Owner to be needs help!

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Tom123

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Hello, this is my first post. I am a 14 yr old boy
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and I love riding, I have been riding on and off all my life and now the time has come for me to get a horse! However, my parents and I have no idea exactly how much all the costs are. We know roughly how much livery is but nothing else!

How much would it cost to feed/insure/keep a 15-15.3 Cob, 8-14 years old???

Thanks
Tom
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Hello Tom123. It would be a great help to know roughly where in the country you are as costs vary for the farrier etc. You must be very excited to be getting your own horse at last.
 
Sorry forgot to say, I live in the south west, just north of bristol.

Have you any idea what I should feed a 15-15.3 cob who lives out 24/7???

Thanks
Tom
 
Welcome ! Its a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question really, and livery costs depend hugely on whereabouts in the country you live, and whether you are preapred to do all the work youself or need some element of livery services. Insurance depends on how much your horse is worth.

For example, i am in Bedfordshire, my horse is on DIY livery and i pay £112/month, with hay and straw extra. A cobby type probably wouldnt need any extra feed through the summer. I estimate that with things like insurance, vaccinations, shoeing, back lady, hard feed, etc, i spend an average of £200/month on my horse.
 
Ok great, the livery we have found is on a farm with 2 stables, 1 being occupied by a friend. The livery is £20/week for 30 acres of grazing, a biggg stable, tack & feed rooms, school.

Is that good??
 
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Have you any idea what I should feed a 15-15.3 cob who lives out 24/7???


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During the summer you probably wouldnt need to feed it anything, and you might well need a grazing muzzle to stop it pigging out. Come the winter you might need hay in the field and possibly a hard feed of pony nuts or similar.
 
Some horses look at grass and put on weight, but on the other hand we had a lovely cob who needed serious food to stop him from looking 'hippy' (his hibs became quite pronounced when he wasn't as covered as neceessary, and this was far more noticeable than his ribs).
 
Hi Tom. Its great you are really keen on horse-riding and feel that its the time to get your own. Have you already found the horse you want? If not it may be a good idea to loan/share one first so you can get used to the care/costs aspect without the full responsibility.

Costs wise I'd budget for the following per month:

Insurance £30
Feed £20
Shoeing £70 every 6-8 weeks
Livery - around here its £140 pcm for DIY; £250 for part livery and upwards of £450 for full
Hay £25 (winter)

Plus misc of worming, supplements etc
 
I feed my 15h cob a small amount of hi-fi lite with a vitamin supplement, a joint supplement, salt, garlic and oil. He has ad-lib soaked hay overnight and a grazing muzzle on when turned out in the day.

He is in very light work at the moment as I've just started a new job and am very busy, however when I start competing again he'll get horse and pony cubes on top of this.

Hope that helps
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[ QUOTE ]
Ok great, the livery we have found is on a farm with 2 stables, 1 being occupied by a friend. The livery is £20/week for 30 acres of grazing, a biggg stable, tack & feed rooms, school.

Is that good??

[/ QUOTE ]

That sounds like a pretty good deal!

If your horse is going to be out 24/7, you might not have to feed him anything extra, except hay in the winter. I'd see how he gets on, and consider adding feed only if he seems to be losing condition. Is your friend an experienced horse-owner?
 
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