How much does it cost?

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Velma

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I'm seriously considering buying a horse (in a year or so) once I've saved up and got some more experience. but i need to do my sums/research to see if I can afford one and i was hoping all you experienced horse owners could give me an idea of how much it costs!

So...
1) How much do you spend a month on your horse including stabling/livery, farrier, insurance, feed etc etc)?
2) How much do you think I will need as start up cash (apart from cost of horse) for stuff like rugs, tack, vet check etc etc?

Any advice would be much appreciated!
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Thanks!
 
Oh dear.
Not sure how many of us are brave enought to admit how much our horses cost us!
I am completly happy to ignore the costs and not add it all up.
 
I spend about £700-800 per month on horsey including fortnightly lessons but not including random minor vets bills not covered by insurance. I saved up £2k for tack and equipment, but have spent much more than this in the first year due to horse growing out of saddle, wrecking rugs, needing different bits, and just general stuff really! Scary when you write it down. I shall now choose to forget all that...
 
thank you RonaldoToo. Sorry I know it must be painful for you all to think about how much it costs. I'm aure it's worth it though? I jut don't want to go into this lightly.
 
OK, I will try and help you out but I know I am in a good postion livery-wise!
Livery - £300 a month for three so lets say £100 (mega mates rates!) I have 10 acres, a school, gorgeous stables so I am very lucky for that price
Farrier-£60 a month, my boy has BAD feet so I need him every month!
Feed - £45 a month??? Guessing about that for two though so half it!
Rugs initially you can get an outdoor and an indoor rug for £100 altogether EASILY
Insurance! Dont talk to me about that they NEVER pay up so I have no insurance!
Tack!! god knows ages since I bought a saddle!
Vet checks- probably £200.
The love and fun you get back - PRICELESS!!!!!!! x x x
 
To be honest there is no ball park figure. it all depends on where you live, what type of horse you have, even age ect come into the equation, my livery bill before buying rugs/tack/hard feed/suppliments/shoes/insurance/vet/fuel for travelling/ lessons/ competions / holiday cover ie going on full livery and oh the extra thing that you must have or in my case new hat and reins because horse dumped me! is £250 per month before all of this... as in £25per week for DIY livery = £108? per month then the rest is on bedding and hay! oh and about 15 turn out bring in at £1 a time through the month...

Ok .. need to go lie down now cos feeling quite faint at reading this back!!!
 
£25 a week for livery, which includes a stable and school (so would be alot cheaper if you just had a field)
£36 a month insurance
£50 every six weeks for shoes
£7 a week for two bales of hay
£6.50 a week for bedding
£20 a month for feed (she is a very good doer and could live on air)
£78 annually for worming
vets fees which includes annual teeth rasping, vaccinations
and medical treatments (how long is a piece of string for that one)

One bit of advice, once you've budgetted for the horse, double the figure and you'll be closer to the mark because I've never got enough at the end of the month. Good luck.
 
I think all in, for a native pony (very good doer) on DIY livery I spend about £225 a month in winter (stabled at night), and about £150 in summer (out 24/7). This includes all feed, hay and bedding as required, stabling, grazing, farriery, routine vet bills, worming, insurance. That doesn't include all the non-essential trips to the tack shop though!! My costs will be quite low compared to some people as I am on a budget, but my pony has everything he needs. The sky is the limit in terms of what you can spend on a horse!!

Initial spend will really depend on what the horse comes with (and if it's any good...it is quite often rubbish!!) and whether you go for the expensive brands when you buy stuff!! Don't forget there may be transport costs to get your new horsey home - budget for around £1 a mile.

Another non essential cost is the cost of shows/competing - I just do a few little local shows and I will have spent £50 ish this month on entries and travel there.

Owning a horse is expensive, but it is worth every penny
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For the money I put in, I get so much out.
 
Say £300 without competition fees and travel- For a horse in a exspentive area but not a competition yard at £28 a week, on rubber matting, full set of shoes etc.

For tack, rugs and bits and pieces £1250? I've done it slowly over many years but hate to think what I've spent.
 
my out goings when i had may mare was roughly £500. that was for DIY livery, 4 bales of shaving (1 per week) feed for the month & set of shoes. then if i needed a new rug 50-100 quid, saddle adjustments if needed (could be any amount) new over reaches every other month or so £5. vaccinations £70 each year the list goes on. but as a ball park figure i was spending roughly £500-600 a month.
 
When first getting a horse you can save yourself some pennies by getting second hand bridles, girths, saddlecloths and bits from ebay... For example i got a lovely hardly used girth for £3 (inc p&P), sells for £15 in shops
 
start up costs i usually recon about £2000

5 stage vetting £300
insurance £500 - average horse
saddle £600+ budget new leather or good second hand
bridle £100
rugs ??? depends on quality & how many you but at the start
then there could also be - vaccinations , saddle fitter , other pieces of equip , transport if you don't have your own

& don't forget extra lessons to begin with can be invaluable

i would expect weekly spend on diy livery , with a lesson each week & incl regular costs like farriery to be about £100 per week , at least £50 a week even if you try to do it on a shoe string with no lessons

hope that helps
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This is not something I like to work out very often, but she is worth every single penny and I wouldn't change a thing.......

All per month

DIY Livery £90
Farrier £45
Feed £20 (in the winter £40)
Insurance £45 (included trailer insurance)
Vets £50
Hay £30 (up to £50 in winter
Wormer £10
Private Lessons £100

Total £390
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plus apples, carrots and treats
my saddle was £500,
everyday bridle £20 in the sale bucket
show bridle £65
numnahs £20 each
brushing boots £40???
Rugs - £250-£300 if your starting from scratch

It sounds a lot but most horses come with some tack and you can do it cheaper
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It really does depend on where you live and what type of horse you buy, a good old fashioned native crossbreed(cob cross) will cost you less to keep etc than the others, but bear in mind that the bigger they are the more they cost, for example, a 13.2 to 14.3 pony will cost you a lot less than say a 16 hander, purely on feed costs! Basically we spend(we have 2) 25 per week DIY livery (hay and turnout included) in the winter plus 20 to 30 pounds for feed and 20 per month bedding, summer costs a mere 15 per week(no feed great grass both very good doers!)

Insurance is a bit of a nightmare, from 30 per month, depending on what you buy and what you want to do.

Farrier costs i guess 50 pounds for a new set of shoes(mine have rock hard feet and don't do too many miles) so they are trimmed every 10/12 weeks for 18 pounds each.

Vets bills (annual Jabs) are generally 150.00 but there's always chance of visit's in between that leave you a bit more skint than usual!

Worming should be carried out on a regular basis, your local horse supplies shop should be able to provide information on this, as the topic is a very broad one.

And then there's what you want to do with it, hacking out or shows, these can tot up quite a bill with transport costs and entry fees.

You can do horses on a budget, you can make it as expensive or as cheap as you like, just don't let the horses suffer through lack of funds, After all horses are for life, not just for christmas!

We don't have much left at the end of the month, but the love and affection we get back (if you put the time in) really is priceless!
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Wish you all the best if you do decide to go with it....you won't regret it, the next step will be finding the right horse, a been there done that old schoolmaster will be the best bet for your first horse, they are a lot more forgiving than the younger models!

A bit of an essay i know, but it's a lifetime commitment, or maybe that's just me!
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Hmmm....

£460 a month full livery- so that includes all bedding, feed, hay etc.
£54 shoes with stud holes every 6 weeks
£60 wormers p.a.
£80 dentist p.a
£80 chiro p.a
£30 saddle checks p.a estimate
£400 insurance est.
BSJA membership- £200 p.a
Competition fees- roughly £30-35 once a fortnight if not more...
Lessons- £25 fortnightly.

To start up- summer sheet, stable rug and turnout- £100, poss a little less. Saddle- good 2nd hand leather Ideal Event saddle- £480, reflocked etc and fitted. Bridle- £40. Travel boots- £50. Headcollars etc £25.
 
Do what I do. Work out how much it should cost then double it and add a bit more then you're probably close to the actual costs! Then if it comes in under - it's cheap! Works for me LOL!
 
thanks everyone! I really appreciate all the advice and I've now got more of an idea of how much it could cost me. You haven't put me off. I just know that I'll be skint for the rest of my life but I'm sure it'll all be worth it! I'm getting saving!

Cheers again!
 
Our six cost us £1000 per year, exclusive of vets and any new rugs/tack. (that is for all 6, not each)
 
I spend £200 month on livery
£50 on feed
£20 every 8 weeks on feet trimming
£20 every 3 months worming

Saddle, bridle, rugs (light/midweight/full/stable/fleece/fly sheet), grooming kit, boots (riding and stable) head collar and lead rope, whips, lunge line, various sprays, forks, wheel barrow, shovels.....£2,000.

Plus the horse of course!

Look, don't get put off. You'll find a way. Not everything has to be new and allot of bargains can be found on ebay and places like that. Pay up to £1,500 for your first horse, you won't be looking for an olympic eventer just yet (I imagine!)
 
Mine is very different in the summer and winter

livery - £12 per week for grazing, use of walker and 1km circular exercise track
(winter livery - £20 per week for stable, haylage plus the above)
feed - bag of hifi (£10ish) and bag of balancer (£20) every 2 or 3 months
(winter feed- about £30 a month)
shoes - £80 a set

I only buy decent rugs and I like to have 4 different weights of rug per horse so I'd say about £300 for rugs.
Saddle could be anything from £200 for a synthetic to £1500 for a top brand leather one. I would expect to pay around £400 for a decent 2nd hand leather saddle.
Then add money for bridle, boots, grooming kit, mucking out tools etc

It's a lot when you write it all down!
 
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