Student needs livery advice . . .

[SchmokieDragon]

sorry if this is the wrong sub-forum, but here I go . . .

I am 18, and going off to university in York in October. I have two horses that my parents have recently decided that they can't afford for much longer. One has Navicular disease and the other is "stubborn and ingenuine" and at the moment, completly unsuitable for the Pony Club and general competition needs of my younger sisters. My father has never been the horsey sort, and my mother despirately wants a something that is well schooled and competent at SJ/hunter trials.

Well, despite their flaws, I love both my beasties dearly and I am refusing to part with them, especialy that parting with the gelding (the one with Navicular) likely means sending him off to be shot. So I am planning to take them off my parents' hands . . . but what can I do on a student loan?

Anyone here kept horses on a buget? Any handy tips for keeping costs down? Help needed

 

[lizzie_liz]

It depends on how much student loan you are entitled too and how much extra money you have and how much your accomodation will be.
For example I am entitled to the minimum loan which only barely covers my accomodation and there would be no way i can afford one horse let alone 2.
Also remember that the horses will take up alot of time and you need to enjoy yourself at uni, saying that i would love to have my horse with me but thats not going to happen.

 

[SchmokieDragon]

[ QUOTE ]
It depends on how much student loan you are entitled too and how much extra money you have and how much your accomodation will be.
For example I am entitled to the minimum loan which only barely covers my accomodation and there would be no way i can afford one horse let alone 2.
Also remember that the horses will take up alot of time and you need to enjoy yourself at uni, saying that i would love to have my horse with me but thats not going to happen.

[/ QUOTE ]

I won't be getting financial support from my parents, and I don't get any extra loan as my parents earn well. So it will be the bare minimum.

I know this isn't going to be easy, but I can't let my babies go. King will probably be put down (as he costs a lot to keep sound and is often lame despite treatment) and Ebby is a nightmare, so will probably not go to a good home and might also find herself being put down. I have faith in both of them, something my parents lack, and am determined that I should keep them, even if it will be very cheap grass livery or as companion ponies.

 

[Paint it Lucky]

Hi i keep my horse near uni on a livery yard on DIY, it is a lot of work and i do have to work part time to pay for it but of course it's worth it! Maybe you could find a field to rent nearby that won't cost to much or do grass livery, my uni's up north of Nottingham in the country and i find everything is much cheaper there so hopefully way up near york should be cheaper than down south too. Prehaps you could offer to work part time at the yard where you keep them, in retrun the owner may do they for you sometimes so you can still go out and have fun, although you won't be able to go clubbing as much as everyone else with horses to look after, it's way too tiring having to get up early when you've been up all night dancing and hardly had any sleep! But hey i'm sure you'll find a way to cope.

 

[lizzie_liz]

I will warn you now then you will struggle, i know someone who has had to redo 2nd year for the 3rd time as she had to work to pay for her horse at uni, as well as get her uni work done.
Sorry I don't sound very positive but just want to warn you before you start.

 

[Paint it Lucky]

i hope you don't have to put them down! I'm sure someone would want Ebby, maybe she'd suit another discipline like endurance, hunting or even happy hacking? For King maybe if you advertise him on loan as a companion? I used to look after a horse who had to be retired due to injury from school work, not sure what his owners (the riding school) would have done about him but luckily i found some people called Ray Of Hope, they're based in Fleet and are a sort of retirement agency who find new homes for old or injured horses. So i told them about this horse and they managed to find him a really nice home with some people nearby, amazingly he came sound after moving away and they really love him, he goes hunting now he's so well. I know this is kind of a fairytale ending but you should contact them, or find someone similar, they were really helpful.

 

[Ginn]

Im at uni in bristol but still live at home 20 ish miles away and keep my horse very cheaply on DIY livery at a friends yard (only 3 horses in total). I find I can easily keep her on £150 a month - have done it on £90 if I really budget and am not having to feed hay. I work around 15hours a week in my local pub and this easily covers what she costs me and allows me to put a little away for other things. Fortunately my parents cover my uni expenses fo me so that helps but I don't have a loan.

Its doable but its not easy, I have a pathetic social life, am constantly tired and have very little time for myself but the pleasure and relaxation my girl offers me is all worth it and it helps that she is not in work as she is only just 3!

Could you take your horses off your parents hands but loan/share/get help with them? I know if I had to support 2 then with a loan I could at a stretch but knowing what I have to give up for 1 I wouldn't choose to take on any more and my studies would almost certainly suffer...

 

[rcm_73]

I'm at Uni in my first year and I have 2 horses and 3 kids and I manage (just about)! I keep my horses at a farm for £70 a month each horse plus hay £2 a bale (lovely hay too that he makes himself) and straw (again his own) at £1 a bale. They're on rubber mats so don't get through loads of bedding. They get feed, supplements, wormed every 12 weeks and are both shod on their fronts only as don't have time to ride much at the moment. I don't have a rich partner supplementing my income or get maintenance but I manage although the farmer helps - he brings them in at night if I leave every thing ready and the two days I'm in uni he does full livery and doesn't charge extra which is great and I admit you don't find many like that! But I think you could do it, you would have to refrain from a lot of the social side of uni though and supplement your income with a job. Being 33 the social side of uni doesn't appeal to me anyway! Best of luck to you and your two horses, the only other thing you could possibly try is finding companion homes, easier said than done I know but the Project Horse website may be worth a look if you were going down that road. Good Luck.

 

[ruthsimms]

Wow - I'm really impressed! I have one horse and work full time and I find that a struggle at times! I don't think I could have studied and kept a horse when I was at uni.

Think really carefully about it. Maybe give yourself 3 months to trial it but be prepared to find them new homes if your studies start to suffer.

I hope it works out for you.

 

[SchmokieDragon]

We think we have a solution!

We are going barefoot with both of them. For King, this has a chance to cure his navicular and for Ebby, we hope it will make her calmer and less suspicious, as well as more comfortable with jumping.

We are also getting Ebby trained for a month by a chap who does 'intelligent horsemanship' and we are going bitless with her!

It's all so new and exciting *is happy again*

 

[Sparklet]

I think you need to be realistic - even the cheapest livery yard is going to be beyond your means on a student grant with no other form of support. Doing them DIY is very labour intensive and time consuming which means you are unlikey to have time to do a part time job to supplement your income.

Livery yards also dont tend to be on a bus route so you will need to add some form of transport into the equation.

You might just away with 1 but not 2.

I'm sorry to be harsh but this is your future and you need to be able to focus on your studies rather than running in rings trying to care for two horses. Just my opinion and you are free to ignore it but it is the advice I would give to my daughter.

 

[mad_egg]

[ QUOTE ]
We think we have a solution!

We are going barefoot with both of them. For King, this has a chance to cure his navicular and for Ebby, we hope it will make her calmer and less suspicious, as well as more comfortable with jumping.

We are also getting Ebby trained for a month by a chap who does 'intelligent horsemanship' and we are going bitless with her!

It's all so new and exciting *is happy again*

[/ QUOTE ]

This is slightly worrying to me, as going barefoot is not cheaper at all (if done properly), especially if you expect it to cure navicular, which needs proper remedial shoeing. Going barefoot will in no way at all make her 'less suspicious' or calmer.

Hopefully the intelligent horsemanship bloke is genuine and it will turn out OK, but it will probably cost a lot of money, and IMO you might as well sell him (as he sounds completely unsuitable for your little sister) to someone experienced enough to deal with him.

Going bitless won't solve anything either if Ebby's problems are behavioural.

Sorry to sound so negative, but surely it would be better to sell the horse with behavioural issues to someone experienced and your parents to get a genuine all-rounder that you can ride when you go home over the holidays?