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

I had a riding instructor try to persuade me to buy a horse a few years back because it would save me money! I was getting 2 - 3 lessons a week at £18 for an hour group lesson.
I'd be pushing it to keep a horse at that price but more importantly I couldn't find the time back then to do it myself on a weekend (long distance BF) and then the costs would have spiralled not to mention a neglected pony on a weekend.
I now have Big Pony and he costs me a LOT more than my weekly lessons did. If you are lucky you can get a good doer that lives out barefoot but I didn't get one of those (and I wouldn't swap him for anything).
 
i have to admit, i did dive in at the deep end, but with research, asking questions, and help from friends ive learnt as much as i need to know, you will never know everything about horses

one month they can be cheap, the next expensive regardless of the breed, and livery. it comes in hand with any animal.

But any one can own a horse providing they can afford to, and are willing to give up practically everything for their well being...ive not had a good night out for years!

not to mention the 5:30 starts.....:eek:
 
I would think that there are plenty of people on here who keep a horse for less than £5000 a year, and that is not being tight/lucky/deluding yourself.

If there are two of you and you want to ride for two hours a week each that is easily £100 a week and therefore £5200 a year.

I was paying about £25 for a group lesson at a BHS approved riding school and up to £42for an hour private.

The yard where I'm at livery now it is £25 a week for full care including feed, hay and bedding if you allow your horse to be used in lessons - could be very cost effective for someone who has a suitable horse and doesn't mind it being ridden by others. I don't do it but it works well for some on our yard, and they still have plenty of opportunity to ride their own horse.
 
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I had a lady who wanted to share [apparently she was once a great rider], she had loads of ideas how I could cut the costs of horse ownership, like not shoeing him until the shoes were loose, and buying the cheapest food available, oh, and she would not need lessons [she was once a great rider], and she did not mind if the horse naps!
She managed to go two steps from the mounting block when my boy stuck his ears back, he then took the decision to pop in to the indoor school, yes he is self - steering, but when he saw my van he picked up his ideas and followed me down the road.
Oh, and it would help if she only paid on the days she rode, summer would be cheaper too because he only eats grass!
Yes the perfect sharer, she had ridden since she was six [obviously missed years 7 to 47]
 
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Miss L Toe said:
I had a lady who wanted to share [apparently she was once a great rider], she had loads of ideas how I could cut the costs of horse ownership, like not shoeing him until the shoes were loose, and buying the cheapest food available, oh, and she would not need lessons [she was once a great rider], and she did not mind if the horse naps!
She managed to go two steps from the mounting block when my boy stuck his ears back, he then took the decision to pop in to the indoor school, yes he is self - steering, but when he saw my van he picked up his ideas and followed me down the road.
Oh, and it would help if she only paid no the days she rode, summer would be cheaper too because he only eats grass!
Yes the perfect sharer, she had ridden since she was six [obviously missed years 7 to 47]
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Nothing wrong with buying cheap food, but :eek: to everything else!
 
Frightening Vets Bills!!!!! Enough to make anyone go wibble! And to boot when you have over 30 years experience with them and you can't figure out why they are not eating - nor can the vet (blood tests etc) Dentist is about to have a look, after that it is scans / X-rays...
 
Broke_But_Happy said:
Nothing wrong with buying cheap food, but :eek: to everything else!
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I don't buy the cheapest bagged food because I like to know what my horse is eating, and he needs micronised linseed oil to prevent him itching. My horse always has the best skin and coat in the yard, this might be because I don't feed applechaffwithmolasses plus molassed sugar beet pulp as the mainstay of the diet, with a pound of pony nuts thrown on top.
After two weeks on local brands, I can tell that he is lacking in condition. I am not going to change my horse's diet on the say so of some idiot woman who thinks that every penny pinching methodology should be tried in order to save her a pound a week, I assume she wanted to gain from the savings.
 
Seems like riding lessons are actually allot of money. The schools around where I live (burnley) are about £15 for a group lesson for an hour.

But thats not the point I was getting at... she actually has NO experiance with horses and think its probably as cheap as keeping a goldfish!
 
I bought a horse as its cheaper than having lessons!!!! and im not stupid...............



however i have previously owned 2 before this one so i did know what i was letting myself in for!

Lessons round here were between 30-50 a week - my horse costs upto 300 a month including vet bills/tack tack... but i can ride 6 days a week and have that bond

:)
 
I know someone who does everything with their horse 'on the cheap'. The horse hasn't had the farrier for 6 months now and still has the same shoes on (apart from one which has dropped off and the clenchers are still in). They get put out on Thurs til Tues and the owner doesn't go up to check the horse because the bus costs too much. They don't have any hay given to them in this time out in the field - or hard feed which they do get during the week. They only go up once per day in the week to muck out (horse is stabled 24/7 in week), and it has never in the eight years she has owned it seen a vet or had jabs etc. She will stretch the hay and shavings she buys out until she gets her next lot of money from her partner (monthly), so quite often the bed is filthy and he is on hay rations.

If anything is challenged about this type of care the answer is 'He's never been sick or sorry and he's used to it. I can't afford to buy more/get farrier etc until I get my next lot of money'.
 
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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Yep, no hard feed and still fat! Hay is included on the livery yard as they make their own. I've had the same rugs for years, he's out 24/7 but usually doens't wear one as he doesn't need one and grows a mammoth coat! I only insure for vet fees, so again, is aout £5 a week. Everything else like dentist etc is done at once for all 15 horses so that never costs much either. Honestly is cheaper (and better!) :p We are in the North though so I assume that makes it a bit cheaper, and having a hardy pony too.
 
maybe having a hardy pony is cheaper than paying for a weekly lesson maybe I'm doing it all wrong - poxy TB's :D
 
Miss Bean said:
maybe having a hardy pony is cheaper than paying for a weekly lesson maybe I'm doing it all wrong - poxy TB's :D
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:p My friends pays £15 a week for feed for her TB and for shoes every few weeks when they won't stay on, I couldn't bear to do it...he's lovely to steal sometimes though! ;)
 
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