How much does your hard feed cost per month?

[misskk88]

LONG VERSION: I am looking at moving my horse onto assistedlivery. The yard is only now starting to offer this (literally it was somethingthey were working out costs for as I was in the process of considering loans formy horse). When I asked what the price would be for this, I was told it wouldbe around £55/60PW. Currently on full livery (which does include some exercise,but not regular, and horse is used maybe 1-2 times per month for staff doing their quals, forjumping/XC).

When I asked again about assisted a few days later I was told it would bearound £75…. I questioned this straight away and said I couldn’t afford this as I had based myfinances around the previous price (and have now turned down loans for my horsebased on this), I was told that they could perhaps do £70PW (prices will start at 60), but that my horseis on a lot of feed which they need to cover (no more than some other liveries!). I should also add that there willbe a week every 5-6 weeks where I will be paying full livery costs due toworking away.

I understand feed is costly, however I don’t think it isabout £15 per week more (!) and I also feel a bit begrudged that if my horsewere turned out for longer each day OR overnight, then she would need verylittle feed at all through summer. She is a fairly good doer, and only tends to drop weightwhen changing her coat (hence her new feeding regime the past few weeks), but nowsummer is here, she has filled back out just fine. She is on 2 scoop sugarbeet,1 scoop horse and pony and 1 scoop of mollichaff, plus small amount of bran AM and PM (she is 16YO).

I can’t help but feel the YO has her business head onknowing that I was previously a full livery customer and assumes I can pay more…. The fact I have beenthere 17/18 years also makes me feel a bit peeved… Should I, or am I being silly?

SHORT VERSION- basically how much do you pay on hard feedper month for your horse?!

 

[Spring Feather]

Per horse it works out about 30 a week so approx 120 a month. A lot of my horses are not fed hardfeed though, it's only the oldies, youngstock and broodmares and I've given you the price for the broodmares and oldies feed. The youngstock probably cost around 40 a month per youngster.

 

[be positive]

My version of assisted DIY is that the owner would provide the feed so it would not be in the equation anyway, full or part livery will include basic feed and some will get more, some less but it balances out in the end.
Feed for mine at this time of year, the livery horses are now out at night, in during the day, is negligible they hardly require any as there is plenty of grass and the ones I currently have here are not competing at the moment, they get a small feed when they come in and a net but my costs have gone down to about 1 bag a week between 4 horses.
The feed yours is on seems excessive for the time of year, I would rather they had more hay and time at grass than such a big bulky feed.

The fact that you have been there for years is not relevant but what is is that you should be paying the going rate the same as other clients will be, I would be looking for somewhere that can offer more turnout, that reduces costs to you as well as the YO in summer particularly, with a set charge for assisted DIY, if that is what you want, most yards can offer assistance or full livery when required for less than an average of £70 per week.

 

[FairyLights]

1 sack of nuts cost approx £7 and 1 sack of hi fi lite. approx £13 lasts my 2 horses 2 months so thats about £5 per month per horse.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Horses should be fed according to the amount of work they are doing. If they are in hard work then they will be fed considerably more than if they do very little. I wish I could get away with a bill like Horsesforever1, but I can't. It also makes a huge difference as to what feed you are feeding your horses i.e. unbrabnded pony nuts against a branded competition mix? (I'm not decrying unbranded feed). You should know the quantity of feed you are giving your horse & the cost of that feed per bag & then you can work it out. There is little to be gained by getting diferent peoples costs & trying to relate that to your own situation.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Around £5 per month as one bag of hifi molasses free lasts him that long and he one has enough to carry tablets in. He is 19 and in work 5/6 days a week doing an hour of so of fast/schooling hacking. The rest he gets from.grass and soaked hay as he has had lami in the past he is not fed what he doesn't need.

my two retired ones get hay and grass

my sisters Tb only gets a big bucket of chaff to carry supplements and give him fibre as he is ulcer prone.

 

[wench]

I'm of the belief that a horse should be fed either the daily recommended amount of hard feed, or mixture of hard feed and balancer, or a balancer.

I looked into DIY livery a couple of years back and worked out about £30 a month to feed my horse, based on cheapo pony nuts and a small amount of sugar beet in two feeds per day.

You can help reduce feed bills by not feeding things like chaff, if they are already being feed nuts etc

 

[kerrieberry2]

during the winter I am using 1 bag of fast fibre a week, the costs of that is around £11-12 and one bag of molasses free ever 2 weeks at about £12 a bag, this is for 2 horses, on 2 feeds a day and a token handful for a mini Shetland!

so all together less than £80 a month so less that £40 each horse a month!

what the hell are they suggesting they feed your horse? if they are really feeding your horse that much I would be a bit concerned that they are chucking their/your money on the muck heap! you have to consider that a horse can only eat a certain amount and get the goodness from it, so feeding anymore and its just being poo-ed out the other end! I was advised that a horses stomach is the size of a rugby ball, so you feed more than that in one sitting and you're wasting your money!

 

[kerrieberry2]

oh and to add, my mare is 29, and has cushings, she dropped a lot of weight at the beginning of the winter, so she was eating the most! until she was about 25 she was happily living off grass and hay, with no feeds at all

 

[NZJenny]

I have four horses who live out 24/7. They all get a daily feed of lucerne chaff, oats, linseed, vit/min mix and salt. Costs me around NZ$80.00 per month for the lot, with the addition of some hay during the winter if the grass gets a bit short.

 

[Sparkles]

Mine in summer.....nothing. However have a feed block at £16.95 which last a few months and rocky block at £8.

In winter, A bag for 3 weeks approx of Healthy Tummy at £10.95 Plus aboive extras again.

 

[Auslander]

Mine get through a bag of Veteran Vitality a fortnight at the moment - so £20 per month. The old girl gets through a sack of Equijewel a fortnight in the winter, at around £30 a bag, and the boys have copra (£18 a bag) in winter, which lasts a month.

 

[TandD]

Currently on mollichaff, bran and nuts

Mollichaff at £5 - lasts 2 weeks
Bag of nuts at £5 - lasts 2 weeks
Bag of bran at £10 - lasts 4 weeks (so £5 for 2 weeks)

£15 over 2 weeks
£7.50 per week / by 2 horses
£3.75? Per horse per week I think

 

[rara007]

Mine gets a bag and 1/2 of competition mix (£22) and probably 1/2 a bag of speedibeet.(£5). And 2 carrots a day

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

£80-£100.
but he's in hard work (schooling GP) and a relatively poor doer.
Thats excluding any supplements.

 

[Merrymoles]

Mine is about £5/month in the summer, maybe £7/month in the winter but he is a good doer, in fairly light work (hacking/schooling/lunging five times a week) and on good grass in the summer and ad lib hay in the winter. Therefore, all he gets is unmollassed chaff and a balancer and oil all year round, with the amount of chaff being higher in winter.

 

[WelshD]

Mine cost around £20 for the two per month but they are ponies

I think in your case it doesn't really matter how much anyone else spends, you need to decide whether they have a point regarding the food or not. You could ask for a price excluding feed and say you will supply your own - if that would cost you more then you have your answer

If the amount of feed needed will go down soon ask them to price with that in mind and suggest you pay extra those handful of times a year when it needs to be upped

 

[criso]

the basics which are currently copra and bran, oats when in more work cost me about £20 per month and that's what I have had included when on livery. Sometimes had to negotiate and show costings if this is not what they usually buy in.

My total is more as I also have linseed and supplements but I would expect those to be outside any livery package.

 

[misskk88]

Thank you for all your responses! I appreciate your comments.

I should add, I was not asking for costs so that I can work out the cheapest way to feed my horse, but just to work out how varied it can be from summer to winter, and from a good to bad doer!

I have always had the luxury of full livery, and so feed costs have been included and apart from knowing the cost of one full bag, I am a bit ignorant in the matter! I know how much she has cost in supplements in the past as I pay directly for these when she has needed them, but she hasn't been on any for a lonnngggg time.

Finding myself on assisted (although some basic hard feed is included), I just wanted a rough idea of what other people spend. PARTICULARLY as I feel that my horse would not need to be on half of what she is, should she be turned out for longer, or overnight (She gets between 3-5 hours per day, although 2 days per week is turned out 7.30-3ish.. I would prefer this to be more though as I do not feel it is really sufficient, especially in summer time. She is a happy and healthy horse, but I am realising I would like more influence over certain aspects of her and sometimes I feel the YO has too much say in this such as feed (not just money). She is in light/medium work and is ridden between 3-6 times a week, depending on my own schedule, so she is hardly requiring lots and lots of food!! Hence my grumble at the 'extra cost' of my horse.

 

[chestnut cob]

Not much. In summer, just a couple of handfuls of Dengie Healthy Tummy every day (about £13 per 15kg bag which will last a couple of months now) to have a scoop of magox (£9.99 for 900g I think...) in. Before an event or if working particularly hard he will get more feed, up to a scoop depending how he's feeling and looking. And he would also get up to a mug of micronised linseed if needed, but not currently needed as on 24/7 pretty good grass.

In winter... he gets, split between am and pm feeds, 2 scoops of HT, 1.5 mugs linseed, about 1/2-3/4 scoop (wet) Speedibeet plus adlib hay. He doesn't do that well in winter and is nesh about the rain, so tends to need more. I reckon in the worst of the winter, I was using a sack of HT every 3 weeks. Speedibeet lasts forever as he only got a handful (dry) each day. Linseed is about £35 a sack and has lasted 12 months. So maybe £20 a month in winter?

He is an average doer I would say. If he's working fairly hard, he needs feed even in summer. In winter if he doesn't get hard feed he loses condition and gets far too lean, even with adlib hay. In summer, even out 24/7 on good grass he won't get fat, he will get just about right.

 

[Spring Feather]

Can I just ask - what is all included in the assisted livery? Is it just that they feed the horse am and pm? Or does it include more than that?

 

[misskk88]

Hi Spring Feather.

They will feed am/pm and will turn out or bring in. Mucking out, riding, rug changes etc are all done by owner. Starting cost is £60 for this, although extras/changes can be made for slightly different cost. Essentially it works out that they cover one end of the day, and the owner the other.

 

[AngieandBen]

Two ponies in their twenties; 1 bag of Kwikbeet, 1 bag of Alpha oil, magnesium and linseed which lasts about 2 months.

Approx £35 a month less in winter as they are on a lot of grass

 

[Spring Feather]

Thanks for the clarification :smile3: So you're paying for turnout or bring in on any one day, as well as feeding so that has to be factored into the cost too. What do you get for 60? Just turnout/bring in or just feed?

 

[Cocorules]

Is it the sort of yard where you can have a set fee for livery, muck out and turnout and all the rest are add ons I.e you pay separately for farrier and hard feed? In your position I would also want to know that either the YO is happy with what you pay and is unlikely to agree a figure now but quickly up it or that there is another suitable yard near you and within budget.

For what it is worth I pay £5 per week for hard feed for one pony who is having a hard feed only as a partial hay replacer. My other one does 1.5 hours work 4 days a week and 2 to 3 hours work 2 days a week. None of which is especially taxing so only in light work and has a tiny feed i.e. small number of cubes with supplements.

For the amount you are feeding the cost sounds as though it could be reasonable.

 

[xgemmax]

i buy a bag of chaff approx every 2 mounths or so and i'm still on the same bag of speedibeet i bought before christmas so not a lot probably £5.00 a month if that

 

[bliss87]

At the moment I use two bags of solution mash a month and 1 bag of chaff which works out at £47 between two so £23.50

In the winter, 4 bags of solution mash, 2 bags of chaff, 2 bags of conditioning cubes works out to £110 so £55 each

This is for feeding a 17hh RID and 16.2 cob

 

[el_Snowflakes]

A bag of just grass costs me about £10 ish (I think) & lasts me months! Horse is in medium work including some competitions in summer but is a good doer so does well on not a lot!

 

[misskk88]

Thanks for the clarification :smile3: So you're paying for turnout or bring in on any one day, as well as feeding so that has to be factored into the cost too. What do you get for 60? Just turnout/bring in or just feed?

£60 is starting price for feeding and turn out/bring in. So £60 covers both. Anything extra is done by me. They wanted to charge me more due to the feed my horse is on. My argument is that my horse is in light work, if she was turned out longer she would not be on so much feed, as she would be getting more goodness from the grass. However she is also on only slightly more (probably barely £5pcm) than some other liveries, which is why I have questioned the £15 increase in price a week!!

Is it the sort of yard where you can have a set fee for livery, muck out and turnout and all the rest are add ons I.e you pay separately for farrier and hard feed? In your position I would also want to know that either the YO is happy with what you pay and is unlikely to agree a figure now but quickly up it or that there is another suitable yard near you and within budget.

There is a set fee for muck out, turn out etc in the form of full livery, in which includes feed (I already pay for this, but am switching due to change in finances and wanting more time with horse). For assisted, there is the option to add on mucking out etc, but I am moving to Assisted in order to save costs. At present, as assisted is new to the yard, there is no option to supply my own feed due to storage not being available (included in the starting price of £60 anyway). I already pay for farrier. If I did choose to do this, I would need to be going am/pm to take a feed for her, and I don't have time due to work to do both ends of the day.

There are plenty of yards around, all with different budgets and price ranges for livery. But I have been here so long and it is all I know. A friend who is also at the yard mentioned I probably do not realise how much I may enjoy it elsewhere if I left. I want to try and find a private yard somewhere if not. I have looked at a few others, two I was not happy with and one was out of my price range.

I get the feeling that she has asked for more- not due to the feed my horse is on, but because she knows I was previously a full livery and has her business head on and assumes she can still get maximum money out of me... hence my whole post and questioning what others pay. I was trying to work out whether the whole feed comment was an excuse to still charge me more

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

I pay £36 for a bag of topspec and the speedi-beet lasts about 3 months. I'd say no more than £42 pcm. plus the adlib hay £30 which lasts two weeks so maybe £102?

Camilla