so, how much does it cost to keep a horse these days?

[CobSunshine]

under 100 a month easily then including the usual vet jabs when needed

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Depends on:


Type of horse
size
age
if it lives in or out
boosters
type of livery
any extra livery services
if its a good doer or not
if it looses condition with allot of work
what part of the country
what your prepared to pay
what type of feeds you are going to buy
any extra supplements your going to need or choose to buy it
type of shoes it needs
type of bedding
if you need haylage
if you farrier is expensive
if your vet is pricey
if your going to use a worming programe or just worm regularly
if you use a equine dentist once a year
physio
instructors bills
horse box / trailer hire
insurance bills
petrol to go up to horse

the list goes on and on.

 

[Mince Pie]

This is for 2, so divide for 1!

Livery: £260 pcm
Hay: £135pcm in winter (live out, so a round bale a week)
Hard feed: £50pcm only in winter and not this year as so mild.
Farrier: £50 every 8-12 weeks depending on time of year
Jabs: £80 per year
Wormer: £40 a year

 

[Carrots&Mints]

Too much but worth every penny

 

[PolarSkye]

The cost of keeping mine:

£170/month livery
£20/month straw bedding
£55/month hay
£40/month hard feed
£25/month farrier (he is only shod in front)

Plus insurance, dentist, saddler twice a year, physio four times a year (average), wormer/worm counts, vet/jabs it's probably a good £4,500/year . . . not to mention lessons, mane & tail spray, fly spray, cleaning/repairing/replacing rugs and boots, special shampoos (he's grey), treats, etc.

P

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Dont ask then you don't get told a lieAs most of us pay over the odds and if we really sat down and costed it out,there would be an awfull lot of horse/ponies either looking for new homes/knackers yard,so we pay out for the geegees and scrimp and save on our personal things.

If I sat down with my hubby and actually worked out the running costs of this place. People would realize what we charge is justified,and is not over the top.

If any one has never owned a yard you wont appreciate the actual cost to run a yard



An average part / full yard :


yearly tax on yard
Repair bills to buildings inc stable doors
ironmongery door catches bolts gates catches etc
replacement fencing rails
posts
gates
annual alarm service and repairs
diy man to do odd jobs
Gardner
waste removal ( council )
insurance for the yard
weed=killing
fertilizing
harrowing
farmers wages to do the above 3

staff wages
water bills
electricity bills
replacing arena surface
vermin exterminator bills
diesel for tractor used to de poo
hay bills
feed bills
haylage bills
bedding
diesel to get the food bedding etc
yearly security testing bills
repairs to any electrics to include light bulbs etc
replacement tools brooms etc
yard barrows
muckhill removal
soil analysis
show jumps ( replacing )
tea - coffee
heating in common room
rubber mats for stables
repairs to roofs / new roofs
concrete on yard
general large improvements
drainage bills


there is more too early to think

but if i add up all this I doubt very much if we have made a profit .

we spent £9.000 on a stable block roof
£ 5.000 on concreting the yard
£ 4000 on indoor school surface
and this is just the tip of iceberg




Trouble is most liveries do NOT see the money that is spent behind the scenes on the yard all you see is the money you hand over assuming into their pockets , this is not the case.






.

 

[milesjess]

£100 month livery
£38 month insurance
£20 4-6 weeks feed
£25 4-6 weeks hay
£25 6 weeks feet

Approx £30-50 month spends for rugs/wormers/treats etc... I spoil him

All the above is cheap too as he lives out!

Plus his ongoing vet bills prob £200 ish this month... It's pretty pricey.

 

[1Lucie]

In my area in e anglia as follows:

Back lady £45 (mine is currently needing sessions every 3months)
Dentist £35 (again mine needs it every 6months)
Jabs (£30 if on free call out day)
Saddle fitter £65 (i have had to have her twice in past 6months)
Livery locally for full livery is £65 or Diy is £25 per week.
Feed £15-£20 per week
Private lessons £15-35 for an hour.
Transport we can hire horsebox locally for just over £100 per day.
Farrier £70 per set of shoes every 6weeks.
Insurance for the year £280

Erm.... not sure i can read this back esp as in past month i have had back lady twice, dentist once, saddle fitter again (only brought it before xmas), a jab (as my boy needs to complete his course).

 

[CharlesMax]

Goodness, I cannot believe how little some of you spend on livery. I am envious! I pay £6K a year for basics (livery and shoes) - this is for part-livery with no exercise, grooming or tack-cleaning. This is also one of the more reasonably priced yards in my area!

With lessons at £40 a pop, hunting and riding club activities you are looking at around £10K. (ouch, just had the reality of what I spend slap me hard!!)

Slightly ironic when you think you are servicing a horse worth about £5K in today's market!

This is in the South East though....... and having said all this it is still worth every penny.

 

[Wagtail]

Ok for the 8 horses I keep at my yard, during the winter they average £240 each per month to feed, bed down and shoe. That is my cost as a livery yard owner. So it does not include insurance, vets, tack, rugs, dentist etc. So you would need to add DIY livery to that. In the summer it does not cost me nearly as much (around half that amount). It also does not include my other costs such as insurance, business rates, water, electricity, vehicle maintenance, fencing, stable maintenance, land maintenannce, pest control, etc.

 

[Misog2000]

About £400 a month for general keep including livery, bedding, hay, feed, jabs, shoes, back lady etc but I am on a cheap yard and look after her myself so no services to pay for. But that doesn't include competition costs, and keeping lorry on the road......hope hubby doesn't see this!

 

[Paris1]

All in, about 4k a year. Though vets bills have I overtaken the competing now

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I haven't had a horse for about 5 years, so I have no idea how much everything costs.
Please can someone give me an idea?
I am in Sussex, don't know how much difference that makes?
Thanks

I've never worked out how much it costs to keep my 2, I started once but the numbers started escalating, got scarey so I stopped working it out. I think that if you can afford to buy & run another car then that's approximately how much it costs.

 

[MarinaBay]

All I can say is you will be shocked & each month will always work out more then planned!!

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

My pony in the winter costs £62.56 per week, and in the summer £41.95 per week.

Averaged out over the year it's £226.46pcm.

on DiY livery, bedded on straw... I can send you my spreadsheet if you like? PM me with your email address!

 

[Firewell]

I budget around £400-£500 per month for one stabled horse on cheap DIY livery in the south east. That includes everything including going out every now and again to competitions or clinics.

 

[Mypinkpony]

£150 month DIY livery
£30 bedding (4 bags)
£45 Hay (1 round bale)
£60 feed/supplements/Apples/carrots/treats
£30 Insurance
£30 lessons (2 half hours)
£25 shoes(only fronts)
£5 wormers
£25 tack/rugs/rider wear etc... any things that need replacing

Total £400 month!!! Wow no wonder im always so skint!

 

[PolarSkye]

Forgot to add if buying a first horse there are "set up" costs . . .

Rugs - minimum one of every type you need (depending on breed/type of horse and how you intend to keep it - stabled/on grass livery, etc.)
Tack - I ended up spending £1,000 on a new saddle/bridle for Kal, not to mention numnahs, saddle cloths, risers, etc.
Boots/bandages - not all horses come with as much clobber as Kal did . . . so brushing/overreach/travel/tendon, etc. boots must be considered if appropriate - ditto bandages and gamgee/fibergee
Headcollar/leadrope
Buckets/feed skips - at last count I reckon we have 9 buckets and feed skips and I use them all!
Wheelbarrow - honestly this is the piece of equipment I probably use the most
Forks/brushes
Rug rail
Grooming supplies/equipment
First aid kit
Haynets - I only have four, but I know some liveries/friends who make up a weeks' worth of morning and evening haynets in advance to save time
Training equipment - lunging rollers, lunge lines, lunge whip, associated girth/pads, side reins, cavesson (although I use a bridle and just remove the reins)

I once added up the value of all the kit that both came with and we bought for Kal and it came to over £10K!

P

 

[starry94]

110 diy livery- stable/ lovely big, newly surfaced school/grazing
feed- £10.30 a bag, lasts 2 months
farrier- £25 (trim) every 10ish weeks

then theres shavings- £8, insurance, wormer, hay- £6 small bales..
oh and i recently had to buy new electric fence posts/tape

 

[vieshot]

I think with insurance included I probably pay out around £250-300 a month but that is for two horses.

 

[Ella19]

Ok here goes!

Break down per month:

Livery at Grass inc hay £270
Feed £15.65
Supplements £18
Wormers £5
Farrier (trim) £10
Vet for vaccinations/dentist £6
Chiropractor £8
Insurance £30
Tack/rugs + odd bits and bobs £30
Petrol to get there and back although this includes work in the week £120
Competitions/Hunting £70

So i'm sure i've forgotten something but that's a whopping £582.65!! That's for a good doer out at grass!!

Edited to add that is in Surrey with amazing hacking, and yes for a yard with floodlight sandschool that is the going rate for DIY grass!!

 

[acw295]

All I can say is you will be shocked & each month will always work out more then planned!!

I really disagree with this! Mine is always under as I have set a realistic budget. I think the problem is so many people don't sit down and work out if they can afford it before they take the plunge. Seems to be true in all areas - not just horses, which is how people get into a mess.

I worked out the costs for full livery plus all the extras when I wanted to buy - at an expensive yard with hay at high prices etc and made sure I could afford that, then I knew that I would manage the DIY costs easily. I went in to owning fully aware of the costs and so it is no shock to me at all - in fact I now think I could afford 2 (but I don't want 2 yet!). I'd rather err on the side of caution.

I'm always really shocked by how many people have no idea what their outgoings are - friend of mine had a really nasty shock when she got divorced as she genuinely had no idea what the household bills were and then discovered they had a mountain of debt. I'd never want that to happen to me!

 

[Mlini]

£35 livery (DIY inc bedding & forage)
£10 shoes (£60 every 6 weeks)
£10 feed (£40 every month)
£7.50 insurance (£30 per month)
So, £62.50 per week

On top of that is dentist once a year, chiro every 6 months, vaccs once a year, vets costs, wormers/worm counts, extra tack/rugs.

 

[siennamiller]

thanks everyone .
hmmm, so at the moment no ponio for me then .
xx

 

[SpottyTB]

PER MONTH

DIY (stable/grass) - £80.00 - use of sand school and full set of BSJA jumps, plus beach and common hacking!
Shavings (she's only been in about 20 days this winter, i deep litter so only use one bag a month) - £8
Feed - £20 (bag of alfa and a bag of mix)
Hay - £6 - two bales (she has a slice at night if she's in, other than that, i don't use it)
Shoeing - she went shoeless this winter as wasn't worked a lot, but my other half is a farrier so he does her for free. She'd be £30 (just fronts every 8 weeks) if i didn't have the luxury of my boyfriend..
Insurance - BHS gold membership (£46.00 a year roughly) so £3.83 a month
dentist - £40 - every 12 months.. so £3.30 a month
Saddle fitter - my other halfs dad is a saddle fitter so he fits her saddle/checks it and re flocks it for me when i need it.
Lorry - is covered by my other halfs parents as i own it but they get full use of it in exchange for driving me to shows/hunting and paying for insurance/tax.
Show entry's/hunting - roughly £20 max a month - depending on how much i do!


I think that's it.. i am extremely blessed to have a farrier as a other half and saddle fitter/riding instructor/ ex show jumper as a father in law..

That all adds up to.. £141.13 - thats a winters month
A summers month would be cheaper as i wouldn't be feeding at all or buying hay/shavings.. so i'd save £34/35 a month (£106.13)

 

[claireandnadia]

All I can say is if my wages really was my own I'd be well off, but I'd be bored so thats that.

 

[cyberhorse]

Approx £500pcm for part-livery at a competition yard including everything except insurance, tack and lorry costs. Not cheap but I feel good value for what we get.

 

[showaddy1]

Unfortunately, now you've asked the question I had to work it out... We have 2 horses, no competing, at a DIY yard. I pay just under £400 a month, that's everything except any tack I want to buy. One of my horses are barefoot, the other shod every 6 weeks.
I am very lucky that my hubby realizes that although a very expensive hobby, without it I'm a miserable cow to live with. I think £1oo per month is a bargain to keep my sanity!
I'd like to add that although I'm not rich, I wouldnt keep a horse if it meant my family would suffer financially.

 

[Bubley898]

"£2000 a year" !!!! And the rest!!!!

 

[horsesatemymoney]

Gulp- see my name- I have two of the blighters

These are monthly:

DIY £144 (for both)

Hay in winter- 4 bales a month I'd say, so £100.00 In summer, I'd say 1 bale would last about a month, so £25.00

Shavings- 1 horse on this, clean luckily, £28.00

Straw- Other horse on this, depends how much is eaten, so about £20.00 a month max.

Farrier- One shod, one t rimmed, every 8 weeks @ £50.00, so £25.00 a month.

Vet jabs- £88.00 a year - about £7.00 a month for both

Insurance- £30.00 a month for both

Feed- Winter- about £15.00 a month, in the summer they get a handful of chop in a bucket, (bad Mummy!) so about £6.00 a month

Winter- £369.00 -class this as half the year £2214Summer £285.00 £1710 so annual total almost £4000! This doesn't include any little 'extras' or replacements, don't compete etc though!