Money Saving Tips

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rrose

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Having horses costs alot of money and i know. i find it very hard to run my car and house rent on the wage i earn - just so my horse has a good life and good quality items.

so i am after any money saving tips that will help not only me but maybe some other people e.g. buying second hand tack, fixing broken buckets etc.

any tips gratefully recieved.
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Ebay!
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Some great stuff on there (watch out for cheap junk too though
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). Lidl Baby Shampoo is brilliant for Castle's tail and feathers
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Baby Wipes are handy for a quick wipe over tack, also time saving. Vegetable oil is a cheap way of adding calories to feed, and try to buy woodshavings bags in bulk
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Wherever possible, buy a 'non horse' equivalent such as sponges from a supermarket, buckets from a garden shop, baby wipes for eyes, nose, dock etc
 
Furniture polish for mane and tail detangler. 99p from Tesco, or if you pay £1.29 you can get one with an array of nice smells!
 
Deep litter your shavings bed during the week - you're not taking loads of bedding out everyday. You need to have a fairly clean horse though, there are some at my yard that trash their beds!
 
ditto always buying 'non horsey' brands, ie wilkinson do wheelbarrows, feed bins, mucking out tools etc, for 1/4 of the price.

Poundland!! For yard socks, plastic scourers (fab for getting mud off horses), detergents etc.

car boot sales. Sell your old horsey stuff and household items.

If you have ponies, and there are others on the yard, share the cost of wormers (often one wormer will do two ponies).

www.equestrianclearance.co.uk (fab prices!! things might be 'last season' but who cares?)

Make your own where possible. I find it difficult and expensive to buy for the kid's pony as he's such a funny size. i've made hima fleece, little exercise sheet, reflective boots, tail wrap etc.

Recycle recycle recycle. I always remove straps and buckles from rugs, and clips from leadropes before throwing them away.

I'm also a fan of baby oil, mr sheen and baby wipes. Home made fly spray costs about two pounds to make two litres, and IMHO is 10x better than anything shop bought.
 
I used to make my own mane detangler with babyoil and water (have to shake well before spraying though) which left the mane and tail sooo soft and kept it from tangling up again

Instead of sweatscrapers which I used to got through alot due to dogs pinching them or me loosing them...I just used baler twine!!Vrilliant around bobbly bits about the legs and hocks
 
when your haynets break cut the rope off and replace with washing line rope. You can pick it up really cheap £1 from Tescos - all you have to do is pull a length out and fit to your haynet (probably will fix about half a dozen haynets). Very cheap and cost effective - your haynet is fixed and it hardly cost you anything.

Echo things like sponges, buckets etc. Try and get things when they are buy one get one free - i normally pick up a good few packets of baby wipes when they are on offer. I use tee tree shampoo from Tescos - really cheap and cuts through the grease in manes etc to leave a nice tangle free mane.
 
Work out how many wormers you need and buy a years worth, if you can team up with friends you can get great discounts. Ditto vets/farriers and physio visits. Try going barefoot, or at least behind. Do you realy need supplements. At ILPH in Norfolk hardly any horses have supplements, just good hay, grass and a pink mineral lick, you may be just turning money into manure. I do my own rug repairs and have made haynets from baler twine - not sure if the hours it took me was worth it though!

I ditto ebay - and try the second hand dept in your tack shop or equine jumble/car boots. I bought two cavesons and a drop noseband at my local horse fair, £1 each. They looked awful but were not cracked. A coat of neatsfoot and some saddle soap and they are perfect.
 
Argh!! Katy - Why did you have to post that link? Just thought I'd have a look and ended up spending £60 on a hacking jacket!!
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Seriously good bargains on there though!
 
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