Following the 'Do we make having horses more difficult' thread..

MrsElle

MrsElle

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Some on the thread stated that keeping a horse out 24/7 didn't necessarily equate to cheaper bills, and I wondered if that were true.

Here are my costs, 24/7 on rented land v livery.

I have four horses on 7.5 acres.
Currently I am not supplementary feeding, no hay, no hard feed as we have plenty of grass.
None are rugged at the moment, three will be naked over winter, the TB will be rugged if and when needed, but is currently fine.
I have water via tanks that collect rainwater, a large open fronted barn and plenty of shelter from trees and hedges.

Land rental: £250 per month
Farrier: £100 every 8 weeks (all un shod)
Dentist: Free, daughter in law is an equine dentist :D
Vacs: £240 per year
Worming: £160 per year
Hay: £300 per year

Total per month, per horse = £90

Of course there are unknowns on top, rugs, vet bills (a lot of those lately!), and probably other things I haven't thought of, but to stable mine at a livery yard, on DIY would cost me £130 a month each, at least.

How would yours compare?
 
I will win the cheap competition!
Two horses live out on own land, I get free hay. I buy 20 bales of straw a year at £2 each.
Hard feed a bag of chaff a month, speedibeet ditto and a tub of vitamin supplement. No idea on cost of that as I get chicken food at the same time - will guess £40. Speedibeet only for 4 months of the year so will say £30 on average, covers the salt licks.
1 shod every 6 weeks, one trimmed every 12 = £50 a month(ish)
Worming, once a year at £40 for both
Vacs - no idea! Sorry Will guess £80 a year
So barring emergencies (there usually is at least one a year, this year I had a gateway dug out and hardcore put down) horses cost me, averaged out £47 a horse a month, roughly. According to my maths.
 
Mine have gone from being on 7 day full livery at £185 a week per horse (I have 2) to living out 5 mins up the road. I do have a stable, electric, water etc. I now pay £20 a week per horse plus feed and hay. They aren't having hay yet as loads of grass. So I've saved a lot of money but I just spend it on other rubbish I don't need instead :)
 
I've got 4 out 24/7

Currently not feeding hay either although am a small hard feed. I rent a little yard but pay per horse so each month

£240 rent
£40 feed

£60 farrier every 8-10 weeks 1 shod, others all unshod and mostly self trimming.

£300 hay a year

£60 insurances inc vets bills for all 4

Around £90 per horse as well, shod one a bit more.

Obviously that's basic running, rugs etc I tend to buy with birthday Christmas money.

If I was on a livery yard I would easily be paying at least £40 more per horse.
 
No cost for turnout... No hay costs... Feed approx £15 p/m. Rugs - he's a bu**er but I mend them myself. All the facilities I want but I have to make/maintain them. Minimal costs for old boy homebred companion.

Downside... One old farmer Dad to look after. He won't make a cup of tea himself! He once made instant gravy to stick on his frozen dinner out of coffee granules instead - and ate it! He's getting older...
 
I have my own yard...rented at 160 pcm
Big bale hay 32 x2 = 64
Straw 40
Feed 20

280 pcm basic for 3 horses.

DIY livery locally is 30 pw per horse for stable only so that would be 360 ...plus hay, straw, feed

It's much cheaper for me to rent my yard than be DIY.
 
MrsElle said:
Some on the thread stated that keeping a horse out 24/7 didn't necessarily equate to cheaper bills, and I wondered if that were true.

Here are my costs, 24/7 on rented land v livery.

I have four horses on 7.5 acres.
Currently I am not supplementary feeding, no hay, no hard feed as we have plenty of grass.
None are rugged at the moment, three will be naked over winter, the TB will be rugged if and when needed, but is currently fine.
I have water via tanks that collect rainwater, a large open fronted barn and plenty of shelter from trees and hedges.

Land rental: £250 per month
Farrier: £100 every 8 weeks (all un shod)
Dentist: Free, daughter in law is an equine dentist :D
Vacs: £240 per year
Worming: £160 per year
Hay: £300 per year

Total per month, per horse = £90

Of course there are unknowns on top, rugs, vet bills (a lot of those lately!), and probably other things I haven't thought of, but to stable mine at a livery yard, on DIY would cost me £130 a month each, at least.

How would yours compare?
Click to expand...

My basic DIY livery (stable, field and facilities) is more than what you pay for everything. Land to rent is as scarce as hens teeth in this area and not cheap unless it has a lot of drawbacks like floods or has no access to hacking.
 
For me with one large horse.

Field rent £60 per month
Hay approx. £45 per month (only for an average of 4 months a year over winter)
Balancer/chop/kwikbeet approx. £45 every 6 weeks
Hoof trim £20 every 8 weeks
Jabs £120 a year
Insurance £26 per month
EDT £30 every 6 months
Wormer approx £10-15 4-5 times a year
 
Interesting thread. I own a pretty decent sized horse and hay farm so every year at tax time I total my basic costs and average it per horse. Each horse costs approximately $1,500 per year to keep. All horses live out 24/7 and are unshod. This figure includes all hay, feed, farrier trims, worming and annual vaccinations. It does not include the initial purchase of the farm or any of the machinery bought to run the farm, or the cost to build all the infrastructure. This is purely basic keep costs.
 
If you can find a field to rent (and that's a big if round here!) It may work out a bit cheaper, but if you had to buy the field, then you can keep your horse in luxury 5 star livery for less than interest on the min £100k investment you'd need for a field!

So DIY with stable and some shared turnout often works out much cheaper!
 
Ours live out 24/7 big field plenty of grass, not giving any hay £23pw that includes stable if we need it.
Barefoot and self trimming so no farrier costs.
23.00 a month insurance
Feed/ supplement c.10.00 a month.
Jabs c. 50.00 a year
 
Clodagh said:
I will win the cheap competition!
Two horses live out on own land, I get free hay. I buy 20 bales of straw a year at £2 each.
Hard feed a bag of chaff a month, speedibeet ditto and a tub of vitamin supplement. No idea on cost of that as I get chicken food at the same time - will guess £40. Speedibeet only for 4 months of the year so will say £30 on average, covers the salt licks.
1 shod every 6 weeks, one trimmed every 12 = £50 a month(ish)
Worming, once a year at £40 for both
Vacs - no idea! Sorry Will guess £80 a year
So barring emergencies (there usually is at least one a year, this year I had a gateway dug out and hardcore put down) horses cost me, averaged out £47 a horse a month, roughly. According to my maths.
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I'm pretty similar, but also get free straw if needed. Can also share vet call outs with the farm animals, - if of course they are routine, or injure themselves at the same time!!! I consider myself to really 'do horses' on the cheap, and am very lucky in being able to.
 
I'm quite lucky too in the summer months as i have my own land, don't have to pay for hay/haylage or straw as its all grown at home, so just the usual farrier every 6 weeks 2 sets, hard feed, vaccs, worming etc. etc.

In the winter months i move them to a local livery yard as i don't have a school(yet :P) i have them on assisted DIY which normally works out at £45pwph
 
sam_ said:
I'm quite lucky too in the summer months as i have my own land, don't have to pay for hay/haylage or straw as its all grown at home, so just the usual farrier every 6 weeks 2 sets, hard feed, vaccs, worming etc. etc.

In the winter months i move them to a local livery yard as i don't have a school(yet :P) i have them on assisted DIY which normally works out at £45pwph
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You have a farmer OH who might let you put in a school!? I am deeply impressed and you must be amazing!! LOL!
 
I don't think you can really include dentist etc. in your costs when its about 24/7 turnout V stables costs as the general things like the dentist will apply to stabled ones too. Round here I think my local DIY livery yard is about £30 a week. For me, we own our own land and water is free (our own well) so it just boils down to hay costs which are probably slightly less than those stabled since they have grazing although its pretty rubbish this time of year and hard feed which I would think is probably about the same for me as if they were stabled. Same with rugs, they'd need rugs if kept stabled too. So I would think it definately is cheaper in that I don't have to pay the rates livery yards have to (to cover their water, insurance etc.) and I save on bedding. BUT I have just spent a few grand building my own stables (for shelter etc.) and buying all the bits associated and doing up the fencing etc.... so probably not much cheaper when you look at it like that!
 
I get my hay, bedding and livery paid for me in exchange for looking after 2 of the horses for other people - one pays hay and bedding and the other pays the livery - rather than give me cash in hand - and they pay their own farrier/vet bills etc. There are four horses, two are mine.

I pay for 2 worm counts a year for all plus wormers if needed - the place I get them from do four worm counts for about £30
Farrier - arab gets one trim every 10 weeks at £25, shettie manages double that as she rarely needs anything off
Feed - they only get fed through the winter so say all in £40 (hifi molasses free, alfa a oil, speedi beet, fibre nuggets)
A big sack of carrots is £3.50 and is for all four of them, I buy this throughout the year

I'm very lucky, and it means money can be saved towards vet call outs and there's always a stash aside for anything they might need, rugs etc, though now I have bought them the rugs they need (bought both of my horses this year and they needed new rugs, tack and stuff) hopefully these rugs will last a long time and won't need replaced! Famous last words... ;)
 
Clodagh said:
You have a farmer OH who might let you put in a school!? I am deeply impressed and you must be amazing!! LOL!
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This made me laugh! Yes i do but it hasn't been without it's battles. The fluttering of the eyelashes worked to a certain extent lol! i managed to get a shed up for my stables relatively quickly(i was quite impressed with myself) the school has been a bit trickier but i am getting there albeit slower than i would like haha!
 
I have one living out 24/7 on 20 acres. This costs £80 per month. We are actually low on grass, as YO has had stock including cattle out during the year, only being taken off about 2 weeks ago, but there is enough grass to keep the horses going through winter with additional forage. At the moment, my horse is getting about 1/3 bale of hay a day, and I bought the bales off the field during the summer at £3, so effectively £1 daily. I expect this will double over the next month, so £2 daily.

He also gets feed - a bag of high fibre cubes lasts two weeks, so that's about £20 per month. A bag of Halley's chop lasts two months, so that's an extra £5 per month. So far so good... then add the expensive balancer to keep his hooves from falling apart :D That would be about £40 per month!

Water is a stream running through field and doesn't freeze or need maintenance. Rugs - he wears a rain sheet when it rains hard, and we have one sheet (£30) that is going into its third year, so that's a low cost.
The field is amazing in terms of terrain - he went into it 4 weeks ago needing a hoof trim, but within a week, he didn't need one anymore. Since then, hooves have looked better and better - guess that about offsets the £40 balancer expense then!

I make that about £170 per month. Not bad, I think! The horse is incredibly happy and relaxed in his little herd though, and that's priceless :)
 
My field rent is £300 p.a. I buy in some hay and straw, for another £300ish - I probably won't need it, but it's my insurance against a naff winter.

I reckon that's not bad for 11 ponies.
 
Just moved our 3 (my 2 and mums 1) from a 9 acre field for £200 a month, to diy livery at £65 a month per horse, it's cheaper overall, and it's closer than by 5 miles. They live out 24/7 so don't need to pay for bedding, although have access to stables and electrics if wanted - didn't have that at field. Each horse costs about £10 a month to feed, and all are barefoot so cost £15 a trim every 8 - 10 weeks. Worming err £20 each every 3 months ish... so a rough guess is each pony costs £90 a month
 
ill try add up

no livery as at home

£10 a week haylage
£5 for feed a week - not sure how much relax me works out a week!
£8 shavings a week
£70 farrier every 4-6 weeks
I compete once or twice a week so 60 a week + fuel which can be £100 pw
insurance £150 a month

Need to stop typing now and have a drink...
 
To those who say that they keep theirs at home so it doesn't cost -
How much extra did your house with land cost vs a similar house without land?
How much extra council tax/insurance do you pay?
What about maintenance?
If you have electric/water supply to your horses presumably it's metered?
 
Yup, Hairycob, I was just about to make a similar point. The purchase price on my field was cheap (in Yorkshire, bought off a friend during the property slump in the late 90s).... but I did need to put in my own fencing and shelter, and over the last few years I have neglected the maintenance so am now faced with needing to sink a fair bit more money into it. It will have worked out cheaper than having 4 Horses on DIY, and its certainly far less stressful, but the expenditure isn't regular and you can find yourself needing to find ££££ at short notice. Just because its your own and, it doesn't mean it's free or without cost.
 
hairycob said:
To those who say that they keep theirs at home so it doesn't cost -
How much extra did your house with land cost vs a similar house without land?
How much extra council tax/insurance do you pay?
What about maintenance?
If you have electric/water supply to your horses presumably it's metered?
Click to expand...

I married the landonwer, wedding was a cheapy, cost about £400. I keep him happy and he pays my bills!!
 
There is a basic calculation that works out that horses cost an average of £1,000 per year to keep on your own land if you allow for water, electricity, depreciation, normal land maintenance and all the other items beloved of accountants and including the normal feed, bedding, shoeing, worming, etc. That is if you do things properly and actually DO feed, worm, feet, teeth, etc. Not everyone does........
 
I dont/didnt rent my own land as I only had one horse so couldnt keep him alone but moving from diy to grass livery when he retired saved money. Shoes/feed/dentist/wormer etc stayed the same. Hay was the same as given ad-lib overnight regardless if stabled or field kept. Livery went from £151.50 a month to £87 a month. No bedding bill of £25-30 a month. And when he was on diy a friend bought him in weekday afternoons for me but then had her horse pts so I would have had to start paying someone to do that at around £50 a month too. So substantially cheaper for me to have him out. Although that said, it isnt uncommon for grass livery to be £150 - £200 a month round here and whilst that includes hay in winter its not great value for money in summer and only saves bedding and assistance costs. Would love to live in a cheaper part of the country!
 
Cortez said:
There is a basic calculation that works out that horses cost an average of £1,000 per year to keep on your own land if you allow for water, electricity, depreciation, normal land maintenance and all the other items beloved of accountants and including the normal feed, bedding, shoeing, worming, etc. That is if you do things properly and actually DO feed, worm, feet, teeth, etc. Not everyone does........
Click to expand...

Thats interesting, and probably accurate.
 
Cortez said:
There is a basic calculation that works out that horses cost an average of £1,000 per year to keep on your own land if you allow for water, electricity, depreciation, normal land maintenance and all the other items beloved of accountants and including the normal feed, bedding, shoeing, worming, etc. That is if you do things properly and actually DO feed, worm, feet, teeth, etc. Not everyone does........
Click to expand...

That sounds about right on average (though Hubby wants to know why ours always tend to be 'above average"!!!!).
Also must bear in mind the compatability of horse type and land type - it will always cost more and need more management and time if you have say, natives and rich lowland grass, or poor-doers and windswept upland grazing.
 
When I had mine at home, it was:

Rent: free
Jabs: free (dad is a vet)
Hay and straw: free
£40 every 6 weeks for fronts (I think)
Probably about £20 a month for feed
Insurance: £50 a year for BHS Gold membership
And the dentist once a year

Now I am in Sheffield and use a livery yard it's a bit more!
 
The other thing with your own land which offsets the purchase price is that, when you are old & grey, you can sell it again . It will, hopefully, have gone up in value which could even be equivalent to interest rates at the moment.
 
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