Just need a little moan....

Hippophilia

Hippophilia

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4 July 2011
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Saskatchewan, Canada
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I got an email last last night telling me that my yard will no longer be providing staff discounts (I teach there part-time), so my livery charges will more than double in July :(. In fairness the discount was a ridiculously, generous deal and they are giving 3 months notice which is great, but I am going on maternity leave from my 'proper' job in May (unpaid for complicated reasons) so the livery fees were going to be a struggle anyway and now it looks like I will be subsisting on lentils until I can go back to work.
Sigh. Just when I was congratulating myself that everything was going well! What is it they say about instead of buying a horse just dig a hole and chuck the money in?! Off to see said horse now and remind myself why she is worth it....
 
Are you planning on riding during your pregnancy? If not could you not find a cheap grass livery and turn your Horse away. Will save a lot of money. Then when your back at work and wanting to ride again, you could move to a livery with facilities?
 
This is the cheap grass livery - 24/7 turnout, automatic water bowl and a round bale in the winter. It will be $275 in summer and $350 in winter. Ouch. I'm almost due and have been working my mare right through the pregnancy, I was planning on turning her away for 6 weeks after the birth but it won't make a difference the cost unfortunately.
 
HOW MUCH!!! Cant believe my eyes at that price! We dont pass that for grass in scotland.....cant see where your from tho!?
 
That works out at approx £175 summer and £220. I'm assuming that's monthly?

And that's just for grass livery? Yikes!!! :eek:

Is there any chance of finding somewhere cheaper?
 
That is expensive! I am paying £180 a month for TWO horses, DIY, for stables, electric, water AND 22 acres of grazing between 6 horses, to do with as we wish. And that is SE England, supposedly the most expensive.
If there is nowhere cheaper, sounds like a sharer would be your best option, especially with a new baby due.
I didn't realise Canada was so expensive! You would think, being a large country with plenty of land, that grazing would be way cheaper than here. Which part of Canada do you live in?
 
Hippophilia said:
This is the cheap grass livery - 24/7 turnout, automatic water bowl and a round bale in the winter. It will be $275 in summer and $350 in winter.
Click to expand...

Just...wow... :eek: That is crazily expensive... Is that average or normal for livery in Canada?

That's four times what I pay for DIY livery... Can you maybe get a sharer to help out when you're on maternity leave and have childcare to consider after the birth?

Congratulations by the way... :)
 
It's about average for around here (Saskatchewan), although I have come across some for a little less. The real bind is that the only way I can afford the raised fees is by continuing to teach during my mat leave from my other job (which I was planing on doing anyway) - but there are no lessons for 3 months over the coldest and most expensive part of the winter and as I will have no income at all for that period I really don't know what to do. If I leave to go to a cheaper yard I don't think the YO will want me to continue to teach at my current one, which would mean I couldn't afford the cheaper yard (Does that make sense?) My husband will be working but its hard enough to stretch one wage without this extra expense. A sharer would be the ideal solution but everything here is very Western-orientated and I'm not sure I would find anyone who would want to ride my dressage veteran.
What really sucks is that right now I am paying $80 for the summer pasture and $180 for the winter, and when the fees go up I will get absolutely no change in service or facilities.
I guess my only option is to speak to the YO to see if we can come to some kind of arrangement. I really, really don't want to lose my horse but I just don't know if I will be able to afford her (Insert swear word of your choice here).
 
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