My pony is going to bankrupt me :(

unbalanced

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I have a 14hh Welsh pony who you might think would be an easy keeper. However, her cost has just gone over £700 a month!!!

I got home from holiday last night to a letter from the livery yard that my rate is going up from £100 to £120 a week. This is five day which OH insists on as I have been working 11/12 hour days so DIY is not an option at the moment. At least it includes feed and bedding and some hay - YO only gives her one evening net so I have to buy her an extra bale a week.

She does have supplements but it's a multivit as she's an elderly cushings pony on a little fast fibre and the joint one the vet says she needs.

She is already barefoot.

I do have lessons - cutting down to fortnightly I think as £35 ph plus £8 to use the school but they help so much to keep her sound.

Once I factor in all the money I spend on petrol to see her and OH I want to cry (ok, I did last night). Any ideas people? I am making pasta...
 

FireFly29

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Could you put her on assisted livery? It varies from yard to yard but that way she would be fed, turned out, brought in, hay in and rugs changed.
You would probably still have to muck out daily, but I would have thought it would be cheaper?
Or is there anywhere cheaper in your area?
 

Gamebird

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I have a fit shod 17.2 competition horse who costs me under £450/month total! I do DIY though, even though I work similar hours to you plus do a lot of night/weekend hours. If you discount riding it really only takes me half an hour on a morning and 10mins at night to do him - turn out and feed, muck out and leave everything ready for night (I do this at 7am, give or take and am in my office for 8am most mornings). At night I just have to fetch him in to his ready prepared stable and feed.
 

touchstone

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If it's that bad I'd consider stopping lessons for a while and just having one every month or two, I'm sure you can work your pony hacking out or in the school to keep her supple and sound. Joint supplements can be expensive, I'd look into trying boswellia, linseed or turmeric or sourcing a cheaper supplement if possible. If you're combining it with a general supplement then maybe something like topspec 10/10 might be more economical in the longer term?

Another option if you're brave is to try a sharer?
 

Foxy O

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Could you move her to a cheaper yard? £120 a week is a lot of money as you then have to pay £8 a time for using the school. Or you could speak to the yard owner to see if you could negotiate a better price.
 

Archangel

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£8 to use a school when you pay £120 a week for a 14 hand pony does not seem reasonable to me. Can you move? Whereabouts in the country are you - perhaps someone could recommend a yard that is better value.
 

ROMANY 1959

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That seems very expensive for 5 days full care, my two are on part livery -mon to fri yard owner and her staff do everything for them, I just buy hard feed, that is £65 a week per horse, we have nice yard, school, lorry parking, locked tack room, feed room, office/tea room plenty of storage, lessons are £ 20 hour, no extra charge for school. Where are you, ? Is it a top notch yard with all mod cons, even when I did comp livery for an eventer I had it was only £125 full livery.
 

Shysmum

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Cut out lessons for starters ! Then perhaps look for a cheaper yard for the time being. Even grass (full) livery ? Turn the pony away for a while ? Sharer ?

Horses are such an expensive hobby, and unfortunately, sometimes something has to give.

I should add here that I'm totally on your side - I was paying a fortune for livery (DIY) with facilites that I didn't really need (£50 pw), but it was the cost of fuel getting there twice a day (£100 pw) that made me have to move. I am now much closer to home, having done a lot of asking around, and our fuel now costs £20 per week.

There will be a way to sort this, don't give up ! We could have had a mortgage, the amount it was all costing us.
 
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ester

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I'd move, a 20% increase isn't small, that doesn't include all of your hay or use of the school :eek:. On DIY my 14.2 welshie costs about £200 a month for comparison.
 

zigzag

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Where are you? It's very expensive, plus you have to top up her hay?!! £85 a week down here for full livery, 7 days a week and adlib hay, no charge for using school
 

Buddy'sMum

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Sounds very expensive to me, especially if they're stingy with hay. Grass livery might be your best option as you can't do DIY through the week. If you share a field with someone you could take turns to do checks/feed. Or you could find a sharer to help exercise her a couple of days a week in return for feeding/grooming/poo picking etc.

Would be a shame to give up your lessons as you both enjoy them but could you have a group lesson with a friend, to make it cheaper?
 

ihatework

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I have to say, on £120 a week I would expect to not have to pay extra for hay or use of a school!
But for a decent part/full livery (depending on how you define that) £120 is the going rate really, certainly around me.

If time is a factor for you, could you look around full grass livery? Or what about dropping to assisted livery and getting a sharer?
 

Goldenstar

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Move ,a 20 % increase is a lot in the current climate and paying extra to use the school that's so mean.
Find somewhere nearer home if you can and do DIY , if you can't afford it you can't so go DIY and tell your OH that's just the way it is.
 

pippixox

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it seems very expensive- i used to have my boy in commutable distance to London near m25, so very pricey area, and it was £110 a week- 7 days care and did not need to pay for extra hay- if he had to stay in for longer for example he would just get more from them. is the school part of your yard? in which case £8 is ridiculous.
i agree with other people suggestions. are there other horses staying out, so if you are later to bring-in your horse will be fine? i have to turn mine out in the pitch black before work and sometimes bring in late. now on rented land, but when i was DIY that was fine with the YO- locks were code, so i could get in early and just had to lock up again after.
 

Charliepony

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Someone down the road does full grass livery - checking/feeding/changing rugs, it's just over £50 a week and that includes hay/haylage. They have a field to ride in with XC jumps and are building a school. Maybe that will put the prices up, I don't know, but that's still significantly less than you are paying.
 
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