How is recession affecting everyone?

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rogerted

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As above really. In Ireland we are facing a horrific budget around the corner and we are all going to be much worse off. I have 4 horses at home ( 2 retireds, a baby and a 13yo) - everything is on a shoestring and has been for a good while now. As my family are in UK, I know that things there are almost / just as tough at the moment. How is it affecting everyone? Are you having to cut back your outings to shows / lessons etc?
 
Lots of people have tightened their belts. My livery went up but I hadnt had a pay rise so i had to cut down on lessons to balance the books.
 
Horses still get everything they need! It's us who have had to cut down! Less competing, less heating, don't go out for a pint or meal, no shopping for non-essentials! We don't mind though tbh as the horses are everything! Not sure how to get the lack of pennies to wash at Christmas though as even with my immediate family I have an enormous number of 'token' pressies to find!
 
i need lessons. but cant afford them - just hope im not completely garbage at schooling horses lol!.....

no lessons/no luxuries - but i have a horse n im happy with that :)
 
I've budgeted in quite a few ways, but horse-wise:

Sold lorry, now share with a friend
Compete much less
Have far fewer lessons
Horse now has 'own bran' feed rather than feed from a 'named' supplier

Good luck to you all over there in Ireland - sounds grim!
 
Hi rogerted
hopefully things will get better for you. It depends on what you have to pay for, if you have to pay livery, can you do without shoeing for a while. I'm not competing at the moment as my horse has been off for over a year so this has made quite a difference in costs; I don't need to feed him so much mix and have upped his hay intake.
Unfortunately our economies seem to go from boom to bust regularly and unless you are a banker, you won't have much to spare!
I just find it really depressing that there seems to be such a glut of 'nice' horses both in the UK and Irleand that are suffering from over-production. In the time of boom, these animals were selling for inflated prices but now no one can afford to keep them. Hopefully a realistic balance will be reached soon for everyone's sake. :)
 
No horse, but have temporarily abandoned the idea of taking regular lessons. I'll go to a great hacking-out place a few times a year instead, to get my "fix" and some sanity.

Otherwise, the Irish news made me realise that we have now had two full years of entire countries going through massive economic collapses and nothing seems to be fundamentally changing about the way we do things. :o
 
To be honest, because I was having to watch how much I spent etc anyway, before the recession, I haven't seen any difference with us. The OH started his business at the start of the recession - not sure this was our best idea but hey ho.

My ponies have everything they need so I'm happy. :)
 
Thanks everyone! I had the feeling that everyone was carrying on as normal so it's a comfort that there are a few of us in the same boat! Am the same as you in that the horses, dogs, cats, hens and goat notice no change in their standard of living whatever the financial circumstances. Can't help worrying a bit about the future though!

We were lucky to be able to change the tax status of the lorry to camper van which means that it has gone from 680e to 88e a year so big saving! It's a great help that they are at home too but as I am spending 50 - 60e a week on hard feed, I am half thinking of changing the feed if purse strings have to tighten. We don't have the same choice here though - no own brand unfortunately! Just good old Red Mills, Baileys or Gain.

You're so right Foxy53 about the surplus of nice horses out there. Is it the same in UK as here? And what I'm finding around us too, is that a number of people breeding over here now (after finding that it could be a lucrative number in the 'good' years) are completely seduced by fashionable sires etc but seem to be unaware what a good start, schooling and care can turn a nice horse into. A good few breeders around us can't sell their three year olds, have no skills to break horses in and won't pay someone else to do it for them and then have a good few horses treading water as unbroken four and five year olds, slung out on rough ground and get through the winter looking terrible. Can't help feeling that if they had the right start then they might have some chance of a future. I suppose the good news though is that there are breeders here who have stopped breeding for the last year or so
 
I do worry about pennies everyday, it's a real balancing act.
I have 3 horses in livery but we are moving in March next year and will have them at the house then which will save me a fortune!
I am much less wasteful with hay and bedding this year and tbh i haven't noticed a difference in the way i manage the horses, just goes to show i was being frivelent before.
I still compete and have the odd lesson, but i send more time schooling at home now instead of travelling for lessons.
I worry about the equine situation in Ireland, there are an abundance of animals on the market, some worryingly cheap, makes me wonder where they will end up. I am always astounded at the amount of low grade/common stallions that are advertised for sale too, maybe they need the chop before they are sold on to stop any more breeding.
I am a real advocate of the irish horse, all 3 of mine have come from ireland and they are awesome, the thought that they could have been turned out to fend for themselves if they were still there this winter makes me wince. They are so honest and loving, i just hope that ireland pulls through this crisis and it makes people review the whole breeding process as I for one whould hate to loose the traditional irish bred horses i have come to know and love.
 
we dont compete anymore, no lessons either. Sold my trailer and landrover. I make sure there are the necessities, tetanus vacc,feed balancer and ad lib homemade hay. we bed on straw which is a lot cheaper than shavings and local gardeners will buy the muck heap off us, infact i have started to grow some of our own fruit and veg on an allotment plot in a corner of the paddock and use most of it on this. we dont go on holiday or give xmas or birthday presents. we rarely go out to the cimema or for meals,it has to be a really special occasion like wedding anniversary. we have also gone down from 4 to 2 horses.
 
Cutting down wherever possible really.

Had to give up a well paid job to relocate for OH's job - and can't even get an interview for PT jobs!:eek:

Thankfully the pony doesn't cost much - (yearling cob colt - a pity purchase!) - riding a friend's youngster in return for his board and lodgings!

Kids don't go without, but the shopping list has changed dramatically - lots of own brands now. We hardly ever go out, no takeaways!

Thankfully the girls have lots friends ponies to ride, and we are very much outdoor people - which means cheaper days out!

Christmas going to be a very quiet affair though:cool:
 
We're seeing fewer horses coming into the rescue; normally we'd see this as a good thing, as it allows us to spend more time on preparing other horses for adoption. However, general consensus after going to a few auctions and speaking to a few owners and dealers is that while last year if a draft owner was struggling they may turn to us, they are sending the horse either directly to slaughter or to auction (Where it ends up going the same way) :(
 
OH lost his job last year through redundancy, and now has another, but no where near what he used to earn. Still, it's a job....and I work too.

I can't remember the last time I went out to compete, because other things need paying first. Luckily, we have liveries on our own yard, so their rent helps with the feed, shoeing etc....and like others have said, no named-brand feeds, gone for the 'own brand' stff....horses don't seem to mind much....! We ensure they still get top-notch care as usual, farrier yesterday cost £100, being a little more canny with the hay, but mainly it's us that have cut down. No fly-nights out for a meal, plan it instead.....haven't had a takeaway in ages....and I'm budgeting much better with the shopping.

We DID have to live on credit cards and loans when OH wasn't working, it was the only way to get the mortgage paid.......!

We have a large amount of equity in our property, (£100,000 +) and are about £60,000 + off our mortgage limit as it's based on OH original wage only, not mine, so we are pondering whether to see if mortgage lenders will lend us some to clear loans and CC's..OR put the house on the market after Xmas. That way at least, we can clear what we owe AND have a decent deposit for a smaller place. I guess in a way, we are better off than some by having that equity behind us.

Whatever we decide to do, OH is calling the mortgage lenders next week, and that will take us onto our next step...
 
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