How did people cope with horses when they went to Uni?

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hannabanana

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I have a horse that ive had 3 years which i partially pay for, im on cheap DIY livery which my parents pay for (which im grateful for), i pay for worming, teeth, tack (second hand XD), back man, all my horsey gear, feed and i contribute to shoes and vets, and my parents pay the rest for the farrier and vet. I do love my horse very much, but i dont know what im going to do with him when i go to Uni :confused:, It looks like i may be moving away, but even if i go to a local Uni, which is still nearly 2 hours away its still going to be difficult :(. Unfortunatley i dont have a rich parents who will pay everything for me and pay someone to ride him while im gone :D. I was thinking part time loan? But i would want him on current yard so friends can make sure no harm is coming to him, which most viewers would not want because they would want him to go to their yard, plus hes sharp and would need experience. Im not saying always, but usually people who are wanting a shared loan are people who are a little novice and would want something to have a bit plod on. Has anyone had past experiences? of cource i would sell in the best intrests of the horse if it came to it; would be a shame to let him go to waste in a field.
 
I have two horses. Both of which will remain on an amazing livery yard where they will be brushed daily and be generally taken care of to an excellent standard. However, I am lucky that my parents are willing to pay out for that (and that my mother is so attached to them that she would never sell them!!).

I plan to come back from university a fair amount though and ride them , and obviously during the holidays. I think you should advertise him for part loan and just see what interest you get - and then you can go from there x
 
You lucky so-so harrietlong XD. my parents arnt horsey, its hilarious watching my dad attempt to put a saddle on. i would be comeing back as much as possible and in holidays to ride, i would just need a carer during the time im gone. i think i may just have to advertise, its worming out the novices which is a pain, theres nothing worse than a complete spanna getting on your horse without a clue. My boy would just think 'sod this' and chuck them off :D hes a bugger
 
Yes believe me I certainly appreciate what a fortunate situation I am in.

Maybe when you advertise him make totally clear what you are looking for. I have put feelers out as am also loaning my horse out when I am at uni, I can send you the link to my advert so you can get some idea of how to put off novices if you want? I have only had reasonably experienced people contact me regarding loaning him.
 
Mine went out on full loan whilst I was at uni and I am only now in a position to have her back (after 3 years of FT work)
 
Can I play devil's advocate here without being attacked if possible?!

I kept 2 horses whilst I was at Uni. Luckliy they were kept at home and my sister was able to do them so I was not in the same situation as you are in.

However have you considered your finances? I stayed at Uni full time. I went to Harper Adams which was a full 4 hours from home. I worked 2 jobs in the town and had a student loan to provide me with enough money to run my car, go out, pay my tuition fees and accommodation and generally enjoy my university experiance. I would not have been able to pay for a horse at livery, let alone all the costs associated with keeping a horse.
However because of my 2 jobs I did not have to work in my holidays. But I also did not have to pay for anything for them, (Again I know I am lucky to be in that situation) My payment was that I had to put the manual work in when I got home.

I had a friend who was in your situation and she loaned her horse out to a friend during the term time, and had her back for the holidays. However she could not afford to keep her and in the end put her mare out on full loan for the duration and ultimately sold her for the funds.

Also, you mentioned your parents are not horsey. How will they cope if the loan does not work out and they end up with the horse back?

Personally- in your situation- I would sell the horse and use the money to enjoy uni. Join the riding club at uni and work on yards getting more experiance on your holidays. There are loads of instructors whom you can work for, for lessons!

You can always get another horse when you have a job, and can fully afford to pay for it. I promise you it is much more satisfying!

And I know it is hard to stomache, your horse is your friend and you have a special bond with him. But seriously go and enjoy Uni! It is the most amazing experiance of your life! Live it to the full!
 
I've just finished (yesterday!) my second year of uni and before going to uni I kept my horse at home along with a loan pony (for me) and a friends horse who I looked after. My parents are not at all horsey so them helping out/looking after was not an option! My friend is in the same year as me and when she went to uni found a lovely home for her horse and sold him. She still visits him now and I think that its worked out for the best for her situation.

With my loan pony I found a new loan with view to buy home for him and loaned out my own horse. My horse sounds like yours in that he very quickly works out who's on board and won't try/takes the mickey with someone who's inexperienced so it was very hard to find someone for him, during my first year of uni he went to two loan homes, the first decided after a few months that they couldn't afford him due to a job loss, and then the second he just got too big for his boots. He then came back home over the summer (4 months!!) and went to a friend of my mum's in September. He's just come home now for the summer as his loaner is concentrating on her other horses now, so I will be looking for a loaner (or sale if the right home presented itself) for September. This sounds like alot of moving around, but actually he settles very well, and apart from the lack of consistent schooling during my first year, I don't think that it has affected him badly at all. In all of the loan homes I have had very regular contact and visits, and 2/3 homes have been found through friends of friends so easy to keep track of!

Its difficult to know what to do, and also bear in mind where you will be after doing a degree, will you have time/money to look after a horse when you're just starting out with a job? Also if you're having to work over the summer holidays to fund uni will you have time then to ever spend time with your horse? I decided to loan rather than sell due to my horse being quite difficult and I'd hate for him to end up in the wrong home, but if the ideal home came up I think I would sell him as I don't know what I'll be doing this time next year when I graduate. Sorry if this wasn't very helpful!!
 
When I went to uni, many years ago, my horse went too:)

I sent him on loan privately first as he was very sharp and needed an experienced rider and the loanee said she would hunt him regularly. When I visited at Christmas, he had lost a lot of condition, she felt he was over fed and dangerous. I took him home and had the holidays to find a new home.

A local agricultural college was advertising for loan horses, they tried him and liked him. It was a brilliant arrangement I would highly recommend, if you can find anything similar. He worked hard all term; was very fit; was looked after to the highest BHS standards; all bills picked up - dentist, jabs, worming, shoeing. And I could ride at weekends when I was home and had him home every holiday which suited the college too as a few students and staff had to stay to look after them. It cost me nothing, and they got a quality horse.

He was there 4 years, then came home to me for a couple of years, he returned when I was pregnant and working a couple of years later. He loved it there and I loved him having a fantastic home.

There are more equine courses now, so would be worth looking into.
 
I orginally got my mare Toffee on loan because her previous owner was at uni.

However now im in that boat im lucky uni is only half hour drive and placement is the same. Mum still pays rent and I pay everything else. I just done have much of a social life to be honest but im happy to sacrifcie that. Mum checks them on the days that I cant so im lucky there. So basically I am either doing uni work, working or at the horses and thats my life. Only 9 months left tho :D
 
My horse is at Uni with me :D The Uni has a yard so I keep her there which is lovely. I advertised for someone at Uni to share her and they pay half her bills and look after her/ride her everyother day. Works out really well.
 
Thanks guys :D. All your answers have been helpful. Yes i've considered finance, because like someone said, even with two jobs couldnt afford livery. Thats why i thought the loaner could contribute to the keep, but would that be too much to ask? plus the money i would use to pay for the horse should be going towards living costs and enjoying the university experience. My only worry with selling is where will he end up? I heard a few stories about my boy and his past owners, and how he was constantly sold to one owner to the next very quickly due to him being too much for them. I have ALOT of patience so i put up with his sillyness, and its payed off big time, i would be worried incase some silly sod got on him and ruined the progress made. But i suppose everyone has this problem when selling their old friend.
These answers are great, i really wanted to see peoples experience :D
 
Ha im very familiar with having no life. My whole life is study, babysit everybodies kids (which includes watching Barbie and the Crystal castle non stop) and horses. I rarely see friends. I like the sound of a univercity yard, i will have to look into which ones have them :D
 
What course are you looking to do? I'm at Aberystwyth Uni which is really good but in the middle of nowhere! The Uni yard here is great, it has full size indoor menage, outdoor menage, lunging pen, horse walker, large stables, good turnout, good hacking, full set of showjumps and a XC course. The Uni also owns horses so there are always people on the yard. They have SJ and DR comps over the winter too which is good :)

It costs £40 per week inc everything. There are a few local yards (if you drive) that are slightly cheaper.

Hope this helps!
 
Just a suggestion but if he's just quirky do you have a GOOD agricultural college locally? Worked at one during A-levels and they were always looking for horses on loan during term time (and most of the degree equine students had a reasonable amount of experience) and then all the holidays trying to persade their owners to take them home!
 
In the first year I had him on 5 day livery back home and went back at weekends, my cousin rode him during the week.

This year I've had him with me, it's been great and we are doing more stuff than ever (starting out in endurance which I never thought I'd do!) I have always paid for him myself, so financially it was no different to before, I work part time around uni to pay for him.

Only difference from most is that I can't move him backwards and forwards, so I stay here during holidays. It can get tough but home is only an hour's drive away so I can pop back quite a bit.

ETA - I don't keep him on livery, I share a rented field with one other. It's far cheaper this way and you don't have to be there at 7am after a heavy night out!
 
Well i will be going down the arty farty road XD. i was looking at a 1 year foundation cource at sunderland. they have a riding club too where they have horses for students and go to compititions, not sure where its at though, plus i dont know if they exept students own horses...will have to look into it :). problem is after the 1 year i can stay there or move to another uni to do my 3 year degree. problem is im advised not to stay at sunderland to carry on, just for my foundation. Theres no local colleges that have horsey facilities :)
 
sounds like a possibility. Its 13 miles from the University, so not too bad, depends if i can actually afford car!! :( As Uni is 25 miles from my house. But as i will be probably going there in heavy traffic it will feel longer XD. I will be staying at home during the foundation course and i (hope!) i will be able to look after him during then, its afterwards that i was thinking about. I dont even know where im going to end up afterwards never mind the horse haha XD
 
i have my horse at uni with me and i'm soon to get another. i make the hour and a half journey (each way) to see her everyday on top of my 22 hours of lectures a week and going out, seeing my bf etc!!
it's easily done, you just have to be dedicated to your horse.

in my first year i struggled finding a stables near my uni so i kept her on schooling livery and i used to travel to see her (4 and a half hours) every weekend, but it seemed pointless to me only being able to ride my horse twice a week, and it made me so tired for the rest of the week
 
When I went to Uni I stayed at home so I could keep my horse. I worked part time as I paid for her myself with no parental help. Luckily I didn't have course fees to pay then though.

Its a tough one. Having a horse will curb your Uni experience. Could you loan the horse out for the first year at least.
 
Coffee_Bean said:
Have to say this is a decision I will have to face in a few years too. Really starting to hit me that I will probably not be able to keep my horse around a vet course (well hopefully)... oh well 2 more years.
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why not? :S my friend did veterinary science and kept her 2 on DIY
 
I've just finished my 3rd year at uni and I had horses all the way through. My friend and I had 6 between us at one point and it was perfectly do-able. In fact I think I'd have been really bored at the weekend without any horses to play with. There's something nice about handing a piece of coursework in at 10am and being at a hunt meet by 11am :cool:.

I paid all my fees, rent, bills, livery, farrier etc myself by working as a student ambassador (open days, ucas events etc) and working as a hunt groom. I didn't work in the evenings but had I needed more money I could have done bar work or waitressing.

Between finishing my A levels and starting uni (about 4 months) I worked as a tax assistant which meant that I had a fair amount of money to start with, and every summer I worked full time to make up for doing less hours in term time. In my second year I did a 6 month work placement and I made sure I got one that was paid.

I'd say go for it providing you're prepared to get a job (or multiple jobs!) which will add to your CV anyway.
 
maybedaisy said:
Having a horse will curb your Uni experience. Could you loan the horse out for the first year at least.
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I'd say the opposite; having a horse enhanced my uni experience. There were 16 other students on my DIY yard and the local hunt did a student cap so the horses were another social activity. I am talking about an agricultural college though so it's probably different to a mainstream city university.
 
Just thought I;d put a bit more detail about the finances.

My rent was £75 a week, and livery £20 a week at one yard and £35 a week at the other. I spent about £15 a week on food, and £20 on petrol.

The student ambassador work was £7 an hour (work hours and time spent travelling) plus expenses and mileage, so a 2 day ucas event was about £150-which was 2 weeks rent. A day on the hunt yard was about £60, plus tips on hunting days. I also earnt a lot of money clipping, for example if I did 2 full clips (2-3hrs work) it easily paid for a set of shoes.

Why don't you work exactly how much money you'll need per week/month so you can see if it's feasible.
 
QR

I chose to commute to Uni so that I could keep my girl on DIY, and live at home. It was a 2 and a half hour journey each way - 1/2 hour drive to the train station, 45 mins train, then change to another 1hr train, then change to a 10 min train. Tiring, but I made it work for me! And if I had my time again, I wouldnt do it any differently. It meant everything to me that I could still keep my girl the way I wanted to :)
 
I've finished a four year course today in fact, had last exam this morning :)
Anyhow, I kept 4 horses through the entirety of the course.

The first year I stayed in halls and the neds had a year of semi-rest (they all compete so it was actually good for them...well, they seemed to enjoy it!). They were turned away and then I would ride them when I went home every week or so, and during the hols etc.

For the next 3 years, I decided to stay at home and drive to uni as it was only 1 hr 15mins away, so I could work the neds everyday and compete at weekends.

I worked throughout the four years in a part-time office job which paid the bills for the neds and the petrol for the commute.

I did think that I would miss out on the uni lifestyle being at home...turns out though that I didn't...I just ended up sleeping on a lot of sofas!!!

IMO where theres a will theres a way!

Good luck deciding what to do, it is a hard decision! x x
 
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