Please cc my plan/budget (nb. v. long)!

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Keen

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If you have the time, I’d love to know what you experienced peeps think of all this :D

Scenario:
I am a novice, riding once a week at a riding school. I hope, by about 2014, to have the money, skill and time to keep my own horse.

Options:
A) full livery – about 15-20 mins by car from house. No lessons. No real idea about facilities/cost but suspect c. £75-80 per week upwards.

B) working livery at current riding school – could ride 2 evenings (if the school was free) + weekends (hack). Daily turn out. 25 mins in car. Lessons ½ hr £28; working livery c. £75 per week (assume it will go up).

or ....

What do you think of Plan C. Workable? A disaster waiting to happen? Or something in between?

I live in a lane with meadows/fields over the road. I know the owners. They *might* have c. 2.75-3 acres available to rent. It has no water or electricity, and is about 50 m from my front door. Access would be via locked gate and over two other fields (no direct access from my house). Cob and companion to live out 24/7, 365. Cob would be for hacking only, as I’d have no transport. The field is clay and I think it is ploughed -out/seeded with ryegrass. Presumably I would have to re-seed with a meadow mix?

Assuming that I could 1) get a reliable sharer to help with exercising, do a couple of evenings work and cover holidays, and 2) assuming I can get a horse (i.e. 14.2 cob type or similar + companion) on loan from a re-homing charity, and 3) assuming that both re-homing charity and sharer were ok with that slightly random arrangement, 4) my husband doesn’t leave me as I constantly smell of poo and never want go anywhere apart from hack/play with the ponies, and that 5) I don’t go mad for lack of social interaction, does this sound like reasonable budget/plan? (Figures in GBP and minimums). I am particularly stumped about where to put the hay ...


One-off costs/long-term replacement
horse loan- 400
companion equine loan- 50
field shelter (with gate to shut in sick/lame pony) – 850 to 1500
euthanasia/horse disposal x 2 - 1000
horse box hire to get horsies home from re-homing centre! + petrol - 130
perimeter fencing: post and electric wire 3 acre:
energiser 3000 volts (battery powered) - 225
posts - 200
wire/tape - 200​
meadow grass seed! Or sheep hire (?!) to nibble ryegrass into shape? - 50
hay store??? – 1000 (no idea what this could actually be w/o planning permission)
? concrete hard standing for farrier????- 250
temp electric fencing kit for pasture management - 180
water carrier (pushed in a barrow, 80 litres) - 10
external tap to front of house -35
hose for water butt at shelter? -10
gp saddle -400
bridle and reins -80
bit -20
girth -25
stirrups and leathers -30
saddle pad -23
head collar and lead rope x 2 -20
poo picking skip and scooper -20
feed buckets/small trugs/skips x 2 -20
New Zealand rug cob -80
New Zealand rug pony -80
?rain sheet cob -60
?rain sheet pony -60
?sweat rug cob -10
saddle rack -9
bridle peg (or use tin can?!) -3
rug box/rack -20
haynet x 2 -10
other boots -35
fire extinguisher- ?
tying up rings x 4 - 12
knee boots for road hacking? -15
main and tail puller - 8
another metal bin for feed (have one already) -8
tags for tack: ICE engraved for hacking -10
mounting block -20
ragwort remover -24
padlock -15
fly fringe x 2 -6
weigh tape - 4
sponges - 2
insurance excess (money in the bank) -250
another barrow - 20
solicitors fees for contract with farmer and sharer?-
planning permission - any fees?-


Regular costs (p.a.)
field rent - 1040
hay/haylage - 200
hard feed - 520
WHW/BHS public liability insurance - 36
horse insurance (vet, tack) - ??350
farrier- 300
wormer- 80
vaccinations- 120
dentist- 80
petrol (to get to feed merchant etc!)- 100
salt licks - 4
fly repellent- 12
tack cleaner- 12
horse first aid kit- 45
equipment insurance (household contents???)-
horse (i.e. baby) shampoo!- 2.50

Things to consider
straw (if have to shut sick/lame horse in shelter: nb: turf floor?)
manure removal (if can't sell in bags by roadside) - ??
vit/mineral supplement??- 60?
?fly mask/rug- 60
?lunge line - 6

Existing equipment
shovel
metal bin for feed
grooming brushes
rider's clothing/hat
horse management books/DVDs
garden hose (for water at house)
garden fork
trugs (plastic)
hi-viz
phone for emergencies!
water butts
human first aid kit
shed
overalls!
water at house (not metered)
electricity at house
storage boxes

Long term:
When conveying water/feed/straw in a barrow over 2 fields in wet mud/snow makes me want to loose the will to live:

mini tractor(http://www.smalltractors.co.uk/comp...p/tractors-for-sale/yanmar-ym1301d-cw-tiller/) - 1,000-3600 (also to mow round perimeter)
bowser 275l /trailer + water cube – 500
crook lock for tractor! 20
or
try to connect to water mains (but not my field so waste of money)? - 2,000-5,000
plus field water tank- 200




Which parts of this plan are insane, and what have I forgotten please?

BTW, I can walk, trot, canter, + canter/gallop hack and small jump on obedient, steady horses (at least in lessons/accompanied). Also very basic skills for care, i.e. pick out hoofs, brush down, rug, bring in if easy to catch, turn out, skip out shavings bed or muck out straw (but little practice at the latter and very asthmatic!), tack up, and shovel poo for England. I am sure there is plenty I don’t know yet!

Many, many thanks!!
 
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wow that is a very detailed plan! All I can say is that it's good that you've obviously been thinking carefully and not rushed into buying a horse without proper financial planning/practical knowlede :)
I would suggest that, given your experience, you'd probably be better off on a yard to start with...if this is your first horse its probably handy to have other people who can help you out if theres anything you are ever confused about and its invaluable to have an arena in which to school in, even if you are mostly going to be hacking.
Good luck on choosing an option, and congratulations on the (soon to be) new horsey! :)
 
i think you have most things covered, but think you may have underestimated the cost of hay/haylage for the winter months, if you want to put a round bale out in the field, 2 horses would probably munch through that in 10 days or so, at approx £40-£50 a time.

apart from that, i wish i had been as organised as u about costings - i tend to do everything on a buy-now-think-later policy :p
 
I basically agree with everything the above posters have said :) You have been very organised!
With having your first horse, being on a yard with people to help if/when needed is invaluable and I think having your horse at a yard would also be more enjoyable (facilities, horsey friends to be made, lessons, etc.) Managing land is hard work and I would not enjoy putting investment into land that isn't my own (fencing, tractor, etc.) when the money could go towards livery at a nice yard instead! However I do think full livery could be a little more than £75-80, but that depends on where you live and yards around you. I was paying £110 a week when my horse was on full livery for a short time, but that was a yard with fantastic facilities.
 
Plan d may be the best route to start off:D Find a nice friendly yard that does DIY/Grass livery or assisted, this will be cheaper than the other 2 livery options, working livery is rarely a good deal for the owner, the RS gets a free all expenses paid horse to use.
By starting in a yard environment you would have the support often needed in the first year or so while you are finding your feet as a first time owner, you would have the facilities in place without having to spend on them yourself, hacking companions and no need to get an equine companion for yours.
Otherwise most of your costings look ok, £520 on hard feed is way over for two living out unless they are thin or in hard work they should not need so much.
Farrier could be more if the horse needs shoeing, £70 a set every 6 weeks if it does.
Things like hard standing may not be allowed, the same for other buildings possible planning required. Going across 2 fields to get to yours could be a pain during the winter, taking water is hard work when the ground is muddy.
You have plenty of time to have a look around and choose the best option for you, you can always move if it does not prove to be what you hoped.
 
Petrol costs more than you think! £100 a year is not much at all, I go through that at least every month!
 
plan c would be my last choice, it sounds like a huge amount of hassle with very little benefit. 2 horses on a small area of land would be hard going and take a lot of management. Also its crazy to put so much money into land that isn't yours. As another poster said, you could put that money towards livery.

Unless the hacking around you is spectacular, i would miss a school or riding area of some kind and also it would be very lonely, there is nothing like good yard banter and chat. As a novice owner there is nothing better than being on a yard and having support and encouragement to help you find your feet.

If I was you I would 100% go with full livery for a while and then re-examine the issue in a years time.
 
Thanks very much for wading through all that, and for your very helpful and realistic comments! Exactly what I was after :D :cool: Thanks especially for the corrections about feed (I lost the will to research at that point, and just stuck down figures!)

I completely take on board what you are saying about buildings/hard standing. Hay without a barn would be difficult ... and even the shelter/shed might need pp, I think ... and it's unfair to ask the farrier to work in the field.

Also, I completely understand what you are saying about having the support network of a yard. I guess I was trying to weigh up the cost of getting there/livery fees (my petrol budget was just to go the 2 mile trip for feed ;)) with the emotional cost of potentially being frustrated/unsure/lonely etc., and having the benefit of them being on the door step. Although the fact that I appear to have included a tractor (!) in my wish list might suggest that I lost sight of the cost-cutting aim! ;) The social side of a yard is certainly a big draw. I’ve enjoyed doing prelim dressage days etc., and would miss that as the riding school is well out of hacking distance. I had vaguely thought there might be a local private ménage for hire and I could get a mobile instructor, but I’ve not looked into it.

Also, you’re quite right that ‘investing’ in someone else’s land is sub-optimal – that said, presumably the movable stuff would all still be sellable if it all went Pete Tong (including the field shelter). I am half kindling a hope that my non-horse hubby will get swept up with it and want a cob of his own so we could trade in the companion (but that probably really is wishful thinking!). The hacking here is nice – I used to run the roads round here, and always came back full of the beauty of it. And I guess I was half-hoping to eventually make an offer for the land (it is not used for anything right now), but suspect that I wouldn’t really ever be able to lay my hands on that much cash. The prospect of maintaining fencing/ditches fills me with horror in all honesty!

Option D sounds very interesting though. In the long run, time in the working week is at a bit of a premium (though I would take a two or three of weeks off to get things set up initially if doing it on my own) so I suppose DIY has the downside of not being on my door step, but it has the definite upsides of a support/knowledge base (as long as I can find a nice yard with nice peeps!) Assisted would be even better. Working livery I agree seems like slave labour, with little benefit.

Paddi22, I suspect you are right! Staying put at the rs and trying to find a sharer at full livery would be sensible, but I’d have to accept less horsey time probably, and there is a bit of a funny culture there sometimes. And it is a whole lot less exciting! But perhaps plan C is pie in the sky. I am almost certainly not recognising quite how much work would be involved in all stages, because I’d rather not think about it...

Thank you all very much for helping me think it through! :D I really appreciate your input, and will continue to cogitate. At any rate, there is no money until at least 2014, so lots of time to make my choice!

PS: yes, my estimate for full livery clearly nonsense, as I know working livery is about £75! Obviously, this is the first thing I need to really pin down ...
 
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