective way to get instruction - and loads of fun!

Oh... and don't forget clothes for you - you'll go through Johds at an alarming rate if my daughter is anything to go by! Riding boots, feild boots, waterproofs for the winter. Lots of gloves!


Good luck - get someone experienced to help you with purchase. And make friends with the local pony club. Happy to help further if I can.

 

[AngieandBen]

If you get a hardy pony like mine, they don't need a dozen rugs! You can ride in the winter without clipping! I do I pay £20 for a clip on my other pony. They both have a couple of rain sheets plus a medium weight each.

Agree with the saddle checks, plus yearly dentist; I pay £40.

Farrier full set is £60ish, mine are unshod so I pay £20 a trim

You can make it as expensive as you want or as cheap as you can get!

I feed a handful of Beet and chaff and spend no more than £10 a month on feed; Plus about £20 a month on hay as they mostly live out.

 

[Wiz201]

14.2 to 15.2 I would class as a small horse not a pony

 

[pixie]

Plus there there is also cost in terms of time. It'll need checking on twice a day. You'll need to poo-pick every day. This should take around 20 minutes to do a full barrow each day depending on field size. In winter you'll probably only see it in the dark either side of school hours, so you may need to wear a head torch to do these duties.
Does the place have a floodlit arena to ride in? You'll need this at least during the winter if you want to ride during the week. A soggy corner of a field won't do, and you won't be able to do road work in the dark.
Are your parents horsey? Do they have any idea of the time and money commitment that a horse requires?

 

[Clodagh]

Shay's reply is great.
Hope for the best and prepare for the worst! If you are going to go for a native type they can generally be kept fairly cheaply but you do need to have money for back up, what if they get an abcess or mud fever and have to live in, could you afford the additional costs?
A 15 hh horse would eat about a bale of hay a day for 6 months of the year, IMO, at £3.25 (ish) a bale. Few horses need hard feed tbh.

 

[pixie]

Since this is about money..
I have a 13hh welshie who I keep at home (no livery bill!) lives out on grass all year round (no rugs to buy)(no feed/bedding bill - if the weather is awful and I do need to keep him inside, we grow our own meadow hay and barley, so hay and straw are effectively free). He is unshod and only need trimming every two months.
So just for trimming six times a year, insurance, vaccinations and teeth I am probably spending about £500 per year. I can't imagine you could get it any lower than that.

So bare basics for a grass kept horse would be livery x 12 months + about £500

 

[catroo]

How much you need to budget depends on what your plans are for the horse/pony. If you'll be just doing a little bit of hacking in the winter you probably won't need to clip or need much in the way of rugging. But if you want to go hunting, hunter trailing, faster/harder work then you'll probably need to clip and rug and may need to feed more hay/hard feed.

 

[riding_to_the_stars]

Thank you everyone for replying you have really helped me

 

[Leo Walker]

You will need to budget about £70 every 6 weeks for shoes. About £150 per year for vaccinations. There is an insurance comparison bit on the main H&H website you can have a go at to find out rough insurance costs - I don't insure for vets fees so my costs probably won't help. Dentist costs about £40 per horse and need doing about every 6 months to a year.

Off the top of my head and a very rough guess budget for £80 a month and you should hopefully see change from that.

If you are going to ride through the winter you'll need to clip. Professional clipping costs anything upward of £40 per horse;.

Mines unshod and its £20 a trim, my vaccinations cost £43.50 or £38 depending if its flu and tet or just singular, I get them done on free call out days, so thats the total cost.

If you mean £80 a month for hay and feed that seems and awful lot for a hardy type pony out at grass! Most grass livery places put big bales out when they need to and then split the cost, so check with your yard.

I paid £20 for a trace clip last year.

Mine have everything they need, and in my bigger horses case, probably more than he needs :lol: But some of the figures you quote do seem quite high!

 

[catroo]

Mines unshod and its £20 a trim, my vaccinations cost £43.50 or £38 depending if its flu and tet or just singular, I get them done on free call out days, so thats the total cost.

If you mean £80 a month for hay and feed that seems and awful lot for a hardy type pony out at grass! Most grass livery places put big bales out when they need to and then split the cost, so check with your yard.

I paid £20 for a trace clip last year.

Mine have everything they need, and in my bigger horses case, probably more than he needs :lol: But some of the figures you quote do seem quite high!

It might not be a hardy pony, could end up being a fine Arab. Best to budget for the more expensive option rather than underestimate and end up running into trouble.

 

[Leo Walker]

I also kept my half arab mare living out the same way. She always came out of winter fatter than she went in due to the hay :lol: £80 would be 2 big round bales and a fair whack of hard feed. Even stabled overnight mine dont go through that much

And it doesnt cost £150 for a vaccination surely? I am in a mega expensive part of the country and mine is £43.50?

 

[catroo]

last winter large round bales of (admittedly very good quality) hay cost £55 each, one lasted about 7-10 days and I paid for every third one so most months just paid for one but sometimes for two. Not everyone will have to pay this much, best thing would be for OP to ask at the yard they have put their name down for rough prices as they will be best placed.

I'd budget £150 for the first year in case pony/horse isn't already vaccinated and then £60 there after.

 

[fatpiggy]

I'd always have a couple of rugs available though, in case the pony is under the weather and can't get soaked through if it has to stay out.

Don't forget to set up a vet kit - old syringes of different sizes for cleaning wounds and dosing with medicines, cotton wool, cohesive bandages, leg bandages, tweezers, thermometer, vaseline, sachets of Virkon E, cleansing agent, stockholm tar, black wound powder, barrier cream such as udder cream (I personally don't like Sudocrem), mudfever powder (useful for small injuries and other skin problems as it is antiseptic), disposable gloves. And a proper sealed box to keep it in and clean.