What's your horse budget? How much do you spend?

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icyfreya

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Well I'd like to know to see if my estimate budget for a loan horse I might be taking on is about right, and just because its interesting to see how much different people spend!
Ok, well this is my budget (but atm its theoretical so i don't know how well it would work in practice) and this is me being very sparse, no transport, only the occasional comp within hacking distance etc:
Livery (DIY) £20 pw
Straw bedding £6 pw for 1 bale
Hay/Haylage £6 pw for 1 bale - straight from the farmer who owns the yard
Feed & supps £30 - every 2 weeks, for cubes, chaff & balancer etc
worming £10 a month
farrier £65 every 6 weeks (for a full set of shoes)
insurance £30 a month

then like once or twice a year vet visit for injections, teeth checked, back checked etc...like £200

and then obviously an emergency vet fund if insurance refuse to pay out, and cash for extra items etc

so how much do you spend? do you think this budget is accurate, if i'm being sparse? i've already checked all the costs out with the local people...

:)
 
I think you have the horses basics covered but a couple of points,

livery is about as cheap as you can get and if you wanted to change yards you may be stuck.

Lessons ?

All the nice bits, horse clothes, mags, trips out sundries etc

Im sure others will highlight more important things but the above were my immediate thoughts.

Good luck
 
get a realistic budget and then double it :D that's about how much a horse costs!

alas i've found with horse ownership that i never have enough money :rolleyes: but i'd never give it up either
 
Not sure what area you are in as it will make a difference, I'm in south glos and this is what I pay:
DIY: £45pw
bedding: £7 per bale, I don't stable during the summer, but when in in the night, 2 bales per week, obv more if she is in for extended periods like the winter just gone.
Hay: £9 pw
Food: about £10 pw, she is on topchop lite, brewers yeast, magnesium and seaweed and respiritory supp - so is at the cheaper end of the scale I think! I just add kwikibeet to this in winter if she needs a bit extra weight.
Shoes: £70 every 5 weeks, extra if stud holes / bar shoes etc are needed.
Teeth: £35 every 6 months
Back lady: if all well then £35 every 6 months, if a prob then more like £35 every couple of weeks until all is well
Wormer: £10 every 3 months
Insurance: about £250 per year
You will also need to include money for tack, saddle cloth, boots, fly mask, repairs to tack and rugs etc, also rug cleaning at the end of the winter if you like to do that. Also £ for first aid stuff, fly spray etc - an endless amount of extra stuff is available, some horses being more high maintenence than others! Some vet stuff you might not claim on insurance, eg sometimes my mare gets snotty in the winter so occationaly I get a tub of ventopulmin (£60!), also if you do claim on insurance then you need the £ for your excess.
Def possible to keep the cost down, but the basics can really add up. Good luck with your loan horse!!
 
I'm quite lucky in that I'm at a very cheap livery yard so for 2 horses -
DIY livery £30 a wk hay included
Straw £8 a wk in winter, live out in summer
Wormer £20/ month
Feet £50/ 6 wks (trim only)
Feed £30/ month in winter, nothing in summer
Lessons £30/ month (1 lesson)
Competitions £30 / month
Insurance (horses & trailer & tack) £88/ month
Vets £200/ yr easy to be more
Rug cleaning £60/ yr
Tack £100 yr (spares, broken bits and bobs, new stuff)
New rugs £100/ yr on average varies yr to yr
4x4 for trailer £1500/ yr all in

This is for two horses, and I don't have the guts to add it up!
 
i used to pay around £400 a month for a high maintence TB (and that did not include lessons/trips/rugs....)

and yes that was DIy!!!!!!!!

my new budget is around £200 a month all in. As tbh i have learnt from my mistake a stupidly huge budget.

to buy - around £1500 as i want an x racer :)
 
How big a horse are you intending to loan? Unless it is a little pony it is likely to get through more than one small bale of hay/haylage a week in the winter! Unless you are talking about big bales, in which case you are getting a bargain!
 
Livery £37.00 p/w DIY including hay/haylage
Feed £0.00 - currently on a diet!
Bedding £10.00 p/w 2 x shavings (winter only)
Shoes £55.00 every 6 weeks
Wormer £10.00 p/m
Insurance £35.00 p/m

Basics per month = £285.00

Back £40 per 6 months (3 months atm due to problem)
Teeth £30 per year
Saddle fit/check £25.00 per year
Vaccinations £50 per year

Annual extras = £185.00

On top of this lessons @ £20 per time, rugs small fortune (horse has sweet itch), fuel to yard and back, trailer, show entries (if we ever get brave enough!), feed in winter, clipping, potions/fly sprays, OUCH!!
 
Last edited:
Bens_Mum said:
Livery £37.00 p/w DIY including hay/haylage
Feed £0.00 - currently on a diet!
Bedding £10.00 p/w 2 x shavings (winter only)
Shoes £55.00 every 6 weeks
Wormer £10.00 p/m
Insurance £35.00 p/m

Basics per month = £285.00

Back £40 per 6 months (3 months atm due to problem)
Teeth £30 per year
Saddle fit/check £25.00 per year
Vaccinations £50 per year

Annual extras = £185.00

On top of this lessons @ £20 per time, rugs small fortune (horse has sweet itch), fuel to yard and back, trailer, show entries (if we ever get brave enough!), feed in winter, clipping, potions/fly sprays, OUCH!!
Click to expand...

I have my own land, stables, clippers etc, so it does not cost anything!
 
pretty realistic but your hay and straw amounts are small, my 16.2's eat about 1/2 a bale a day and need between half and a quater bale of straw a day

Rugs... one will prob get wrecked so ideally you'll need 2 of each, its a false economy buying the cheapie ones tho so I'd budget £100 pa for 2 decent replacement rugs.

Your DIY is very cheap, not sure you could find many other places that cheap!

I'd do as the others do, if you can have your horses out 24/7 in the summer do so as the winters will hit your wallet hard!
 
Thanks everyone! :) yeah i thought i might be being a bit skimpy on the hay/staw :L they are big bales, though :) the farmer grows his own & sells it cheap to his livery customers...yeah and the DIY is the most economical i've found, it's because the yard doesn't have a proper floodlit school, and only has about 3 jumps! but has beautiful hacking on dartmoor so thats good :) i think i might well double it, and then that way at least i might make savings rather than finding myself short...
oh and the horse is a 16hh 14 year old - bay appaloosa...yeah planning on living out all summer and then stabled at night in the winter :)
 
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