How do you afford your horses?

[SWE]

Just being nosey really! I know some people with a fair few horses with very mediocre jobs and I can only assume they have help from elsewhere as I just can't figure out how they'd afford it otherwise!

I work full time (salary probably about average for the UK) and have one youngster and one retired horse and that stretches me to the limit cost wise!

How do you do it??

 

[Theocat]

I have a very reasonable salary, but I still skimp on holidays and clothes. My usual summer holiday is a cheapy package to Greece, as opposed to friends who spend thousands a year on travel.

I am in awe of people who keep horses on minimal income, but I do worry that some people are doing it by skimping on things like pensions, which is not going to end well in the current climate

 

[milliepops]

It's a struggle!
Live as cheaply as I can in all other respects. Cheap car, very cheap rental flat, I'm veggie so lots of food is cheap, no holidays, rarely buy clothes etc and if I do it's primark/tesco etc. I have some casual work outside my full time job to top things up a bit.

Happily my gang are supported partly by OH, I don't pay for shoeing or hay and the 2 oldies basically live for free in the field... would have had to review my options with them if that hadn't been the case. Livery for the ridden horses is the cheapest I can find that meets their needs, lorry is 25 years old... you get the picture. Basically nothing is comfortable except the horses :lol: They want for nothing, and I also don't skimp on training costs, I spend quite a bit on training because that's really why I do all of this. But what I get back from them is priceless.

 

[LeannePip]

With great difficulty!

I work full time on a below average salary, live with my parents so rent is cheap and only have 1 horse.

I keep her on part livery but thats more necessity rather than luxury as i live just outside of Southampton City center so there isn't many DIY yards and those that are left either lack any sort of facility or are almost part livery prices any way! I do some casual work on the yard and the odd bit of riding/teaching here and there which pretty much makes my livery bill DIY price.

Other than that I don't spend on nights out/ clothes/ holidays etc - what I don't spend here I probably spend (and more) on training and competing, which is why I do it all in the first place!

Mum is horsey too and we have a lorry, I pay towards the running costs each month and we pretty much alternate who fills up. But if its a tight month mum is good at helping me out

 

[Griffin]

I don't go on holiday and I don't have any vices other than horses. I have friends who go out a lot and have quite substantial wine habits, they nearly as much as I do for part livery for my mare. I also don't have any children, so that is probably a saving too ;-)

 

[windand rain]

dont smoke, dont drink, dont go out much, whats a holiday? keep them well but on a basis of need not want. Rent a field with few facilities and micro manage everything it doenst have to cost a lot to keep a horse but it can cost an absolute fortune

 

[poiuytrewq]

I’m on rubbish money! I work weekend mornings and a bit in the afternoons as extra, basically mucking our etc at a different yard from my Monday to Friday job.
I’m also lucky in the o/h is a farmer so we get very cheap grazing (£750 per year) and usually get to make our own hay.
I don’t compete otherwise this wouldn’t work and it is a bit knackering. It’s the only way I can do it though.

 

[Lintel]

Currently I'm a student/part time worker so I'm thankful me and OH managed to get our own place. So livery is free.... thank goodness. I have two ponies.
I refused to pay the substantial fee for insurance this year and will save money instead. I don't drink don't smoke don't have sky tv... don't go out.
I'm fairly comfortable day to day as we are just happy hackers but I would struggle if i wanted to compete or take lessons!

 

[Ivjo19]

I'm still only a teenager and i work every weekend, and all my allowance basically goes on my pony, but I'm learning to drive at the moment and paying for those lessons so its tricky sometimes balancing it all. But I am very lucky that my mum will give me a hand affording things like livery and dentist as I'm not earning that much as it's only a weekend job and sometimes more days in the holidays. But I do think that it has made me appreciate my pony so much more as of course when I was younger I definitely couldn't afford it so mum would pay for a lot of it. So I do have a lot more pride in her as I bought her myself and am going to need to save up for tack for her. But it is a kick in the teeth when she plays up, won't walk on, rears , ignores me and I've just spend £90 on her on a vet bill... 😂

 

[Michen]

This is a great post. Good for you. I did the same when I was younger and it made me value my horse so much. X

I'm still only a teenager and i work every weekend, and all my allowance basically goes on my pony, but I'm learning to drive at the moment and paying for those lessons so its tricky sometimes balancing it all. But I am very lucky that my mum will give me a hand affording things like livery and dentist as I'm not earning that much as it's only a weekend job and sometimes more days in the holidays. But I do think that it has made me appreciate my pony so much more as of course when I was younger I definitely couldn't afford it so mum would pay for a lot of it. So I do have a lot more pride in her as I bought her myself and am going to need to save up for tack for her. But it is a kick in the teeth when she plays up, won't walk on, rears , ignores me and I've just spend £90 on her on a vet bill... ��

 

[Abi90]

I have a decent salary, very little debt, horse on DIY, don’t smoke or drink or go on holiday and I can still only just about afford one! Not sure how you all do it!

 

[SOS]

Another student/part time worker with two horses, one retired and one on full livery all paid for by myself. Study from home rather than paying double for accommodation, don’t go out/spend money on clothes etc.

Worked out having horse on full livery was cheaper as my time was worth more at work. My full livery per day is the same as me working two hours and means I can dedicate all time to riding.

I was “lucky” to have money through very tough, personal circumstances to buy horse, towing vehicle and truck. However maintaining them is the hard part! Money for competing comes from extra work I take on I.e lambing, house sitting, off pub shifts etc. Everything is insured and I have a good savings put away anyhow.

 

[Ivjo19]

This is a great post. Good for you. I did the same when I was younger and it made me value my horse so much. X

Thank you very much! She is only 3 atm, but when I back her the beginning of next year and hope to get her out competing and learning, that is when the costs will go up but hopefully my driving lessons will have stopped by then! But I do think it is important for children who have ponies to understand the sense of how much it costs as I definitely didn't until I had to start paying for it myself! But it means she is my pony and it is a great feeling when you save up and buy something for her, I cant remember the last time I bought new clothes for myself but then if I had to choose I definitely would choose having a pony anytime. At the moment I am saving up for her first numnah, I'm eyeing up a posh le mieux one!

 

[chaps89]

Good on you lvjo19. The condition of my parents buying me my first horse was that I had his livery every month and went to the yard with my mum every day without fail. As you say, you soon learn the value of money and really appreciate having a pony then.

I've always worked 2 jobs and at times 3. I could cut my horsey spending down fairly considerably by cutting out lessons/having my instructor ride mine but that's the good bit as far as I'm concerned so it's worth working the longer hours!
I've not long moved house and have an unexpected/unplanned trip to Aus for a wedding coming up so money this year is tight and I've had to cut down on my savings and really watch the pennies when it comes to food and fuel so I'm looking forwards to next year when there should be a bit more breathing room. Not sure how some people do it when it really does come down to the last penny.

 

[meleeka]

I have my own field so keep is fairly cheap but that wouldn’t have been possible if OH wasn’t a workaholic and paid by the hour 😀 It was actually him who wanted the field and the second horse. He knows if I’m busy with my hobby I don’t complain about the lack of time he spends at home!

 

[JulesRules]

Watching this thread as I currently have one, but considering upping to 2.

I earn a decent salary (well above UK average) but I know if I get another I will have to tighten my belt. As things stand now we have nice holidays (just come back from Peru). Basically it would eat up my disposable income.

I have friends who earn similar salaries who have multiple horses (one in particular has 5) and I must admit I do wonder how they do it!

 

[Surbie]

I'm working freelance at the moment and that covers horse on DIY plus any extras. I wouldn't ever skimp on him. I am lucky - and old! So my flat is paid for, I have a cheap banger as a car, don't go out much, have 2 allotments which feed us for 8 months of the year (am self-sufficient in saffron and chillies but sadly not much else) and I don't have children. My allotments take nearly as much time as my horse, which can make it a bit of a struggle time-wise. Will be easier when he's closer.

Even when I was in a paid 'proper' job I couldn't have had more than one - there wouldn't be enough hours in the day for one thing. I do admire people with more than one, but unless one is retired I am not sure how you do it!

 

[JFTDWS]

I have 3, on DIY. I do one of the cheaper horse sports - I couldn't afford to event, and I used to pay much more for dressage training / competing than I do now. I'm self-employed, and my income varies across the year. I'm thinking of making the lazy devils get a paper round...

 

[milliepops]

Even when I was in a paid 'proper' job I couldn't have had more than one - there wouldn't be enough hours in the day for one thing. I do admire people with more than one, but unless one is retired I am not sure how you do it!

I work from home most of the time which really helps - I used to spend nearly 3 hours a day sitting in the car commuting but now I only have to drive the 10 mins to the yard most days. I'm first on the yard quite often and usually last to leave, fortunately OH has time consuming hobbies so doesn't miss me I also don't have children. So 4 horses just about works... OH helps keep an eye on the retired ones, that really would be a struggle if it was all down to me as they are in a different place to the ridden ones.

 

[Surbie]

I work from home most of the time which really helps - I used to spend nearly 3 hours a day sitting in the car commuting but now I only have to drive the 10 mins to the yard most days. I'm first on the yard quite often and usually last to leave, fortunately OH has time consuming hobbies so doesn't miss me I also don't have children. So 4 horses just about works... OH helps keep an eye on the retired ones, that really would be a struggle if it was all down to me as they are in a different place to the ridden ones.

I'm hoping to have a working from home option in the next job, at least for a couple of days a week. I am used to 3 hours or so commuting across London, but playing sardines on hot grumpy trains got very tedious towards the end. OH has decided he's allergic to horses (see my sympathy!) so working from home or locally would be my dream.

PS Ivjo90, great posts. And Arwen looks really lovely, despite the sun bleaching. All that mane and tail!

 

[rara007]

I’m on just over the average wage but still live with my parents aged 26 and drive a super economical car. I will move out once I can afford it without renting but I’ve only been working full time 20months so far and live in the south east...

 

[Lexi_]

I can't afford one, both for time and monetary reasons. I share instead and that works beautifully for me.

I live by myself so am running a house and car on one salary which is lower than the UK average (ah charity wages. We're definitely here for the love of it.) I don't earn anywhere near enough to pay for part/full livery and as I don't live anywhere near any DIY yards, life would be really difficult if all I ever had time for was work and driving to/from the yard twice a day. Share horse is a 25-45 minute drive away, depending on traffic, and doing that journey twice a week fits in perfectly with the rest of my life.

Must admit that for sheer nosiness reasons, I'd love to ask that question of some of the horsey people I follow on Instagram. The ones I'm thinking of are in their 20s, never seem to be at work but are always playing ponies and have three or four horses on a super fancy livery yard, endless supplies of brand new matchy-matchy and the luxury kit. It's a fascinating world to glimpse via social media, mostly because it's the complete opposite of my life.

 

[ester]

Realistically I didn't really, I was on average salary at the time, horse on DIY, lived in a small on-site annexe which was cheap for the area (salisbury) and reduced because I did 2 hours cleaning a week in the main house (which was a ball ache but at least I could do it in my own time at the weekend). I wasn't really competing or having lessons (near the end I started to have one every 6 weeks or so with a visiting instructor @£35 a time) or running transport, or paying for shoes. Hay was expensive compared to somerset though. I finished up with more debt than I started but it was worth every penny for those 3 years .

Now I pay a nominal amount for him to stay at home, I'd pay more but Mum is quite generous about it, she's got more money than me and technically she does own him!

 

[DragonSlayer]

17 years ago I returned to education to get a better career and I’m now a teacher. I decided way back then I had to do something drastic to fund the lifestyle I wanted.

I’m no high-brow intellectual, I just worked damned hard and for 7 years (as I did an access course, full honours degree course, teacher training then NQT year) we existed on the minimum.

Now I’m reaping the rewards. Yes, teaching is tough and I put in some long hours, but the wage now funds the lifestyle.

Strict budgets and camping breaks away were what kept us going back then AND the fact Mr DS is horsey so we had a common goal, albeit on a shoe string income...

I’m 45 now and we’ve been comfortable for the last few years, I don’t take it for granted but I worked damned hard for it. You can achieve anything if you put your mind to it.

 

[Cortez]

We have 3.5 horses (1's a mule...) and they pay us! Or at least, they earn their own keep as a requirement, and most years are net contributors to the company's bottom line. They are display and film horses, and I do have a minimum income that they have to earn, or else they're out (and this includes the mule, but he only actually has to work one day a year as he's so low maintenance). Thinking of going down to 2 horses (and the mule), as we are cutting back on media work in the near future. I don't know if I'd have a leisure horse; I've always been involved with horses professionally and to me they really are work, not pets or purely fun. Don't worry - we do love them too! (A bit).

 

[Ivjo19]

I'm hoping to have a working from home option in the next job, at least for a couple of days a week. I am used to 3 hours or so commuting across London, but playing sardines on hot grumpy trains got very tedious towards the end. OH has decided he's allergic to horses (see my sympathy!) so working from home or locally would be my dream.

PS Ivjo90, great posts. And Arwen looks really lovely, despite the sun bleaching. All that mane and tail!

Thank you very much! I am hoping to maybe show her sometime this summer, but I'm not very experienced in it! But she has got a lot of curly main and tail! 😁

 

[catembi]

I have always worked extremely hard at school, uni, work, prof exams etc etc purely to claw my way far enough up the corporate ladder to afford the horses. I am currently between homes (long & boring story involving me selling mine & then the purchase & the one after that & the one after that falling through), but normally mine live at home. I drive a brilliantly economical small car, don't really buy clothes or makeup etc & never go on hol! I also don't smoke and don't drink much and don't have children. Now that I've finished paying fees for my doctorate, I will be getting another horse & a lorry as soon as we've moved, & then it will be back to bread & water,

When Catembi was alive & I was competing BS or BD most weekends, had an sj & dr coach, etc, I once added up the running costs in a 'normal' month, i.e. NOT a month where I bought a saddle, lorry failed its MOT or developed a life-threatening illness, got a 4-figure vet bill, etc...then immediately wished I hadn't! OMG, **HOW** much...???!!!!!!! And how many months are 'normal'...?! None of them with horses!

 

[blitznbobs]

I used to work really hard to keep them but now I have a husband that does that bit for me... I'm very lucky

 

[eventer and proud]

I am extremely lucky in that my parents pay for most things (16 still at school), I have a job and babysit so buy everything 'extra' such as boots, saddle pads, grooming stuff ect. BE membership was a xmas present and all I ask for is money or things i need for the horse for Bday, Xmas ect. I also brought my own dressage saddle. I do try and pay for lessons and start fees where possible. I am also very lucky in that we own a yard with fields and a few stables so that saves a lot. Clothes and party wise its primark all the way and you wouldn't catch me going out. The only other thing I do spend money on is hockey sticks (£250 of stick) but luckily they last for years.....(she says)

 

[eventer and proud]

I used to work really hard to keep them but now I have a husband that does that bit for me... I'm very lucky

Not related to the post at all but please can you explain your quote?? I don't really get it.