first post, old lurker :)

[Ikiera]

Hello everyone

Thought I'd post in here for a bit of advice. I'm hopefully going to be in the position to buy my first horse after christmas, all being well, and I'm just interested in what everyone would think would be suitable for me.
Bit of history...

I've been riding since the age of 7 (now 27), on and off for my uni years, and more regularly for the last 2 years. I've done volunteering in a yard as a teenager, with a lesson as payment. Currently, I am helping a friend with her 5 horses, was 6 but her elderly pony was recently put to sleep. I ride her 15 yr old 16hh german warmblood whos is.... a bit spooky (shadows are the current enemy.. which is fun!) and am helping back her fjord youngster, as my friends currently got issues with her achilles tendon. I'm not having lessons, so have probably picked up some bad habits along the way.

My friend said she would be happy with me buying a youngster to bring on, so the fjordy has a playmate (shes quite boisterous with the others bless her), and shed help. However, me being me, I'm a bit skeptical, as although I go up 3 or 4 times a week to help with the yard (she has adjoining land to her house, so someones always on site), I'd be loathe to not handle him/her more regularly myself. Normally its a go up, muck out, feed, cuddle etc then zip off. Weekends are obviously not an issue.

any ideas? I'm 5"8, 9 1/2 stone. Can jump, will jump. Ive got about £1000 to play with. Is it worth waiting to have a bit more?

thanks

 

[hnmisty]

Hello

Hmm, personally I would save up for a bit more...and have a think about whether you really want a youngster or whether you want something a bit older that has done a bit more and is ready to go.

Exciting times though!

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Personally, I'd use a livery yard if you buy a horse. The lady with the 5 horses will have her ways of doing things and you may feel that you can't be 'in charge' of your new horse.
Even though she may be wonderfully supportive, owning your first horse is a time when you need to be comfortable spending time with him/her, making mistakes and trying out things. A good YO who can offer assistance or advice when asked for, might be better for you while adjusting from sharer to owner.

£1000 is possible as a budget if you hear of something locally, but bear in mind that the financial and emotional investment of keeping a horse is quite a commitment, so you'll need to search carefully.

 

[Kaida]

It depends entirely what you're looking for. Your monthly budget will also play a factor. For DIY livery I pay around £400 a month in total - that's £200 a month for livery, which is stable, turnout, all hay/haylage/straw and has a floodlit school. I go up twice a day - morning and night of course - to muck out in the morning and turn out, bring in in the evening and ride (do hay and water, groom, change rugs, generally make a fuss of him as he's beautiful and knows it...!)

On top of the livery, horse insurance is around £50 a month for me (only because I have the highest level of vets cover, also have tack insured, also loss of use etc etc), farrier is £65 every 6 weeks, worm count is £10 a time and if I have to worm that's between £10 and £20 a time, getting his teeth done twice a year is £50 a time, getting his back done every 6 weeks is £35...I have his saddle checked at least once a year which is £35 a time, and he's on hard feed which probably costs me around £50 a month in total.

With the market how it is, you can find a horse within your budget who I am sure you would have a lot of fun with. Beaware, of course, of the "too good to be true" scenario - it normally is! That said, I have seen some rather nice horses going for under £1000 recently purely because of the market. Be prepared, though, that you will either be getting a youngster - which you are expecting, but do the normal and make sure they are fine to handle in every way, and you can lead without issue through fields, on lanes etc and whether they respect your personal space and all the other normal things for younger horses... - or you will get an older horse, around 16 (which is really not that old if the horse has been treated right and doesn't have health issues!) - or you will get one with problems.

Personally I'd be tempted, if I had that budget, to go the way you are thinking and get a youngster if you are confident with them, as with older horses you just don't know their past, and steer away from horses with known issues. That said, you don't know what you will get with a youngster and you could end up with a horse who is un-rideable for medical reasons, one who broncs when he sees anything new, one who can't get on with other horses - or possibly one who turns into your horse for life. It's a massive gamble. Always get the horse vetted - I know it takes out some of your budget but can help identify issues.

If you would find it difficult to go up every day, possibly look for livery yards where you can do part livery and work out the prices. Also work out what you need - do you need a school? What is the local hacking like? Will you want to keep your horse turned out most of the year or do you like them coming in at night? Facilities generally balance price with livery yards. Also check out the situation with forage and bedding. If they are included in the price that's great but check the quality. If it isn't, work out how much it will cost to buy in.

I agree with others that a livery yard may be better than sharing with your friend. It's one thing working with her on her horses but with your own horse you may find you need your own space! That said, I have shared a yard with a friend in the past very successfully, but only because we didn't interfere with each others horses. You know your friend best - next time you are up there, really think about whether you would like to keep your horse there.

So (sorry for the ramble there!!) I would personally advise saving up for two more months until after Christmas (that's a bad time to get a new horse!) and using the time to find a local vet who is well recommended to do the vetting, assess your friend's place to really think about whether you want to keep your horse there, and look around for local horses to see what's for sale and what they are like. You will probably need to buy rugs, wormer, tack, more rugs, a new bit because you're not sure he suits the current one, more rugs........so it's good to keep some money in the bank. I always try to keep around £1000 in my horse account for those little emergencies. My latest one was a horse going through the electric fencing because the farmer took the battery away, then through the barbed wire. I had my excess on the insurance to pay (£350), and a trip to the local farm shop to get more fencing poles and electric fencing as she had broken a load of it, another new rug as of course the one she had on was shredded, and the list goes on!!!!!