Monthly cost of a horse?

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notsoluckyhorseshoes

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I'm currently trying to give myself a plan for when I get a horse and so I have found my cost to be around £225 (Not including Livery). I live in the Hertfordshire area so was wondering what your monthly costs are where you are!
 
About £500 + a month including livery which doesn’t include bedding or hard feed, plus shoes, Insurance, hard feed etc…..actually it’s more like £600 a month and that doesn’t include dentist, physio, nutrionist, rugs, head collars that he goes through like there’s no tomorrow, lessons
 
Lindylouanne said:
Sensible answer and just the basics for my 2 per month.

DIY livery plus trailer storage £230
Straw bedding £20
Hay £60
Feed £15
Supplements £60
Insurance £110
Farrier £36 as both unshod.

Total £531

Jeez I wish I hadn’t added it up now, I thought it was a lot less than that ?
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How are you £15 on feed a month!?!? I just bought a bag of Alfa A that will last me just over a week for £14.95! Granted that is to feed 4 equines twice a day but still!
 
2 on DIY livery including all regular expenses cost me just under £600 per month. Then there are the unexpected vet bills, tack, rugs...
 
The least I’ve paid was for youngstock livery at £250 a month with Approx £100 for extras (bearing in mind this was for a yearling colt so no shoes or significant hard feed)
The most I’ve paid was for production livery at £650 a month plus approx £350 for extras including insurance, shoes, physio, dental, equipment etc etc.
Mid range I’ve paid for part livery £350 a month and another £250 for feed, insurance, shoes etc….
The easiest way to work it out is to pick a number, double it then add a zero and it still won’t be enough!!!!
 
When ours was on assisted DIY, the stable, feed, hay, bedding and either turn out or bring in (so we only did one end of the day) averaged around £450 a month (slightly more in winter, in theory less in summer as they could live out but horse decided he needed extensive box rest two days after summer turnout started ..).

On top of that was insurance (£40), farrier every six weeks (£70), trailer storage (£30), lessons (£100-ish per month), pony club rallies & competition entries (£50+), worming, insurance excess for vets fees, replacing bits of tack/equipment, fly spray etc etc. We had our own transport but if you need to hire someone to take you to places that’s around £100 a time depending on distance.

It really does add up very quickly.. my daughter worked one day every weekend and several days a week during the school holidays but wouldn’t have been able to afford it without a considerable amount of help from us - which we were very happy to give, but very few teenagers would be able to support a horse - and be able to have fun, getting out and about - without parental help.
 
All your spare money ?

Mine is on full livery (everything except riding/grooming) at £433 a month.

“Essential” extras (farrier, insurance, physio, supplements, replacement stuff etc.) probably average out around £200-£250 a month.

“Non-essential” extras (lessons/competitions) are honestly just as much as I can afford, but usually at least another £70-80 a month and much more if I’m eventing regularly…

That’s probably on the expensive side, he’s a horse of full livery with extensive insurance. But I’m not in a position to do it any other way. And I’ll admit, maybe a bit pampered, he gets the best of everything as far as I can make it happen ?
 
I budget £1000 a month for 3 on DIY, good doers but feed a lot of supplements, uninsured, one has special shoes and two barefoot.
Probably another few hundred on top for equipment, lessons, competing
 
It depends on so many things. One friend has a hairy barefoot cob on diy who loves off fresh air. So .. 15 pounds a week. Plus fuel to get to yard. And bit of straw for bedding.
 
Dread to think. I am lucky that I do not have to pay livery as such though and I only have one horse now so not so bad.

Me and my friend pay for the hay and straw between us and in the winter we obviously use more than in the summer.

for this time of year I probably pay …
2x bales of hay per month between the two = £25 for me
2 x bales of straw per month = £15 for me
Hard feed… 1 bag of balancer last about a month so £23
1 bag of chaff roughly = £16
2 x bags of conditioning cubes = £18
Carrot nets probably = £5 per month
Shoes (hinds currently every 4 weeks at £45, fronts last six weeks at £45)
Insurance = £36 per month (veteran policy)

and obviously some occasional costs such as dentist, physio, treats, hunt caps, etc.

So roughly £200 per month… not too bad I guess but I do everything myself for that too.
 
Obscene amounts.... even more obscene when of course everything is needed at once, even worse when that everything needed is wood pellets and vet to sedate (needs to be heavily) for cushings bloods and teeth. Oh and not forgetting the box of prascend!!!
 
For two…diy livery, feed, insurance, vet plan, farrier, feed etc amortised over 12 months just over £600 a month…doesn’t include lessons or buying in livery services when I need them. It’s much cheaper than when I was in Scotland..add another £150 minimum to that figure as livery , hay and farrier was more expensive.
 
I also console myself that I dont go out much only buy yard/riding clothes when needed, don’t smoke or drink don’t go to a gym, so my horse is my leisure time and well worth it and I can’t take my money with me when I go so might as well enjoy it while I cam now I’m in my 70’s
 
Your soul ?! Only kidding.
  • Livery £520 per month
  • Hard feed IRO £45 per month
  • Farrier £120 per month
  • Horse being exercised as I work full time IRO £200 per month
  • Approx. monthly total £905
Needless to say, I am effectively on full livery hence the high cost however, that's the price I have to pay in my area to get year round turnout and sleep at night!

The above also doesn't account for 'one offs' such as routine and emergency veterinary, dentistry, emergency farrier and feed supplements.

* Edited to add insurance at £100 per month ?‍♀️.

Good luck ??!
 
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