Working out if I can afford a horse?

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Jake10

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I'm sure I've posted something similar before. I've just seen a very reasonably priced *I think?* 8yr old 16.1hh ex racer gelding (Good flat work, just started jumping) for sale. I'm now thinking *yet again* that maybe it's time to take the plunge and buy but...

What I need help with (preferably from people in the Nottingham area as close to Newark as possible) are the current costs of horse ownership.

Costs per year or month:

Livery (Would prefer DIY or Part)
Feed
Bedding
Insurance (horse). Is it worth getting rider insurance as well? Who are the best to take out a policy with?
Wormer
Jabs
Shoes
Dentist
Vet (unexpected vet bills)
Hay
General basic equipment
Lessons (gave up riding last year)

* Don't plan on showing at least not for a year or two so that's one less expense.

Is there anything I've mist?

As thanks for answering this immensely long list please accept some home made chocolate cake :D :D
 
(cheshire)

Livery (Would prefer DIY or Part) - £45 a week
Feed - £20 a year... (warmblood x - just looks at grass and balloons :D - tb's are VERY (generally) different!!.... my last tb was 15 a month + in feed!!!
Bedding - in livery
Insurance (horse). Is it worth getting rider insurance as well? Who are the best to take out a policy with? - petplan equine - 30 a month.... vets fees only.

Wormer - erm i think 3/4 times a year between 15-18 a go
Jabs - £45 a year

Shoes - £45 every 6 weeks
Dentist - £45 twice a year
Vet (unexpected vet bills) - anyones guess.
Hay - mines included in livery but £10 a week you woulnd t go far wrong ++
General basic equipment - anyones guess... ebay is your best bet
Lessons (gave up riding last year) £20 a week



^^ thats my costs - as well as transport/tack/etc


no wonder im always skint :D

its not the buying - its the upkeep - good luck :)
 
Here is what I pay (Cheshire area)-

Livery (Would prefer DIY or Part)- Sorry don't know- kept at home

Feed- Less than £5 month hard feed for Welsh cob good doer- handful of low cal mix for him to come in to

Bedding- £35- £40 month for Nedz Beds or shavings, £25 month for straw

Insurance (horse). Is it worth getting rider insurance as well? Who are the best to take out a policy with? We are insured with KBIS which includes vets fees and 3rd party so I don't think any need for rider insurance seperately. Costs about £39 per month

Wormer- £15- £20 4X per year

Jabs- About £50 per year

Shoes- £70 every 5- 6 weeks

Dentist- Vet does then, around £40 a year

Vet (unexpected vet bills)- Insurance covers up to £5000 with £200 excess. Credit card/ savings after that!

Hay- £4 per bale, in winter about £60-70 per month. Cheaper in summer as more grazing available

General basic equipment- Fly spray in summer at about £20 per month. Could spend a fortune in the saddlery but have to stop myself!!!

Lessons (gave up riding last year)- £35 an hour X once a week- £140 per month. Sounds a lot but worth it to me

Also consider rugs, tack etc which inveriably wear out.

Hope that helps :)
 
I'm in Swansea, so my costs wouldn't mean much to you I guess.

Short answer; No, you can't afford a horse, unless you are upper class or the Queen.

Can't afford children, either.

So go ahead, take the plunge, buy the horse and as long as you are willing to make cuts elsewhere, lose sleep when its cold outside, wear secondhand coats because he's torn his on the fence.... AGAIN... and risk any current or future relationships by paying livery fees and skipping date nights/anniversaries/holidays, it will work out in the long term.
 
Hey thanks for replying. I can afford to buy the horse I just want to know roughly whether I'm going to be able to afford the yearly upkeep (also have to include dog and car) before I make any decisions :o

I did think that a Tb might cost quite a lot more than the type I was originaly (sp) looking for (cob type). Still may go for a cob but this boy looks and sounds quite nice for a Tb :o

Do you think this site gives a good estimation >> http://www.equine-world.co.uk/buying_horses/cost_horse.asp :confused:
 
Jake10 said:
I did think that a Tb might cost quite a lot more than the type I was originaly (sp) looking for (cob type). Still may go for a cob but this boy looks and sounds quite nice for a Tb :o
Click to expand...

Speaking from experience, having owned a TB type then a cob (both 15hh) the difference in feed costs are noticable
 
My rule of thumb before buying was:

Do I have a SPARE £600 a month????

So, from that I pay aprox £350 for the horse every month and have £250 left for me to spend on myself
 
Jake10 said:
Hey thanks for replying. I can afford to buy the horse I just want to know roughly whether I'm going to be able to afford the yearly upkeep (also have to include dog and car) before I make any decisions :o

I did think that a Tb might cost quite a lot more than the type I was originaly (sp) looking for (cob type). Still may go for a cob but this boy looks and sounds quite nice for a Tb :o

Do you think this site gives a good estimation >> http://www.equine-world.co.uk/buying_horses/cost_horse.asp :confused:
Click to expand...

I'd say that's fairly conservative because they've not included everything. Our horses are at home so no livery cost but we are out and about a lot for lessons, schooling and competitions plus running a lorry so we would have extra out goings that you aren't looking at right now. What ever you think you need, my advice would be double it and add 10%!
 
For unexpected vest bills remember you will be talking thousands (potentially tens of... I know someone who sold house and car...) and once horse has a pre-existing condition it will be excluded from insurance so you have to pay in full. Or have the horse PTS.

Or you may find horse develops a condition that leaves it in no pain but unrideable. At which point you have the option to either retire it (read: pay for upkeep for 20 yrs with no riding) or PTS.

If you can afford all eventualities and/or don't mind PTS for financial reasons go for it. Owning would be amazing.
 
Cant help with livery costs, but not all TBs even ex racers need lots of food. The one im currently riding has ballooned on the grass. In winter he just has 1 scoop of calm and conditioner and 2 nets of haylage/night. He is a good doer for a TB.
 
MosMum said:
I'm in Swansea, so my costs wouldn't mean much to you I guess.

Short answer; No, you can't afford a horse, unless you are upper class or the Queen.

Can't afford children, either.

So go ahead, take the plunge, buy the horse and as long as you are willing to make cuts elsewhere, lose sleep when its cold outside, wear secondhand coats because he's torn his on the fence.... AGAIN... and risk any current or future relationships by paying livery fees and skipping date nights/anniversaries/holidays, it will work out in the long term.
Click to expand...

^ ^ That!!! Ha ha!

Love it, so true, it takes all your disposable income one way or another but what better way to spend it!!
 
Jake10 said:
I'm sure I've posted something similar before. I've just seen a very reasonably priced *I think?* 8yr old 16.1hh ex racer gelding (Good flat work, just started jumping) for sale. I'm now thinking *yet again* that maybe it's time to take the plunge and buy but...

What I need help with (preferably from people in the Nottingham area as close to Newark as possible) are the current costs of horse ownership.

Costs per year or month:

Livery (Would prefer DIY or Part) - DIY £25 a week
Feed - Depends of so many things but on av £20 a month
Bedding - Depends on what you want to go on but shavings in my area are £7.00 a bag and i use 2 a week.
Insurance (horse). Is it worth getting rider insurance as well? Who are the best to take out a policy with? I use Petplan and i pay £37 a month. This includes vet fees, rider and public liability.
Wormer - £17 every 3 months
Jabs - Including vet call out £75 once a year
Shoes - Depends on if your horse needs shoes but my farrier is £20 a trim, £45 fronts and £65 a full set every 6 - 8 weeks
Dentist £45 every 6 months
Vet (unexpected vet bills) I make sure i have the excess put to one side which is £175. My vet has always waited for the insurance money to pay out.
Hay - depends on how often your horse is in for, how good your grazing is etc but i used to use one large heston bale (huge rectangle one!!) a month and it was £30 a bale.
General basic equipment - Wheelbarrow, fork etc from £60, Grooming kit from £20, Tack approx £500
Lessons (gave up riding last year) I pay £45 for 1hr!!!

* Don't plan on showing at least not for a year or two so that's one less expense.

Is there anything I've mist?

As thanks for answering this immensely long list please accept some home made chocolate cake :D :D
Click to expand...

I used to budget approx £200 in the summer and £275 for the winter a month.
 
ok

my list but I have been lucky with grazing locally etc but have rented too but this could cost more I think the sky is the limit so shop around. If its your first horse may be good to be on a yard.

Renting stable/grass DIY livery £25 per week(thats without hay or bedding add that on top)
Shoes £50 per I do 8 weeks but depends on horse (I do this so I remember every other pay pack)!
I poo pick daily so worm only twice a year spring and autumn
Other horsey buys are feeds ie pony nuts/hi fi lites etc mineral licks saddle cleaners etc broken head collars numerous lead ropes/grooming kits etc/Dentist(I dont do it as much as you should just every few years....sorry bad owner) New Tack? Lessons/Rugs if needed

I always think insuring a horse is no different to running a car so ring and find out cost you can pay monthly if its too much out in one go!

Your horse insurance can cover you if you want they will insure tack etc and public liability plus vets fees etc but they will explain that to you anyway try NFU or SEIB Petplan to get a feel for how much!!
I remember insuring my horse before he was transported to me ie once I made the purchase ineffect I was the new owner.
 
I have a basic cost of about £300 a month for my tb on DIY livery but I budget around £400 a month as there is always something else he 'needs' this week mostly being physio and saddle fitter!
 
The BHS says to estimate the cost keeping a horse like running another car.

I reckon its costs around £3,000 per year, and I have things easy as mine is at home so there is no livery/hay/straw costs. However, I do a fair amount of competiting/lessons/clinics,etc. so I could cut back if I had to. I pay for farrier, insurance, any tack, vets, treatments, horse clothing, lessons.

I tend not to add it all up, as it would be too frightening. But what else would I spend my money on?
 
My OH thinks that owning and paying the upkeep for a horse is very similar to

"if you need to ask the price then you can't afford it"

Bless him - he still has no idea how much it really costs me

But, If you budget anything between £350 and £500 a month - depending on what sort of livery and where you are - you may get close to reality. However, that is if you have a horse that doesn't injure itself and incur huge vet bills (especially on the same leg over and over and over again)
 
Some of these estimates are way off what I pay. I think you would be best going round local yards and asking how much they charge for livery etc. They will give you a good idea of how much local farriers etc. charge. Good luck. I used to think everyone who owned horses was rich but now that im older I see that most people just sacrifice other things (hols, nights out etc) if u feel its worth it, go for it. For me it is 100% worth it. Remember u could always loan or share if your worried you might not manage to cover costs ;)
 
I think the difference between a cob-type and a TB can be quite considerable.. I have a welsh D my best mate has a TB. Both similar ages, sizes and used for similar things. She spends £70 every 6 weeks on shoes, I spend £20 on a trim. I can spend £0 on hard feed, then just hay in winter and have a health horse, in winter she spends ALOT on feed/ad lib haylage to keep her in good condition. Also TBs generally need more rugs. Also TBs can have awful feet, I know she spends a lot on hoof supplements also. This won't be the case for every horse but if your trying to do it on a budget i'd recommend a native and have more cash for the fun stuff!!
 
Just to throw something else into the mix, the last three tbs I've had have been better doers than the cobs and have spent most of their time on a diet! My tb at the moment winters out with no hard food, rugs or shoes :)

I don't pay livery
Shoes - well one is shod every two - three weeks, one every ten at £65 a set
Hay - I use a bale and half a day in winter for the two, less in summer unless one has to come in. Price of hay per bale? anyones guess atm
hard feed - very little, about £15 a month for the two if hunting but often none
Wormer - guess about £60 a year but my big mare has more than one
Insurance - the tb at 18 is insured through the farm third party, my hunter £360 a year
Straw - I get free ;)
Jabs - 50 a year for both but vet does free call out
other vets - my hunter has run up over £4k in last year but covered by insurance and until last year hadn't seen the vet apart from jabs for 13 years ;)
Dentist - £100 a year for both
Saddler - I guess average of £100 a year
 
Just take all of your income and throw it away for a month - if you survive, you can afford a horse! :p:p
 
moosea said:
Just take all of your income and throw it away for a month - if you survive, you can afford a horse! :p:p
Click to expand...

So, so true....... but we all do it don't we :) :)

Comment from non-horse owner " You must be rich, you have horses" My reply "No I'm money poor because I have horses, but rich in many other ways,"

but I wouldn't change a thing (except perhaps winning the lottery if I could afford a ticket)
 
I know it is really exciting to think about buying and also you are obviously giving it a great deal of thought - but why not just hold back for 6 months and pay to share a good horse?. I honestly can't see any reasons why this is NOT a good idea

1. You will have a regular financial and TIME commitement and can see how you find working that into your life. No one has mentioned the time element. I have 2 on part livery and am up always playing catch up with my chores and life. Not complaining, its my choice but its a big life change if you are used to having time to "be sorted"
2. You will start to build up a circle of other equine friends through sharing
3. Gives you a chance to see what you like in yards/want to do with your horse (hacking, showing, jumping etc)
4. You will have the money to pay for lessons on your share horse too
5. There is always a lot more choice come autumn and better prices for horses. This is two fold. 1. Its coming into winter and is more expensive/fun is reduced etc 2. Whole lot of teenagers disappearing off to Uni so need to sell their pony.

As for insurance - again reading the posts I don't think it has been made really clear. You absolutely must have cover for your horse for at the very least 3rd party liability as if your horse strayed, regardless of whether it was yours or the Yard owners fault - YOU are liable for ALL damages. Good news is that is not expensive and if you end up joining something like British Dressage etc cover is included. If you decide to share, get your own riders insurance (again not expensive) as the horse owners insurance will not cover you. The question over vets fees - all the policies I have seen cap their vets fees at around £5K. While this may sound a lot, to put it into perspecitve, a "normal" surgical colic operation would cost around that. If you buy a horse with a pre exisiting condition (i.e if you bought a horse that had known problems with say, tendons) that that would be excuded. There has been numerous debates over whether you should have money or access to money to pay for fees over and above this but no one has ever been able to settle on a definate fee.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do but again, if you share you will then also have so much access to other people to help you when you do go horse hunting..
 
I have a healthy VERY good doer on private DIY, living out for the summer, shod only on the front. I compete locally or at RC about twice a month and give my friend fuel money.
I put aside £250 a month into a savings account which is purely for the horse. Every month I manage to pretty much spend it all. I also pay an additional £40 a month insurance. In addition there are entry fees and fuel. Then my fuel to get to the farm...
I also have an 'emergency' £3000+ sitting in an ISA in case I ever need it. I think it's really important with horses to have some rainy day money!
 
I'm doing my sums at the moment as going to be buying in a few months and I worked out I will need 525 a month. That includes part livery at a yard with good facilities, so not the cheapest (not got a specific yard in mind yet but got prices off websites for several good yards in area) and everything else I can think of (even included a bit each month for new rugs/tack). I've based costs on winter maximum so hoping will be cheaper in summer. But also will depend on what hard feed new horse will need. I've waited until I can definitely afford everything - which has taken me until I'm 30, but the last thing I wanted to do was buy a horse then have the heart break of selling it because I couldn't afford upkeep.
 
I keep my horse (until this weekend I had 2!) on as tight a budget as I can, so it is doable!!

My livery is DIY and I have really looked around to find a great yard which is only £100 a month per horse. Previously round this area (Berks) I have been paying more like £150 for pure DIY so this is a great find. I travely slightly further but it's worth it!!!!

My horse is on rubber matting with a straw bed as this saves a lot on bedding! A big bale of straw will last me nearly a month and is only £10 - the yard im on grow their own hay and straw so this makes everything SO much cheaper for the liveries. I would also get through a big bale of hay once a month at £20. Horse is a pony really at 14.2 1/2, not a particularly great do-er but also not too poor. Feed wise I often buy the feed store own brand nuts and chaff as they are much cheaper but he is just as well on them. I don't feed any supplements just a carrot and a slurp of asda oil!!! He lives out 24/7 through the summer which also saves me a fortune as not using much hay or straw at all, and every one on the yard helps share turning out/bringing in which saves money also.

I also have a sharer who pays £100 a month to ride him 3 times a week, which could be an option for you? He is well schooled and completely safe so gives loads of fun to an 8 year old and her 12 year old sister on their days and they all love him!

Shoes wise, I have just switched farrier to someone who comes well recommended at £50 a full set, rather than the £65 I was paying before!!!! I am also considering trying him with just fronts on as he has good feet and we don't do much roadwork or on stony ground now we have moved yards.

Horses are wormed on a yard routine and so the yard buy on bulk, making it a bit cheaper.

Insurance - he is on veteran insurance which doesnt cover a great deal and I'm considering just cancelling it and putting some money away each month just in case!!

So I think that's it!! obviously there ar the normal dentist/back checks, vaccinations etc to consider but I think I've covered everything!!

So it can be done on a budget!! I can afford him, but I am saving hard for a house deposit hence the sharer!!!!! I would definitely take into consideration the type of horse you get as GENERALLY a native will cost less to run that a TB - exceptions to every rule of course!!! I would also suggest really "shopping round" as it were, to get the best deal you can! I have saved a fortune by moving yards as the cost of livery, hay, bedding, wormer, and now the farrier!!!! So my bank balance is smiling at the moment!

Just to compare, last winter I spent £150 a month on DIY, £50 for a bale of hay, £8 for a bale of shavings at 2 a week. :)
 
Last year my horse cost me £170 a month that includes my fuel for travel to the yard, food, dentist, full set of shoes every 8 weeks, worming, vacs, clipping, insurance, diy livery, hay, shavings, rug cleaning/reproofing and supplements!
There was even a problem that needed vet attention last summer included in that!

I am in the midlands.
 
c2b said:
Last year my horse cost me £170 a month that includes my fuel for travel to the yard, food, dentist, full set of shoes every 8 weeks, worming, vacs, clipping, insurance, diy livery, hay, shavings, rug cleaning/reproofing and supplements!
There was even a problem that needed vet attention last summer included in that!

I am in the midlands.
Click to expand...

wow im moving to the midlands!!
 
£170 a month equates to about £5.50 a day. About the price of a packet of cigarettes is how I justify it.

I don't compete.
I have lessons from an instructor friend in return for dinner.
My mare lives out most of the year.
My vet doesn't charge me a call out fee.
Only xtra feed my mare gets is a bit of hay in winter and some chaff to put her vit supplement in.
I worm count now so few chemical wormers needed.
My mare Only inusurd for vet fees and public liability.
DIY livery obviously.

If I got my lazy bum in gear and walked or cycled to the yard I could save another £42 a month in fuel costs!
 
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