will I be able to afford it?

[hamish1]

Im hoping in about 6-12months I will be able to buy my own horse...but I want to make sure i will be able to afford it. Ive worked out that I would have about £250-300 a month to spend on the horse-livery,feed ect. But i would also want to be able to afford a lesson once a month at least and the odd comp outing. Do you think this sounds unrealistic or do-able?

 

[Penny Less]

I should think so, depends if what sort of livery you will be on though. Full livery - no, although dont know what your prices are like in Scotland. But £100 p week min where I live.
DIY you would be OK and probably part livery.

 

[TicTac]

Definitely do-able. Depends on where most of your expense goes ie if you have to pay for full livery etc and what type of horse you get. DIY is your cheapest option and you can spend as much or a little as you like over your basic cost.

I have always done DIY, buy my hay/bedding in bulk, usually in the summer when prices are cheaper and turn my horses out 24/7 from April-september or October.

 

[Pipkin]

Definately doable, costs £300 DIY for all 3 of ours

 

[Luci07]

Does that also include shoeing and insurance?

 

[Brandy]

You should be fine depending on where you live.

I have two horses, and have just moved to a private place to keep them. But when I was at DIY livery, I paid £25 per week for stable and grazing. (each)

For my 'proper' horse (rather than the native pony) I would say I spent more than average as he is elderly and had cortaflex and blue chip etc.

Just make sure you have taken everything into account, and try to save a bit before you buy for your 'unexpected vets fees' pot. There may be things you won't claim on insurance for, or excess to pay etc.

It also depends on the type of horse you get, my welsh cob is not shod, so costs me £20 every 7 - 8 weeks for a token trim (the farrier often doesns;t really need to see him every 7 - 8 weeks, but comes to my other horse)

My TB however costs me £70 for a full set of natural balance shoes every 7 - 8 weeks, whether he is ridden or not (not mostly now that he is 29!)

Ditto the feeding costs. My TB has ad lib hay, and decent sized feeds, with supplements and also one bute per day for his arthritus.

The welsh has, even in this weather, about 3 - 4 sections of hay per day (he lives out) and a token feed.

I would highly recommend looking for a horse that is not as high maintainence as my TB!! Something with native blood, that can go without shoes would be a good start!

 

[Brandy]

Also, I have just moved my horses from a DIY yard which was £25 per week each (and very reasonable, included good grazing and use of floodlit school) to a private yard where I pay £25 per week for the pair and they live out, I can use stables if I want, but they have field shelters. I have saved a fortune on not using bedding for a start!! A few bales of straw in the field shelter has so far lasted 3 weeks.

 

[hamish1]

oh great, no wouldnt need full livery Im all excited now,I just hope i can find the perfect horse for me!
would love an all rounder with a fair bit of experience,forward but not too fizzy-something that enjoys work that i can go and have fun on, 15-16.1hh preferably. Next question i know thats just a brief desciption of what I'm looking for but does a buget of £3500 sound i could get something along those lines or will i have to be even more strict with my savings? thanks all! x

 

[rhino]

I would highly recommend looking for a horse that is not as high maintainence as my TB!! Something with native blood, that can go without shoes would be a good start!

^^^very true! Having something that would live out would probably cut bills. Something hardy will be much cheaper - fewer rugs needed, less feed....

I keep my wb on diy livery and prob spend about £300 a month.

 

[hamish1]

Does that also include shoeing and insurance?

yes it would-they would be DIY not full livery though-still do-able??

 

[Brandy]

Oh to have your budget!!

You should be fine. I have never spent more than £405!! Saying that, my welsh cob is on loan and would have set me back a fair bit had I had to buy him.

 

[rhino]

You are better breaking it down - do you know where you are keeping the horse?

I am paying £50 a week livery which includes shavings and ad lib hay. Shoes are £70 every 6 weeks. Insurance £35 a month. Feed is about £30ish.

Factor in dentist, vet, worming, physio/chiro if you use them, replacing tack, the list is endless......

 

[PerdixPerdix]

sorry to hijack your thread Hamish..it might help i dunno... how much do you think it would cost monthly to keep one hardy breed in your own stables/grazing so that would exclude livery? im thinking unclipped cob-gypsy vanner type?

 

[rhino]

does a buget of £3500 sound

You could get a VERY nice horse for that!

Whereabouts in Scotland are you? I know which dealers are good and which are best avoided if you will be looking at horses from dealers.

 

[nicnag]

Just as Roo says.....

where are you ( roughly) - Scottish Borders can vary from the sublime to the ridiculous, I pay £15 a week for 50 acres grazing and a 20 x 30m sheep shed but provide all my own hay, feed, bedding etc. I'm lucky in that the guy I keep mine with also breeds TB's as his own wee hobby so we scratch each others backs a bit which keep the price down - I have the added attraction of 3 gorgeous youngsters to play with next year! But when I was looking for somewhere else to go within this area yard offering MUCH less and poorer facilities were charging up to £65/week DIY. My two cost me each month - £120 livery, £50 concentrate feed, £50 hay, £100 shoes (give or take depending on how the 6 weeks land!) so I budget about the same all year so that I can put the 'extra' away during the summer months before winter comes along.

 

[saz5083]

Livery can vary a lot depending on where you go! Im just outside edinburgh and I usually have change from £300 a month (just!) to keep one horse on DIY, feed, shoe, insure (although I insure my other horse too even though he is out on loan) and have one lesson a month. Money to compete is on top of that (we event so hate to think how much I spend on that!).
That said, he goes through shoes like nothing on earth and takes a bit of feeding in the winter! The yard I am on is not what I would consider terribly expensive and while I could probably find somewhere cheaper the people are nice and relaxed. I save money by taking his back shoes off in the winter (saves £25 every 5 weeks) and leaving him out as much as possible. He has lots of good hay so I can minimise the hard feed and he is a very happy, healthy chappy

 

[L&M]

For £3500 I bought a 15hh, 11 yr old connie x tb, with all tack and rugs. He has done some BSJA and is also a fab little hunter, so your budget to buy will be fine.

I run a diy yard, and a typical client pays £20 per week for stable/grazing/sandschool etc. I provide haylage for those that want it which comes to around £8 per week, but they provide their own hard feed and bedding.

Don't forget insurance, shoes, worming and lesson/comp fees, new rugs if they trash one etc but think your'e budget should just cover it all.

Good luck!