ill just buy a horse because its cheaper than having lessons......

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Carrots&Mints

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SERIOUSLY ARE SOME PEOPLE JUST STUPID?!?!

A girl on FB who hasnt ridden since she was about 6 and is now 19 has put 'I would like to get back into riding anybody know of any riding schools'

2nd reply to her message was 'buy your own its cheaper'

Seriously i couldnt believe what I was reading!

So i commented... try such a stables and you can always come and have a mess on mine one time.

Her reply to that was... actually i might just buy my own.

Ohhh okay then with what experiance??? You silly fool! (Sorry but it seriously winds me up when people who dont really know bugger all about horses, she most likley doesnt even know how to pick his feet out.. no joke)

This was my reply

Well u got the cost of the horse which will be average 2 grand, plus decent saddle n bridle, boots if needed so call that 500 then you've got insurance which is about 40/60+ a month depending what you wanna do/ age/ breed of horse. Plus rugs and other equipment such as grooming kit so probs about 200 for that lot if your doing it cheap. Not to forget livery costs and then feed plus vet bills worming and god knows what else and still you'll need lessons even if you do have your own. Oh and petrol or bus fares which ever you choose. Seriously I get paid a decent wage and the majority of it goes on the horse so I would defo not reccoment buying one chick unless you had the time and money to do it, not tryna put you off but seriously id stick at lessons for a couple of years and save up have some cash in the bank and gain some experiance of horses, your more than welcome to come to see him anytime...

I think this is a reasonable reply dont you??? Not trying to scare her but seriously they are not pets!!!

Rant over and *breathe*
 
Very reasonable reply.
Me personally I would have gone more for..
"You stupid stupid ***** you should not be owning a hamster never mind a horse."

So yeah.. your's was well structured! :D:p
 
thats crazy! :( i think sone ppl really are just loosing the plot and dont realise the expense! ive had to put 1 of my boys on part loan just recently as the cost and im out of work its so hard! argh!!! people just need to realise theyre a big pet and need looking after x
 
No just a lass i know who popped up on my news feed... if anythings to do with horses i have a radar... probably everyone on here does hahha!!
 
Fantastic idea, what a fool. Very sensible response tho, she's more likely to listen to that than if you had just slated her. However anybody with so little intellect they'd consider buying an animal they no nothing about is unlikely to listen to reason.
 
Yeah I know! I only have a horse on full loan at the moment so dont really know the exact amount about how much they cost as owner paid for him and pays his unsurance bought tack and rugs and what not, but Im looking to buy my own in a couple of years so ive started saving but I definatly wont buy one unless I knew what I was doing ,especially not a complete beginer! I still have lessons now and you get that 'why do you have lessons if you can still ride' haha people are serious jokes,

Also people dont realise... the horse comes FIRST!!! This girl is abit of a party animal... nights out are less occasional... as I wouldnt want to be rough mucking out.

Gosh cant get over what some people come out with.

Im wittering now hahah xx
 
I've mentioned this before, but I once heard someone at my old work say "My yacht broke, so I bought a horse" Now, she may have had some riding experience, but the way she responded when I spoke about Ned made me think she had no idea.
She did seem curious and willing to learn, which made me feel a bit better about it.

I don't think they think past all the fun riding they'll be able to do.
 
Lol! Forgot about dentist, physio, sadder the list is endless really!!

Oh and not to forget riding clothes safety equipment... gosh!!!
 
You think that's bad, the local moron went one further & bought a foal, having never done more than stroke one before. Logic being, its easier to train a puppy than an older dog, I have previously owned a dog, therefore a 6mnth old foal is a great idea. Some people should be spayed.
 
I get what you're saying and agree it's stupid for her to be buying a horse for that reason, but to be fair my horse is costing me less than it was for a weekly hack at my old riding school! :)
 
Oh dear, clearly hasnt a clue. I have ridden for 12years, had 2 ponies on loan and one horse. I now own my own and its costing far more than i anticpated and is far harder also than i was expecting.
 
heyemily said:
I get what you're saying and agree it's stupid for her to be buying a horse for that reason, but to be fair my horse is costing me less than it was for a weekly hack at my old riding school! :)
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have you added up shoeing,feeding , vet,tack,teeth,,insurance,entries to shows etc.....i,d say its far cheaper to go to your riding school once a week.....if you are finding it cheaper to own a horse then tell me how you are doing it?
 
stephaniekate said:
have you added up shoeing,feeding , vet,tack,teeth,,insurance,entries to shows etc.....i,d say its far cheaper to go to your riding school once a week.....if you are finding it cheaper to own a horse then tell me how you are doing it?
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I don't know, just have a cheap to keep horse and he came with tack! Livery £15, trim £15 every 2 monthsish, no feed. Then dentist/jabs spread out weekly still adds up less than a hack at my local riding school which is about £40 for 2 hours and I get to do more than that. I didn't count shows as had to pay the same amount to do riding school ones on top so similar really! (sorry that was really boring :p) Plus I hated deciding between a hack or a lesson, so at least you can do both :D
 
stephaniekate said:
have you added up shoeing,feeding , vet,tack,teeth,,insurance,entries to shows etc.....i,d say its far cheaper to go to your riding school once a week.....if you are finding it cheaper to own a horse then tell me how you are doing it?
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This may be peculiar to the far north, but it's cheaper for me to have one at home as well. Local riding school charges £30 an hour for a hack or lesson. Merlin's costs, kept at home, for the last 6 months:

Food (inc. hay): £65 a month
Shavings: £15 a month
Feet - barefoot and mostly self-trimming, so farrier just shapes them every 3 months: 2 x £20
Tendon scan at the vet in Thurso: £67
Odds & sods: £37

Total: £624 versus £780 for a weekly hack for 26 weeks.
 
I can well believe that with an easy to keep horse on diy or grass livery you might manage to keep a horse for less than lessons would cost, but the time commitment is very different, and inevitably there are costs that come in on top like lessons and shows. But the sort of cheap livery this involves is rarely suitable for a first time owner.

I added up costs of keeping my own versus lessons and the routine costs came in about the same as DH and I were spending on lessons even including part livery, but then between us we were spending a lot on lessons!
 
heyemily said:
I don't know, just have a cheap to keep horse and he came with tack! Livery £15, trim £15 every 2 monthsish, no feed. Then dentist/jabs spread out weekly still adds up less than a hack at my local riding school which is about £40 for 2 hours and I get to do more than that. I didn't count shows as had to pay the same amount to do riding school ones on top so similar really! (sorry that was really boring :p) Plus I hated deciding between a hack or a lesson, so at least you can do both :D
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I'm sorry, but I cannot see how you horse can be cheaper than having riding lessons even my insurance is more than your weekly riding lesson! And seriously, do you not buy feed? If you don't you must have amazing grazing all year round? What about worming?, saddle checks? back checks? instructor? tack repairs? rugs? Perhaps I'm just over analysing the whole owning a horse thing but quite frankly, proposing having a weekly riding lesson is cheaper than keeping one is actually ridiculous
 
Even after you've bought your own horse, surely lessons would still continue. We used to pay £30 for 2 lessons a week at a riding school and now with our own horse we still pay £30 for 2 lessons a week and have the costs of the horse, livery etc on top.
wouldn't change it for the world though :-)
 
Miss Bean said:
I'm sorry, but I cannot see how you horse can be cheaper than having riding lessons even my insurance is more than your weekly riding lesson! And seriously, do you not buy feed? If you don't you must have amazing grazing all year round? What about worming?, saddle checks? back checks? instructor? tack repairs? rugs? Perhaps I'm just over analysing the whole owning a horse thing but quite frankly, proposing having a weekly riding lesson is cheaper than keeping one is actually ridiculous
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Some horse DON'T need hard feed you know. Infact there would be alot less problem horses if they were fed less and worked more!!

My native costs me £15 per week grass livery, £20 every 8 -10 weeks trim, teeth once a year £25 she's an insurance write off, everything excluded, so we don't bother with that, We have all agreed if any real problems PTS. Worming twice a year - this is another thing that is often totally over done £40 I don't have an instructor - she is a hack, Oh and she doesnt wear rugs either. So I hack x2 weelkly at ALOT less cost than the local RS that charges £50 - yes £50 for an hours hack!!

What I am saying is you have the right animal it is do -able Not all of us aspire to have lessons or compete, or want to own fancy TB WB types you know.
 
Well you seem okay but my point was actually she doesnt have any experiance and thought shed be fine buying a horse when she cant even ride and thought she could learn on her own. Ive been riding since i was little im now nearly 21 and i still have lessons every week! Crazy
 
I decided to share a horse than having riding lessons as the amount I would spend on riding lessons, (£35 for a half an hour private lesson) would be far cheaper to share (£35 and I can ride three days a week!) But even then, I don't feel I'm ready to bite the bullet to get my own as it's such a massive committment. Unlike a friend of mine, who hasn't ridden for 10+ years and he's just got himself a horse, ("it's a mare in foal, so I get two for the price of one!!") However, he lives with a friend who owns a massive livery yard so he has lots of support but doesn't even know his fetlock from his forelock...! And I spend forever swotting up on BHS Stage books to further my knowledge for fear of being labelled as someone "with all the gear and no idea" and you get some people who just dive right in!
 
Hahah! Mental! and asif your lessons are that expensive? Where abouts do you live?

And your exactly like me, constantly ordering horse books from the libary to gain more knowlege!!

The world is crazy xx
 
Not to mention the stress of owning too, the sleepless nights worrying when your horse is ill or lame. At least having a lesson once a week you can go home without worrying. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't be without mine but it has been very heartbreaking at times.
 
FulshawGirl said:
Hahah! Mental! and asif your lessons are that expensive? Where abouts do you live?

And your exactly like me, constantly ordering horse books from the libary to gain more knowlege!!

The world is crazy xx
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My local riding school charges the same, and I live in Yorkshire. A group lesson is also the same price, but for an hour.

For my OH and I to have lessons would be £70 per week, or we could pay the same to go for a 2-hr hack in good hacking country.
Local hacking is not as good, and (more importantly) charged at lesson prices, so a 2-hr hack every week locally would cost us £140 :eek:

I've definitely toyed with the idea that at current riding school costs, owning a horse is not thát much more expensive...plus if you read the other thread about actual costs of owning a horse, lots of people are very good at pulling the wool over their own eyes about cost. If they can do that, so can I :p

Some of the downsides would be, as you pointed out, lack of experience in owning, and still paying out for lessons on top of owning!

I've also noticed the large number of people who buy a horse, which then develops a permanent medical issue within 3 months and which means the horse can never be ridden again (and yes, still a nice pet, but a bloomin expensive one).
 
My sister and I have the horses between us, we have 4 now, so not quite the same but in the early days...

We both rode as kids to 15/16. I used to ride in a riding school and would spend every free minute up there, my sister was fearless so just chatted to people out on horses and got some ponies to exercise - had never had a formal lesson in her life!

I did 3 months one summer in a SJing yard, she went to Australia and worked with horses out there.

Life then got in the way, but some money was aquired, so with me at 30 and her at 26, me with a 14 year break (barring the odd ride), and her with a 4 year one wanted to start riding again.

Well, we sampled the local riding schools. For us both to ride the cheapest one was £68 for an hour for us both, but at least here we were allowed to touch the horses and tack up/groom etc. The most expensive we tried was £100 between us for an hour and your horse was brough to you and taken away when you got off! There are some here charging more that. And this was for group lessons!!!! :eek:

We did the maths. It was a LOT cheaper for us to buy one and share it, but we went to a yard with assistance, and had been horse mad for forever and knew some stuff about how to keep them, even if the riding was beyond rusty. :)

Course now we have 4.... :D

Edit - and we have both found private tuition a lot cheaper than any riding school around here. The local RC's are great and once you have a horse you get to know people who know people etc.
 
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stephaniekate said:
have you added up shoeing,feeding , vet,tack,teeth,,insurance,entries to shows etc.....i,d say its far cheaper to go to your riding school once a week.....if you are finding it cheaper to own a horse then tell me how you are doing it?
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to be fair mine mine has only cost me £2000 this year as i can keep her at home for 8 months of it and she doesnt eat anything but grass in the summer. so she costs me the same as my riding lessons where but they doesnt count the 5000 to buy her but ill pretend that didnt happen.
 
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