How much would you expect to pay for backing?

W

welshied

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 March 2009
Messages
2,119
Visit site
As title wondering how much you would expect to pay to get your horse backed by a good reputable trainer?
 
I was quoted £150/wk including full livery, feed etc and told it is likely to take 4-6wks depending on how able I wanted him to be (eg how established with transitions etc)
 
I have contacted a few people and been quoted £25per day so £175 per week including full livery and the other £150 per week including full livery possibly a bit less if pony.
 
This may be controversial but I don't think money/quality is directly related when it comes to backing horses.

My advice would be to really search around, ask everyone and when you find the person you want then pay what they want for what you need!

Though £150/week sounds a good starting point for budgeting.
 
I'm looking into this right now for my baby, I've been quoted £90 per week by a yard where they live out and the facilities are minimal to £180 for a very posh place with every conceivable facility and a 'known' rider doing the job. All these include full livery, although obviously the living out option is not inc stable etc. I agree with the above post though, quality and the right place have to be first concerns. I'm looking at sending my mare away for at least 10 weeks because I want her well established in walk, trot and canter, hacking and having seen a few small jumps before she comes back. If it takes longer she'll stay longer, even if it means I have to take on another job. As a friend said to me, you only get one shot at first time backing! I'm based in Sussex if that helps.
 
I have found a place that worked with one of my horses a long time ago and they are very good and they are over £200 a week i just wondered whether you thought this was too much or is it worth paying when you know you will give your horse the best possible start and he is for keeps as well i aren't wanting to sell on?
 
I paid £70.00 per week last year for my sec C, including full livery!! She went to a young showing producer, he's been to HOYS and is a fab sympathetic, calm rider, she was placed in an unaff dressage 6 weeks after getting there well handled but not even bitted! He did a marvellous job and wouldn't hesitate to reccomend him.

Normally round here (N.East England) it is between £100 - £150.00 per week.
 
Personally I have to say that if I trusted the people and knew they were the right ones for the job I'd pay whatever it took. I've had my baby from a yearling and the peace of mind is worth it. I'll be very broke, but horse will be happy, well-balanced and with a good outlook on life!
 
bikerchickone said:
I'm looking into this right now for my baby, I've been quoted £90 per week by a yard where they live out and the facilities are minimal to £180 for a very posh place with every conceivable facility and a 'known' rider doing the job. All these include full livery, although obviously the living out option is not inc stable etc. I agree with the above post though, quality and the right place have to be first concerns. I'm looking at sending my mare away for at least 10 weeks because I want her well established in walk, trot and canter, hacking and having seen a few small jumps before she comes back. If it takes longer she'll stay longer, even if it means I have to take on another job. As a friend said to me, you only get one shot at first time backing! I'm based in Sussex if that helps.
Click to expand...

£90 for grass livery is ALOT of money... We charge less than everyone has mentioned on here and don't usually have to have them that long...10 weeks is quite a long time for a baby to be concentrating for. We usually get them walk, trotting and cantering round the menage and jumping a small course of fences, hacking alone and in company up the road ( about 6-8 weeks depending on temprement of horse ) then we really really stress to the owner how important it is for them to be put in the field to have a rest and digest it all. If they need help to get on them again after that we would take them for another 1-2 weeks to get them started again... But I would definately think that after 10 weeks the owner should be able to get on and ride the horse safely, I would be dissapointed if they couldn't. There is a lady called Hillary Sawyer who is based in Edburton near Henfield, I'm not sure that she breaks horses, but I couldn't recommend anyone better to produce a horse - and she is very reasonable!

: )

x
 
I charge £150 a week - from teaching a horse to lunge and long reining him round the farm/quiet lanes to hacking out and having popped a cross pole.... if the horse is straightforward of course and with no issues.... I would expect to have a solid base for the owner to work from, within 6-8 weeks

I always ask what the owner expects the horse to be doing by the time the horse returns to them.... I never work to a time scale but at the horse's speed.

It's hard to be exact but most horses will achieve the above in the given timescale
It works out at approx £1000 to make the horse for the rest of it's life.... it's the most important thing to get right - and the biggest disaster to get wrong.
 
Ive just paid 1,200 euros for 2 months full livery and training. Madam (2 year old quarter horse) was lunged, started lateral work on long rein and backed and ridden away. She has been given a solid base to then go on and be trained for reining. She is now turned away till next spring and hopefully Ill have saved enough pennies to send her back to the same trainer who (hopefully) will ride her in reining classes.
 
I charged and would still charge - between £150 and £175 depending on the horse. I never gave an exact time scale - would would ask for two weeks up front and from there made a decision as to how long it would take - usually 4 to 6 weeks. That is from lungeing/long reining to hacking out, walk trot canter in the school.
 
my yard charges £175 per week for backing livery and then £150 for schooling and that's south yorkshire. i think it's quite reasonable tbh
i wouldn't pay a premium for a 'known rider', as just because they have success at jumping/dressage/showing etc doesn't make them any better/worse than other professionals
 
i have a young appaloosa and due to a couple of riding accidents on other horses had lost confidence to bring him on.i looked into sending him to a yard to be backed which would have been 80pounds per week grass livery. but answered an advert from an experienced rider looking to have a horse to ride.this works great as he is not taken away from my other horse,is getting experience out hacking and i can see how much training he is actually getting.and the two of them are getting on fantastic. it is always an option.
 
Wow, i didnt realise how expensive it is to have a horse broken!! I had initially planned to send mine away to have her backed but in the end decided to be brave and do it myself. Everything went perfectly and she is now hacking alone daily with no issues at all, has all her transitions down beautifully (need to work on her balance in canter but that'll come with time!) and is a lovely person to deal with. I was thinking about having someone come and give me some lessons on her just to work on her "dressage" but from the prices quoted on here, I think i will have to save my pennies a bit more...!!!!
 
Last year I paid £80 per week all in at a very respected, small local yard. You can go to competitions in the area and spot horses that this woman has backed. Without exception, they all go in soft, round outlines. My 12 yr old rescued gipsy cob mare was backed by her (6 weeks) and just 5 weeks after she had been backed she came 1st in a local dressage competition. So it isn't the price that counts!
 
If you divide £150 by 7, the cost is £21.42 a day.

If you then work out how much it costs to keep a horse in bedding/hard feed/forage etc, it doesn't leave much for the person breaking in your horse - I reckon on about £10-15 day

You are paying for time, experience, patience, facilities along with the above costs, all for well less than an hour's lesson a day.

I appreciate it seems a lot of money to fork out per week, but I think you actually get a lot back for your initial outlay :)
 
Hi Bikerchickone - let me know if you are in West Sussex as I used avery good trainer recently for my warmblood mare, down by Arundel. Very reasonable rates and very loving whilst very competent - hard combi to find! PM me if you would like more info.
 
yeeharider said:
you are so right £10-£15 is about right, but I dont do it for the cash I do it for the satisfaction of knowing its done right. I get great job satisfaction:D:D
Click to expand...

You can't really be in horses for the money - job satisfaction is the way forward lol! :)

It is nice tho - I like doing the babies and seeing them learn and come on :)
 
just to chip in here, when you're talking about how much to pay for backing, it depends not just on where you want your horse to end up but where his starting point is.

So, asking a trainer to take on a horse that is pretty much fresh from the field, not really seen much of the world at all even in hand, etc, can be a different proposition from taking a horse that may have already done some in-hand work to a trainer just for the backing. Also, if the in-hand work that has been done hasn't been that great, actually it could be more difficult to take on a horse that has already done a bit but not done that bit very well, if that makes sense? That's what makes it so hard to quote for how much to pay for backing.

Also, personally, I think that for trainers to give some sort of guarantee as to where a horse will be after, say, 6 weeks of work or whatever can be a little dangerous unless the trainer and the owner can be open to re-considering that guarantee if needs be. Some horses are just very unbalanced when you start out so it can be totally inappropriate to ask them to be doing much cantering around even after 6 weeks work, as they just need more time to mature, etc. I'd much rather just keep an open dialoge between owner and trainer to see how the horse is coming along and agree goals as appropriate.

That said, as a business proposition, of course owners are going to want the trainer to give some sort of indication as to where they think they can get the horse to, so don't get me wrong, but I just think it can be problematic to be overly restrictive about any training goals - far better for the horse for the trainer to say to the owner "sorry but he's not yet ready to do X but give him some more time, do this with him in the meantime, and then I'll help you and the horse to do X" rather than for the trainer to crack on anyway and try to get the horse to do X by forcing the issue prematurely.
 
welshied said:
As title wondering how much you would expect to pay to get your horse backed by a good reputable trainer?
Click to expand...

I haven't read other posts but I paid £1000 a month for my horse to be backed . He was started by an idiot so the trainer had to begin again. He got the job done but the horse was a ****** so I gave him away in the end.

Its worth taking the time to research the right person as I think what they learn at this stage stays with them an awful long time.
 
Kelpie said:
Also, personally, I think that for trainers to give some sort of guarantee as to where a horse will be after, say, 6 weeks of work or whatever can be a little dangerous unless the trainer and the owner can be open to re-considering that guarantee if needs be. Some horses are just very unbalanced when you start out so it can be totally inappropriate to ask them to be doing much cantering around even after 6 weeks work, as they just need more time to mature, etc. I'd much rather just keep an open dialoge between owner and trainer to see how the horse is coming along and agree goals as appropriate.
Click to expand...

I think it's a good idea for trainers to give owners a decent indication of how long they expect to take to get a horse to A or B - and as long as the owner is honest about the type and temperament of the horse, how much handling he's had, and whether previous attempts to back him have occurred, then the trainer SHOULD be able to make an educated guess.

Obviously there MAY be cause to rethink the original estimate if the horse is NOT as described when he arrives or has problems that could not be anticipated. I always give the owner an estimate of how long I think it will take, and promise that I will let them know within 2 weeks if that estimate appears to have been overly optimistic.

I work on the basis that if a horse has been sensibly handled since a foal, and NOT been mucked about, then it will take 3-4 weeks to the pointwhere the horse will walk, trot - and hopefully canter under the rider in the manege, and hack outquietly with a companion or alone.

If the horse arrives in poor condition, or having a growth spurt that makes him weak/unbalanced, or excessively fat, then it will take longer as you can't work the horse for more than 10-15 minutes at a time.

I personally think that some trainers take the pi** when it comes to backing charges. A backer actually doesn't take that much time per day because he's not fit enough to do it, and his brain can't cope!! In the first week - working primarily on the lunge - 15 minutes is about the maximum you'd do! An older horse in for schooling you might work for 45 minutes! Of course, with a backer there will be a week or two when two people are needed for at least part of the working time. But charges of £200 + per week are ridiculous IMHO. We charge £140 including full stabled livery and that covers costs and gives a modest 'profit'.

I've heard trainers justify high charges as including 'danger money' - but if you do the job sensibly and competently, it's a lot less dangerous than riding a x-c course! I can count the times my rider has been 'dumped' in the past two years on the fingers of one hand - and that's doing an average of 5 - 6 breakers at a time,with each one here for 4-6 weeks, although the odd one stays longer if owner wants them brought on a bit more.
 
Anyone know of a good breaking yard in Somerset? Lol. I think my boy is going to be very easy but as he's my first horse, I'd like someone who knows what they're doing to start the riding. He's been bitted, has a saddle on, been lunged (just started, about 5 minutes a couple of time a week to get him listening), lots of walks, been out inhand to shows, so done a bit :) He's 3 so will be rising 4 next spring when I plan to do it
 
We charge anything from £100 per week (for small ponies) to £150 for more remedial types. It all depends on the horse and how much they need doing. I estimate that if an owner has put in the ground work I should be able to have them walk, trot and cantering in 2-3 weeks, this may or may not include going out for hacks with a lead horse (depending on how settled they are as its very busy near us on the roads). The worst part of the job though is if the owner hasn't been straight with you, tells you the horse has done nothing but really has had a go and failed due to being to quick or rough with the youngster. Then there is a chance you may be put in danger, otherwise its a pretty straight forward job. TBH our prices for backing here are a bit cheap, as our part livery is £115 a week. But I enjoy the work so don't want to out price anyone.
 
i totally agree with Janet George, backers do NOT need a lot of time every day, I have one in at the moment and she's taking 10-20 mins a day of riding, slightly longer if hacking out.
fwiw i charge £70 a week for field keep, a little feed (Happy Hoof) twice a day, hay if necessary, and my time and effort (lungeing, 2x daily poo-picking, grooming, etc), plus £40 a week that I give to my 'jockey' for her time, effort (and risk) - that's the thing, backers can be easy-peasy or suddenly dramatic, and you need to be ready for either... i don't put a time-scale on it at all, but i give daily updates to the owner so she can say when she thinks the mare is far enough along.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top