US Adventures Part One - Outsider :p

[teapot]

Interesting post, thanks for sharing :biggrin3:

Please tell me you're going to turn up one day in bling, sparkles, matchy matchy et al, just for their 'amusement?' :wink3:

 

[DonkeyClub]

Wow how fascinating!! I just can't get used to the idea of the horses not having ad lib forage, it seems bizarre to me?

They did the same- if not less- when I was in Austrailia- the horses got 2 feeds morning and late afternoon ( scoop of chaff with a scoop of nuts) and only one slice of hay for lunch! That was it& they were kept in sand pens! The horses looked just fine tho. Most bizarre - I can't understand how it works!

 

[BlairandAzria]

I'm really glad to hear this update I was thinking about you the other day wondering how you were getting on! So glad to hear you've settled so well, itsvreally interesting to learn about the differences! When I was in America (teaching horses at camp) the only feed they had was "sweet feed" - ick glad to hear its not all like that at all!

Wishing you the best of luck with your new adventure!

 

[Caol Ila]

Just so you all don't think EVERY barn in the US runs like this....

At barns that aren't posh show barns, boarders will come up and ride their horses every day and have lessons with the trainer once per week, or less, or not at all. You would not be a "crazy English person," at least not for those reasons, if your horse was at any of the barns I have boarded at.

In Colorado, our horses certainly had ad lib forage. They were turned out in dry lots, but enough hay was provided each day to allow them to nibble all day. The ones who were stabled at night were given enough hay to last the night.

Hunter/jumpers may not like bling or other brightly coloured kit. They really don't. When I was at a barn full of them, I'd drive them nuts riding in my tacky saddle pads. But the horse world in the US is big and varied. Can you buy this in the UK?

I don't think so.

 

[TarrSteps]

Generally I would say it's cheaper to keep horses here. A lot of the barns near me are 700-800 dollars pcm for full livery which is 400-500 pounds.

Sorry, but exchange rate conversations always make me roll my eyes a bit. You can't compare on exchange, you have to compare relative to wages, cost of living etc. So pretty much like for like. (This isn't the case for you, personally, as you are still presumably paying your American bills with English wages.) So 800 dollars board is the equivalent of 800 pounds as you are paying the same percentage of your salary. If anything, I'd say having a horse is more expensive most places in North America, not just for the cost of things but for the circumstances, such as the fact that it would be almost impossible to have a horse without having a car in most areas, DIY is not an option etc

 

[madmav]

A gorgeous ray of sunshine have I just read. And pictures. Thank you. Please keep updating us (we will need it to get us through the bleak mid-winter).

 

[Firewell]

I get your poiny Tarrsteps but the exchange rate is applicable for people leaving the UK who's income is supplemented say from the sale or rent of a UK home.
From what I have seen people generally have a much higher standard of living here compared to the UK. It is cheaper no two ways about it. For instance OH's family for 400, 000 USD commutable distance to NYC (40 mins) can afford a detached 5 bedroom house with a pool, double garage, acre garden. In UK commutable to London you would need a million for the same thing. They can also support a family off of one wage, the wage of a policeman because stuff costs less here and the wages are good.
Massive houses in Atlanta, the same size can be bought for 160,000 USD with only 7,000 USD deposit put down.
People generally who work, the middle classes so to speak can afford a higher standard of living than someone in an equal position in the UK can afford.
700-800 USD is the creme de la creme in the most expensive state in America, in one of the most expensive areas to live (santa barbara).
Like I said my friend was paying 295 a month for full livery higher up north and that is still in CA and commutable to San Francisco so I can only dream of what you could pay for livery in more remote parts of the country. You certainly would not get full or part livery in the UK for 295 a month. ..

 

[j1ffy]

Sorry, but exchange rate conversations always make me roll my eyes a bit. You can't compare on exchange, you have to compare relative to wages, cost of living etc. So pretty much like for like. (This isn't the case for you, personally, as you are still presumably paying your American bills with English wages.) So 800 dollars board is the equivalent of 800 pounds as you are paying the same percentage of your salary.

I'm not sure I agree with this either. Even after exchange rates are taken out of the picture, the average US income and household income is still higher than the UK according to OECD data. From what Firewell says the livery is generally cheaper for part / full, therefore it seems to me that US livery is cheaper in real terms.

I get the point re DIY though, most people in HK are completely bemused by the idea that you could keep a horse as cheaply as you can (on DIY) in the UK! I'm not sure those people would be too handy with a shovel though :O I think that a car is equally essential however, I remember the days when I used to have to cycle to my pony's yard and I wouldn't fancy going back to that...

 

[Firewell]

The basic wage at our supermarket is 18 dollars an hour. I think that's really good! Certainly better for people than earning the minimum wage at Tescos lol.
Is HK expensive?

 

[TarrSteps]

I'm not sure I agree with this either. Even after exchange rates are taken out of the picture, the average US income and household income is still higher than the UK according to OECD data. From what Firewell says the livery is generally cheaper for part / full, therefore it seems to me that US livery is cheaper in real terms.

I get the point re DIY though, most people in HK are completely bemused by the idea that you could keep a horse as cheaply as you can (on DIY) in the UK! I'm not sure those people would be too handy with a shovel though :O I think that a car is equally essential however, I remember the days when I used to have to cycle to my pony's yard and I wouldn't fancy going back to that...

Interesting.

I know some very, very wealthy people in the US (and even Canada) who keep horses in a way that very few people do in the UK. They pay easily $1000k a month, all in, for the very best. Add in showing and possibly double that.

But relative to say, Toronto, which is generally a well off city with good wages, you could certainly not keep a horse on a minimum wage job, without a car etc. Board (livery) at a decent place would cost you the better part of $700/month with very little below that and if you lived somewhere you could walk to your horse, then you would still have to have a car to get to work. (Forget public transport in almost every area on the continent.) So, to have a horse , you would need the best past of $1000/month disposable income after basic living (including things like health care insurance no one in the UK has to pay), and that's before you factor in competition (again, not necessarily more at the top end but far fewer cheaper options).

Yet, I know lots of people in the UK who work medium or below wage jobs, even do not have a car, and keep a horse in some capacity. I know so many people who ride and even compete their own horses (plural) who would just never be able to get that done anywhere I have ever lived or worked.

Although I guess California would well be cheaper than most places because you do not have to have an indoor, horses can live out year 'round and presumably travel distances are shorter. Amazing about the wages in your market, too, as min wage in California is $10.

Sorry, we've got a long way from the OP's sunny - literally and figuratively - from the OPs point. But I am constantly amazed at every one in the UK telling me how much cheaper it is to keep horses in North America (which, admittedly, is in a very big place) when this has never been my experience, having lived both in major cities and in very rural areas. I must be doing it wrong!

 

[Caol Ila]

It depends on where you are and the facilities at your yard. I have paid as little as $300 and as much as $800. All for yards that had at least an indoor and an outdoor and some kind of trail access. Places within an hour or two of Boston or New York will have insane board. Places out West like Colorado will be cheaper. There will be other factors as well, like whether or not a Big Name
Trainer works out of that barn.

I think the costs, at least where I have kept a horse, are fairly comparable. Well, my barn in CO was a lot cheaper than yards here, but barns on the East Coast were a lot more.

 

[TarrSteps]

It depends on where you are and the facilities at your yard. I have paid as little as $300 and as much as $800. All for yards that had at least an indoor and an outdoor and some kind of trail access. Places within an hour or two of Boston or New York will have insane board. Places out West like Colorado will be cheaper. There will be other factors as well, like whether or not a Big Name
Trainer works out of that barn.

I think the costs, at least where I have kept a horse, are fairly comparable. Well, my barn in CO was a lot cheaper than yards here, but barns on the East Coast were a lot more.

Overall I would agree. You would struggle to find a yard with good facilities, access to training etc for less than 700 pounds near London (and likely more for full livery) just as you would for $700 near Toronto. The difference is, if you're in Toronto, you would not have the option of a DIY for 1/4 of that price. (I guess, too, it's tricky to factor in whole costs. If you are boarding in NA you are usually "all in" for hay, bedding, labour etc. I do think sometimes in the UK that people tell me how cheaply they keep their horses because their livery is only a couple of hundred a month, but they don't add up all the other costs on top of that.)

 

[Caol Ila]

Aye, I have done the DIY math. Feed + bedding + hay + schlepping to yard two or three times per day ain't that cheap. Unless you have something that can live out on grass livery, which I don't (and being an American horse, she can't handle the chaos of a DIY yard, so it was all a moot point).