Urgent help needed!!!

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Love2ride

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I will apologise now as this will be very long.
Ok so I need figures and fast as my favourite riding school horse is possibly going to be sold by tomorrow afternoon so some facts, answers and realistic figures much appreciated as I need to decide by the morning :o . Basically can I afford him? :confused:
Facts:
1. Horse costs £3,500 :eek:
2. DIY livery £38.00 per week
3. Hay ~£6.00 per bale
4. Straw bedding (may see if I could find other alternative if it is cheaper??)
5. Will live out all weathers
6. Doesn’t currently have hard feed (very good doer)
7. Goes 8 weeks for shoeing
8. At the riding school where I work so know owners, staff and liveries
9. Not far from home
10. Have ridden him for ~2 years so know how he behaves
11. Can handle him with ease
12. May be able to save a bit on livery if I let them use him for hacks
13. Both me and my mum can ride him
Downsides: :(
1. Only my mums income and my £25-£30 per week
2. Because of my college situation (may or may not go back depends if I can find a job over summer) may be £3k down come September
3. Nearly finished my driving lessons so would be looking for a car/sharing my mums car (huge insurance costs)
Questions
1. Worming: how much (£) and how often
2. Insurance costs for a 15.3hh cob (all-rounder)
3.Vets fees
4.Farrier
Feel free to add anything I have missed. We think it would be around £100 per week on average may be less in summer and more in winter. If you got through that have some red wine/tea and cake. :D
 
Love2ride said:
I will apologise now as this will be very long.
Ok so I need figures and fast as my favourite riding school horse is possibly going to be sold by tomorrow afternoon so some facts, answers and realistic figures much appreciated as I need to decide by the morning :o . Basically can I afford him? :confused:
Facts:
1. Horse costs £3,500 :eek:
2. DIY livery £38.00 per week
3. Hay ~£6.00 per bale
4. Straw bedding (may see if I could find other alternative if it is cheaper??)
5. Will live out all weathers
6. Doesn’t currently have hard feed (very good doer)
7. Goes 8 weeks for shoeing
8. At the riding school where I work so know owners, staff and liveries
9. Not far from home
10. Have ridden him for ~2 years so know how he behaves
11. Can handle him with ease
12. May be able to save a bit on livery if I let them use him for hacks
13. Both me and my mum can ride him
Downsides: :(
1. Only my mums income and my £25-£30 per week
2. Because of my college situation (may or may not go back depends if I can find a job over summer) may be £3k down come September
3. Nearly finished my driving lessons so would be looking for a car/sharing my mums car (huge insurance costs)
Questions
1. Worming: how much (£) and how often
2. Insurance costs for a 15.3hh cob (all-rounder)
3.Vets fees
4.Farrier
Feel free to add anything I have missed. We think it would be around £100 per week on average may be less in summer and more in winter. If you got through that have some red wine/tea and cake. :D
Click to expand...

By the looks of it no you cannot afford the horse. Sorry to be blunt.
 
A lot of riding schools do working livery if horses are used in the school - this would bring costs down if it was n option - downside is how much he is being used ?
 
It depends how much your mum is happy to contribute. If she is going to be funding most of the horse, and can afford it, then you haven't got a problem.

I was quite shocked at the cost of DIY livery and hay. The most I have seen DIY is £30, at a reputable livery yard and riding school, and straw was included in that cost.

And hay at £6 a bale? Blimey!
 
if he lives out all weather then why do you need bedding?

but overalll it does sound unaffordable, realistically.

could the price be negotiated?

how good-a-doer is he?
 
My rule of thumb is if you have to seriously break costs down, you may be able to afford but you're closer to not being able to. That's OK for a car, but not a horse.

Have you factored insurance in?

Could you loan the horse instead? Many people don't want to lose ownership of riding school horses anyway.

I'm currently doing the "adding up" game for daughters 2nd pony. Whilst I'm still counting the pennies, I'll save up instead.

Sorry probably not the reply you want, but I'm an accountant and the glass is always half empty with us!

Good luck in whatever you decide xxx
 
MrsElle - My mum would fund virtually all of it (I am aware I need to do some serious job hunting) and I would be willing to find cheaper alternatives.
LRR - I am still paying for a stable as they don't do grass livery so bedding would be limited even though its not essential, don't know if they would negotiate, and he practically lives on fresh air :)
Arrgh my heart is ruling my head :(
 
In your position I would be most concerned about whether I could afford a huge vet bill if (heaven forbid) he required surgery that cost more than insurance covered or required ongoing treatment. Also why such a rush? Alarm bells would ring for me if I had only 24 hours to decide whether to buy a horse I had an obvious emotional attachment to.
 
Do you need to keep him at such a pricey yard? And is he actually worth the 3.5k?

It's relative your mum might earn 100,000 k or 10,000k your rent might be cheap or pricey. It depends on what you're other outgoing are.

Don't forget insurance / money saved if not insuring. I don't want to spoil your dreams but it sounds like you feel rushed into buying him- that's not usually a good idea if you aren't sure you can fund him
 
Do you have to keep him at that yard? You can find decent grass livery fairly cheap.

However, have you factored in other costs such as buying rugs, tack, boots, feed and water buckets, storage boxes for all the stuff you need to buy him. Will you be getting him vetted? Do you have the cash to pay a months deposit on your stable? You need to factor in costs for dentist, back person, saddle fitter, vet for vacs and things that you wont be able to claim on your insurance. In the winter would you have spare cash to replace ripped rugs? Or pulled shoes?
 
I know it's all a bit of a mess I just wanted to hear other peoples opinions on things.
If there are other alternatives I would be more than welcome to hear them like loaning, and hes not worth 3.5k at all in my opinion. I just need to be carefull I don't let my heart rule and I've always thought about buying him, its just I've never really sat down and worked out every little cost down to the last nail. That's why I wanted to know about the Insurance and Vets as im well aware horses are self-harmers occasionally :rolleyes: . Sorry if that sounds like im ignoring those who say you cant :o im not or if i come across as rude it was just something that needed to be worked out realistically and if its not meant to be then its not meant to be :)
 
I wouldn't even consider it if the horse isn't worth the money. Sounds like they are deliberately pulling your heart strings

Fact is that if he was useful to the riding school and made them money he wouldn't be being sold so don't bank on them using him for hacks as a way of saving money

Working livery also presents mire problems than it's worth sometimes and you may find he is being worked too hard or being 'borrowed' on his days off

Also don't assume he can stay there, if they are selling him are they planning to replace him? I had to pull out if a sake once when the livery stable owner announced that once the sale had gone through I had two days to get the pony off their property!
 
Just read my post back and I sound ever so harsh I am sorry!

I remember fondly the riding school ponies from my youth but also remember the ones that came after them - there will always be a horse out there for you. Don't feel rushed on YO things - plenty of riding school horses change completely in private homes and not always for the better as they are usually getting less exercise so really sit down and think this through

You can buy an awful lot of horse for £3500
 
WelshD said:
Just read my post back and I sound ever so harsh I am sorry!

I remember fondly the riding school ponies from my youth but also remember the ones that came after them - there will always be a horse out there for you. Don't feel rushed on YO things - plenty of riding school horses change completely in private homes and not always for the better as they are usually getting less exercise so really sit down and think this through

You can buy an awful lot of horse for £3500
Click to expand...

You didn't don't worry I just needed a kick up the rear a bit hey ho we'll get there someday
 
If you do decide to go for it and the sums stack up then get that price down and stick the difference in an account for emergencies!
 
Good advice from Welsh d. Op I feel for you as it's hard to get attached and then the horse be sold but it sounds like they know that. Don't get ripped off or let your heart get you into a position when you get a headache !
 
Seems to me £3.5k is a lot of money for a riding school horse. I do think they are trying to pull on your heart strings. Why didn't they give you more notice?
 
Try offering a much lower price and that way if they don't sell (which they probably won't) they'll take you up on your offer and you won't have spent more than needed :)
 
1, question the price of the horse
2, :( cost of livery!! I pay £14.50 a week for stable,field and use of facilities. £35 is a rip off
3, £6 a bale of hay!! :(

I'm sorry but I agree with others that they are pulling at your heart strings and pushing their luck.
 
if he is going to be sold by tomorrow afternoon does that mean someone else is willing to pay 3.5k? costs aside I don't understand how yourself and your mum are suddenly going to be able to find 3.5k overnight???
 
Only you and your mum know if you can afford it comfortably, but I would certainly look into other yards in your area before you make a decision, because you might find you can get the livery cost down or possibly find grass livery. You can get quotes for insurance on line, a set of 4 shoes is approx £75, and the cost of worming will depend on the worming schedule of the yard you are on. I would also look on the internet at the prices being asked for similar allrounders - I know you have a relationship with this particular horse, but that is no reason to pay massively over the odds for him. Good luck with whatever you decide :)
 
If he's under 10 years old and he's a true all rounder, safe, sane and sensible then he's what many people are looking for so I wouldn't necessarily question the price. Sure you can get a lot more horse for the money but can you get one that's a genuinely safe all rounder? From threads on here it would seem not.

As to whether you can afford it, really it's a question of whether your mum can afford it and I think you need to get all your facts and figures together and put that question to her.
 
But also if he's going to be sold by tomoz afternoon, that must mean they have a buyer? At that price surely a vetting would have been carried out and a deposit put down?
 
You don't mention tack or rugs being included. If they are that can be a big factor in price. I however would question the cost they are asking for the horse. Having been ripped off over a loan horse, (heart strings again) I would be very dubious.
That is also not a good price for livery, and I would say having been on livery at a riding school, if they are busy, you will never get a look in at the facilities.
Which area of the country are you in, people might be able to give you a better idea of reasonable livery costs, and shoeing prices.
 
If it helps I worked out it costs me about £55 a week in the winter for my good doer cob mare including everything but the vets fees (she's not shod tho)
 
Friend has just bought a 9 year old 16h gelding from riding school. He is an all rounder, goes out on own or in company, jumps etc but didnt like schooling so was not really suited to riding school job. He is lovely and she got him for £1500 !!

Not meaning to be harsh but riding schools are struggling at best of times, hedge your bets and offer what you think he is worth... I would also check he will hack on his own etc... You will also prob need tack, even if he comes with it I would get it checked by saddle fitter. Ring round yards and find out more pricing for livery, the costs do spiral though so if you can I would wait or maybe offer to loan him.
 
Hi to be honest i don't have much advice but just wanted to say to you we bought my daughters fave pony from her riding school last year. We kept the pony on working livery in same yard and it turned into a nightmare as she'd go up to ride and quite often they were telling us pony had been used enough and not to ride. They wouldn't let us change to full or diy livery so we moved yards which made very difficult by the yo but thats a whole other story!! We got pony out anyway and are in a fantastic place on diy now. Another prob we had was pony started acting up which we put down to the move but was actually her back hurting. The physio said she sees back probs in lots of rs ponies due to ill fitting tack so if you do go for the pony i'd get fitted for a good saddle like others have said.
Can't comment on prices as i'm in ireland so very different prices over here i've noticed from reading posts on here.
Good luck with whatever you decide. Whats meant for you won't pass you
 
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