Uh oh! Cost of my horse is spiralling out of Control!

[Honey08]

Poor you. That is a lot.

Some TBs just take a lot of keeping weight on - had one in the past, and had DIYs with them, and honestly I avoid them like the plague for that reason! I now have three good doing ISHs that, combined, eat less than yours a month, yet still event and compete.

From your photos he looks well on what you feed him. You could speak to a nutritionalist to see if they can think of any way of changing his feed and saving a bit.

I think your main costs are the following...
1. The lorry - would it be an idea to change to a trailer instead?
2. Your physio/teeth/saddlerseem to come far more than you need. Add a few months onto each one. The horse would be fine.
3. Competing. Try and cut one competition out each month/6wks. find the most local ones.

Other ideas -
Are you on shavings or straw? We changed to straw from shavings and saved an unbelievable amount.

How is he clipped? I've had loads of DIYs that complained about how much they had to feed their horse to keep weight on. All of them were fully clipped out and not doing that much work. Unless you have a very hot horse (which you don't if he needs so much feed!) or are eventing or hunting a lot, they don't really need full clips. Go down one clip next time - ie, from full/hunter to blanket.. Let him keep warm himself without calories.

Do you have lots of lessons? Could you make them alternate weeks or less frequent?

How is he insured? Could you lower his value on your insurance? You would still get vets fees, which is the main issue. I've put my £7k horse at £4k to make it cheaper...

 

[JVB]

I've got a 20yr old TB and although I don't compete him he costs me nowhere near that much.

He has his teeth done once a year, is fed adlib haylage, hard feed is unmolassed chaff with D&H 16+ mix which works out at £20 a month.

DIY is cheap for me at £17 a week including as much hay/haylage as I need.

Feet are barefoot at £40 every 8 weeks, then just wormers and insurance on top.

My other mare costs more as do compete her and insurance is higher but still both of them together is probably about £300 ish a month not including comps and transport, which I tend not to bother with over winter and do fortnightly in summer.

 

[coen]

wow that is pricey. I would say the easiest money saver is to be at a yard where he can stay out 24/7 or at least a lot during the summer. Save a fortune on hay, bed, services ect. This will allow you to continue competing. Also cut your hard feed/supplements down that does seem excessive.
I don't think having back, teeth, saddle checked every 6 months nocks the price up much (its around £40 each per time for me).
In winter when horses cost more to keep you should be able to cut back on competing costs.

 

[suzi]

Hay is so expensive round here, all those who live in Surrey must know how I feel.

I know what you mean about hay in surrey though I think it's quite expensive everywhere at the moment. I think I read that you switched to haylage - is that right? How much are you paying? I pay £32 - £34 for a large square 4ft (?) bale.

 

[CBFan]

I think you could make your savings as follows.

Cut the balancer and use a general purpose supp - I couldn't believe the cost of a balancer compared to my normal supplement and despite my gelding being on the balancer a month I couldn't see any difference in him, apart from his coat which was most likely down to the linseed oil that the Balancer contained.
change to plain alfa a and reduce amount.
add linseed oil - a glug twice a day should be sufficient.
Use soaked oats or barley rings for condition if nec. also soya bean flakes are good.


My Hay bill came to £85 this month so yours doesn't seem too bad but then my feed bill is probably only about £15 per month - cant be sure as I haven't been to the shop since October! (when I spent about £50 if I remember!!)

Cut out any supplements you don't need.

cut the back man / dentist / saddle fitter visits... that is unless your horse changes shape dramatically between seasons. teeth can be pushed to every 9 months or a year...

if you can't go barefoot alround, remove back shoes.

Maybe cut your outings a little and hack with friends instead?

I was pretty shocked when my hay + straw + livery (£90) came to £185 this month but with everything else on top, my gelding costs me no more than £260 a month I'm sure... but then I don't compete at the moment.

 

[brucea]

I own 4 and it costs me about £450 a month

I rent land and stables - not at a yard. When this lease runs out I will look for a small farm to rent and share with others (there are farms where they can easilly rent the farmhouse but not the land so some deals to be done)

I don't feed any bagged feed and buy hay by the big bale (about 4-5 bales a month.

I do not use shoes - I trim their feet myself. It costs me about £50 a year in rasps and tools.

I don't own a lorry or a trailer. I rent one when I need it. At £50 to rent the cost of ownership just does not add up to a sensible investment. I ddi have a lorry at one point but the cost was scary and impossible to justify.

We're into natural horsemanship - so each one has a saddle, rope halter and some ropes..and a feed bucket. That's it.

Rugs get mended and cleaned - only one wears rugs, the rest grow their own.

My biggest bugbear at the moment is insurance - so in 1 month we are going to move to the minimal policy, and putting the money we were paying aside into an emergency fund. It is calles self-insurance.

It can be done - but the whole horse world has to wise up and stop seeing us owners as bottomless pits of money. Killing the golden goose is easy!

 

[patchandloopy]

Ok maybe im lucky, but my horse is a TB is rising 16 and is fed haylage which costs me £5 a bale (shared) a week so £20 a month on haylage,

hi fi one bag lasts 6wks- 8wks, cool mix one bag lasts 4-6 wkss and is merchant made so dirt cheap - £6.80, so roughly £20 a month on feed.

I mix shavings and straw. 5 shavings and 10 straw = £50 and has lasted me 2 months - I full muck out as it needs or every week.

He is fully clipped and in full work and only has an underrug and HW rug on.

So a month my horse costs me - £65 on feed, hay and bedding then £100 on livery, £65 on shoes but thats every 7 weeks. About £250 on a bad month, £165 on a good month...minus competition fees.

His back is good enough to be done every year now used to be every 6 months. Saddle isnt checked I do a rough check myself (had horses for 17yrs) and if hes changed shape I put a prolite pad on he will only change back to what he was before - unless a youngster of course. Teeth every 8 months - £35 a go.

Good quality hay, a good chaff with sugarbeet and barley should be plenty for a horse to stay with weight.

Remember a hot horse will not keep weight on either so check he isnt too hot. I say its better a little cold than a little hot.

 

[Firewell]

Thanks everyone!

Some useful ideas.

The haylage we are buying is £38 a big square bale, even trying to find that was like searching for hens teeth!

He has a high chaser clip which seems to suit.

Feed I'm going to cut down tomorrow! He's just started going out in a field with a lot of grass so nows a good time . I'm going to cut the Alfa Oil in half leave the rest the same for now. Then when the bag runs out I will get normal Alfa and do the linseed idea. When the low cal runs out I'm going to swap him to pink powder . So he will then be on a heaped scoop of bog standard Alfa, scoop of kwik beet, linseed oil and pink powder twice a day so will see how he goes on that . I don't like feeding cereals as they made my last horse poorly and even my Vet says Alfa, Oil and beet is a brilliant source of slow release energy for horses in work or who need condition.

Competing Im going to plan to take my trailer test as we have a 4x4 and even though I'm not a big fan of trailers I can borrow a friends trailer for practically free and use the lorry for shows further away.

If I can save £100 a month that's an extra 2 shows or a lesson and a show or I can save the money (which is what I should do )

Thanks

 

[dooble]

Scary post, thought about adding mine up, but then thought better of it!

 

[ChasingTheDream]

I spend less that half of that!

DIY livery - £100 per month, which includes haylage.
During the winter months I pay £30 per month extra for a private paddock
Feed - Alfa-a (£10 a bag), Stud balancer (£17.50 a bag), Fibre nuts(£8 a bag) - feed lasts 6 weeks.
Shoeing - a trim every 8 weeks at £15

Thats it, obviously theres bits and bobs, but overall, my tb is quite easy to keep.

need to book a farrier appointment though

 

[CambridgeParamour]

Woah thats a lot! I spend about that much on my 3 a month. I would cut out on all 'branded' feed, my stallion and chubby mare are on readi grass, nothing else, and my 'poor doer' oldenburg has the feed shop brand cubes (£5.00 for 25kg) and hi-fi original,with readi-grass to bulk it up.

As for the teeth/saddle/back, mine all get done once a year (with the exception of one, who has to have physio every 3 months) and they're just fine.

At the moment my stallion and mare don't have shoes- only during the months when competing on grass. This time around, it was £60 for the farrier to see all 3 of mine.

A straw bed would cut costs mine are on a cheaper brand of hunter woodchip), also selling any rugs/tack ect that you dont use would be a step in the right direction. Competing once or twice a month instead saves quite a bit also.

 

[xspiralx]

I can't really add anything new so to speak, only my experiences.

I've owned and looked after quite a few full tbs in the past so I do feel your pain about the feed, but I think if anything, you are just being far too *good* to him!

I truly don't believe it is necessary to have back man, dentist and saddler out that often - I would say once a year and only more often if there is reason to believe there is a problem.

Likewise with feed/supplements - obviously you want to keep him in good health, but does he really need such an expensive combination of feed? As others have said I would cut the Alfa Oil right right down or out and try him on a simple diet of conditioning cubes and balancer - or something like that. Second the idea to get advice from a nutritionist! Obviously if he drops off then you may need to consider, but there is no point spending a fortune on things that don't actually make a difference, and I know lots of TBs who do totally fine on just simple feeds without loads of supplements and balancers.

Shoe wise, perhaps take his back shoes off and look for a farrier who charges a bit less. I ride a tb at the moment who only has front shoes and happily hacks out over all terrain.

Those are the main things really - you clearly want the best for your horse, which is great - but I don't think it is necessary to spend that much money to keep him healthy and happy

ets - FWIW the last time I kept a poor doing TB in winter I think it cost about £220 a month. That was £160 for livery inc hay and straw, £25 a month for shoes [£50 per 8 wks], about £20 for feed and a bit for insurance. He did pretty well on it!

 

[kirstyl]

I started adding up - and then stopped! I do agree with you about having regular visits from back person, dentist etc. I have found that young (ish!) TBs teeth often grow rapidly and also, if they have been in racing, their teeth may have not been particularly well looked after. My 8yr TB gelding is having his teeth done every 4 - 5 months at the mo, and hopefully will be able to have them done less frequently. My current horse has McTimoney person to see him every 6 months or so, my previous TB needed him much more often as he was capable of tweaking himself lots. I am lucky in that my McTomoney person also checks the fit of my saddle so don't have to pay for independent person to come.
Have to say that your 3 bags of Alpha A oil sounds a huge amount! Mine is fed Spillers H + P cubes, an £8 bag lasts about 10-12 days, Alpha A and Spedibeet. My Alpha A lasts well over a month. He is also fed ad lib good quality haylage. Until recently I did feed him Pink Powder, but he is such a messy eater that I started to wonder how much was actually going down him so when last pot finished I haven't bought more and am going to see how he does without it!
Straw on rubber matting is proving to be a good option for me. I pay £160 a month including haylage and straw. But i'm 'up north' and you're 'down south'!!!
If you are enjoying having him, and can afford it, where's the problem? My horse costs a large part of my wage, but I'm not a big shopper and haven't been abroad for nearly 15 years. I wouldn't be without him!

 

[Brambridge04]

Not necessarily better off with a native,

My 5 year old NF mare goes through a bag of Alfa a chaff a month, and a bag off grassnuts a month (i normally have run out of grass nuts but have a3 or 4 scoops of the chaff left by the time i buy more) and is out with 1 other mare and there is a bale and half of hay put out for them each day, She is now looking fab.

Her diet is pure fibre and protein, on DIY grass livery at £85 a month (hay included, £60 in summer) £22 a month feed, £25 trim every 6-8 weeks, saddler and dentist once a year at £45 each....

HOWEVER the NF gelding in the next field, is worked the same amount, wormed (and had worm check / teeth done etc..) and goes through 2 bales of hay a day alone, with a feed of 1xscoop conditioning mix, 1 and 1/2x scoop alfa a chaff and 1xscoop calm and condition, twice a day....and is very very ribby and bony, pics of him a couple of years ago show a very different picture of him!

 

[Wolfie]

Move him to full livery, as the food and bedding will be included in cost of livery so it might actually save you a few quid!

 

[angrovestud]

We run a stud and have 3 TB broddmares working in foal due April 1 yearling filly and a 3 year old filly, a 16.3hh stallion 3/4 tb and a tbx pony broodmare so we have 7 horses our haylage costs are £27 a bale which lasts 4 days so say 2 bales a week in winter Dec to march begining £648
we use graze on for the lactating or pregnant mares and the stallion we use 1 bag every 2 weeks. £7.35
we also buy our feed a ton at a time at costs £238 X 40 bags @25KG it lasts 4 months in the winter £59.50 per month divided by 7 horses
we also use a bag off chaff for pony broodmare and youngsters with the sugar beet £5.35 every two weeks.
straw is £300 a year or 35 big bales deep littler beds
we then buy speedybeet @ 18.00 or two bags lasts 1 month
so our grand total on per month 7 horses haylage & feed +straw is £420.72 our winter costs.
I think you should get together wth the rest of your yard and buy in bulk its the only way to get your costs down good luck

 

[littlescallywag]

i know of a few people who feed thier hard to keep weight on tb's Allen & Page Fast fibre , its only £8 a bag and is great , its also a hay replacer.

some of the horses have had thier best winter ever on this

 

[zipzap]

ok, I've had horses for over 40 years and have seen a massive industry build up which isnt often necessary but plays on our anxiousness and guilt. why do you have the horses teeth back and saddle looked at every 6 months?


Hi, mailnly ditto the above - I've had to learn to be a serious economist in keeping the bills as low as poss but please be aware that several insurance companies stipulate that an ANNUAL visit from horse dentist as well as annual vaccination is a requirement. Just worth checking if you don't want to be caught out if you ever have to claim.

I try to buy in bulk & make the most of discounts on bedding - those wood pellets save me a fortune and have only fed economy/own brands of pony nuts and hi-fi for several years now, my horse & my 2 kids' ponies thriving on it. Wouldn't dream of splashing out on supplements; those days are well behind me!

One of the ways I've reduced my overheads recently is to phone round the horse insurers and get a very basic cover (death/theft/vets - with £500 excess, max £3k per incident) I know that amt of vet cover is fairly modest and I acknowledge that I may come unstuck if I had to fork out for a colic surgery or similar - heaven forbid!!! I have arranged for 3rd party and personal accident insurance thru the BHS gold membership. All this has lopped about £60 per month off my horse insurance bill. This has immediately been absorbed by the current increased hay prices but I'm just trying to be clever with the spending & do what I can to keep going!

Hope this & other answers to your post help you a bit x

 

[juliette]

My cob was losing weight and on expensive feed, on the advice of a friend who had a TB in the past I changed to :

1. Horse and pony mix £5.79 per sack
2. Conditioning cubes - cheap brand approx £11 per sack
3. Alfa A oil
4. Garlic
5. Speedibeet - approx £10 per sack

I've cut out all the supplements etc he has put on weight and is really enjoying his feed. I'd take the feed back to basics as it will save you a fortune.

 

[myfatpony]

cut back on the supplements, you'll save loads, just stick to the essentials. and ( i dont want to sound cruel) but i wouldnt bother with the teeth checking every 6 months, only if you notice a change her teeth would i get the dentist out e.g uncomfortable with a bit in.

 

[madeleine1]

mines a sport horse (i no its not as bad as tb but still).

she costs me £50 a weeks part livery- includes everything but teeth, back, feet and riding.

teeth once a year
back only if there is a problem and farrier does check to a certain extent
shoes every 8 weeks at £55

hack to competitions or share with friends for £5 or £10 petrol

i think you could get more expensive livery and it cost you less then your feed does now.

 

[CobSunshine]

should have got a cob...



oh wait wrong post!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

should have got a cob...



oh wait wrong post!

<like>

 

[christi]

I have a gypsy cob , kept at home ,

this is what i feed over our 6 months of winter is .

2 bag high fibre cubes.
1 bag of top spec chop lite
add lib hay .

 

[Chellebean]

QR

not sure if this has been said already but what about a yard where haylage and bedding is included in the livery bill?

My DIY is £36 a week but that includes ad lib haylage and straw! so it helps cuts my costs down quite well

 

[CobSunshine]

I have a gypsy cob , kept at home ,

this is what i feed over our 6 months of winter is .

2 bag high fibre cubes.
1 bag of top spec chop lite
add lib hay .

Cost of welsh cob

£40 per month grazed out
£20 per month horsehage highfibre + mollichaff hoofkind
£10 per month hoof trim (£20 every 8 weeks)

£70 a month :- O

 

[christi]

Cost of welsh cob

£40 per month grazed out
£20 per month horsehage highfibre + mollichaff hoofkind
£10 per month hoof trim (£20 every 8 weeks)

£70 a month :- O

 

[sam4321]

I would simplify the hard feed and just go for the lo cal balancer and linseed, which is very high in fat and is absolutely magic at putting weight on horses.

Even if you are paying a lot for hay, alfalfa is a much more expensive way of getting forage into him so i would probably cut that out.

Will your yard let you get your own forage?, even if you hired a van, and drove further to get cheaper hay, it would probably still save you a lot. Its only 2.50 in suffolk!!

are you needing to cut down the cost because you cant afford it or becuase you just think its high. If you can afford it then i wouldnt cut out the competing, but if you cant afford it, surely that sould be the first thing to go, as your horse will still be there for when you can afford to start competing again

 

[letrec_fan]

Sorry if repeating this but I can't believe you get through a whole bag of kwik beet a month. In past winters with my TB, one bag of speedibeet (same size bag I think?) lasted forever, about two months! You must be feeding him a heck of a lot to get through this amount, I would consider cutting down if you can.

 

[Chellebean]

Sorry if repeating this but I can't believe you get through a whole bag of kwik beet a month. In past winters with my TB, one bag of speedibeet (same size bag I think?) lasted forever, about two months! You must be feeding him a heck of a lot to get through this amount, I would consider cutting down if you can.

That's the same with my Alpha A Oil tbh