What does your horse cost you per month?

I was thinking of buying a horse about 2 months ago so I did a lot of research and created a wonderfully geeky spreadsheet which sets out how much it costs to keep a horse daily, weekly, monthly and annually if you average out costs. I was then able to include things like the dentist and physio which I wouldn't otherwise have factored in.

If you want a copy, drop me a PM and I can send you it!

I even managed to work out how much I could adjust it by, so had a couple of pricings for things like fully shod/fronts/barefoot and shavings/straw and the possibility of a sharer. Clearly not owning a horse gives you enough time to do those things ;)
 
not huge amounts :)
i pay £65 field rent, mum pays that also
in the height of winter £60 on hay, we have 2 hesterns delivered fortnightly and halve cost between mum and i
they live out mostly, but come in in seriously bad weather, so we get a big hestern of straw that lasts us the winter for £15
they get their feet done every 8 weeks, 3x trims, so £15 quid a month
they each get their feed one bag a month normally, so about £25.
vet bills get paid as and when, as do saddler/physio/ clipping etc - so that can vary how much i spend

so about £180 a month without vets bills etc, and all the material stuff..

i do lessons as and when my instructor can, ranging from 1 a week to one a month or less, so between 15 and 60 a month, and i compete 1 or 2 times a month, as and when i can ranging from about 30 for a day out to about 60-80 depending on discipline and venue...
we do however buy rugs whenever we see cheap/good deals as ours used to trash rugs something chronic!

so between 75-140 on competing and training, in summer, much less in winter, and whatever i have spare on anything nice i would like for them, i save for everything so i dont leave myself short, and plan all my outgoings in advance so i know how much i have to play with :) now saving up for a new curved girth and a shiny patent bridle, and also a wintec pony dressage saddle for my stumpy legs! :)
 
I keep mine as cheaply as is probably possible on a livery yard. I pay £10 per week livery and for that I get 1.5 acres split into 3 paddocks. I have a 13.2 and a 14hh, both good doers. In winter I spend £75ish a month on hay, £20ish on feed, £25 per pony on insurance. The farrier £20 per pony (barefoot) every 10 weeks, £35 per pony dentist twice a year and jabs about £100 for both.
 
I loan but share some costs with the owner. On average I pay £120-£140 a month which covers shoes, feed and livery. That doesn't include extra costs for physio, wormer, lessons, competitions, petrol money for transport, supplements, treats...
 
DIY livery £135
Shoes £10 (£20 trim every 8 weeks)
Bedding £40
Hay £30
Feed £10 (good doer!)
Insurance £20

About £245 a month, not including vet, wormer, dentist or lessons as he's not backed yet! I'm looking at sharing a horse to keep up with my riding and that's an extra £150 a month.
 
This year is working out MUCH cheaper than last year because last year I didn't get a hay crop & I got royally screwed over Haylage :(
For all 3 per monthat the moment :
Livery - nothing
Hay - nothing
Haylage (only 1 on it) - £70
Bedding - £30
Feed - £50
Shoes (1 full set, 2x trims) - £120
Insurance - £60
Lessons - between £80 & £200
Competitions - as above

Then there is vaccs, dentist, physio, worming, Horsebox + lovely bits of tack that I always *need*
 
I pay about the yard about £170 a month in summer when he's out 24/7 some weeks and about £240 if he's in overnight in winter. Livery (DIY) is £35 a week. I never have to pay for services as a mate will catch in/turn out if needed. I do buy lots of extras, like treats and he has a decent collection of bridles, brushes and rugs :redface3:

Shoes are £42 for fronts only every 7 weeks and insurance is about £33 a month. My excess is £150 so lots of vet visits for minor things can add up and he had x rays/treatment for arthritis this year. It can easily get to £400 a month.

Ruddy fortune! Buy a fish instead! :biggrin3:
 
I think I do the horse thing on about as tight a shoestring as is possible. I own some land, and rent additional. All are native types out 24/7/365. They're barefoot (self-trimming, so no farrier costs). We don't compete, clip or insure.
Fences are repaired with 2nd hand posts, using child labour. We do our own topping etc.

Field rent £300 p.a.
Hay £240 p.a. - for snow and when there's nothing left in the field. Typically they're on foggage until February.
Wormers £80 twice per year.
BDS membreship (3rd party insurance) £30 p.a.

for 11 ponies, that works out around £60 per month.
Of course one decent vet bill could double that overnight.
 
Don't know, don't care. Ignorance is bliss :)

ETA I do know what it costs me to keep Fig, and an average months competing, but I still don't care! As long as I can afford it and he is happy! I never spend money I don't have and I always have a reserve for emergencies.
 
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I'm subsidised on livery as I work full time but if not:

£350 box share diy/part
£30 shoes (every 7 weeks)
£20 feed and supplement
£45 insurance
£10 bribery treats (scared youngster!)
Rugs/tack/kit average £40

So basic £495

Then some months I have up to £18 wormer , vet bills this month £400! Petrol to and from the yard needs to be taken into account if not already doing so. Dentist £45 same for back person. Vaccinations inc call out £90

On a bad month you could be looking at (minus vet bill but inc vacs) £700+ !

Granted I'm in Surrey.
 
If you include livery, lessons, shoes, insurance, vet bills, horsebox costs, petrol and treats he costs me between £1000 and £2000 a month but he is a SERIOUSLY spoilt boy...
 
Hate to think about - the 1 has to have special shoes £100 every 6 weeks - I do love him but he has more expensive shoes than me :(
 
I keep my mare on DIY and she costs anything between £200-£300pcm on average and she is cheap to keep, she pretty much lives out all the time,no shoes so only needs a trim every 6 weeks....
 
Keep mine at home so not too bad.

£28 insurance
£10 trimming feet
Have all my hay already for winter
£20 hard feed
24/7 turn out so only around £10 on STRAW
Probably spend around £30 a month on new things or replacements
I guess you could average out teeth and worming but I only worm 4 times a year and teeth twice a year.
£14 on electric which is capped by my landlord (separate to my house so extra)

Soo around £100 wow!
 
Oh dear....
1 of mine costs just under £200 pa.
£100 for feet trimming
Wormer (twice a year)
Hay: 10 bales at £3 each brought in the summer.
£50 (approx) flu jab & tooth inspection annually

But: she is 33ins tall, (tries to be 33ins wide!!)......:biggrin3:

I budget £1000pa for 2 x fuzzy keeping & another £1000 into the vet bill fund.

However, then there is the yard maintenance fund - another £600 pa is put aside for projects such as replacement fencing, weed spraying, repairs etc. Not all done every year, so bigger projects can be done the following year :)
 
Charmel said:
OMG Where are you people based. I have my own land so per horse (taking out cost of land and maintenance cos I would have to do that anyway) mine costs about 8 per month feed, 5 bedding 75 every two months shoes or 30 trim every 3 months insurance is shared amoung 8 and anything else I spend on rugs shows etc....So average 60 per month inc jabs from vet back and teeth per horse. I cut my own hay and haylage and they mostly live out costs are shared between 5 horses and 3 ponies never spend more than 400 a month not including shows........BUT when on DIY livery averaged about £175-200 per horse (didn't have as many then!)
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I think to be a fair comparison you would need to include the cost of the land (including any mortgage) and maintenance because no you wouldnt have to keep post and rail and electric going if you didnt keep your horses at home. The livery fees are the least of the costs (most yards anywhere in the coountry will be £25-£40 ish pw depending on facilities for DIY). Also it really depends on what you end up getting; my two Irish horses live off air and cost the same to feed as my TB. They all get equal number of rugs and presents etc.

You also need to factor in supplements (mine are all on heavy duty joint supplements for arthritis/lots of schooling), tack (repairs/checks/reflocks), worming etc etc. Insurance is the other big cost and depends again on the horse and what you do with it (and how much it is insured for and for what). If you can get something that lives out (and a suitable yard) then you cut down hugely on costs (hay, bedding, livery etc).

Mine probably cost me about £700 each and I have 3 kept on DIY; this includes everything including 1 x lesson per week. They cost about £1,000 a month when they were on livery. My other big cost is petrol - mine are at a yard 25 miles away from where I live so when I have to do 2 trips in winter it is 100 miles a day.
 
Just as I was thinking "wow I'm so lucky, I have my own land so my horses cost me practically nothing" then I remembered the thousands I've spent on quad, sprayer, harrow, fencing, troughs, repairs to stables, stone for gateways, cost of arena and horse walker... Not good.

Specifically horse related costs are low. I've loads of grass all year round and my horses are good doers, so I spend very very little on hay and feed. I've worked out that my big hungry fussy cat that insists on eating only Felix as good as it looks, and lots of it, well the cat costs more to feed than all 4 horses put together.
 
Horse on full livery at an excellent yard. We don't have a mortgage on our house, thank goodness .... The horse is our mortgage. About £500 per month all in .... Can't thinks about it too much tbh .... Pours another glass of wine to ease the pain ...
 
DIY livery £390 PCM
Shoes £180 every 5 weeks
Feed/hay/bedding (from same supplier) £600 PCM
Extras £250 PCM (I like prettying up my ponies lol)
Horsey account £200 ( for wormers/vets etc paid in to an account each month and builds up over time)
That is for my three thoroughbreds

My cobs on free grass livery and costs me £25 every 10 weeks for a trim, he has hay when it's cold
 
Diy: £180pm
T/O & B/I £4 per day = £56pm
Hay: 10k per day sold in 20k bales grown by Y/O @ £6 each = £90
Bedding: £88pm
Feed: £20pm
Shoeing £74 every 6wks.
Worming: £20 every 3mths
Dentist: £45 per yr
Physio £200 per yr
Insurance: £35pm
Vet jabs & ck up £200.
24miles per dy fuel.
 
I have two, so I'll just have the costs and do the cost for one
DIY livery £108 per month
Hay £56 per month
Bedding £80 per month
Feed £15 per month
Feet - £30 per month
Total for basics - £289 per month.
In summer it's much less though as not paying for as much bedding, feed, or hay. Probably about £160 in summer.
 
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