How do you afford to buy more horses?

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Gottaloveaginger

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I purchased my horse (my first and only) using money from inheritance. I work full time and keep her on DIY but after all my horse, car and living expenses I don't have much disposable income left to put in to savings towards a future new horse. Just wondering how others afford multiple horses? Do you all buy very cheap (few hundred pounds) horses? Borrow money? Rob banks?! Cos the only way I can see me being able to afford another horse is a few years after she has gone and I've saved the money I would have been spending on her. Either that or bump off a family member...! ;)
 
I buy cheap. I'm Northern and fundamentally very, VERY tight :lol: I then spend lots and lots of money having them educated to the stage I want them to be at, but for some reason that is ok?! Current horse cost me £500 which still irritates me as it was too much. Yet I've spent about 8k getting him to a reasonably educated but still green 6yr old and am about to spend another thousand or so having him broken to drive. That is no issue, but if I had to spend 5k on a nice little ride and drive cob I'd refuse.

Its a hangover from the days when i could buy cheap and make my own. I know those days are long gone, still cant bring myself to spend the money on something educated and useful though!
 
FC that made me laugh as my instructor says the money I am spending on training of my untrainable 6yr old that I bred I could have bought a very nice ridable one!!

OP I guess you will just have to accept that you will have a gap between horses, you will soon save some money when you lose your first one. Robbing a bank or bumping off a rich family member is probably not the answer.
 
Day to day I can just about afford to keep two on DIY, but I now have three 🙀

1. Little pony bought as youngster for 125 Guineas from auction 9yrs ago, now outgrown and out on full loan

2. My main riding horse bought 5yrs ago with inheritance money from my Dad

3. New pony being paid for with redundancy money😝 In the hope that she'll be outgrown around the same time (or before) little pony comes home from loan home, then me and mini-me can share main horse and little pony can be loaned or part-loaned out again and I'll only be paying for main horse (what will I do with all my new spare cash then???)

Risky timing but hey what the hell, it might just work out that way😂😂
 
hobo said:
FC that made me laugh as my instructor says the money I am spending on training of my untrainable 6yr old that I bred I could have bought a very nice ridable one!!
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Its insane! I did suggest to my OH the other day that I sold him and bought something tiny and already driving as I am too fat to ride, so why keep a big lummox. I could sell him for way more than it would cost to buy another, but he is adamant that I keep him as we know him inside out and I do love the very bones of him! I would advise anyone else in my shoes to buy ready made though!
 
I buy cheap. Mine cost £150, £300 and £500 (but if you ever meet Mr Welshd it's £150, £80 and £180)

They were all unbroken youngsters, I've been saving for professional breaking in - one is now broken and the second is currently away, that's costing a bomb (or very little if you ever meet Mr Welshd) and it won't add that to their value but I figure it will stand them in good stead long term.

I could only afford to do it by buying unbroken and then saving separately for the education
 
It's not just the initial outlay either. It amazes me how some afford to "keep" multiple horses on an average wage with a mortgage. Different kettle of fish if lucky enough to have owned land, but even paying the cheapest grass only DIY livery (with no facilities) in my area would be around £200 a month - therefore times that by 2 or 3, on top of which you have shoeing/ trimming, insurance, vets fees, worming, equipment, feed, bedding etc etc.
 
FfionWinnie said:
I have bought them cheap and improved them myself. I don't go on holidays or buy anything expensive except horse tat!
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^^ this!
Of the 2 I've got on the go now, one is on permanent loan from a charity and costs about £80 a year in fees, the other was £2 and belongs to me. I can afford them day to day on DIY, but it doesn't leave a lot for savings. The next horse will have to be in a similar price bracket :lol:
 
Priorities, I guess. And then cutting cloth accordingly - no keeping up with the Jones' here!

I went on cheap foreign holiday (under £500) this year - but hadn't been abroad before this for a good few years. I drive a very average every day car, which I bought because it was cost effecient on petrol, tax. The majority of my clothes come from the highstreet & often bought in sales. I gave up smoking and I'm not out drinking every weekend like some of my colleagues and friends. Days & evenings out are often done via Groupon or similiar - or I often don't drink & drive instead, which saves a lot of money. I'm getting pretty good at not spending unneccessary money day to day ... before I was dreadful!

I bought a hardy native that is generally pretty economical to keep. He has not-needed 'extra's (e.g pretty coloured saddlepads and a diamante browband) but only if I can afford them that month and they aren't top range. Again, often bought in sales. Bought him as a cheap, green, pretty plain looking just backed youngster & bought him on myself - he's definitely muscled up & grown into his looks, but there was hours of lessons & hardwork too!

I'm on an average livery yard - it does has an outdoor school - but no frills otherwise . Everything is safe and functional & horse's are put first but it's not 5* luxury, either.
 
FfionWinnie said:
I have bought them cheap and improved them myself. I don't go on holidays or buy anything expensive except horse tat! They are all barefoot.
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Me too. Barefoot and out 24/7 in a cheap field. My lovely, well behaved ponies were all someone else's 'problem' pony, or sub £50 from an auction.
Buying them is the easy bit. It's finding the time and fixing the fences that kills me!
 
Mine was bought with the insurance money when I lost old horse and money added to by not having a horse for a bit. I afford him by going without myself. I never get new clothes, if I do its cheep jodhs from eBay, I don't go out, I don't drink or smoke, and never go on holiday, don't go out for meals etc
 
Kamikaze said:
Mine was bought with the insurance money when I lost old horse and money added to by not having a horse for a bit. I afford him by going without myself. I never get new clothes, if I do its cheep jodhs from eBay, I don't go out, I don't drink or smoke, and never go on holiday, don't go out for meals etc
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I don't any of this either! I live on baked beans, never smoked or drank and don't go out and the only reason I have a trailer is because my husband bought it. Prior to that I'd been saving for nearly 10 years and only managed to buy a dinky toys horse trailer!!!! Must be in the wrong career as im going wrong somewhere!
 
First horse was quite expensive for an unbacked 4yo-bought with inheritance money. Then a companion on loan, then a very cheap weanling, then another on short term loan, then a cheap yearling although I had to import him eventually, then lost original horse and eventually sent loan pony home. Possibly the best one I had wrt atittitude and general awesomeness is the weanling for under £100-although I've obviously spent out keeping him for years.

They're all unshod, all at home now (although still paying off the stables and the lorry-which is ancient), I also rent some grazing at ag rates. I don't sell much horsey stuff on-its not worth it these days so I have rugs, equipment and tack to pretty much fit anything up to 15.2h and 6'3. I don't spend loads on saddlecloths, supplements and other stuff they don't need.They have plenty of grass and don't take much additional feeding. I don't compete but do regularly rent a local indoor school.

I work 1.5 jobs, drive an 07 van, rarely go on holiday and never go out (but wouldnt anyway), rarely buy clothes for me.
 
The important question is not whether you can afford to BUY a horse, but whether you can afford to keep it and meet all its needs plus have a fund (or insurance) for medical emergencies. The more horses you have, the bigger this fund needs to be. We own our own yard with liveries and still can only afford one horse. I would love another, but we already never have holidays, I hardly ever buy new non-horsey clothes, go to the hairdressers or go out for the evening. My husband has a well paid job. My job is running the livery yard. We have my mare fully insured for vet bills. She has the dentist, gets worm counted and wormed, farrier, lots of rugs and equipment etc. We know having another horse would double those costs and also reduce my capacity for taking on liveries (because I do them all on full livery by myself).

I do think that some people have more horses than they can properly afford.
 
Gottaloveaginger said:
I don't any of this either! I live on baked beans, never smoked or drank and don't go out and the only reason I have a trailer is because my husband bought it. Prior to that I'd been saving for nearly 10 years and only managed to buy a dinky toys horse trailer!!!! Must be in the wrong career as im going wrong somewhere!
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Personally I find it harder to save than to pay back debts... so I tried saving for 10 years to get a horsebox but every time I had 2 pennies to rub together, *something* needed replacing/fixing etc and it ate up what i'd saved. So I bought my little ancient lorry with a bank loan, which I will be repaying for another 5 years :o

Depends what your other outgoings are, I suppose. I don't have children or other pets, I rent a tiny bedsit etc etc. I'll probably never be able to get a mortgage. So it also depends on your priorities.
 
lizziebell said:
It's not just the initial outlay either. It amazes me how some afford to "keep" multiple horses on an average wage with a mortgage. Different kettle of fish if lucky enough to have owned land, but even paying the cheapest grass only DIY livery (with no facilities) in my area would be around £200 a month - therefore times that by 2 or 3, on top of which you have shoeing/ trimming, insurance, vets fees, worming, equipment, feed, bedding etc etc.
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Wagtail said:
The important question is not whether you can afford to BUY a horse, but whether you can afford to keep it and meet all its needs plus have a fund (or insurance) for medical emergencies. The more horses you have, the bigger this fund needs to be.
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I agree entirely. I am definitely too time-poor to have two horses, but even if I decided I did have the time, I couldn't a) save up for a second or b) afford to keep two even though D is retired. For me, giving up horses will be the difference between buying a house in 2-3 years and not being able to afford a deposit.
 
I have a very bad horse buying obsession! My field looks empty without 5 in it! :)

I love to be able to share my hobbies with other people who can't afford their own or have the time, so sharers help contribute to the cost (although I would never be reliant on that income!!)

Like so many more on the post, I also have no life outside the horses but I like it that way. Horses are my sport, my social life, my family time and bring me so much pleasure I don't need anything else! My mother is always saying to me my horses get better treatment than me - I haven't seen a dentist in 10 years, my horses are done twice a year!

I work full time, have the horses on DIY and a 3 year old daughter. My family is small but fantastic. I ride with my sister and we are a well oiled machine making everything very efficient so we both get to enjoy the riding not just the jobs.
 
I've always had in the back of my mind that any more than two, even on DIY, you'd have to consider buying a field or a house with a bit of land and increase your mortgage accordingly.
A basic DIY stable round here is £25, so with three horses at £75 per week, that's between £300 and £375 per month dead money, I know you'd have upkeep of fencing/muck removal etc to pay for, but you'd have to seriously consider it money-wise for the long term!
 
Gottaloveaginger said:
I purchased my horse (my first and only) using money from inheritance. I work full time and keep her on DIY but after all my horse, car and living expenses I don't have much disposable income left to put in to savings towards a future new horse. Just wondering how others afford multiple horses? Do you all buy very cheap (few hundred pounds) horses? Borrow money? Rob banks?!
Click to expand...

My full-time job pays well enough that I can save a good chunk. I bought my first horse from savings, and could afford a second, but really don't have the time for another one. I'm planning to buy another horse when my current one slows down or retires (which could be another 10 years!). I prefer to spend a decent amount of money and get exactly the horse I want. I buy my horses "for life", and I don't want to find myself growing attached to one only to discover he or she is unsuitable for doing the things I enjoy - either physically or temperament-wise. I like buying 5-6 year olds with some basic training, so their ability, attitude to training and temperament can be gauged a bit more reliably.
 
I buy foals or breed the odd one unfortunately the last one I bred cost a bomb so probably not a viable option again. I have never been rich but I do prioritise things and basically I am tight with money only buy things that are absolutely necessary. I decide something is a good idea and live without it for a while if I manage without I dont buy, if I dont I will buy it but I always try to manage without first if that makes sense. Family and animals come first they get all they need and more. Then OH then me I dont buy anything for me he doesnt buy anything for himself unless it is a question of rags on our backs and holes in shoes then we do.
We are very happy though plodding through life donating time and energy where it is needed. We take the ponies to competitions and clinics etc the riders pay entries the only cost we have is fuel and even then the riders contribute a bit of diesel from time to time. We try to be nice generous people only thing we cannot do is give away money
 
I have one that I couldn't really afford when I got her, but luckily I'm a bit better off now and I'm saving for a little lorry having sold my trailer last year when she was out of work. Ive started buying her Lemiuex saddle cloths these days instead of cheap ones off eBay.

I couldn't afford another one time wise though and have to have a sharer to help with riding as it is. I would struggle with another financially without giving up other things such as holidays etc.

I do have a friend who never has less than about 5 and runs a lorry. She has numerous sharers to help pay the livery bill and always seems to coujour some money from somewhere ie selling a saddle or cashing in an insurance policy. No idea how she affords to keep them all fed and shod and insured to be honest. She has a decent job which must pay well, but I can't imagine she earns that much more than me.
 
I can't afford another because my 'cheap to run' purchase who was supposed to live out, barefoot and only need hay in winter has turned out as a very high maintenance walking sick note. Shoes are £130 every 6 weeks and her unexpected meds are £70 a month. She has to come in in summer to manage her weight which means probably somewhere arpund £30-£50 extra on bedding and hay. (Luckily we have a field shelter i can use else id be paying apprix £110 a month more for diy rather than grass livery) That was my contingency/building some savings funds. Next one will have to be from the money I save by not having her, I could stretch to a second now but it wouldn't be terribly comfortable and if that horse went wrong too I'd be emotionally and financially stuffed!
 
Apart from one horse, and he was for my disabled brother so worth the £3000 we paid for him, all of the rest were no more than £1500.

I don't buy expensive horses.
 
Having plenty of money to spend on a horse doesn't always help.....

My grandfather very kindly gave me some money when I was in my early 20s so I bought myself quite a smart young TB event horse. I owned him 2 years and probably rode him for 4 months of that - he was a steep learning curve in how to read x-rays, scans and remedial shoes. Put him down, and bought another horse with the insurance money - that one I had for 18 months, and with him, I learnt about nuclear scintigraphy, thermal imagery and spinal manipulation. Gave him away, and bought a car with the insurance money. It seems safer.
 
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