Keeping hores And lifestyle

I got married at 21, got my first horse on loan 3 months later, which I had for nine years, always on DIY. One word cheap. Buy once and buy well, even if its secondhand. I must have tack that is fifty years old, because it was second hand when I bought it and it still looks good. No matchy matchy, no tack that you do not really need, no brand labels. If I buy feed its weighed the first couple of times, and I am a one bag fits all sort of girl and buy the cheapest. When I finally got a trailer,it was basic, sold it and now have the same model and its even more basic.
I do not cut corners on vet fees, if there is something not right I would rather call them out and feel a fool than not.
Now I have more as much as possible is bought in bulk. I still can not understand why cattle feed which is basically made from the same stuff as horse feed is about a third cheaper.
When I had the kids it became a lot more expensive, three of every thing, more money on transport and entry fees, but you have to amuse them and keep them out of trouble any way. I have two ponies left from those days and an aweful lot of tack.
 
These threads are always so interesting as there are such a variety of us on here from all walks of life :).

For me, firstly I got a part time job at 16 to help pay for my first horse. Then when I went to uni I stayed at home, luckily I had a good uni on my doorstep, so I could keep the horse and I also worked through uni to help keep paying, though obviously I relied on my parents massively at this point! On graduating somehow wangled a graduate job in a fairly niche industry/ role and have worked my way up to a fairly well paid role. This meant I could buy a house when I was 22 (tiny deposit saved for a house in a very rough area in the North West where properties can be a bit cheaper) and afford to run one horse (and compete) on DIY and share the running costs of the horsebox with my mum.

As my earnings increased I bought another horse and managed to be very lucky to get a very good return when I sold the first house, so I could buy a super cute cottage in North Wales and move all three horses over here. Mum still pays most (I cover the odd thing here and there but I know if I asked mum would always cover any of Topaz's bills), of Topaz's running cost so really I only pay for 2 and a bit horses :p still DIY, though I would like assisted DIY really now I don't have as much of my support network now. I'm going to take my trailer test though so we can sell the box :( and get a trailer as it will be much cheaper now I run a big car anyway...

For me I've always thought if you want something enough you will make it happen, it might take a while to get there and you need focus and determination but if you want it enough then you'll be driven enough to do it. I was determined from about the age of 8 I was going to get a horse and from being a fair bit older I added in that I'd have a horse and be happily independent/ weirdo loner cat lady which ever definition you use :p:cool:.
 
BeckyFlowers said:
Not having children. People sometimes ask how I afford horse, car and mortgage etc and think I have loads of money. I just say, I don't have children - and they cost a hell of a lot more than a horse.
)
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I got my first pony from the local riding centre. I reasoned that it only cost £5 more per week for livery than having a weekly hack.
Then we had far too many children, and more ponies followed - well of course the children needed to ride too!
I would say that the ponies have greatly reduced the cost of the children over the years, as we have been out riding instead of bowling/shopping/theme parks, or whatever 'normal' people do.

Money-wise, ponies at grass with no shoes cost much less than people think - you just need deep pockets as and when they get ill.
 
I have a nonhorsey friend who constantly wonders how I can afford a horse on the same money as her. She has Netflix sky etc the most up to date games consol. Smokes drinks and has takeaway most days. Goes on holiday etc etc. I have none of that and I prefer having a horse!
 
someone please change the title - I had to laugh!

I was in my mid 20s when I got my first horse, having begged my parents for lessons and started riding since I was 8. While I was in college I part shared a hunt horse and got bi weekly lessons on him (and others)

I don't have kids and I work full time. I keep two horses on livery in a yard I stumbled upon completely by accident when I was stuck and just happened it is one of the best yards for care I've been in and I get on very well with the YM. I'm well supported in any decisions I make about their care and try to take as simple an approach as I can with them. But if they need the vet, they get the vet.

I try ride as much as I can, often riding both on 2 weeknights during the week and on both weekend days weather permitting. My job isn't massively well paid. I don't smoke or drink and I try save as much as I can for a rainy day. Takeaways are limited and I tend to shop in the german supermarkets where I can. Bring my own lunch to work instead of eating out all the time - or going to the shop for sandwhiches which here is expensive.

I don't buy fancy brands, and most of my tack is second hand too, bar my bridles and my mare's saddle, which is synthetic and bought brand new because it fit her.

My car is about 11 years old and kept in good knick and I had a 3.5 tonne van that I recently had to sell so I'm not really getting out competing anymore. Still I was put off by the lack of professionalism and sportsmanship at a lot of the shows I was attending.
I can be very nervous though

Its tough with two I must admit, but I actually don't know what I would do if I didn't have them. what do normal people do with their money/time?

The idea of takeouts, smoking, drinking, nightclubs (and the unsavoury extras that some of my colleagues get up to in them) doesn't appeal to me at all. Thats expensive!
 
I had a share ponies from 12 and only had to pay for shoes. This turned into a full loan when I was about 16 which Mum and Dad paid for and I bought him for £5 when I was 17 (as owner's estranged husband insisted he 'owned' him and was threatening to sell him for meat - he was nasty enough to do it) but his owner was still his owner in our eyes. While I was at uni his owner kept him but I'd be very involved with him over holidays. His owner was in a tight situation at this point thanks to her horrible ex not paying the maintenance he should have been paying. I had a student loan and worked 3 jobs every holiday. Mum & Dad were paying my rent at uni and giving me an allowance so I'd chip in a fair bit for shoes, and hay etc . When I finished uni I took him on properly as his owner had to move away due to the ex and I kept him until I lost him when we were both 27.

Those early days when I was starting out on the career ladder, buying a house (and I recognise I was lucky to be able to buy a house on my own at 24, I got in just before the market went bonkers, a year later I wouldn't have been able to do it) and still wanting a bit of a life, were tough but he was at a cheap DIY place and we got by. The last few years of his life he was semi-retired but there was no way I could have afforded two so he came first and I spent 4 years barely riding.

Over the years, I earned more and my OH moved in and helped with the mortgage so things got a lot easier. Fast forward to now, I've moved up the ladder, OH and I both have good jobs, we have no kids and we're not big party animals so we're pretty comfortable. We've moved to a bigger house so pay a fair bit more on the mortgage and had to extend the term on it but we'll still have paid it off by the time we're in our early 50s. For the first time ever I can have more than one horse and am looking for a second now that Arch is semi retired. I don't spend a fortune on him but I keep him at a decent yard and he has everything he needs. He doesn't have expensive (or any for that matter) supplements, I don't do matchy, matchy, he hasn't had a new numnah or bridle for years and he's only ever had one saddle, bought 2nd hand when I first had him. OH's 'vice' is cars so we have two more than necessary (including a camper van which gives us cheaper holidays) but he rotates them for summer and winter so only insures (other than theft) and taxes each 'extra' one for 6 months at a time.

A few years ago, I recorded every penny I spent on the horses (A and my share horse M - I only paid for his ridden costs so shoes, saddle checks, physio etc and had a sharer for A who paid the same so costs were equivalent to 1) and it worked out at about £4k or £340 a month. This was when I was competing a fair bit so it would be a lot less now. I have friends who can blow that in one night on a good night out (i have one friend in a 'Michelin' club - they visit a different Michelin starred restaurant every month which with travel and accommodation can easily cost upwards of £500 each visit) which I would never do. I don't buy expensive clothes and try to shop in the sales. I rarely drink these days so even if I go out I'm usually on the diet coke and spent less than £10 and our holidays are pretty cheap. My car is 6 years old and I'll keep it for quite a bit longer yet. It's just a question of prioritising our spending.
 
It's a case of prioritising. For me personally, no holidays, no nights out
on the booze, no takeaways/meals out, no smoking, no subscription TV, no nice clothes, only beauty treatment I have is eyebrows once every 2 months, car is 14 years old, etc etc. Oh and as mentioned above, no kids.
Basically I have no luxuries. But I do have my lovely horse.
 
I am very very lucky my horses are kept at home, i work from home and my partner is well off so he pays for them for me, before that I worked full time and still had 2 on diy and I paid for them myself.
 
Sometimes it's not how much you earn, it's how well you budget. We have friends who have triple our income, but never have any money. We grow a lot of our fruit and veg and make everything from scratch. Don't buy takeaway coffee or sandwiches and generally only eat out for family occasions or on holiday. We avoid debt and own our car which is now 10 years old. Husband cycles to work and the yard is next door. Our ulitity bills are small as we season our wood and have solar panels. Horse is on DIY and doesn't often need new stuff, but what he does have is good quality, mostly handed down from previous horses.
 
my story is the same as most others, budget, budget, budget and then cut the budget even further. At the same time saved everything I could and then cut the budget again to save some more.
No kids, mortgage (loan) paid off by 30, worked every hour available and was very lucky to get into a job I was under qualified for. Stuck at the job for 35 years. Boring at times but it paid well, had flexitime and a good pension. No holidays, older cars, don't drink, don't smoke etc. Free wood central heating saved 40 odd years of the cost of oil being delivered. No electric bills for the first 10 years as there was no mains. Now water rates as no mains water. No telephone. A lot of make do and mend in the early days.
Parents didn't like or approve of horses so never any chance of them financing horses or even riding lessons as a kid. I had a Saturday job which was my only pocket money and clothes and anything like riding had to come from that. Skipped school dinners as my dinner money paid for precisely 1 riding lesson. (parents didn't work that one out :))
Hated the Saturday job more that anything in the world. Totally boring beyond belief but it toughened me up for what to expect at work and basically if I wanted anything the only way was work to get the money. Worked every school holiday.
 
Interesting thread - aren't horse owners a diverse group?

I picked my family well - and so was heavily subsidised by them in terms of cars (they'd buy them for me as gifts) horses (they'd happily give me money towards them) and my other hobbies.

Then I worked in the equine industry - my last college job gave me free full livery on the main yard, and free broodmare livery on the stud yard, as well as a free house with all bills paid (I negotiate well :p).

Now I get paid well enough for my needs, so I can afford to keep my two field sloths (I'd rather not have to pay around £30 a week for drugs for one of them, but that's life). Money isn't particularly tight - but I try not to be wasteful. I will patch rugs, wash and reproof them, etc. before I'll buy new.
 
JFTDWS said:
I think that's as important on an environmental level as it is on an economic one. I do try to minimise excessive consumption of "stuff" on principle.
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Yes, exactly. And once they are too dead to function as rugs, they become tarpaulins for the field hay.
Amazing how many people need to have the latest horsey fashion though...
 
Shilasdair said:
Yes, exactly. And once they are too dead to function as rugs, they become tarpaulins for the field hay.
Amazing how many people need to have the latest horsey fashion though...
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Yes, unfortunately mine can be stupid with rugs so I still go through more than I'd like, but I keep them clinging onto life until they barely resemble rugs any more, and then, as you say, they're used to help protect the hay (and to weigh down tarps in the wind!). Although I do like a nice gaudy print if I do need to replace one ;)
 
I left home in my early 20’s when I bought my first house, helped by parents but I paid the mortgage. I bought Harley when I was 28, in 1997, and quickly found that a full time job wasn’t bringing in enough money to keep a cob on diy, so I spent Saturdays cleaning at the local holiday park and also became an Ann Summers party planner, that could be interesting at times!
Fast forward 30ish years and OH and I have bought our forever home. We don’t have kids, don’t smoke, rarely drink, work weird hours (we both have two part time jobs, OHhas his own clay shooting business which I help with), and we have a one bed barn and 10.5 acres. We only have a wood burner for heating, our electric bill is less than £2 per day. Water is part mains part borehole, council tax is low as we are a small property. We have two 4x4’s, we both tow a lot (trailers full of clay traps). Holidays are irregular and brief, three nights away is a nice break, the costs involved in paying for horse and dog care can rack up. We have three horses, still have Harley, now happily retired, a Dartmoor hill pony who is just a naughty field ornament with clicky stifles, and Tinner, who the vet has just told me is EMS and on borrowed time, so I have nothing to ride (tentatively looking, would love a loan as don’t have the space cash). We have no stables but even if we did they’d still be out although a grass less turnout area would make managing Tinner a lot easier). Tinner was shod but now it will just be trims, and that’s £30 per horse, with the pony being done every other time so factor in £75 every six weeks, plus wormer, those are my only costs except for vet fees. I have a fine selection of rugs, many of which were secondhand, and it is only Harley that is rugged. I recently bought a good Chaskit complete with neck cover and spider for £15, it’s fabulous! I have two Ideal saddles, both bought secondhand, after years of having rubbish saddles which were never quite right. I haven’t bought anything for the horses tack wise for years, unless it’s the kind of bargain I can’t let go - brand new Griffin full fleece numnah right type and size in black for £10 had to come home with me. We lead a fairly simple life, and that’s just fine.
 
I brought my first horse in my early thirties after 10 years of trying and failing to have a family. I am the main wage earner and have a reasonably well paid job, we did pay our mortgage off on our 3 bed semi in our late thirties after inheriting from my husband's Mum. We spend our money and our time on our hobbies, horse for me and my husband has a small river boat that cost about the same as my horse to purchase. I have one horse on DIY livery and he wants for nothing but I always shop around for a bargain and if I can I buy things second hand from ebay. We don't go on expensive holidays as we don't like leaving our dog therefore we stay in the UK. We don't eat takeaways, we shop in Aldi, we don't really drink. I rarely buy clothes but when I do I like to buy quality brands that will last in the sales or from ebay. Recent second hand nearly new ebay bargains include Ariat Bromont boots and a Musto Suffolk coat both at a third of their original price. We do have money to spare but it's going towards our retirement fund as I don't want to work forever.
 
Completely non horsey family, but bought my first horse when i was 16.. kept it from my parents until I was 19. I had a part time job in a B&B and kept her at a friends yard. They didn't suspect a thing! :p

I now own one on DIY, full time office job and rent a house with the boyfriend with our 2 dogs. We are currently saving for a mortgage, 3/4 there now with the deposit. I am lucky boyfriend is a carpenter so earns good money. I don't have a 'social' life but choose to be that way, we do go out for food often though to nice local restaurants. I never have money in my account at the end of the month, but I do save £200 a month.

Mind even to this day, over 9 years post buying my first horse.. my parents have never given me even £1 towards my horses and never would, they solely believe its a complete waste of money and I'm stupid having one. Must be lovely to have a supportive, horsey family.

To add, I fix haynets and rugs to save money, buy second hand rugs now always too. Get called stupid for fixing haynets, but at £10 each I'd go through new ones multiple times a month!
 
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