Getting back into riding- Hit me with tips/updates to how the horsey world works right now

[HuggyBear]

Getting back into “proper” riding after a good few years break, due to military deployments and general life, and I would love some tips and advice and just general knowledge from how things might have changed.

For instance, I’ve already died of sticker shock from the prices of horses at the moment. What even???

Also, as I will be looking to buy in the next couple of years (once I get myself fully back and dusted off), can anyone point me to their favourite online saddleries that offer good quality saddlery and a decent selection. My old online haunts do not seem to exist anymore! I’m trying to get an idea what good quality, well made, tack and essentials are going to set me back in the current era.

What are people paying for full livery at the moment? Etc

Also, I am considering doing my BHS levels, has anyone done that as a mature adult/ re-rider. Was it beneficial?

This is such a HUGE umbrella question that I am fully prepared for odd, sods, and random info.

Any info always appreciated.

 

[Skib]

Also, I am considering doing my BHS levels, has anyone done that as a mature adult/ re-rider. Was it beneficial?

It depends whether you like tests, qualifications and exams. I dont.
I was an adult new to riding and completed the BHS stage 1 and 2 stable management course which was an evening class at our local RS. Also the Riding and Road Safety course. I did them in order to learn. I didnt take the exams. In my time, for Stage 1 you learned the skeleton of the horse. I managed that. But Stage 2 the muscles defeated me.

I have hacked out with countless young people taking their BHS exams - there are additional tests for teaching and first aid. Courses and exam fees are expensive so unless you need the BHS qualification because you plan to work with horses, I would say it is not worth it.

However, I was allowed to help out on my teachers yard one afternoon a week. To begin with, all I did was clean tack and refill water buckets but eventually over the years I learned a lot, because I was meeting and dealing with a lot of different livery horses. My experience is that if a beginner pays for a few stable management lessons at a RS, learning how to tack up, put rugs on, groom etc, that school is quite happy for you to turn up and help with the horses.

 

[Zoeypxo]

Full livery depends on your area it can be anything from 400-1000pcm. Im in cornwall and the average here is 500pcm.

Again the saddlery question depends on your area , do you have any local tack shops ?
Online i do like hope valley and redpost.

ALOT of horsey stuff is on facebook nowadays , events, livery availability, horses for sale, tack for sale etc. alot on marketplace and alot of specific horsey groups.
Before i decided to give in and sign up for Facebook i kept missing clinics/trainings/ fun rides as i had no idea they were on!

 

[HuggyBear]

It depends whether you like tests, qualifications and exams. I dont.
I was an adult new to riding and completed the BHS stage 1 and 2 stable management course which was an evening class at our local RS. Also the Riding and Road Safety course. I did them in order to learn. I didnt take the exams. In my time, for Stage 1 you learned the skeleton of the horse. I managed that. But Stage 2 the muscles defeated me.

I have hacked out with countless young people taking their BHS exams - there are additional tests for teaching and first aid. Courses and exam fees are expensive so unless you need the BHS qualification because you plan to work with horses, I would say it is not worth it.

I think that will be my logic too. I am not intending for it to be anything other than a structured way to learn/dust off the old knowledge.

The place I’ve started riding at now is a training and BHS exam centre, so it’ll be on my doorstep at least.

 

[HuggyBear]

Full livery depends on your area it can be anything from 400-1000pcm. Im in cornwall and the average here is 500pcm.

Again the saddlery question depends on your area , do you have any local tack shops ?
Online i do like hope valley and redpost.

ALOT of horsey stuff is on facebook nowadays , events, livery availability, horses for sale, tack for sale etc. alot on marketplace and alot of specific horsey groups.
Before i decided to give in and sign up for Facebook i kept missing clinics/trainings/ fun rides as i had no idea they were on!

I live between the NW and the SW, due to work, so I actually have a choice where I would ultimately want to stable. So happy to take peoples lived experiences of costs from around the UK.

I’m military, get drafted to different locations, so I’ll never put my nose up at knowledge from different areas because Sod’s Law I’ll end up living there. Haha

The local tack store I use is okay for the rider side, not a great choice on the horse side and not overwhelmed with the brands they stock.

Plus, unless it is something I am getting fitted (ie saddle), I find you can get better value online.

 

[dottylottie]

i like hope valley & redpost for a good selection/options, and i find they have sales more often and with better discounts!

i’m north west, and full livery around me is £150pw ish on average - i’ve seen some at £200 and some at £95!

for saddlery, i recently came across david dyer saddlery when i was looking for prices of various saddles from brands that don’t have a price list on their website, but they also offer interest free finance for 10 months which i thought was pretty cool - no idea if other places do this but i’ve not seen it before haha

 

[gallopingby]

Do the service saddle clubs still exist? We liveried at one many years ago between house moves and it seemed to run ok but maybe not what you're looking for? Full lovely in the north west is anything from 150 a week Diy variable depending on the set up. Haven't a clue down south but I suspect 250 is on the cheaper side. Hope Valley are pretty good price wise or a couple who sell on Ebay have good quality stuff made for them.

 

[HuggyBear]

i like hope valley & redpost for a good selection/options, and i find they have sales more often and with better discounts!

i’m north west, and full livery around me is £150pw ish on average - i’ve seen some at £200 and some at £95!

for saddlery, i recently came across david dyer saddlery when i was looking for prices of various saddles from brands that don’t have a price list on their website, but they also offer interest free finance for 10 months which i thought was pretty cool - no idea if other places do this but i’ve not seen it before haha

Thank you, I’ll keep an eye out. That’s another Hope Valley mention.

The place I ride at in the NW starts at £140 for full livery, so that sounds like it’s on track with the area then.

Do the service saddle clubs still exist? We liveried at one many years ago between house moves and it seemed to run ok but maybe not what you're looking for? Full lovely in the north west is anything from 150 a week Diy variable depending on the set up. Haven't a clue down south but I suspect 250 is on the cheaper side. Hope Valley are pretty good price wise or a couple who sell on Ebay have good quality stuff made for them.

Not that I am aware of, but I will investigate further.

I’ve made use of Tedworth Park (formally Tidworth) polo club, it’s a tri service place in Hampshire, a handful of times over the years. But it’s obviously geared towards polo, though if I remember rightly you can livery any horse there, and about 1.5 hours away from either of two bases I’ve been at…So a non starter for anything more than once or twice a week visits really.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Hope Valley is the devil…. I spend a fortune there….

How about a share? If you can already ride

 

[dottylottie]

Thank you, I’ll keep an eye out. That’s another Hope Valley mention.

The place I ride at in the NW starts at £140 for full livery, so that sounds like it’s on track with the area then.




Not that I am aware of, but I will investigate further.

I’ve made use of Tedworth Park (formally Tidworth) polo club, it’s a tri service place in Hampshire, a handful of times over the years. But it’s obviously geared towards polo, though if I remember rightly you can livery any horse there, and about 1.5 hours away from either of two bases I’ve been at…So a non starter for anything more than once or twice a week visits really.

i think if you travel a lot for work, stabling further north will definitely save you a few pennies (that you can spend in hope valley, conveniently located in the north west)! goes without saying though, you get what you pay for - especially if you’re on full livery because you’re not able to be there daily! i’ve wistfully thought about having mine on part/full, but the horror stories of filthy beds and empty nets put me off, even if i did have some more money to burn

 

[HuggyBear]

One of the most jarring things for me is the price rise in what people are selling and buying horses at now.

Having read a few articles, it seems to be put down to the effects of supply and demand during covid.

Horsequest is my go-to place to view (sorry Horse and Hound).

My issues is that I don’t have my finger on the pulse enough anymore to say whether some of the figures people are selling for are realistic (in relation to current pricing).

As I am short-*ss, I’ll be looking for LW 15-15.2hh 5-8 years old mare or gelding. No illusions of riding around badminton, just something with good naturally up-hill confirmation and will be capable of a bit of everything.

What am I realistically looking at for that these days?

 

[HuggyBear]

Hope Valley is the devil…. I spend a fortune there….

How about a share? If you can already ride

Haha.

Definitely open to the option and already started to nosey at what is available local to me.

My only issue, definitely at this very moment in time, is that I am currently on a front line draft till next year. So I can, and will be, deploying for sometimes a couple of weeks to a couple of months at a time.

This means I wouldn’t be able to offer a share or part loan arrangement the stability that I would want to right now. Nor would it make sense financially.

So I will be just sticking to lessons till I’m on a second line draft and have some security of knowing where I’ll be the following month etc.

I actually don’t want to rush either way, as I’m happy to make sure I am “all over it” before I share/loan/buy.

Content to wait till it’s the right time, the right horse.

 

[HuggyBear]

i

i think if you travel a lot for work, stabling further north will definitely save you a few pennies (that you can spend in hope valley, conveniently located in the north west)! goes without saying though, you get what you pay for - especially if you’re on full livery because you’re not able to be there daily! i’ve wistfully thought about having mine on part/full, but the horror stories of filthy beds and empty nets put me off, even if i did have some more money to burn

Full livery is a must for me for the travel/work situation. As work and home are usually two very different locals, the horse will either be local to me during the week or local to me during long weekends (split life).

So I will be incredibly thorough on where I choose as, one way or another, they’ll be caring for my horse a lot in my absence.

I’m currently planning on livery up North because that is where I would ultimately spend my holidays and, two, my nephew (who I have also managed to get hooked on horses muwhahaha), will be able to ride when I’m not there.

As it’ll mean it’ll save my sister a lot of £££ not having to buy him his own, she fully supports this idea. Haha

 

[sarcasm_queen]

As I am short-*ss, I’ll be looking for LW 15-15.2hh 5-8 years old mare or gelding. No illusions of riding around badminton, just something with good naturally up-hill confirmation and will be capable of a bit of everything.

What am I realistically looking at for that these days?

Something safe, that can go and do a bit of everything-you’re looking at 5 figures. Possibly a bit less if you go for the greener, younger end of that age range.

 

[Bobthecob15]

Something safe, that can go and do a bit of everything-you’re looking at 5 figures. Possibly a bit less if you go for the greener, younger end of that age range.

I agree, minimum 8-10k for that, probably more unless you take something young. Or an ex racer...they are a LOT cheaper than your typical riding club horse, some are absolutely brilliant if you can find them!

Biggest difference I found after 20 odd years away from horses (only got back into it as my daughter is obsessed so she has a pony)...

Tack shops don't exist like they used to, all shut down except for bigger country type stores which are sporadically located. Easier to buy online now for rugs, tack etc...hope valley is good, online for equine, naylors are my go to ones. But I Google everything and just go for the cheapest!

Nowadays everyone wears matchy sets!! Back in the day you had a brown numnah, a white and maybe a blue one! Now it's every colour you can imagine with matching ear bonnets (pointless in my view except summer!), silks, tops, boots....

Turnout rugs are very exotic and come in every shade, thickness, cut ....either you have 4 different weights or use the liner system which I'm actually a fan of, saves buying loads of rugs! Horses all seem to wear fly rugs...and necks on every rug. Again this is so different!!!

Riding schools just aren't what they used to be...Health and safety undoubtedly. Particularly for kids they are far less gun ho than they used to be, its quite depressing actually what they aren't allowed to do. One near us apparently don't use the term 'whip' in case it 'triggers' someone so they all have to refer to them as 'wands'...im not joking! They have to take far more precautions now for fear or losing licences, injury claims etc...I imagine it's similar with adults! That's if you can find one as they have all shut down with covid!

In short it's very different! Still full of opinionated 'experts' of course, you'll never lose them! But still very enjoyable!

 

[HuggyBear]

I agree, minimum 8-10k for that, probably more unless you take something young. Or an ex racer...they are a LOT cheaper than your typical riding club horse, some are absolutely brilliant if you can find them!

Biggest difference I found after 20 odd years away from horses (only got back into it as my daughter is obsessed so she has a pony)...

Tack shops don't exist like they used to, all shut down except for bigger country type stores which are sporadically located. Easier to buy online now for rugs, tack etc...hope valley is good, online for equine, naylors are my go to ones. But I Google everything and just go for the cheapest!

Nowadays everyone wears matchy sets!! Back in the day you had a brown numnah, a white and maybe a blue one! Now it's every colour you can imagine with matching ear bonnets (pointless in my view except summer!), silks, tops, boots....

Turnout rugs are very exotic and come in every shade, thickness, cut ....either you have 4 different weights or use the liner system which I'm actually a fan of, saves buying loads of rugs! Horses all seem to wear fly rugs...and necks on every rug. Again this is so different!!!

Riding schools just aren't what they used to be...Health and safety undoubtedly. Particularly for kids they are far less gun ho than they used to be, its quite depressing actually what they aren't allowed to do. One near us apparently don't use the term 'whip' in case it 'triggers' someone so they all have to refer to them as 'wands'...im not joking! They have to take far more precautions now for fear or losing licences, injury claims etc...I imagine it's similar with adults! That's if you can find one as they have all shut down with covid!

In short it's very different! Still full of opinionated 'experts' of course, you'll never lose them! But still very enjoyable!

Thank you.

I am lucky that the place I am riding at now is very good. Not cheap though, but good quality horses and very good instruction. Definitely calls a whip a whip!

Agree about the tack shops!

Mentally, I’ve put aside £10k for purchase, though I’ve seen plenty under that which tick my boxes, so I don’t currently see a need to go above that. I’ll see when it comes time for me to buy. With the softening market, who knows.

One of the horses I ride now is built downhill, so whilst I am open to anything from an ex-racer to a native cross, good conformation is one of my absolute minimum “will not waiver on this” points.

Above that, I’m always open to discussion.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I really quite like Just horse riders at the moment for online stuff. Good prices, good selection and they are helpful and fast both sending out and easy returns.

My tip for returning to horses is hold onto something or sit down for your first farrier bill! That was the one thing that blew my mind when I had some years out a long time back.

 

[HuggyBear]

I really quite like Just horse riders at the moment for online stuff. Good prices, good selection and they are helpful and fast both sending out and easy returns.

My tip for returning to horses is hold onto something or sit down for your first farrier bill! That was the one thing that blew my mind when I had some years out a long time back.

Ordered some riding leggings off them not too long ago, via Amazon. Lovely customer service, was incredibly helpful when I realised I had ordered the wrong size and needed to return.

Would use them again just for that.

 

[CleanShavings]

I’ve on the same journey, had 8 years off from owning/riding and now looking at just hiring a riding school horse to hack for the first month before I start lessons, then hopefully part loan/share during the winter if my old bones are okay.

I would love to own again and proper compete as I didn’t have the money to do this when I was younger adult due to kids/work/horse lameness etc.

 

[Evelyn]

Getting back into “proper” riding after a good few years break, due to military deployments and general life, and I would love some tips and advice and just general knowledge from how things might have changed.

For instance, I’ve already died of sticker shock from the prices of horses at the moment. What even???

Also, as I will be looking to buy in the next couple of years (once I get myself fully back and dusted off), can anyone point me to their favourite online saddleries that offer good quality saddlery and a decent selection. My old online haunts do not seem to exist anymore! I’m trying to get an idea what good quality, well made, tack and essentials are going to set me back in the current era.

What are people paying for full livery at the moment? Etc

Also, I am considering doing my BHS levels, has anyone done that as a mature adult/ re-rider. Was it beneficial?

This is such a HUGE umbrella question that I am fully prepared for odd, sods, and random info.

Any info always appreciated.

 

[Evelyn]

Glad somebody has asked this! The horse world seems very different to what it used to be. 25 yrs since i've had horses. Just considering getting back into it all.