Following on from Firewells thread - what do you scrimp on?

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Scarlett

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Just read through Firewells thread on monthly costs and it got me thinking. We all have different ideas on what horses need and how much we will/do pay cost wise. What do you save money on to allow you to have horses or to spend somewhere else on them?

I refuse to pay a fortune on supplements, hard feed or bedding. We put 1 bag of bedding in each stable a week - we have 3 ex-racehorses - and no more. They don't have big, fluffy beds with massive banks and I'm sure other owners would look at them and think they were awful but our horses don't seem to mind and lie down happily. They are also super easy to muck out, thus less time consuming which is always a bonus when you have so many.

Hard feed costs less than £100 a month for all 3 - it's Simple Systems and they only get about 1-1.5kg a day in winter and half that in summer, plus a unmollassed, unbranded chaff to fill their buckets up a bit! They are in work 4-5 days a week with a mixture of schooling, hacking, jumping and some competing. They are all fat and have plenty of good energy without ever being too fizzy.

Supplements are seaweed at £8 month, brewers yeast at £6.50 and one of them gets a protein rich Omega Rice supplement at £22 for 6 weeks worth to aid her muscle development.

I also don't put back shoes on them, they cope fine with that even when xc, hunting etc. This means they cost me £30 each every 8 weeks.

However, I spend what I save on lessons, schooling and physio as and when they need it. One of ours has had the physio once every 3 months in the last year and this will continue for as long as he needs it. Lessons are as many as I can fit in money and time wise, and if I don't have a lesson I like my Instructor to come ride.

So - what do you refuse to spend out a fortune on? And what does the money you save get spent on?
 
Ooer. I'm another for spending as much on lessons and back person as I need, no expense spared on back, teeth, tack checks. Do have a pretty decent bed, but I find I use a lot less if it's thick. I scrimp on anything for myself I guess :o

Oh, I refuse to spend a fortune on rugs - in fact, the cheapest rugs I have bought have fitted the best and haven't been trashed, which suits me :D
 
i dont tend to scrimp on anything really - i just dont get bogged down by the need buy this and buy that and new 'fads'.

I dont scrimp on quality rugs or feed - i will buy them what t know they like but i keep an eye out for bargains and multibuys. spend hours on the internet for bargains xx
 
Good thread! Makes one think about things!

Hmm. My pony lives outside, and gets fed only a supplement and whatever fruit/veg I'm bribing him with that week. I save on:

1. stable/bedding, as none required.

2. rugs (he has: 1 HW turnout (bought in sale) for really grotty weather, 1 old repaired turnout for emergencies (more often used to pad musical instruments in transit in the horsebox), 1 fleece (sale again), 1 cooler (present), 1 rainsheet (for really grotty weather that I've managed to anticipate)

3. fancy matchy-matchy accessories (not that I wouldn't like some, but fortunately, he's a round fluffy random pony, so I can talk myself out of it by saying that bling etc. would look really inappropriate on him; woe if I ever get a tall sleek horse!)

4. Saddlery: he has old (but serviceable) synthetic saddles.

5. Stable tools: there are zillions hanging about the yard, and no one minds if you borrow something that you don't have, as long as you put it back where you found it.

6. fancy tops, gilets, multiple jodhs etc. for me: old T-shirts and turtlenecks will do just fine.

Where I don't save:

1. hoof care. Sees trimmer every 4 or 5 weeks.

2. medical care, insurance, etc.

3. lessons

4. my favourite jodhs and boots. I've been lucky to get the boots in sales, but I have difficult feet to fit, so I have to be picky. With jodhs, I'd rather have a few excellent pairs that last for a few years, than something cheap that falls appart in a few months, so I spend the money.
 
Use one bale of shavings a week deep litter which is expensive compared to other bedding but is mega quick to muck out, 5 mins at most. Bed is deep stys in place when horse rolls

Have taken back shoes off for winter

Bought hay off field in July, paid £2.50/bale do not want to buy any more hay at current prices so am rationing it by adding straw as a feed.

Feed limited hard feed although horse is a fatty one bag of sugar beet has lasted a year, handful of mix but use redigrass quite readily to aid hay supply

Use Seaweed as a vit/min supplement, also good for feet
 
i save on myself!
My horse is fully insured with a good reputable but more expensive insurer.
I have weekly lessons, he has his food, rugs, decent bedding, really everything he needs
I cut and dye my hair myself (my family runs hairdressing salons so thats ok) , i buy my clothes in primark when needed, i dont go out as much as i used to pre horse, - have a holiday very rareley - yep its me who does without, not my horse - but ive never ever been happier xxxx
 
Wherever I can lol :D

Bedding = money on the floor. I put matting down and they have a sprinkle on top of that to wee on so between two they have one sack every 2 months.

Rugs - how many can one horse wear anyway? All bought in sales or from eBay when needed (or given as brithday/christmas presents by my parents lol)

Feed - Pony doesn't need hard feed really, horse goes mental if fed too much so I keep it down and give them both adlib haylage which is included in my livery bill. It's hard to keep weight on the horse but she does ok and Id prefer her to be a bit ribby and sane lol

Tack - what they need and no more. Horse's 'posh fancy bridle' cost £4.99 brand new from eBay from a local tack shop that was closing

They both have their teeth and vacs done every 12 months, horse in March and pony in October. I share a callout with the YO to keep that down. Obv if they need any vet treatment inbetween they get it.

Feet - theyre both barefoot and staying that way. Neither of them have ever had shoes and they get trimmed every 8 weeks, costs £40 for both of them

Supplements - horse is on Magnitude (£18 for 90 day supply) and theyre both on a GP mineral supplement coz we've got poor grazing and the hay isn't always the best
 
Rugs.....Mine are all from sales, last seasons colours etc...or bought second hand.

Tack - I don't compromise on quality, so I buy good brands second hand.

Feed - I feed own brand high fibre cubes, sugar beet, and dengie alfa a - all of mine look fab on this diet.

Hay/haylage - I DO NOT feed ad - lib as I have natives, they get a hard feed of above items for energy and sparkle but hay is rationed or they would be impossibly fat come spring, I use small holed nets for the stabled ponies and the ones living out have hay/straw mixed scattered over some tree branches to slow things down.

Insurance- Pet plan....I know there's cheaper but I like pet plan as they pay up!

Lessons - competeing - lesson once a month, competing the same, I do have a sharer who competes one of mine and pays for lessons entries etc.

shoeing - one is shod, needs to be, the others are barefoot which is fine by me!!

"lotions and potions"- I don't use mane and tail or grooming sprays, waste of money, I use baby shampoo tesco's value 20p a litre, although I do get weird looks buying 10 ltrs at a time! Brylcreme is great for controlling manes on natives a tub lasts me a year I buy it in the pound shop, and baby oil is great on hooves and in manes and tails for added shine- again pound shop!!
I don't buy fly spray either, make my own, or use rugs and masks.
 
We get free chaff, are going onto local feed, and we make our own hay :)
Nothing is on supplements, although last year I was sponsered and got all our supplements for free from a fantastic company, Copa Ireland (not advertising as no longer sponsered by them :) )

We share lifts to competitions, and help each other out around the yard :)

We have a vet's horse on livery so often get free advice/checks (obs any medicine will be paid for) and we have our own land so don't pay rentage :)

It's hard to scrimp tbh where horses are concerned, but we do buy in bulk wherever possible as we do have space :)

The one thing we consciously do is use local dressage instructor for £30, instead of instructor who comes over from england to do clinics here - 45mins for £85 :eek:
 
I have two unbroken youngsters, and a 18 year old cob.

They live out, on our own land (no livery to pay, put all the costs with owning your own land). No bedding costs, none of them are shod, the cob wears boots to hack in, they are trimmed and wormed and vaccinated up to date. Feed - we do own a feed merchants! But, as they are all VERY good doers, they get either whatever is out of date (mmm, competition mix, can be interesting!) or Hifi lite and a smidge of Fast Fibre, and a balancer. The old boy has bute and various other supplements. Hay I buy at £3.50 a bale, or I can buy big bale haylage, but they've been worryingly fat, and are still prefering grass to hay, which is great.

The youngsters aren't rugged, the cob is, I've had him for 14 years this summer and he still has the Rambo I bought on credit 12 years ago - he is easy on his rugs!
 
The main thing i scrimp on is myself, but also rugs i buy most of them off ebay (1 rug i brought brand new 15 years ago is still as good as new)
i never scrimp on the vet, hence i have a vet bill about the size of the national debt.
farrier is bok every 8 weeks, wormers are done on time but i buy in bulk off the internet and get what ever are cheapest at the time.
I dont go ott on bedding they have a good straw bed but not silly lose yourself deep, adlib haylage and a bsic hard feed.
 
My biggest saving has been to change mine on to wood pellets for bedding - 1 ton last year - January - cost about £250 and has lasted through this winter as well. They both have big beds and I add more as needed - one is very clean the other filthy:rolleyes: - and it looks as though there is enough to last until end of February/March. I f the weather changes like it has the last two years they will then go straight on to 24 hour turnout then. So 250 quid for two stables for a winter and half is good value for money.

O and I also use the wood pellets for my wood burner especially when it was very cold as they keep it burning overnight:)
 
Feed- well our three go through a bag of cool mix, and hi fi lite in about a month and a bag of oats every two in the summer not alot there, and his farriers formula
Haylage and Straw- is included in the £42 a week DIY livery and is unlimited as YO grows it all herself.
Rugs- he doesnt need any he has a bigger wardrobe than me, has about two of each weight apart from his heavey weights. (only due to having sold my other horse)
Shoes - has to have a full set on tried with no shoes and almost had no horse left :( so gets done every five weeks
Tack- he gets a new browband every summer before the commonrides, have numerous numnahs and bits and pieces
Me - i go without, have my good stuff and two decent pairs of jods and thats it really
I dont have anything else to pay for apart from him so am quite happy to spend what i can really, not like he needs anything
 
My two are natives so:

*barefoot
*high fibre diet - fast fibre, chaff and hay
*back person every 6 months
*can hack to saddler so no call out fees there
*the only supplement I use is Airways for my mares COPD

I have cheap tack but it fits well, I tend to buy all my tack/saddle pads/bandages/boots etc from tack sales so whilst second hand it's good because it's cheap. I have picked up some real bargains - the best was a synthetic dressage saddle and girth for £7!
 
The way I look at it is a) Do they need it or is it because I want it?
b). If they need it, I get it and if it's because I want it, I then look at, can I afford a frivolity for them. This determines whether I buy it or not.

My 2 are natives and they have a decent rug each (not worn BUT I have them in case they are required).
- Shoes every 6 weeks for one and a trim every 12 weeks for the other. Tried her without shoes and it didn't work.
- Feed is chaff, mix and sugar beet and they are losing/gaining weight as required. (£20 a month max). Hay is £25 every 2-3 weeks (ad-lib).
- Tack is bought for my birthday/christmas.
- Livery/Vet/Dental/Booster etc is readily available.
- Insurance is also paid for for peace of mind.

I simply go without new clothes/clubbing/drinking/eating out etc so that my ponies have their basic needs met plus a little extra.

I try to scrimp on myself rather than my ponies and I haven't yet found myself unable to provide for them but looking at livery prices for a lot of people, I wouldn't be able to afford one horse, never mind two.
 
I am lucky to be at a yard with amazing grazing - so am saving loads on hay. Pony goes out for 10 hours a day at the mo and despite giving him ad lib hay, he isn't eating a huge amount so I'm using about 2 bales a week - and thats home grown for £3 a bale anyway.

Neither of mine wear back shoes which helps. Most of their turnout rugs are second hand that I buy via a local forum (Last fab TO was £20). My pony's bridle was £20 in the sale and my horses came with him and is well looked after so still fine. The new things I buy are often things they don;t really need but I think they would look swet in - like the matching newmarket fleeces I bought last week!!

As we have good grazing, they just get happy hoof (1 scoop a day) with an all round vitamin supplement, and I can get a big sack of carrotts for £2 which lasts a couple of weeks. They are on flax bedding which I just need to skip out in the week, then take all the wet out at the weekend - currently using one bale a week each which is £5.60.

I have ad hoc lessons, but ensure the things I always do regardless are insurance, shoes every 6 - 8 weeks, vacs and teeth and saddler. Also have a fab osteopath for my pony as and when needed then 6 monthly check ups which is the best use of my money.

I rarely go clothes shopping, and have a one week holiday to France in the summer and thats it! But I am very happy :)
 
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I don't "scrimp" as such just have a horse that gets fat off fresh air and manage things.

Feed - for a 16.3 horse she eats very little "hard" feed. One mug of balancer a day, a very small handful of chaff and 25ml of oestress from spring-autumn.
Small amount of seaweed and this costs peanuts.

Bedding - I take out the wet once a week so use 1 1/2 bales a week which provide my horse with a very thick bed, including banks for £3 a week!

Competing and training - My weekly instructor is on the same yard so I help her out as and when so one hours lessons is £10, and for xmas/brithdays I get several free lessons which go a long way. Also by joining rc (£15 a year including a £10 voucher) means that I often see my other instructor at a rally rather than individually so cheaper again.
We are well catered for in the area for unaff so do not have to pay expensive fees of affiliated etc.

Things like farrier, back person, dentist are always seen regularly though. These are things I would never scrimp on.
 
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I don't know how much my mare costs yet - I only got her on full loan this month. Prior to that it was part loan.
I'm experimenting this week with not mucking out her banks during the week (unless I see obviously wet bits) and just mucking out the floor. I'll then do the banks on Saturdays.
I was getting through 3 - 3.5 bales of shavings a week so it would be nice to cut down on this.
I'll have to see if it gets too manky - she tends to pee in the banks.
 
I have a weekly lesson and would happily have more in the run up to a competition if I was struggling with something. I have his back and tack checked regularly so this is also a no expense spared area.

In terms of scrimping he's not shod behind and he wears the same rug inside and outside (buster trio so can layer up liners as needed). I deep litter on wood pellets as he is disgusting in the box and this is the cheapest most effective solution I've found.
 
I buy good quality breathable turnout rugs but also use these as stable rugs too and layer if needed. When we had ponies in the past they ended up with a bigger wardrobe selection than me so this helps keep things under control. Also when away at shows in temporary stables I always used to end up taking turnouts for ponies as if it rained their stable rugs would end up getting wet no matter how good the roofing was! I also used to get rugs cleaned once a year but don’t do that now as they never seem as waterproof or thick when they come back. I try to brush the worse off with stiff yard broom when dry and use cotton sheet underneath which gets washed every week or so and it works for me

Other than that they live like kings! :)
 
I dont really scrimp on anything, but I have to say I used to be extremely extravagant with my horsey spending, thinking nothing paying £150 for a pair of breeches to wear around the yard, and £1900 for a new saddle, just like that! I have to be honest and say the last year has been hard for all sorts of reasons. I dont scrimp on my horses, but they are very economical to run. Both my daughter's Novice eventer and my happy hacker cob are good doers, and get through about 2 sacks of our local feed merchants own brand cool mix at £6.45 a sack! Both on rubber matting and get one bale of good quality shavings a week. They are both wet and messy in their stables and having a huge bed would make it harder work for YO and us (on part livery). They seem content and are happy to lie down. One suffers from COPD, but we get a prescription made up each year for £26.50 for his inhalers and they are used as and when needed. Apart from that, they are a healthy pair.

Regarding rugs etc, I had a mass spending spree about 2-3 years ago and bought far too much, so am using it up, including a lot of brand new unopened stuff. Some of it is getting sold on ebay. Regarding tack, we boughta lot of good quality stuff, so its being gradually used and the surplus goes on ebay.

Never scrimp on insurance, shoes and dont use supplements currently, but may start using somethng for my cob soon as a preventative measure.
 
I bought horses that were good do-ers and capable of living out. I have 2 youngsters and my riding horse. They all live on fresh air. The babies get half rations of suregrow and live out. They've not needed to be rugged yet. The mare despite being 3/4s arab would happily live out all year, although I do stable her overnight at the minute. She gets a sprinkling of suregrow and some chaff. She lives on nothing, I had her living out in the really bad weather and she actually put weight on in a field under a foot of snow, with minimal hay and a couple of scoops of hifi good doer, sugar beet and her usual suregrow!

They also dont get new stuff. I buy good quality tack etc, but always second hand. My mare has only one "bought new"thing, a stripey joules rug that I HAD to buy, and even that was half price in the sales :D

I could afford to keep poor doers and buy new stuff, but I'm tight and would rather not :D
 
Scarlett said:
Hard feed costs less than £100 a month for all 3 - it's Simple Systems and they only get about 1-1.5kg a day in winter and half that in summer, plus a unmollassed, unbranded chaff to fill their buckets up a bit! They are in work 4-5 days a week with a mixture of schooling, hacking, jumping and some competing. They are all fat and have plenty of good energy without ever being too fizzy.
Click to expand...

Where do you get your chaff from? I'm not brand loyal but prefer unmolassed but don't know anywhere that does it . . .
 
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