Will I have enough money to afford a horse?

[AmymBlue]

Im 16 and im going to be going to college in September. Im looking to buy my own horse early next year hopefully and was wondering if someone could give me either a cost breakdown or how much it would cost them. Currently i earn £200 pounds a month from my job and was wondering would that be enough.

The yard that I would be keeping it on costs £15 a week livery, £30 a month for hay and straw for £25 a month. Im thinking i need to cost for...

• Insurance
• Farrier
• Feed
• Tack repairs and replacements
• Livery
• Hay
• Straw

Have I missed anything else out and would £200 a month cover it?
Thanks

 

[9tails]

To be brutally honest, I don't think you can keep one on £200 per month. I spend at least £200 extra on top of livery on a good month.

Insurance £35
Farrier £40
Feed £50
Tack/Rugs/Sparkles £50+++++
New horse clothes for me £30
New work clothes for me £0
Livery £140
Hay £48
Bedding £25
Worming £5
Lessons £40
Yard equipment £20

Dentist £80 per year/6 months (vet call out)
Vet jabs £80 per year (vet call out)

 

[AmymBlue]

Thank you for the breakdown. My livery though would only cost me £60 a month plus straw and hay which is £115 a month for hay straw and livery. I wouldn't be taking lessons and i already have a ton of horse clothes for me so that wont be needed.

 

[supsup]

ETA: Just looked up my own old post (see below), and my conclusion was that I could scrape by with £150/month for the bare bones, but that would exclude all the fun stuff - lessons, outings etc., and didn't include horse insurance, which would bring it up to about £200/month.

You might have more fun finding a share and having more money left to actually do something with your horse other than ride at home. I spend about £20/week on lessons, and an outing to something like a fun ride can be £40-£50 quite easily including the transport cost. I also find that single big investments add up quite a bit over the year (things like fencing/energizer/battery, riding permit, clippers/paying for clipping).

 

[supsup]

Found one of the recent threads on this topic:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/foru...081-How-much-does-your-horse-cost-you-a-month

 

[MuddyTB]

I think it's too tight.

Livery you mention = £115
Insurance = £35 at least
Farrier = £35 bare minimum

That's already £185 which only leaves £15 a month for feed, dentist and vet.
You need to have some spare for unplanned problems and vet visits etc.

Could you look at part loaning or sharing instead?

 

[be positive]

To be brutally honest, I don't think you can keep one on £200 per month. I spend at least £200 extra on top of livery on a good month.

Insurance £35
Farrier £40
Feed £50
Tack/Rugs/Sparkles £50+++++
New horse clothes for me £30
New work clothes for me £0
Livery £140
Hay £48
Bedding £25
Worming £5
Lessons £40
Yard equipment £20

Dentist £80 per year/6 months (vet call out)
Vet jabs £80 per year (vet call out)

If you are careful and have a healthy good doer you can keep the costs down, in summer can they live out 24/7 as that will make a huge saving as there will be no hay or bedding to pay for.
Feed again if it is a good doer 1 bag may last a month, possibly longer, supplements can add up but choose wisely and keep the costs down.
The horse does not require new rugs/ tack/ sparkles each month, save up or ask for special items as birthday or christmas presents.
Yard equipment should be a one off purchase, I allow liveries to use my yard tools as long as they respect them.
Most vets offer zone day visits for routine things such as jabs/ teeth, flu and tet combined costs £42 with no call out fee, teeth about £40 unless they need sedation.
You may need to have a backup in place and save when you can but it should be possible if you buy the right type of horse and avoid any expensive accidents to horse or equipment.
Don't skimp on having lessons even if just one a month it will be money well spent.

 

[CBAnglo]

Maybe on grass livery. The biggest cost I had when I had my horses on livery was petrol/diesel. I spent a fortune driving back and forth twice a day. Its all the additional costs not just the "horse" costs that you need to factor in.

The mistake a lot of people make is also then thinking they can get a sharer to help cover costs ... you cant bank on this. What happens if the horse goes lame etc?

 

[Leo Walker]

Until very recently I had a good doer unshod cob living out. I allocated £200 a month for his costs, but that was the basics and didnt cover all the other stuff that I just spend out of my general excess funds budget, and definitely didnt cover all the things I buy that I dont need. Horses are a money pit sadly. It is perfectly possible to keep them cheaply, I always do. But I dont have the worry about it costing more, as I have more, I'd just rather spend it on other stuff :lol: Its all well and good keeping them on a budget, but you need to have a certain amount of funds available for the things that you dont budget for. Mine got mites and ran up nearly a couple of hundred quid in vet bills. He outgrew his saddle and that was more money. I got VERY lucky an got a brand new GFS saddle for £250 in a closing down sale. Cost me another £100 on top to have it fitted and flocked.

Its the silly things that take horse ownership from £200 a month to more, and if you dont have the more its horrifically stressful for all concerned. I had an accident and went from a good job to SSP overnight. I went without food, electric etc to keep mine and I still ruined my credit rating for the next 6yrs as I just couldnt pay non essential bills and keep the horse.

Sharing is a fab idea! I'd love a good keen teenager to ride and compete mine, and I'm sure I'm not the only one

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

Totally depends where you live. I am SE and no way I could it on 200 a month.

 

[CazD]

If you had a good do-er it might be possible, but would be tight. As someone above said, a good-doer living out over summer would be cheap to keep. You'd need to budget the £200 every month and then what you save over summer would tide you over through the winter.

 

[Princess16]

I too think it doesn't leave you enough room for unexpected emergency bills.

Also are you prepared to spend every single penny from your job on a horse ? What about buying clothes toiletries, going out etc for yourself?

 

[gnubee]

I think some people manage to keep a horse for less than £200 per month, but I don't think you can plan to do it. I would say my 2 cost me about 200 per month for the pair, but that is with them living at home and we don't compete or anything. With livery and farrier you are on say 150. That leaves 50 to cover routine vet and insurance, so theoretically do-able in a good year. However it doesn't include emergency vets (same day appointment plus 1 blood test cost me £80); more work, transport to vet hospital, insurance excess even if it's claim able and you are suddenly into a lot more. There are also things that you would like to think are optional but really aren't - new rugs are optional if you just want shiney, but not if they are ripped or rubbing. Similarly with new tack but add in the cost of saddle fitter. Some supplements are nice to have, but one of mine goes hopping lame in summer without £70 a bag formula4feet. Lessons are optional unless your horse starts to develop an issue you don't know how to resolve. Even little things like when one has an abcess it's at least £15 per week on vet wrap and poultice. Fly spray £10 a month in summer. If your parents will support you if you get stuck or you have a decent chunk of savings to fall back on you could maybe do it, but if you need to be self sufficient on the 200 it's a problem just waiting to happen.

 

[9tails]

The good doers on my yard are more expensive to keep than the bad doers over summer. They have to come in to reduce the risk of laminitis.

 

[smja]

Unless you have good parental support to fall back on in emergencies, I think it'd be too tight. Remember that even if your horse is insured, you have to pay the excess, and small bills can often work out cheaper to pay than claim on insurance.

What about travelling to and from the yard? Do you need to pay for the bus/a lift? What about if you're away - you may need to pay someone to look after your horse if you're not there.

 

[Apercrumbie]

As insurance doesn't cover every vet bill (you have to pay an excess and it doesn't cover things like vaccinations etc) no it isn't enough. You can probably scrape by but if anything ever goes wrong you're going to have big problems. Also, you won't have any money at all for yourself and you may start resenting not being able to go out with your friends.

 

[dibbin]

Remember you'll also have the excess on your insurance should anything happen - mine is £150 which is the lowest with my insurer. I've had to pay that twice in the last 18 months. You'll also need to consider lost shoes/ripped rugs etc. My old horse lost a shoe at least once a fortnight in the summer, and had 2 rugs which lasted less than 10 days each.

On that budget you'll be very very tight, and won't be able to save anything into a "just in case" fund. If you have a good doer with good feet who can live out all year then you might manage, assuming they're not accident prone!

What about tack? A decent saddle and bridle will set you back at least a few hundred pounds, and it seems to be less common now for horses to be sold with full wardrobes. When I bought Jazz I hadn't had a horse for 3 years and was amazed at how much I needed to buy - despite the fact that all my old horse's rugs etc. fitted him.

My current monthly costs are about:

£100 livery
£10 trailer parking
£35 farrier (£70 every 8 weeks)
£45 bedding
£10 hard feed (one bag lasts me about 6 weeks)
£40 feed supplements (SarcEx and ProFeet)
£50 hay/haylage
£42 insurance

Jazz is stabled at night all year round, which is why hay and bedding costs are pretty high (he's also disgusting lol). With extras like rugs and things I reckon I spend at least £250 a month.

I've also got the annual costs of about £100 for injections and £80 or so for his teeth.

To be honest I think a budget of £200 a month is far too tight, unless you know your parents can and will help out if you're in a hole.

 

[Equi]

I live at home and pay no livery and very limited out costs (fat shetland miniature types so no real feed costs and farrier is cheap etc) and there is absolutely no way i would do it on £200 and survive myself. Sorry to say, but no you won't be able to afford it.

 

[alainax]

Is it £200 you earn per month, or £200 you have left over free per month?

If may be possible to keep a horse on £200 per month, but not a horse and a human. Even if you live at home, you will still need to pay for transport to work/college/horse as well as buying college supplies - books, stationary. Clothes for you, toiletries, your phone bill, etc etc. That's even before you think about cinema, food, hair, make up, etc

 

[C Emson]

I would consider maybe looking to share to start with and review it after 6 to 12 months.

 

[Araboo27]

Be careful of stretching your finances to the limit, as a teenager I gave horses up for a while - it was taking up all my money and I literally couldn't afford any new clothes or make up and it got to me in the end!

On our current yard (moving next week) I spend -

Livery - £80/100 depending on if it's a 4 or 5 week month
Hay - £35
Straw - £20
Insurance - £23

They're the absolute basics and only for a section a. If I had a horse I'd likely use more hay and straw and insurance would be higher. Some weeks I spend £40 on lessons but then I can go a few weeks without one (for my children who ride, not myself!).

Farrier is only £20 every 6/8 weeks, she's barefoot with fab feet but again, a horse is much more likely to be shod at approx £65 depending on area.

What about replacing tack/rugs etc? Would you put an amount to one side each month to cover this?

I can easily spend a couple of hundred on a trip to Robinsons but then again, I don't overly budget - I like to buy what I want ;-) she's worth it after all!

Wormers/dentist/vaccs/trips out/shows/replacement yard tools/grooming kit needs to be accounted for.

I could keep my pony for <£200 per month but I wouldn't like to be in the position of not being able to afford to call the vet out in an emergency for example.

It's a tough one. X

 

[Orangehorse]

It isn't a good idea to try and keep a horse on a very limited budget, because sometimes things go haywire and you find you need a good reserve of cash. Even if the horse is insured, there is always an excess which might be £200, and then all the routine things like farrier, wormers, vaccinations mount up.

If an owner is very short of money they can be in a position to literally not being able to afford necessary things for the horse's welfare and "making do" with unsatisfactory tack, for instance. Sometimes a horse or pony can cost very little to keep, but you always need to have access to money in an emergency or necessity.

 

[hairycob]

Agree with Orangehorse. And even good doers can have unlucky spells that can rack up the vet bills very quickly, as I know from experience. Injured good doers can also be expensive to keep slim.

 

[NicandLiv]

My livery is £50 a month
No shoes, so £20 for farrier every 16 weeks
£50 dentist every year
About £40 jabs every year
No rugs
No shavings
No straw
Ad lib hay in winter at £35 a month
Food £15 a month
Insurance is £23 a month
Lives out all year


If I add all that up for year and split the cost over months, I pay £112 a month to keep my mare. That isn't including the odd lesson, competitions.


As for vets, she hasn't ever seen a vet since I've had her, though doesn't mean to say she wouldn't. I always have excess for insurance in one account, and every now and again I'd shove a tenner or 20 quid in there when I can to build it up a bit.

 

[Barnacle]

OP you should find a local share so you have a clearer idea of both the costs and time involved. It sounds like you've done the research but don't have that much experience. I would say that intending to keep a horse on that budget is extremely irresponsible. You might find it works out fine until one month your horse needs the vet for something your insurance won't cover or he starts to act up and you need to pay someone for regular instruction. A share can be just as rewarding as owning a horse and it costs less than a lesson in most cases...

 

[Suzie86]

OP I got my pony when I was 15 (and still have the same one now 14 years on). My parents happily chauffeured me to the yard every evening until I could drive but were very clear I was to pay for him myself.

I do think they would have helped me out in the case of an emergency vet bill too, also he was on full loan at the time so I imagine the owner would also have helped although luckily nothing happened!

I worked at the yard on a Sunday to pay for his livery and had another little job waitressing a couple of evenings a week to pay for everything else and I did manage it comfortably to be honest!! I saved money by sharing jobs with friends therefore not having to pay for him to be turned out before school or done when I was working, and he lived out through the summer which saved on hay and straw.

These days I pay £135 for DIY livery plus hay, straw, feed and he is shod in front only every 6-8 weeks. Through the summer he lives out the majority of the time so I obviously spend less. He's not insured any more as he is 24 and I have made the decision that should something major happen I wouldn't put him through surgery or extended box rest - we don't compete any more just the odd outing for XC schooling and fun rides, and I only buy rugs and bits and bobs when they are actually needed. I would say that I comfortably keep him for under £200 a month.

 

[Dizzle]

I was just about to post that my mare probably costs me less than £200 a month to keep then I added it up, and she doesn't.

But, even if she did only cost me £200 a month for the basics, I have money available for vets bills (excess is around £150 if you go through insurance), not to mention I think I need a new saddle which is probably the best part of £1k.

If you only have £200 a month to spend, why not look at sharing a horse. I had a couple of fantastic share horses that cost me about £120 a month, that was a fixed amount that didn't change if they needed more feed or the vet and in return I had a lovely horse to ride 3/4 days a week and even the odd competition. Both horses were total school masters and they taught me a lot. I think if you're on a limited budget it's a brilliant way to go about having more freedom in your riding and I think really helps set you up for horse ownership.

Anyway, to break down my super cheap mare:
£160 a month DIY livery including hay and straw
£20 a month insurance
£10 a month annual vaccinations
£5 dentistry (she is done every other year)
£30 saddle fitting & physio
£20 farrier trim
£10 feed/supplements

I haven't factored in lessons, competitions, transport, buying basics such as tack, stable equipment, rugs, brushes nor replacing stuff as its gets old (or lost).

 

[impresario08]

Don't do it - the rest of your life will suffer and you will burn yourself out. It's too young to be under that financial pressure and you could very easily get into debt - all it takes is one unexpected vet bill and whack you'll be playing catch-up for months and months

My horse threw up a 5.5k vet bill (not covered by insurance) and even with a full time job and decent wage it has taken me years to pay it off!!

 

[countrybumpkin727]

I had this same conversation when I was trying to work out if I could afford my own horse. Ultimately it depends what you want to do with it. If you are just wanting a happy hacker then you could potentially do it for £200 but that could be out in a field the whole time and be a really good doer.

One thing I found when I first bought my own horse (about 2 weeks ago) is that its the upfront costs you have to think of. The cost of the horse, the tack if you want to pay for insurance all in one, getting the feed the bins to put the feed in the brushes for grooming etc My up front costs were about £3000 including getting my horse and then getting all my extras!
Also during the winter your costs will go up, if you are working then you will need help to poo pick and to muck out etc as well as the cost of hay for his paddock.

There is really good article the BHS wrote about the price of a horse which should help you: http://www.bhs.org.uk/~/media/BHS/Files/PDF Documents/The Cost of Keeping a Horse or Pony.ashx

Below is my cost broken down for you per month:

£140 livery
£28 on bedding
£30 on hay
£40 on feed
£75 on shoeing (every 6 weeks so its actually a bit less)
£140 on lessons (new horse and I am competing so I need the lessons once a week)

One other thing is that if you are earning £200 a month are you going to give that all to your horse? If I was you I would look at getting a share option and enjoy having the extra cash for going out with friends etc

if you need any more info as I literally just got my horse PM me

 

[Palindrome]

I agree with others that a share is the way to go in your situation, or perhaps a loan if you are completely sure you can afford the horse's needs. You also need to budget for saddle fitter, dentist, farrier, worming, yearly (or 2 year if you only do tetanus) vaccinations etc... Lessons might be important with a new horse too as it can sometimes be difficult at the start and ironing out those niggles at the beginning will be very helpful for your confidence and how much you enjoy the horse. Good luck whatever you decide, it's a fantastic adventure either way .