Cost of having a horse

Clare2018

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Nov 30, 2018
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Hi
Am recently getting back in to horse riding and would really love my own horse again but worrying about the cost ,would appreciate if anyone could give me any tips or an average a month that it cost has it probably changed since I had my own.
Thankyou
 
How long is a piece of string question.

It really depends on where you are, what you buy and how you plan to keep them.
Mine lives out 24/7 all year round. She costs grazing, hay, insurance, vet and farrier. RI here and there.

Costs have trebled since I first got into it. But my need verses want stepped in. ;)
 
We were just talking about livery costs recently here https://www.newrider.com/threads/horse-keeping-costs.253553/
On top of those you have farrier/shoe's/boots, routine vets/vaccinations, routine teeth, routine saddle check, worming/worm counts and insurance. And there a bunch of what I would consider non-routine stuff, buying new tack/rugs, emergency vet calls etc.
My basic costs aren't that high but the athoc stuff can soon add up, I did 9 thousand pounds in vets bills 1 year...thank goodness for insurance
 
How long is a piece of string question.

It really depends on where you are, what you buy and how you plan to keep them.
Mine lives out 24/7 all year round. She costs grazing, hay, insurance, vet and farrier. RI here and there.

Costs have trebled since I first got into it. But my need verses want stepped in. ;)
It would probably be a livery yard,I did think the prices had changed
 
Definitely one of those how long is a piece of string questions, livery bills depend very much on the area you are looking in, do you want grass livery, DIY, Part, Full? Do you want facilities like wash boxes, walkers, indoor school, floodlights, off road hacking etc?
So many variables depending what and where really. Probably have a look on preloved or somewhere like that for livery yards in your area, they usually give some idea of price?
 
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Definitely one of those how long is a piece of string questions, livery bills depend very much on the area you are looking in, do you want grass livery, DIY, Part, Full? Do you want facilities like wash boxes, walkers, indoor school, floodlights, off road hacking etc?
So many variables depending what and where really. Probably have a look on preloved or somewhere like that for livery yards in your area, they usually give some idea of price?
Thankyou.
 
Yeah I would definitely be getting insured just wanted to know an average cost would be on a livery yard
If you click on that link everyone was sharing their livery costs, but as you see from that it can vary hugely depending on where you are, what facilities you have and what type of livery you have.
 
As already said, bit of a how longis a piece of string one. Hehehe I thought I'd "save" money by buying my own instead of three lessons a week. Humph. Could get an awful lot of lessons for £950 a montho_O:eek:(but I do have three two of which are old special needs).
 
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How long is a piece of string question.

It really depends on where you are, what you buy and how you plan to keep them.
Mine lives out 24/7 all year round. She costs grazing, hay, insurance, vet and farrier. RI here and there.

Costs have trebled since I first got into it. But my need verses want stepped in. ;)

This.

Or, as often feels the case, work out your income & that's what they cost!
 
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I did constant calculations. We kept careful accounts which show that riding lessons twice a week for 14 years never ever came to as much as the cheapest full livery. That is prices near London.
At one point i did ride 3 times a week and even then I dont believe the year came to above £5,000.
That is because altho one thinks one may ride 3 times a week for 52 weeks, it is more likely to be 48 weeks at the most. Or even less. One goes on holiday, Christmas and snow may intervene as well as being ill with flu.
But if one owns a horse the weekly costs are for 52 weeks.
Moreover RS lessons include tuition - I went for some very pricey tuition now and then on wonderful horses - a an RS rider one can pick and choose.
But if you own a horse you need to find and pay a trainer.
But you need to take some other factors into account. I believe it is safer to own one's own horse and take one's own decisions about safety. I never fell off my share horse but did fall when forced by an RS to hack a horse over which I did not have full control.
 
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I am not familiar with either of those things.
I haven't done Christmas for about three years and its amazing!! I don't feel left out of any of it. :)

I tried to not do Christmas one year but a lot of my relatives wouldn't let me and I felt very pressured about gift giving and cards etc. The whole thing wore me down until I ended up buying a bit of something for everyone:(
But normally I do embrace it, there was just the one bad year.
 
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In Essex I was paying out £200 a month including everything on DIY livery.

When I looked into full livery the cost was £470 just for the livery - add on £30 a month to cover feed, farrier, vet, dentist etc - so £500 a month.

I pay the same £500 a month in Tuscany BUT that includes 4 days a week training by experienced riders under the eagle eyes of the yard owners!
 
I tried to not do Christmas one year but a lot of my relatives wouldn't let me and I felt very pressured about gift giving and cards etc. The whole thing wore me down until I ended up buying a bit of something for everyone:(
But normally I do embrace it, there was just the one bad year.
That's why I said no and put my foot down.
It's simply expected and nothing to do with tradition or religion.

I got a horse for Christmas. Nothing will ever come close. :)
 
Oh yes! Again how long is a piece of string! I mean if youre going to get a good doer / native type tht would save you money on shoes and feed etc. Where as your TBs are more expensive most of the time. Livery too varies. Around my area DIY is 25 per week part 50-70 and full 80-100 . That's not including insurance, feed, farrier. Would get them insured again that's.. 15-60 per month. Then you have vet bills etc.
 
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It will cost you every single penny you have!! Despite having full insurance, this year I have spent £4000 of my money on vets fees (total cost with insurance is about £12000). And I still have a lame horse.

The cost is never ending. It is not just livery, it is lessons, transport, show fees, farrier, insurance, wormer, teeth, jabs, physio, rugs, saddle fitter, tack, your clothes, hat, boots, body protector. The list goes on and on.

Is it worth it? Of course it is! My horse is worth every penny but I do have to make sacrifices to afford him. My advice is don’t enter into horse ownership unless you want to be stripped of all your cash!
 
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Oh yes! Again how long is a piece of string! I mean if youre going to get a good doer / native type tht would save you money on shoes and feed etc. Where as your TBs are more expensive most of the time. Livery too varies. Around my area DIY is 25 per week part 50-70 and full 80-100 . That's not including insurance, feed, farrier. Would get them insured again that's.. 15-60 per month. Then you have vet bills etc.

I have to disagree with this Lauren. Good doers & natives aren't necessarily cheaper, often their needs are different rather than less. For instance a very good doer may sound cheap because it can live on fresh air BUT you might find it very hard to find a yard that can cater for that and end up with it muzzled (if you can keep it on) or stabled all year round and having to exercise it every day to avoid major (and expensive) health problems. They don't necessarily have good enough feet to go barefoot, particularly if you have to work them harder to keep them healthy & how often shoes are needed depends on foot growth. I'd say the main costs are often similar, things like hard feed are relatively small part of costs unless you're keeping at home, not having lessons etc etc. Buying something because you think it can be kept cheaply is a recipe for disaster imo.
 
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