costs of breaking yards.

ThePinkPony

ThePinkPony

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So im almost certain that instead of getting instructors out to help break in Pink, we should send her to a professional yard for breaking. She is going to be a great horse, and i think its only fair on her to get her started correctly.

Theres a yard near us which the ad says is £80 pw but we will look around.

What do the fees usually incur and how does it work ( i have no idea and neither did RI) Does the weekly fee cover everything (obv except feet and vets bills) or is it just for the hours a day they work with the horse?

???? confused and the place isnt picking up so im stuffed for the time being.
 
I would expect a professional breakers yard to charge on a full livery basis, everything included except farrier and vet. £80pw sounds low to me! I note you said you are going to ask around - it's well worth going on recommendations, ideally where you can see some examples of happily backed youngsters. The various professional yards I've worked with are only too happy to show people round, show them horses they've backed / schooled / worked with and are always available for updates and progress discussions as well as being on hand with support for the first few weeks after the horse goes home.
 
£80 is a steal! I would ask around for people who've had their horses broken in by the person before. It's so important that it is done properly as if done badly you will have a heap of problems to try and resolve when you get the horse back. I would be looking at £150 a week to pay. I will not mention how much I charged when I was breaking! This would include the general wellbeing and keep of the animal and the breaking/riding away. Extras will be farrier and vet.
 
I would be wary of anywhere that can offer full breaking livery for £ 80.
That is far less than I would expect.
Most good yards would be from £120 upwards.
I think the best way is to get a recommendation from someone you trust,the breaking stage is so important you would want it done well.
 
i though £80 was a bit on the low side, seeing as it would cost double that to get someone out to her for an hour a day.

Shes fairly far along. she can stand when tied, feet picked, touched everwhere, slapped with a rope everwhere on her body, tacked up, lunged (although shes a bit dumb with stop, some days shes excellent, some days she just keeps going-going-going).

if anyone wants to PM me recommendations in the hereford/glos/worcs areas then thatll be great.
 
I agree £80 pe is cheap. You must remember that breaking horses is a risk to the people involved and to do it well takes patience, time and effort. Also worth remembering that a good start for a horse is the most important thing and paying a bit extra to have it done properly is better than having some cowboy do it cheaper and creating problems further down the line.
 
My youngster's going to a yard for £120 a week, feed expenses included. It's cheap as chips for around here and very highly regarded - a showjumper near London ships a dozen up for breaking at a time (and it's in the hills of Wales so quite a fair way!) Have visited them and they were very friendly, all horses happy and chilled. Also fully insured just in case!

Tbh £80 sounds too cheap :/ I'm weary of breaking yards as so much could potentially go wrong. We visited them and they were very professional and know horses inside out, very straight forward no-nonsense approach which is exactly what my girl needs! Firm but very fair. My instructor sends all hers there for breaking and they've all come back great. I'd definitely recommend visiting and maybe seeing them in action, if for peace of mind rather than anything else. You soon get a 'feel' for a place :)
 
It doesn't really matter how much you have done at home when it comes sending them to be broken. (Sorry if that might sound a little patronising but I hope you get the gist! They just want to make sure it's established in the person's mind how advanced or not the horse is.) Once the horse goes away, they will still lunge, long rein etc to make sure they are confident that the horse is ready to be ridden away. I wouldn't ride away anyone elses youngster for any less than £25 a hour and would want petrol money as well! Sorry - I cannot help with your location!
 
It really depends on your ares as to whether £80 is cheap or the going rate i guess. Our mare is away being broken at the moment, shes been there 6 weeks so far & we can go & visit her pretty much whenever we want & the lady doing her will work with her while we are there so we can see for ourselves how she is progressing, we are paying £50 as week & that covers everything. There is also another lady just up the road from me who is charging £65 a week, again she is very good with the horses.
 
think that might be a bit far, because i want to be able to see her at least once a day, but its negotiable. i'll pm her. thanks for that.
 
See if we had the facilities (school) then id get someone to come to us so i could be a part of the process, but it looks doubtful.

Cost isnt an issue per se, but im realising very quickly that there are many in the horsey world who will expect you to pay through the nose for something, just because its equine.
 
Im going to go against the grain
Here
And say do you research on this woman or man
Ask for references etc
I say that as I have sent my gelding off to a woman not far from me
No she wasn't by a word of mouth
I found Her on a local forum that I go on
I did ask for many references which she could supply me with which if she minded or had something to hide there is no way she would of supplied me
She works for many studs and dealers and has been used by stunt acts to train stunt horses
She charges me 30 wk
And since my horse has been there
He has traveled I'n a box
He has never traveled
He trots up I'n hand
He has Never like doing it and did repeatly kick out but he now does it nicely
He has been stabled
He is never stabled as he lives out 24/7 since he was born
He been sat on , walked , and accepted a ride with I'n a week and half
He seems happy and she update date me everyday with texts and also videos and pics on Facebook
So what I'm trying to say don't rule out the cheap backers
Just because they don't charge the earth doesnt mean there dodgy or don't know what there doing
It simply may be someone doing it as a part time job who wants to earn a few buck why they have a few weeks etc available
 
ThePinkPony said:
See if we had the facilities (school) then id get someone to come to us so i could be a part of the process, but it looks doubtful.

Cost isnt an issue per se, but im realising very quickly that there are many in the horsey world who will expect you to pay through the nose for something, just because its equine.
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We didn't have a school, just a three acre field, someone came out to us every day and he made a cracking job of backing her and involved my daughter and I all the way. If you had someone in mind who will come out and haven't spoken to them because you haven't a school I'd at least check that they want a school to work in. After all it's not that much use to you to have a newly backed youngster who is confident working on a surface in a confined space but nervous ridden on open grassy areas.
 
Agree with Jemima too, you dont need a school, the lady doing our mare hasnt got one & my friend who used to do alot of breaking for people never had one either.
 
jemima_too said:
We didn't have a school, just a three acre field, someone came out to us every day and he made a cracking job of backing her and involved my daughter and I all the way. If you had someone in mind who will come out and haven't spoken to them because you haven't a school I'd at least check that they want a school to work in. After all it's not that much use to you to have a newly backed youngster who is confident working on a surface in a confined space but nervous ridden on open grassy areas.
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Their field is scrubby and uneven with bramble bushes and stuff, but once we move to winter grazing (its finding the bloody stuff, everythings being cut for hay at the moment and its all a secret:rolleyes: :mad:) then my RI said she knows of a couple of NH guys who back horses very gently and has references for them, so that would be an idea if i cant find anywhere nearer, because i really do want to be doing everything with pink, she is a forever horse, the only one i want (try getting that through to an unhorsey Oh who last night wanted to know if its financially viable-if we would end up with a horse worth more than we had paid out...yes we would :rolleyes:).

i cant see where he is coming from, its one thing affording it, but its explaining to him that 'yes we could get the gypsy down the road to back her but A, it could ruin my horse and B could be really dangerous'. and getting it through his head that sending her back and buying an bombproof allrounder wouldnt work out any better.

He not being an arse at all, he just doesnt get how getting this stage wrong could have repurcussions throughout pinks life... that and the fact he thinks a bigger horse would be more exciting... um no, just further to fall buddy.

We shall just see how the next month or so pans out, hopefully we will find
 
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