Struggling to afford pony!

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Chestnut mare

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I've had my horse 10 years but over the last year I've really been struggling to afford her. I'm getting more and more in debt and it's really getting me down :(. She's not living in the life of luxury but she doesn't go with out either. Like most people I do what I can. She is due the dentist and the back man but I just can't afford it and I feel like I'm neglecting her now and it's not fair that she goes without! I've just recieved the vets bill from her annual vaccination and that's £80 to find.
My OH has been amazing and has helped out so much by paying for all the shopping, more rent, my petrol and just paid several hundred on my car.
He said it's ok but I still feel bad :(. I'm trying to think of my options.
1) sell (no way had her too long she's got a home for life)
2) get a sharer (I'm very concerned about someone else riding her as she has an old tendon injury)
3) I have no idea......
I would welcome any suggestions please. She's on diy livery and lives out for about 9 months of the year.
Thanks very much :D
 
Well, you don't want to sell her so it looks like a sharer is your only option. Choose your sharer carefully and be very precise about what they can and cannot do with her.
 
if you don't mind can you out lay your expensive on her for us, there could be ways of cutting back that you might not have seen that someone else might. also how old is she?
 
Sorry to hear that you're struggling xx

Just some ideas that have popped into my head -:

- could she live out all year round, therefore saving you money on bedding?

- is there anyone on yard who can help with stable chores so you perhaps reduce your visits therefore saving on petrol.

- look at what you feed your horse, is it all needed. Also look at bulk buying with other liveries.

- speak to your vets re paying your bill over a few weeks, it's worth asking as £20 over four weeks is better than £80 in one go. As long as the bill is paid I'm sure they'll understand.

Hope this helps a bit xx
 
Oh and another one, sell your stable rugs. We now just keep turnout rugs on ours in stable as saves time, keep horses warmer as not having to warm up cold rugs and also saves on feed in long run xx
 
Sorry to hear about your problem. At the moment it isn't easy for anyone with horses, prices are rising steadily so you aren't the only one!

I wouldn't rule out a sharer straight away. It is your horse so you can set the rules to exactly how you like them. As long as you have a "good deal" whatever that may be, then people will still want to share. A lot of people have had to give up their horse in the downturn, so having an opportunity to share one would still be good for them.

You could make it clear they aren't allowed to .................... (ride at gallop, ride for more than 2 hours, jump, hunt ect) but say they can ........................ as much as they like (school, hack in less than gallop).

If you are nervous about someone doing damage to her leg, maybe try find an adult sharer (I am a teenager and sensible, but I know many adults feel less inclined to zoom about the countryside than a lot of teens!) Make it clear WHY the rules are what they are and I'm sure they would be respected.

An incentive might be if they are able to take her to a local competition or two (under your watchful eye).

Just bear in mind that the more restrictive the share, the less people will be interested and the less they will be willing to pay. You could possibly get a bit more if you didn't mind doing the jobs on their day though.

I hope this helps :)
 
Does your vet have zone days when you don't have a call out fee? If not you could suggest it, or shop around other vets in your area. When I was time rich, and correspondingly money poor, I used to take the pony to the vet and have the vaccination done in the trailer. About 45 min time saved £30.
 
Sounds like you need to earn more money on the side (I assume you are working anyway..?)

Would it be possible to get some extra part-time work - in a pub, cleaning, a bit of gardening etc.?

When I got made redundant I was really scared as I thought there wasn't much out there and I had my rent and horses to pay for.... but when I asked around lots of people wanted house and garden help.

Another option - is there anyone on your yard struggling for time that would pay you to do their horse for them?
 
maybe try working livery

will only work if in a riding school though.

ask Yo if they will consider using her for certain lessons and a certain amount of lessons per week so you can not pay livery costs
as if you can include her feed and turn out in the agreement. may save a lot of money. one of my friends did it last year. she was paying £35 a week DIY plus all the extras like feed hay and so on. she asked her YO if they could use her and settled on 5 lessons a week and they would feed and turn out for her every day (so part livery) they used her during weekdays and left her free for weekends so that my friend could still ride her.
may be worth thinking about.

or a sharer maybe the only other option. xxx
 
Sorry to read about your situation. I'd be frantic if I was looking at having to sell my pony due to money.

Sounds like your doing what you can in terms of keeping her costs down but is there any way you could make savings in other areas of your life.

I found i was spending £15 a week on lunch at work (going out and buying a sandwich etc) but instead I drew £15 on a Sunday and went and bought rolls and cheap filling to make my own for the week ahead. I put what i didn't spend in a jar - I was amazed to find I was saving nearly £40 a month. It actually became a big of a personal challenge to see how little i could spend and after 3 months doing this and I'd paid the ponies insurance. Don't get me wrong, I was a bit fed up of jam rolls for lunch but was well worth it.

My mum was struggling to pay for the dogs insurance so did a similar thing but stopped buying newspapers (£1 a day). She was saving £6 a week and £180 in 6 months = dog insurance paid. She misses her paper but has great peace of mind regards to vet bills etc.

I
 
As others have said, cut back/down on everything. Having a stressed owner is not going to be helping her never mind you!

Think what you absolutely NEED for her:

Farrier - trim, no shoes.
Field - turnout rug
Dentist - once a year
Injections - once a year
Insurance - at least public liability
Forage - in winter

As others have said, try for a sharer. Believe it or not, some people just want to look after a horse, they don't want to ride :)

Note: I keep four horses out 24/7/365. They have stables, but only come in to eat and in the case of two of them to remind them of their manners :o. We have:
An aged, arthritic lad;
A slightly wonky DWB;
A dingbat IDxTB who we will BS and ODE from the field;
A slightly wonky but improving due to being out Trad cob.
 
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MrsMozart said:
As others have said, cut back/down on everything. Having a stressed owner is not going to be helping her never mind you!

Think what you absolutely NEED for her:

Farrier - trim, no shoes.
Field - turnout rug
Dentist - once a year
Injections - once a year
Insurance - at least public liability

As others have said, try for a sharer. Believe it or not, some people just want to look after a horse, they don't want to ride :)
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agree with this too

...
if you register with BHS as a member you get free public liability.
as for injections etc try get them to come out while other people need them too.
so if the vet is coming to someone on yard to do vacs or whatever get them to do yours too and split call out between you.
same with farrier if you can remove shoes and just get a trim.
shop around for insurance and always make sure they are not crap E&L avoid like the plague !! i found from shopping around for insurance i saved over £200 a year.
also try finding cheaper feed from different stores (give them a ring around and ask about prices) i use D&H mare and youngstock 1 shop charged me £12.85 per sack and the shop i get it from now sells it at £9.25 doesnt sound alot but it all in all saves me about £12 every time i buy. and every penny counts and that £12 i saved can buy me another bag of feed and change for pack up xxx
 
Minxie said:
Sorry to read about your situation. I'd be frantic if I was looking at having to sell my pony due to money.

Sounds like your doing what you can in terms of keeping her costs down but is there any way you could make savings in other areas of your life.

I found i was spending £15 a week on lunch at work (going out and buying a sandwich etc) but instead I drew £15 on a Sunday and went and bought rolls and cheap filling to make my own for the week ahead. I put what i didn't spend in a jar - I was amazed to find I was saving nearly £40 a month. It actually became a big of a personal challenge to see how little i could spend and after 3 months doing this and I'd paid the ponies insurance. Don't get me wrong, I was a bit fed up of jam rolls for lunch but was well worth it.

My mum was struggling to pay for the dogs insurance so did a similar thing but stopped buying newspapers (£1 a day). She was saving £6 a week and £180 in 6 months = dog insurance paid. She misses her paper but has great peace of mind regards to vet bills etc.

I
Click to expand...

This is a fab idea. If you can save money elsewhere in your life, you may find finances a little easier. Not horsey, but a brilliant web-site for saving money...........
www.moneysavingexpert.com
 
Re: the public liability insurance, you may well find that you are already covered on your household policy, so check this before forking out. Also the BSJA associate membership is £30 and includes public liability, so a chunk cheaper than the BHS.

I'd ditto the others on cutting costs by leaving out, removing shoes etc.
 
I'll ditto what the others say but add that last winter mine cost me thousands (literally) as there was snow and I was feeding 7 twice a day plus ad lib hay. This winter just adlib big bale haylage and they are fatter, happier etc. I would also try ditching the big supermarkets and shopping locally on a twice weekly basis for fresh stuff, no ready meals or value added products.
 
I have been out of "proper" work now for over 3 months and am currently doing temp work that earns me less in a week than I normally earn in a day. I am single so have no one else to fall back on or help me. I have put my older horse on full loan to a lovely lady at the yard who is looking after him really well. The competition horse and the lorry are now being sold. I have no option - its lose my house or sell my horse - its a no brainer I am afraid. Your situation is not that drastic so I would say to you look at exactly what you are spending and where you can make savings, I changed my horses feed onto a cheaper option and as our hay is very expensive I have reduced my hay and am feeding speedibeet and hi-fi as a replacer the combination of these two actions are saving over £10 a week. I sold a couple of stable rugs which paid for my last farrier visit. I have been poo picking for people on the yard and turned out horses, mucked out etc and people "pay" me in hay, shavings and feed.
When I have work I always take my lunch with me and am living on homemade stews, soups and caseroles which are filling, healthy and cheap. I have become and expert shopper, buying bogofs, scouring the reduced section in the supermarket, I desperately needed new socks last week, they were £3 or £3.50 for 3 pairs but there were some half price at £1.50 - I bought the reduced ones - I bought also 3 500g packs of lean mince - they were 30p each, they were out of date that day - one made a 3 cottage pies (plenty of veg added!) that will feed me for 6 days, the other 2 packs went in the freezer. My point is that you need to look at all your outgoings not just those that relate to your pony - every time I spend money I stop and ask myself - do I really need this and if I do is there a cheaper option. Good luck, I am sure you will sort it all out, at least spring is just around the corner, things will be cheaper than anyway.
 
Thank you to everyone for your supportive comments :D. Ok, I am on a small diy yard the YO horses and 3 other liveries. I share the chores with 1 other livery so I only go up once daily. I work shift work so is difficult to get a second job as my hours are varied so would only be able to do it on a Sunday :(. I have made cut backs and do not even go to the gym anymore and can't remember the last time I brought something for myself :p. I have thought about loosing her shoes or at least the back 1's but due to her injury we can only hack really so she does need her shoes on :(. The day the vet came was a zone day but still cost £20 for call out :eek:. Maybe I will shop around and see if I can get a free call out with another practice! I will also ship around for her insurance when that is due for renewal in July.
My costs are:
Livery £110 pcm.
Shoes £64 every 7 weeks.
Feed spillers lite and hi fi £40 lasts 8 weeks.
She is in nov - march I deep litter the bed so only put a new bale in every 4-6 weeks £8.
Hay 2 sections at night none in field £20 for the month.
My costs extra for bringing her in is £30 a month but suppose if she was out would still need hay so is not costing much more. She is a stress head and will fence walk at coming in time :mad:
Maybe I will give the sharer a bit more thought.

Thank you again xx
 
are you sure you need the dentist and the backman? they are very modern ideas. I've kept horses for over 40 years and sucessfully competed at county level and long distancce endurance. i dont use either, i get the vet to check teeth at annual vaccinatio time,rarely is anything necessary to be done. i've never had a physio or alternative type of stuff either.
 
Hi, so sorry to hear that you are struggling, Im in a similar boat, so seeing all the replies you have had is helpful to me too!!
I agree that money saving expert is a fab site, and that if you make a saving in one aspect of your life it has a knock on effect in other areas.
I no longer buy H&H every week (£2.40 a week= £124.80 a year) have cut down the insurance on both my girls to just grass kept, but kept my 5k vet fee, saved £150 on Melly this year!
Hope that some of these tips help x
 
You might also want to look at vaccinations. The horse flu jab is really ineffective due to the high viral mutation rate (ask your vet). The tetanus antitoxin is a more difficult one as if infected they are unlikely to recover. My vet has treated 2 cases in 10 years but has offered to sell me the vials to do myself (I'm too much of a wimp)
 
Hi!

Winter is a hard season... christmas damages the pocket!! and having a horse doesn't help.

Wow your vet bill is big!! was that just for vaccinations? mine gets done in december and the bill was £37, i done it on a monday when our vets do free call out in my area. I would look for a new vet!! wouldn't help you much this year but maybe something to think about for next year.

Would she go to 8 weeks for new shoes? mine gets done every 6 weeks but when I find money tight he can push to 7/8weeks.

I also have to pay for someone to bring my boy in, if he is left out past 2pm in the winter he gets very stressy. Maybe talk to the person bringing your horse in to reduce costs? I pay £1.50 for him to just get his feet hosed and chucked in his stable, it would've cost £3.00 for his feet to get picked, rugs changed, fed etc. instead I drive past after work or ask my friend.

Good luck!!! summer is only round the corner
 
I'm also having to keep to a tight budget at the moment. I now feed straights rather than mixes and the horses look just as good and it's about 25% less money. I've had the shoes taken off one of the horses and if they need anything, I ebay it. Infact I needed a new yard coat for me and I've just won one on ebay for £2.20 +p&p. I agree with everyone who's said look for savings in all areas, not just the horses. It might be worth trying your horse with front shoes only as that saving would add up quite quickly.
 
Could you maybe think about taking her shoes off and then investing in some hoof boots for the transition period? Once she becomes less footy (which she will, with the help of a good farrier) you could sell them again to recoup some of the money. Don't totally discount the idea of going without shoes - I've got a wimpy giant warmblood who used to have the most shocking feet - now he hacks out happily on all surfaces, including a fair bit of roadwork. And his feet have never looked better. Saves me a fortune compared to what my friends pay for shoes.
 
Your feed sounds a bit expensive, it's probably worth ringing a feed helpline and seeing what they suggest. When I did Trailblazers finals there was a Spillers feed person there who asked lots of questinos about type of work she was in etc, and weighed her and gave their recommendations. She only needs 2 small scoops of feed x 2 per day. This costs me about £26 every approx 6 - 8 weeks.

My horse had all 4 shoes on but when I bought her after having her on loan took her back shoes off and she copes well. Just give it some time for the hooves to grow once taken off. The only time she's needed them back on in 5 yrs was last summer with it being so dry, then took them off again in winter. Speak to your farrier, they should give you an honest opinion. My horses feet aren't that brilliant as she's an appaloosa but her back feet adjusted well.

Do you have transport? I took my horse to vets when her last vaccination was due as this was cheaper than calling them out to my yard.

I also usually have a sharer. This gives me around £100 a month. I'm quite fussy and I don't want people jumping her as she's tricky to jump and can get into the habit of dirty stops. I've had sharers who havn't worked well, but equally those that have worked very well, been about my age and have just wanted to hack or plod about in the school. As there's other people on your yard they could keep an eye on them. I usually go down for at least the first week with the person so they know how I do things and get them to sign an agreement. The extra money really helps and it gives me chance to spend some time with my partner. Only thing is you can't bank on having a sharer. I would give it a try.
 
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yes... the recession has effected me, my husband and our horses badly, and we are struggling with everything! so similar to you. We for the last 2 years have had to stop competing our horses full stop, shoes have been taken off and they now havent had any on for two years, hard feed we had to change over to a cheap brand, havent had horse dentist/back man out to them for two years... before this big hit in the climate they were done every 12 months, so not overly worried that they havent been done recently, because they are well and healthy, and this is a way of making sure we dont sell them (which isnt even a option) they have a home for life. They have had to be turned out 24/7. Nothing as in new tack has been bought for the last 2 years. They havent had vaccinations either for the last two years to save on costs, and they really are very well.

Like others we also had to stop buying the daily news paper and horse and hound magazine, hubby now makes all his pack lunches for work, we are lucky that my hubby is able to fix any mechanical problems on the cars, so we dont have the expense of the garage. We now cant even go out in the car to visit the shops or friends, fuel is now solely for work only. Yes I have turned into a fat telly watcher.... but we have had to do all this to keep our horses... life for us at the moment is awful, i find trying to get out of bed every day a struggle to face the day, husband even had to move away for a year to get work and we eneded up living in a caravan just so we could be together. All food bought is always the supermarkets own brands, you soon learn to adjust to the taste!!!

You are not the only one and i really do know how you feel, but you HAVE to find ways of cutting costs, take shoes off and stop hacking for a while and do more ground work/playing games with your pony..... anything to keep your pony you must, not find excuses why to keep things as they are... it's driving me nuts not being able to ride mine, but this is the only way at the moment, until this god awful country gets things sorted.... so no time soon then!!!!

me and hubby have spoke about kids.... but we cannot afford to have them,so when you see all these people on benifits popping them out left right and centre, and getting new T.V's and sofa's me and OH feel rubbish, all because we have choosen to work and that we wanted a bit more from life!!!!
 
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Horsesforever1 said:
are you sure you need the dentist and the backman? they are very modern ideas. I've kept horses for over 40 years and sucessfully competed at county level and long distancce endurance. i dont use either, i get the vet to check teeth at annual vaccinatio time,rarely is anything necessary to be done. i've never had a physio or alternative type of stuff either.
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I think I can stretch the back man as I have her saddle checked every 6 months and all is fine! The dentist came about 9 months ago and said she's got a loose tooth but didn't want to remove it as will cause problems for other teeth! He rasped it down and told me to not leave it ant longer than 6 months to get him out. It's been 9 months I feel like a terrible owner :(.
 
your feed bill sounds a bit steep

to give you an idea;;; my horse is on chaff thats £5 a bag that lasts 3 months.

i have added pink powder (my choice and nuts again my choice) both she dosent 100% need but she gets.

my livery etc is expensive but my feed costs me nothing so mabey look at that??

a sharer would help, im getting one just to purely hack my horse nothing else - and im very fussy about who i let on my horse so as long as you have a contract/rules then it sholud be ok :)

good luck :)
 
Your livery is relatively expensive. Is there any chance you can rent or share a field instead? Put a notice up at feed/tack shops and see if you get any replies near you.
As for the dental tech and loose tooth - he cant legally remove it anyway so I wouldnt have him back! Teeth-wise Id keep an eye on how shes doing, how shes eating etc if you really are titght on cash and gt dentist/vet as requird. Prevention is definitely better than cure but as long as she doesnt suffer it looks like you may be going to have to wait and see.
I second those who say take off shoes - hinds at the very least. Most horses (certainly pony type) can at least manage to go without behind and continue to hack without poblems. just avoiding the stoniest of areas. and yes, Id get a sharer too - many just want to hak out which would suit your girl grand. Good luck.
 
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