Horses and university?

R_H

R_H

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I will be applying to university in the autumn (to start in 2013) to do a NON-EQUINE based degree and I am curious to see what other people did with their horses during university.
I bought my current horse in November 2011 in the hope to have some fun doing some unaffiliated eventing and show jumping with and sell him in the summer of 2013 before university, however I have grown quite fond of him as he is turning out to be a really nice little horse. I accept that other options may just be wishful thinking however I would love to hear what other riders in my position have done? Also if you did sell your horse before university did you and how did you continue to ride throughout university?
 
I bought my first horse in the summer break after 1st year at Uni :rolleyes: Kept him on DIY and rode/competed throughout my degree (4 years). I then went straight on to do a Masters (different Uni, different country), kept him on full livery that year (had a scholarship from the Uni plus all accommodation paid for by the agency I did my thesis for) but didn't get that much opportunity to ride.

Had a few years out working then did another postgraduate course, managed on DIY but it was a bit manic :) It can be done!
 
I went to a uni near home so that I could still look after the horses and ride, it was hard work but for me totally worth it. I was very lucky though that I had such a good university on my doorstep because it made the descision very easy and I had a brilliant time!
 
I took my horse to university with me whilst doing a law degree. I kept him on assisted DIY at a busy riding school/show centre near campus and worked there at weekends to cover his keep. I managed to take him home over the long summer holidays but often stayed through the other holidays to look after him and work full time at the yard. It wasn't easy but it meant I was able to keep him in work and compete.
It was great to prove everyone wrong and look after him myself and not let it affect my studies.
 
The crooks of it is:
will your parents pay for it?!
It can easily be done it you can afford it on full livery etc (i know a few that do!!!!!!)
Im lucky in that my parents own a riding school, so the horse I ride was kept to give lessons :) Unfortunately I live 200mi from uni (5yr course, not many unis to choose from!) and it takes 4 hrs to get home, so going home every w/e is out the question
I know someone who drives 3hrs most weekends to do hers
I could NO WAY have kept my horse fit and study enough (around 2hrs a day at the yard, inc travelling) to pass exams. My 3rd year exams were in may this year, then I went back to uni until july - ie, 2 months of uni with no exams at the end. I had to save to 2 terms (and christmas and birthday money) to take him down to uni for 8weeks on grass livery. If Im honest, I did no work that term, but I got one very fit horse! I personally couldnt have managed him in a stable (going up twice a day - in time and petrol money!) over winter, or in the run up to exams. I guess it also depends on how fit you want to keep your horse, or if youre just happy hackers over the uni terms.

Good luck!!
 
and my course is a bit too hectic to have more than casual jobs - which I did quite a few of. And I have work experience over the holidays, so i cant get a holiday job
 
We have our horses at home, and I was lucky enough to have my mum willing enough to look after them while I was away, with the help of a groom who came once a week to give my mum a day off (and then obviously I do them all in the holidays!). I also found, completely by chance, a local girl who'd only left home a few years ago, so wasn't ready financially for her own horse but wanted to keep riding, so she essentially shares my event horse, and so exercises him, keeping him fit for when I come home to compete, so it's really mutually beneficial. So I've managed to keep up riding competitively and hunting in the holidays when I'm home, which is great.
 
I have had horses all throughout my academic milestones, SATS, GCSE's, A levels and now I am in my second year at University which is a 1.5 hour commute from my house haha! I own my own horse, look after an additional two and also work at Pets at Home and I manage just fine! As well as horses I also own my own miniature zoo!! And yet I can look after everything fine so I wouldn't worry, obviously though I commute from home. Can't see any landlord wanting my zoo in their property!!

Ps. I meant to add that I come from a very good family who foot all of the financial aspects so I am really lucky, however I did crunch the numbers and two standard shifts a week would more than cover the livery for my boy!! So it's not impossible! :D
 
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Its great to hear people have managed uni and horses quite realistically!

Having my parents pay is not going to happen! and I can't really be local to uni. However loan/ share sounds such a good idea.

Has anyone by any chance had much experience of university riding clubs/competitions?
 
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most people who seem to be replying have kept their horses.... i didnt!

sold mine in the april, stole rides off friends horses all summer and buggered off to uni in sept! :D

for my 1st yr i thought heck im at uni, ridden horses for 10 yrs + so i joined other socail groups and tried some new stuff like sky diving, but figured out quickly enough how much i missed riding, so in my 2nd yr i joined my uni's riding club, was a bit miffed tbh as all we could do was have lessons flat or jump on RS horses, after owning my own competition horse i didnt really fancy riding RS horses (they just arent the same!) i did try out for my clubs teams but due to them being rather stuck up and most of my riding stuff was at home (i managed to forget to pack my jods, but had my hat!!!) i was turned down due to not riding in jods.... i did say they were stuck up! didnt once look if could actually ride i just clearly didnt fit in with the peeps!! (funny thing was i wiped the floor at the yearly club compeition and the team captain actually apoligised for me not being on teams as i could clearly ride!!!)
anyway from deciding i didnt want to waste my money on lessons on RS horses i joined the uni's polo club and had a blast for 2 yrs, its an awesome sport, i captained my team to 2nd place in the national torunament and met some awesome like minded people who werent so stuck up!!

i think it all depends on which uni your go to and how highly they rank themselves in the teams!! but if ur thinking of riding then maybe try something you couldnt always do, i was never interested in polo when i had my competition horse but uni gave me a great oportunity to try it with discounted rates, after leaving uni i can longer afford to play polo so brought myself another horse and am aiming to event him, still go at watch my old uni and their teams play polo and would love to join in but simply cant afford it without the lovely uni discount they all still get!!

they are plenty of ways to stay horsey with out owning one whilst your at uni just to add my course wasnt equine related either! :D
 
Sadly my uni doesn't have a horse riding association, although they seem to have everything else under the sun! So I just stayed with my local RC if that's any help?
Also, if you plan on living away at uni then I would look into loaning/sharing so that your horse can stay lovely and fit! Furthermore it would help a lot with the financial side of things! :)
 
There are millions of threads on this subject if you search for them. I kept mine through my GCSEs, Alevels (all on DIY) then my law degree (part livery) so I got to see him once in the week and then both weekend days, had a sharer see him two days in the week which covered his shoes. My parents paid for his livery as there's no way I could have afforded him otherwise but it wasn't even discussed - I'd had him for 7 years by the time I went and there's no way I could have sold him. He stayed up at my yard near my uni (100 miles from home) over christmas and easter holidays and came home with me for the long summer holidays to my local livery yard where I kept him on DIY again. He'll be coming with me to medical school for my next degree too, along with my new 2yo gelding.

edit: Its worth mentioning I still had a part time job, active social life and trained for lacrosse three times a week and took part in other societies so its not like I had to give up the other side of my uni life. I would say DIY was impossible though - I tried and failed as going twice a day cut into my life and studies far too much.
 
R_H said:
Its great to hear people have managed uni and horses quite realistically!

Having my parents pay is not going to happen! and I can't really be local to uni. However loan/ share sounds such a good idea.

Has anyone by any chance had much experience of university riding clubs/competitions?
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I think it very much depends on your personal finances and time...whilst it can be done you probably need to sit down and work out whether its practical for you.
I do know how you feel though, I'm off to university in October but gave up having my own horse before my A levels and I think I made the right decision for me as there's no way I could have got the grades I needed if I had my own horse and was competing regularly.

As for the university riding clubs most uni's have them although they vary greatly in their activities etc. Most of the universities also have a riding team which competes nationally against other universities (dressage and showjumping) in BUCS so that's something you could look into too :)
 
I worked before going to uni in my mid-twenties and then lived with parents without paying rent and with horses on DIY livery. It was manageable but then I went when you got a grant for living expenses as well as tuition!

There is no way I would have been brave enough to take on all that debt nowadays and would not have been able to afford them after if I had to pay that debt back. I also worked all the way through uni but only part time during term time. It was exceptionally hard work but no worse than working long hours post uni and still keeping horses.

I also was far less involved with the social side of uni though a lot of people there were like that too. Most people had jobs on top some had kids too which must have been far tougher.
 
I have gone back to uni after working, nearly 26 now just finished my first year of zoology and about to buy my first horse. Why wait til you're starting out in a demanding career when you can do it now on a budget? It's surprisingly easy if you can find cheap diy or I have grazing :-) to be honest it gets me out of bed in the mornings and the fresh air does so much good for my mood and motivation I think it is really beneficial. I mostly use money others would use for drinking etc but will need to get a job to fill in the no student loan gap over summer if possible! P.s. I live in Cambridge too where rent is easily twice as much as a lot of other uni towns.x
 
I've had horses throughout, GCSE, A Levels, work, 3 degrees and always on DIY, I took mine with me when I moved away to Uni, have worked pt pretty much throughout. I think it depends very much on your contact hours, obviously if you're doing medicine or a practical placement course it will be hard, but one with less contact time offers more flexibility as to when you do your work. I would say though, as much as I'm sure you love your horse, don't kill yourself trying to keep it through uni if it's just not possible, with the cost of tuition fees you need to be able to give it enough to do well otherwise it's not worth going IMO
 
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