Is anyone else always totally flat broke because of their horses

eek you're all scaring me as I'm only 15 and can see the debt already pilling up haha. I have had to pay the initial cost of the horse and all equipment and am already fed up of being poor as we move onto the seventh saddle of the year... my life on my own later plus horses is not looking good
 
Interesting thread and some very honest replies. I'm retired and live with OH on a fixed income comprised of pensions mostly. We're not skint, have nice cars and a comfortable home and reasonable savings in the bank. But I do have a very strict budget upon which to keep my horse. It's a fair and reasonable amount given our financial situation and allows us to also afford to live/eat/pay the bills etc. Pony used to live at an excellent full livery yard which recently put up its prices, making my monthly costs all but match my budget with no slack for emergencies or nice stuff like lessons. Something had to give ...

So, I bit the bullet and moved him to another yard on an assisted DIY arrangement. I've now discovered a bit of mucking out isn't killing me and the cost saving is eye watering tbh ... So not always flat broke as such, but was spending up to my limit, which is the same thing to me. A change of approach has made a huge difference.
 
Kaimar said:
Half the world's at war and the rest has spiders that can kill you, so I've no interest in risking life and limb on holiday! That said, I'm not living beyond my means either - I simply choose to spend my disposable income on things that bring me joy. The fact that those things have hooves and a keen interest in the vet is incidental...!
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splashgirl45 said:
yes I am permanently broke and have large credit card balances. its all very well to say cut down and live to your means but I am a single person with a work pension and the state pension and if I didn't have the horse or my dogs I would be solvent, BUT what the hell would I do,i wont get rid of my dogs and horses have been in my life for almost 60 years and I am used to no holidays or luxuries etc. when my horse goes , age 25 and has cushings, I shouldn't get another if I am being sensible but I cant see my life without them so keep doing the lottery and keeping my fingers crossed.
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These responses sum things up perfectly for me :)
 
There's a difference between living hand to mouth every month, and spending your disposable income on "stuff".

The former is not so good, although I am aware it is a position people can find them in. However if you keep your horse as cheaply as possible, without any potential savings to be made, it will stress you out.

I needed to see some serious cash a few years ago. I moved livery yards, and took the back shoes off my horse. I also stopped buying expensive rubbish I didn't need for her, and sold everything I didn't need/was worth something.
 
I got myself into huge debt and have now had to go home to mummy and daddy to sort myself out along with ahem....four dogs in tow!
Anyway, I am learning the excruciatingly painful lesson of credit card debt and while I do still have the horse and always will, I will not under any circumstances ( except mortgage) get myself into debt ever again. He is not living as cheaply as I could but we are low end DIY. Also, I don't seem to have this inherent need to 'buy' stuff for him constantly which a lot of you gals seem to do! (Although at times it makes me sad as I'd love to buy pretty things for him!)
He is a cob so doesn't wear shoes or hoof boots, he has one rug, and I mean ONE, which is a lightweight TO which gets replaced once a year and I haven't bought a numnah or a headcollar in like five years, I just wash the one headcollar and the two numnahs I have on a regular basis. No boots, no saddles to buy or change (we are treeless or bareback pad), no bridles/bits to update as we are bitless, no fly spray, mane spray 'shiny horse spray', ( you get the picture!) we are extremely basic and do just fine, it's a good job I don't mind as I couldn't afford to keep up with expensive tastes even if we had them!
 
I'm not really sure how I manage but I do. I earn probably about average for my age. However I am self employed and use that to ensure I finish early enough in winter to be able to ride both.

I have 2, kept DIY but not particularly cheaply; one is a little madam and I'm spending a small fortune on her. I event 1 and spend a fair bit on training.

I don't have much disposable income after the horses but.. I've never had that. I've never been hugely interested in spending loads of money shopping ect but can afford to have the odd meal/night out once a month or so and if I need extras for the horses I can always find it.

I'm in a fortunate financial situation that I don't need to pay rent or a mortgage and have a decent inheritance so I don't need to worry about saving despite being mid 20s. I don't think I could cope if I did!
 
I have a yearly budget in my head for the horses and try not to go over it, but have blown the budget this year on putting my mare in foal. Not much change out of £1000
I think when you have children they always have to come first and no matter how broke we are we always ate well. After 50years in horses I have a huge amount of stuff, rugs, saddles and everything else. I think we need an equivalent of a horsey dress swop, most of the stuff you only use once.
I would budget a certain amount a month and write everything down that you spend and why. It makes you think.
 
honetpot said:
I have a yearly budget in my head for the horses and try not to go over it, but have blown the budget this year on putting my mare in foal. Not much change out of £1000
I think when you have children they always have to come first and no matter how broke we are we always ate well. After 50years in horses I have a huge amount of stuff, rugs, saddles and everything else. I think we need an equivalent of a horsey dress swop, most of the stuff you only use once.
I would budget a certain amount a month and write everything down that you spend and why. It makes you think.
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I use my bank card for everything, im a bit like the queen and dont carry money - so my bank statement is basically all i spend. As said before, this is my first full hours wadge and i have got the horses feets done paid livery and vet put away some money towords buying my loan horse, bought a laptop, filled the car with deisel and a few other bits n bobs and i now have the money im "used" to in my account, with all the bills so to speak paid. Its stressful cause i want more savings and want out of my overdraft but i know this will just take time.
 
Well put it this way - now I am horseless I am nearly £1000 a month better off! Being single I was paying a mortgage, saving to pay cash for the next car, running the house and car all on my own, and I've never earned the national average wage yet. My horse was on long term medication at enormous cost (a prime example of pointless EU legislation) so I was forking out at least £500 a month every month for drugs before I'd even started. I kept her 17 miles from home (nowhere evenly remotely suitable any closer) and a further 9 miles from work so my petrol bill a little 1 litre car was over £60 a week. I mastered the art of living on £10 a week, although of course £10 a week in 1998 bought a whole lot more than it did in 2013. Every time the petrol went up half a penny a litre I cringed. I'm not a materialistic person and was brought up on second hand cloths and doing without so even now I still buy much of my clothing and shoes in charity shops. I could get my hair cut for £5 at work, did my supermarket shopping outside of Lidl and Aldi, at after 9pm to get the reduced price stuff, lived largely vegetarian. What's a holiday? I haven't had one since 2001 and to be honest, I refuse to be ripped off for single-person supplements, so won't be having one any time soon. I haven't bought a takeaway since the early 1990s and eat out perhaps 4 times a year. Having gone without such things I'm totally used to it now and don't think I'm missing out. On the plus side, now I have spare cash I hope to have my mortgage paid off in the next 4 years, 10 years early.
 
But what does one DO without horses? I had one horse for about 3 months and i was bored out of my mind - the horse was tortured lol
 
equi said:
But what does one DO without horses? I had one horse for about 3 months and i was bored out of my mind - the horse was tortured lol
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Quite but I am sure some can do it I know I cannot tried and failed.
We live hand to mouth have three grass kept ponies but to part with them would likely mean 3 bullets as one is old one is bonkers and the other dangerous. I must admit I hate not having savings but we survive month to month and in a dire emergency (see bullets above) I have three high earning children. I have never asked for money from them but They would come through in an emergency. It is what family do
 
I don't have my own horse as I could never afford one. I used to live in caravan that's all I could afford, having debit card declined in supermarket, having to save up if I wanted anything, now I have a fairly decent wage, mortgage almost paid off, decent car, ride at a riding school twice a week, no longer need to think if I can afford something I just buy it BUT I hate my job it is sooo boring and leaves me with little enthusiasm for stuff I enjoy. Yes I should get a new job but nothing around locally with same salary or would involve long commutes or pay cut. I guess I'm scared of going back to scrimping. So the question is who is happiest??!
 
Yes - business hasn't been great for over a year and that has left us pretty hand-to-mouth.

However, I have kept my emergency vet bill savings and we are getting by - not much fun in life and don't know the last time we went out for a meal and our last holiday was a long weekend in 2009.

That said, my horse is my sanity, he's my "go to" when everything looks black and I would rather sell the house than him. I keep him as cheaply as I can - DIY livery, no back shoes etc - and when I was buying four years ago I looked for a "good doer", which is what I've got.

Business has started picking up a bit too and, although my July tax bill is set to wipe out all my savings (apart from emergency vet bill savings), I'm feeling more positive than I have for a while and hoping that we might eventually be able to afford a few treats and horse might even get something new, given that he tends to get second-hand, make mend and do, stuff!
 
I was, once.

I had to give up the horse in the end. I just could not earn enough to pay for him and feed myself, let alone run a car to get to work.

A couple of years later, circumstances change, it is much easier now but I still occasionally find myself cringing at the end of the month when I check my balance and realise how little I have left. Horses seem to throw up additional bills as a pass-time!!
 
I am at the moment but only because I'm paying off an ex-partners debt (much to my disgust). But even so, if I had the money, I would probably spoil her with everything and anything just because. I'm not young or a student either.

I always put in my savings though and me and my partner go out on a monthly date night to make time for each other. Tonight, we're going to watch Ab Fab and eat Chinese!

She is kept as cheaply as possible. I don't pay rent as its our own land. She's never ever stabled unless she is ill (field shelters in the field). She has front shoes on only and these are removed during the winter months. She's a good doer and has one feed a day in winter and a large bale in the field once a week that costs us £20 (between 5 horses!) so the only other thing she has is her yearly vet fees, chiropractor, dentist, and insurance.
 
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I could never live like that, I'm far too much of a worrier and planner! I have a budget and record / categorise where every penny goes so I can instantly see if we are living over our means. We don't really go on holiday much, but that is more to do with animals than finances.

We were heading towards problems as OH was struggling to find work and horse cost was definately becoming a major issue, the contingency at the end of each month was no longer there. So we made a plan, decamped to Ireland and bought a semi-derelict small-holding. We had enough extra from the sale of our ex-council semi to pay for doing it up (with OH doing all the work) and now have no mortgage or livery bills which makes things much easier, and meant we could get a pony for our daughter too. It hasn't been easy and involved living in a tent, having no bathroom for a year etc but I don't mind stuff like that if it is temporary and there is a plan.
 
I had to live like that once when going through training for my professional exams. I was 21, had just bought a flat - (1995 so cheap - and in London) - as I had been kicked out of home and needed somewhere to live - rent/mortgage about that same.

I gave up my then horse - elderly nutty arab who was at the end anyway and stayed well away from horses for 3 years. It was hard but I did it. I walked to work in the city of London from the East End, took in own sarnies to work and fed my self for £20 per week and ahd electricity on a key card thing. I often went to bed early to save on electric.

Having been there I'd rather not go back as I like being financially secure. I remember the time with fondness but that's rose-tinted specs - I'm sure I was abit cold and hungry at times.
 
equi said:
But what does one DO without horses? I had one horse for about 3 months and i was bored out of my mind - the horse was tortured lol
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Without? Well I play in 3 orchestras and sing in two choirs. Have 4 instruments to practice and regular concerts to prepare for. Tomorrow I am singing and playing cello in one concert then driving for 45 minutes to go into a 3 hour rehearsal playing the violin, then concert in the evening. The following weekend I'm singing in a major concert hall. I have 3 chickens and a cat to care for, and I am now enjoying being able to stay home for a couple of hours before going out again in the evening. I used to come in from horse, feed the cat and go straight back out again. getting home after 10.30pm. I have some time to keep the garden looking reasonable, have the time and money to think I'll go to the theatre or the opera on a whim. I can go walking or cycling without having to think I need to get back to my horse at her regular feed time. I had my horse for 17 years, achieved just about everything I wanted to with her, couldn't even think about replacing such a unique soul, and moved on to other things once she was gone.
 
I ran into debt to keep my horse, and selling her would have cleared those debts. Having lost my last mare 3 months after moving to a new place and within 2 weeks of my grandad dying I just couldn't bare to sell her.

I went from a relatively well paid job very close to home to £3000 a year less and quadrupling my mileage as I was about to be made redundant. In 18 months my car cost over £1000 just to keep it driveable without the normal maintenence of servicing it and tyres on top of a £200 a month fuel bill (with a car that did 50mpg without blinking!), coupled with horse tearing a muscle in her hindquater and livery that came to £220 a month it was crippling.

I then managed to get a job that was then £4000 a year more, found a livery yard at half the monthly cost and took her shoes off. I am now £100 off being debt free and able to at long last save for a home of my own!
 
I'm very lucky to be able to say 'No'.
Being in debt scares the hell out of me and I would do everything possible to avoid that. I'm pretty frivolous with money but it's disposable money that I waste rather than save, i generally refuse to spend what I do not have.
I can never see myself being without horses that's for sure, so I'd most definitely make lifestyle changes in order to keep them if circumstances changed. Could I live completely hand to mouth day in day out? Probably not, but then my fear of being in debt would probably/hopefully stop me reaching that point anyway
 
I'm lucky to say I've never been in this position. The first few years after I bought my first house were less comfortable but I still managed to put a bit to one side every month. I don't think I could enjoy horses if keeping them made my finances that difficult.

A friend recently had a baby and we were chatting about money. She said before her little one arrived her favourite thing ever was having a really nice night out with a meal, cocktails, maybe even a visit to a casino and a bit of gambling. After having her daughter she took a year off work so money's been a bit tight, her husband suggested they saved up a bit each month and they have a really nice night for her birthday. She didn't want to - the thing she enjoyed about doing it before was she could do it without worrying, as soon as it became something she had to scrimp and save for, she wasn't so keen on it. I understand completely and feel the same about horses.

OH and I are saving for the Lions tour next year (all booked, sooo excited!). We already have enough to pay for it but we don't want to wipe our savings out completely so we've tightened our belts a bit and are saving the right amount every month to mean we hopefully won't have to dip into those savings at all - they're there as a backup if we need them though. Again, knowing we can do this rather than worrying how we're going to do it is part of making going so enjoyable.
 
circumstances changed for us which put us where we are now. OH made redundant at 60 with no prospect of a new job. (he tried and got very distressed by it) I had retired already due to ill health so no chance of me getting a job and age against me. We lived frugally anyway but the ponies were easily affordable but with ill health no income and old vehicles we had to cut back on a lot. I still have the organisational skills to make ends meet we still have older vehicles, including a tow car and old trailer and a runabout that uses less fuel. So do have a little if dire straights struck The ponies come first and get everything they need and we do manage to compete locally but the every week twice a week we used to do is a memory
I should add I have never been a spender and the horses rarely get anything with horse as its first word. Most horsey stuff is overpriced and unneccesary. I also have 60 year collection of essentials
 
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Ive becoem like that. I buy seocind hand rugs or display model ones and big horse has three, minis have a few more but they have been mostly second hand, my tack is all second hand, the only thing i buy new is halters and they are the cheap ones lol my jods and clothes are all ebay buys
 
Wow, lots of really interesting replies! I should probably clarify that I'm not in debt and I wouldn't say I live hand-to-mouth. The animals have everything they need and are fully insured and I have savings that are strictly for emergencies. I just have absolutely no disposable income to spend on myself - it's been 2 years since I had a haircut ;). I'm not moaning though - it's my choice. As others have said, what on earth would I do without horses? I sometimes dream of the holidays I'm missing but I'd rather have horses 52 weeks a year than a couple of holidays.
 
I'm somewhere in the middle.

I'm pretty sensible with money now. I wasn't at all a few years ago but now have a spreadsheet totalling my spending - on everything ranging from some H&H magazine, moisturiser, drinks down the pub, petrol to spending on my horse. It helps me keep on track knowing what I've spent & on what - the amount of money I frittered away before was disgusting, really. It's boring, but effective!

Day-to-day I try not to carry my debit card with me, but only keep 'emergency' cash as it stops me spenfing on unnecessary 'stuff'.* I take lunch with me to work to keep costs down to.

I try to buy the best quality work clothes I can (especially black tie type clothing) which are staple pieces, timeless & easy enough to keep trendy on minimal costs with accessories.

Same goes for the yard - I'd rather invest in decent quality coats, breeches & boots which IMHO are worth the extra expense & buy things like a fleece from Primark. Having a Pikeur lable on my gleece doesn't bother me!

My horse is on DIY livery, fairly low maintenence & don't tend to buy things if they are a "want" - I have to justify it on the whole. I'll make do and mend if I can. I tend to wait for shows to have a splurge, as you can often get better bargains. If he needs something, he obviously gets it though.

I suppose I'm just try to be sensible so I can have a balance. I can't afford to do whatever I want when I want, but by being careful most of the time I can afford Saturday nights out with friends, yoga clases, regular lessons on my horse & so on. A few days before payday I might be grateful I'm paid soon, but I put away savings away every month too.

Would I want to have a horse if I was on a financial knife edge? No, but I do understand why people do.
 
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"Stuff" is my downfall too. I'm skint these days because of buying too much stuff I don't really need. I've been more skint than I am now. I've mentally done a happy dance before at finding toiletries for under 50p in the supermarket, which meant that I could afford some as well as food. I'd rather have my horse than anything else though. I can't imagine life without horses, sharing isn't the same, but I'd stick at 1 if things were that tight. I'd not have multiple horses plus other pets if I couldn't really afford it.
 
We are always totally skint by the end of each month, but the horses don't really cost me that much. Husband and I are really ***** at saving, as are/were both our parents, but wish I knew how to break that cycle. Can't even afford to fix our car @ £700. Haven't been on holiday in 10 years but we just fritter our money away, as it's so easy to do when you pay by card. Live in my ovrrdraft, but we don't have credit cards or anything like that 😞, but I dont want them either knowing how rubbish we are with money
 
MuddyMonster said:
I'm somewhere in the middle.

I'm pretty sensible with money now. I wasn't at all a few years ago but now have a spreadsheet totalling my spending - on everything ranging from some H&H magazine, moisturiser, drinks down the pub, petrol to spending on my horse. It helps me keep on track knowing what I've spent & on what - the amount of money I frittered away before was disgusting, really. It's boring, but effective!

Day-to-day I try not to carry my debit card with me, but only keep 'emergency' cash as it stops me spenfing on unnecessary 'stuff'.* I take lunch with me to work to keep costs down to.

I try to buy the best quality work clothes I can (especially black tie type clothing) which are staple pieces, timeless & easy enough to keep trendy on minimal costs with accessories.

Same goes for the yard - I'd rather invest in decent quality coats, breeches & boots which IMHO are worth the extra expense & buy things like a fleece from Primark. Having a Pikeur lable on my gleece doesn't bother me!

My horse is on DIY livery, fairly low maintenence & don't tend to buy things if they are a "want" - I have to justify it on the whole. I'll make do and mend if I can. I tend to wait for shows to have a splurge, as you can often get better bargains. If he needs something, he obviously gets it though.

I suppose I'm just try to be sensible so I can have a balance. I can't afford to do whatever I want when I want, but by being careful most of the time I can afford Saturday nights out with friends, yoga clases, regular lessons on my horse & so on. A few days before payday I might be grateful I'm paid soon, but I put away savings away every month too.

Would I want to have a horse if I was on a financial knife edge? No, but I do understand why people do.
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What you do is a very good idea, might try this myself as it's the easy spending on my debit card that I'm terrible for. Nip into a shop for milk and come out with £40 worth of stuff!! Going to have to try a bit harder I think x
 
I'm 25.
I have two horses, a horsebox and a reasonable car.
I pay 50% rent and bills of a nice flat in a very expensive area, with my OH.
I compete 3/4 weekends a month.
I spend a lot of money on eating fresh, clean food.
I have £300 credit card debt and £900 savings at the moment.

I am frugal. I never buy myself clothes, and eating out is a rare treat.
My horses get what they NEED. I don't spend unnecessarily. My youngster has limited possessions as she's growing and doesn't need them.
However, my showing gear is all top of the range, which I've bought over the years.

I'm on a good salary but it goes very quickly. I have nothing at the end of the month but save £200 a month and pt £100 a month into my credit card bill.
 
I am 52 and for the first time in 26 years I do not have a horse. Financially I managed well from DIY, sometimes part and for a short while full livery (that hurt my pocket!) I found that I went without whilst my horse had a collection of tack that made my wardrobe look like a poor excuse! Do I miss having a horse? Yes and no. I do not miss the problems that go on in livery yards. I now have disposable income and have gone back to my other love of ballet class. I still ride regularly and have an Equicizer at home - thanks to Frankie Lovato (cheaper to run and no vet, farrier or feed bills!) I miss the companionship and working out school movements between tuition. I feel envious of friends who show their rosettes on Facebook, get a bit tearful when I watch dressage events and had a pang the other day when seeing a hack on the south downs whilst I was sat in the car. I reckon I will have another horse, but only when I go part time or retire. Until then I will enjoy my ballet - a perverse quirk of which, contrary to popular opinion has actually improved my riding. :-)
 
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