New horse budget

[AmymBlue]

Hi,
I'm currently looking into full loaning a horse. I am a full time college student and I work part time.
I just wanted to know if anyone had a rough breakdown cost for paying for a horse and see if I'm missing anything.
The reasons I want to full loan is because I don't want to own my own in case something happens after college like university but I doubt I'm going.
I earn £300 a month part time and I just want some advice if that will be enough. So far I have calculated these costs.

Livery - £30pw d.i.y
Hay and straw - £50 shared between two people
Farrier - Depends on horse
Tack and rugs
Insurance - £30 a month
Wormer and vacs

Think that's about everything I can think of and its fits within £250 leaving some extra for saving.

Thanks in advance

 

[dibbin]

I reckon mine costs me about £150-200 per month, and he's a relatively good doer who's kept at home.

Don't forget bedding, and the cost of the loan itself. Everything will vary hugely on the type of horse, your livery, and the cost of hay/feed in your area.

 

[AmymBlue]

Thank you. The horse will be kept on straw and shared between me and another livery owner. The loan will be free as it is a full loan to move yards

 

[jewel]

feed, supplements, entry fees if going to compete, transport costs. insurance will probably be a lot more than 30 as mine is 37 for a 2 year old

 

[be positive]

It depends so much on the individual horse, not many of mine could be kept for £50 per month hay and straw in the winter although in summer they get very little as they are out 24/7.
Feed, most require at least a token feed, others need far more and supplements add up if you use them, again it depends on the horse and what the owner expects it to get.
If it is shod that is about £50 every month
The £30 insurance is on the low side, mine was £50 each month to cover up to £5k vets fees but without loss of use.

You should also factor in some lessons, possibly days out competing, pleasure rides etc.

The yard you keep it on may have good grazing so in summer you can save but equally it may restrict grazing in winter which means a lot of hay and bedding get used.

Also most insurance will have an excess of several hundred pounds which you have to pay, so make sure you always have that set aside just in case.

 

[Micky]

Equine dentist, your own clothing, tools (wheelbarrow etc) petrol/travelling costs, feed/supplements, get a good farrier, never pay peanuts!,! Good luck

 

[Luci07]

Looks like you will end up spending all your money just on the horse and that may be hard after a while.

Why not share initially? do a couple of days a week, have fixed costs and see how you manage then?

 

[highlandponygirl]

I would also factor in costs of any extras you may need livery wise incase you are not able to manage to tend your horse due to work/college commitments, sickness, holidays etc

Also do you have enough set aside to pay the excess on any vet/insurance claim should you need it?

Also;
Routine and any remedial dental work
Vaccinations
Tack fitting/repairs etc
Lessons
Any outings to shows etc/or if you need to hire a trailer/transport for trips to the vet(if needed)

 

[Theocat]

It's worth looking at other threads on this for a list of likely costs.

It's probably theoretically possible - just - on £300 a month, but you have absolutely no breathing space. Not everything will be covered by insurance, so you need some sort of back up, and you should certainly budget for lessons even if not competing. Personally, I'd opt for a share and use it - with the owner's input - to get a sense of exactly what monthly costs are like.

 

[Leo Walker]

On DIY mine would cost less than £200. Big bale hay and wood pellets made him cheap to keep. Hes not shod and gets literally no food. His insurance is only £22 for 5k of vets fees and £135 excess. But its all the other bits that add up. I think I spent £500 on physio and saddle checks etc within 2 months. Lessons soon add up, as do services if you need them. It costs me the same to have mine on 5day part as it does for DIY with services

 

[Shay]

It does rather depend on where you live. Hay & Straw prices vary massively. they also vary across the year -you'll pay a lot less in early winder when there is a good supply. You can end up paying a lot more at this time of year if supplies have run low.

We're based in Surrey and £300 per month DIY will not cover costs down here. But it may well do once you move north. Either way it does seem quite tight - you'll have nothing spare for emergencies, lessons or fun things like competitions or sponsored rides. And you would be working only for the horse's basic keep - nothing for yourself. Going out, clothes etc. That is going to get quite wearing.

 

[Archiepoo]

my horse is on diy and with one bag of feed a week and one bale of shavings ,haylage included in £30 a week stable cost ,i dont get much change from £200 a month -without insurance ,keeping a good first aid box ,occasional treats and replacing tack clothing etc

 

[hairycob]

It varies hugely per horse. Mine are on big bale haylage which works out about the same as hay . There are 4 horses sharing & it works out about1 per week so £55 per month. On the other hand there is a horse at the yard who gets through 6 bales of hay a week so £24 per week! One of my horses has a small handful of spreadsheet and oat straw chaff once a day just to put a mineral supplement in so costs a couple of £ per week in feed. The other has 2 feeds a day and gets through a bag of Alfa oil in just over a week.

 

[hairycob]

Speedibeet not spreadsheet, though he might argue that with his paucity of feed it might as well be.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

Also bear in mind that many owners won't want you sharing the horse with others and even if they are ok with you having a sharers you can't always guarantee the sharer will last the length of the loan. What would you do if the sharer quit for example? Could you still afford the loan without their help?

 

[KrujaaLass]

I think she means to share hay and straw not the horse

 

[FestiveFuzz]

Thank you. The horse will be kept on straw and shared between me and another livery owner. The loan will be free as it is a full loan to move yards

Ah my mistake, I took this to mean she was sharing the horse with the other livery owner.

 

[caileag]

Personally I don't think that's enough earnings to comfortably keep a horse on unless you have a lot of savings or parents to help you out financially. I don't know anyone who has a horse that doesn't also run a car. It IS enough though to sort out some sort of part loan share which might be better for you if you are still in education and working part time .

 

[Vodkagirly]

There doesn't seem to be much in you plan for a contingency. I have a cheap to keep horse but last month he was lame, that lead to a massage to get rid of any stiffness (£30) Vets visit, exam and danilion (£80) Emergency farrier (£30) Poulticing (approx. £13 to replace animalintex, vetrap and duct tape)
He has changed shape so I have the saddler coming soon. £30 visit - could be just restuffed at £30 or it could end up needing more...
Fly spray in the summer/ pig oil for legs in the winter. Replacing and repairing rugs and equipment. It all adds up very quickly and often all at once.
I would also budget for weekly lessons with a new horse - nip any issues in the bud.
Things like this crop up with horses and if you don't have contingency it would be very stressful.

 

[supsup]

I think with the budget given, you could possibly cover all the predictable regular expenses (though no real backup for emergencies). My question would be: what do you want to do with your horse? The moment you want to add horse-related activities (lessons, fun rides, clinics, competitions) you can easily double your regular expenses. If your budget has no room for those extra costs, ask yourself realistically whether you'd still be happy to commit so much time and most of your disposable income if all you can do is school at home by yourself (no lessons), and hack locally (no transport). Depending on what you enjoy doing, and what sort of yard (nice people to ride with?) and hacking (interesting routes without too much traffic?) you have, this might work perfectly well for you.
If what you really want is go out and enjoy yourself with the horse then I'd probably reconsider and see if a cheaper share with the option to take the horse to activities (and have the money to do so) wouldn't suit you better.

 

[gnubee]

You may or may not get lucky on insurance for the price you quote. Don't forget that you will have an excess on that for all events, plus these days you are lucky if there isn't at least one big exclusion. Mine only ever had one injury, and now insurance more like £50 per month as only the most expensive companies will exclude things relating to the old injury rather than excluding all legs.
You also have nothing in there for semi-consumables - I would say I do over 200 per horse per year on headcollars, rugs, buckets, haynets, tools etc. They aren't really a one off expense. Plus any supplements your horse needs - my otherwise cheap keepers have 150-200 on hoof supplements per year. Most people end up with something extra. Routine vets for vacs c. 70 a year. If barefoot your farrier may be negligible (10 per month for me) but if shod add shoes, more frequent visits, and emergency extra visits if one comes off. Also add services for days when you can't DIY (holiday, Xmas,illness, car broke down).

In summary, please don't try to keep a horse for 300 per month. It may be more than enough or it may not even come close, and until you're living it it is impossible to predict which until you are attached and it's too late. For sure with that money you won't have spares for competing, instructors, transport, entry fees so chances are your routes to enjoy the financially stressful horse will be limited. I would think about the bits of riding you enjoy and look for a less involved way to do those things until you are more financially secure. You could get a share of something quite nice for less than 200 a month if schooling or competing is your thing and have room in the budget to actually do them. Or you could get a lot of riding lessons or hacks in a fun variety of locations. Having your own to do with as you like is the dream for most of us, but it really is worth holding off until you can do it right if there is any other way to get most of what you want.

 

[AshleighEmma]

You really should factor in more money for hay and straw because when doing my budget breakdown going into winter I, yet again, underestimated how much hay and straw they really do go through. Especially being on a straw bed because its incredibly wasteful!

You need to also think about tack, is there anything else you need, rugs, saddle pads, hoof picks. All the initial things that you need, admittedly they're not a monthly cost but the start up to horses is an immense amount of money!

Good luck! I probably spend just shy of £200 on my mare a month.

Also only pay £18 insurance. Look at 'Horse Insurance' website. Very reasonable prices if you're not looking to insure for top competition.

 

[BarnesBridge]

Hiya, mine costs me about £350pm and I do try to keep to a budget as I'm saving for a house. My DIY livery is £120pm and the rest is feed, bedding, farrier, hay, supplements etc. plus all the annual/ad-hoc costs (including that new numnah you just had to have!!). I would just worry that your income might be a little low to cover any emergency vet costs in particular - trust me, I know all about those and it always happens when you need it least!!! Maybe sharing might be a better option for you to look into? Especially if you're not sure what you're doing after college! I know it's really disappointing when you've set your heart on one, but it's only a few years of waiting like I did until you're in a comfortable job and can afford the best care for your ned Believe me, it's worth the wait when you lead your very own horse off the trailer for the first time! Nothing quite like that feeling. X

 

[showjumpingharry]

Harry is on working livery and his bedding and hay are provided. we contribute towards feed as a group of us all use the same. In total it costs around £120-200 each month depending on shoes any rug repairs etc

 

[judmolnirleo]

I pay £148 pcm DIY livery (unlimited hay and straw), £40 farrier (just fronts) every 6/8 weeks (often more as his hooves are a mess and he usually throws one). £56 insurance pcm. £30 Feed + £30 supplements = £60. Fuel to and from £50pcm minimum. Tack upkeep/replacement of grooming items/fly spray/conditioner/hibiscrub MUST cost me about £50 a month at least! and this is for a horse that isnt in work at the moment so obviously all costs would go up for extra shoeing/tack replacement/MORE feed etc

 

[itsapiebald]

feed, supplements, entry fees if going to compete, transport costs. insurance will probably be a lot more than 30 as mine is 37 for a 2 year old

It depends what is covered in your insurance

 

[Ponymad21]

You're lucky, in my area I worked it out to around £374 diy, £275 grass livery or £265 for working livery,
The costs all include hay, 2 bags of feed a month, shoes, insurance ect