Is a 2nd horse much more work/money than one?

Aragon56

Aragon56

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I'm having a Thursday afternoon pondering about taking on a second horse... I've seen one I really like, and I also need something to keep my mare company so it makes sense. I've done a spreadsheet of all my costs, and whilst it would make little difference to feed, hay etc, its obviously double everything in terms of shoes, physio, worming etc.

My mare is kept at my parent's house and we make our own hay, she has very little feed, insurance is low as she's semi retired, and she only has front shoes on. A second working horse would be more expensive, especially for insurance, and I'm working out that it would cost around 2k to keep both. I don't think this is too bad, but my parents do! I would be paying over half the running costs a year. The main thing is that this would actually be our third 'family' horse-my sister has a pony kept at a different location on working livery at a riding school, so also cheap to keep, although insurance is our main expense. My parents currently pay most of this pony's running costs as my sister is a student.

I'm thinking that when you're looking after one horse at home anyway, a second one isn't too much extra work? Especially as both would live out 24/7 so low maintenance!
 
Even it it did involve more expense and time - would that matter?
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sounds like you have worked it out pretty sensibly - I am same situation - one retired horse and one rideable, both insured etc, kept at home, live out although I have to pay for hay. Retired costs about £125 a month and ridden a bit more about £170 (mostly due to extra equipment I think I need but dont really!) and most of that expense is hay/haylage which probably takes up a third of the cost.

Time wise is really no different except that I poo pick so takes me about 15mins a day to pick up extra poo every day.
 
If you are paying the costs of both hroses and you think you are getting value for money than go for it. But as it is landing an extra financial burden on your parents who are already paying for one and a half horses then you've got no choice but to take your parent's views into account. They might want to spend that money on some thing they like to do!
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I wouldn't know we have 5, have never had less than 2 so I guess we are used to it. They are at home and we make our own hay and straw. Hard feed is about £20 per week, farrier is bigest expense 3 x £70 about every 5 weeks plus one sets of fronts at £20 and one trim at £10. Vets bills luckily are low and we only have 3rd party insurance don't insure for vets, loss of use etc. I think going from 1 to 2 you will probably notice quite a difference but I think as you add to the 2 its less noticable.
 
I think it really does depend a lot on your situation.

I have 5 horses and for me, because I rent my own yard/land and the horses all live out 24/7/365, it's relatively "cheap" (cheap's the wrong word, but I use it comparatively) on time and labour.

However, if I were to move mine to a livery yard (DIY), I could probably just about manage to keep 2 of them (costs of DIY livery for 2 round here would be approximately equal to the rental for my land). However I would be very hard pushed to muck out for 2 and fit around a DIY yard routine - I work a full time job, plus 3 or 4 evenings a week on top of that, so fitting it all in would be extremely difficult. I'd end up paying a fortune in "services" which would then defeat the object of DIY and make it much, much more expensive

So, it's just occurred to me that I'm not really answering your question OP, because I am one of the rare lucky people where because of my set up, it's easier and cheaper for me to keep 5 horses then it is to keep 2 elsewhere. And also because of my set-up I can keep to my own times, which allows me to do the extra part-time jobs I need to to to raise enough money to keep my 5 horses.
 
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If you are paying the costs of both hroses and you think you are getting value for money than go for it. But as it is landing an extra financial burden on your parents who are already paying for one and a half horses then you've got no choice but to take your parent's views into account. They might want to spend that money on some thing they like to do!
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Yes thats pretty much my situation summed up!

My parents are not very horsey and whilst they are glad that the land they have is finally being used and like horses, I don't want to have to burden them too much financially so I'm keen to pay as much as I can afford (about 1k a year).

I'm extremely lucky in that we have the land in the first place due to my parent's hard work really, as I wouldn't be able to keep two on livery. They're far from on the breadline but I definitely want to pay my way, and whilst my sister isn't earning yet I can't expect them to shell out for 3 horses.

They're concerned about taking on a second horse, which I understand, in case its a lot more work, because they would also be looking after the horse for part of the week (with my sister's help). My dilemma is that I can't keep Angel on her own as its definitely not fair on her, and whilst she can see the neighbour's horses she hasn't truly settled yet and I feel terrible for her being on her own. Originally I was just going to get a companion, but figured that a companion would cost nearly as much to keep as a ridden horse anyway. I was always planning on getting a second horse in a few years time when I was earning better money, it just happens to have come around a lot sooner.
 
another one in support of your parents I'm afraid.....its their money you are spending..

any way you could cover all the costs? or a sharer?

I have at various times run 2 or even 3 and that has been a lot both financially and time wise - particularly as they were all fit/competing. Every time I get tempted to find myself an out and out eventer I just look at my monthly outgoings and lose the urge... (mind you if the right horse"dropped" into my lap I probably would do it!)
 
Do you have enough room for 3? By that i mean could you not let someone else rent a space, this would then contribute to your potential 2nd horse?

And yep the big jump from 1 to 2 is hard, but after that it gets easier (i have 3 on diy livery and have a full time job)
 
go for it. mine are in and on livery and its hard work and double costs but if your keeping them at home and they live out i cant imagine it'll be that much of a problem tbh
 
the problem is, you think a second wont be much more.....
and then you end up having 8....... 2 of which are infoal (which was my largest expense - stud, livery and vets fees etc)

I'd say go for it, but maybe get one on full loan rather than buy, so IF its too much time/cost wise, you dont have the heartache of selling etc.
 
Couldn't really afford all the costs, just most of them. I'm not on a fantastic wage and also have a mortgage to pay for, it would probably take up most of my disposable income if I had to pay for it all which I know I wouldn't enjoy. But I can afford £100-£150 a month. I wouldn't consider it if I thought my parents might struggle financially, but I know they're ok, its just the principle of it.

I don't think I'd buy a horse and then have to have a sharer to be honest... the reason my horse is retired now is because of a bad tendon injury that happened on loan. So I'm wary about letting anyone ride my horse on a regular basis again, I know I've got just as much chance as breaking a horse, but I don't think I could cope with the same situation all over again!

Its an excellent idea about getting a livery in or someone to help out, my mum for some reason though just doesn't like the idea of people she doesn't know coming onto the property. Otherwise I'd definitely go for this option, we have about 7 acres so theres plenty of room.

I haven't really looked at full loans, so don't know if theres a lot out there, a few years ago when I was looking the only horses that were available and sane were few and far between. I'm looking for a really genuine allrounder, the type you could put anyone on, as it will be a real family horse, so I think I'm going to end up buying. Which is ok, because I can use my savings for that.

Thank you everyone for all your input, its really useful and good to know its do-able.
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