# Cost of Running a Riding School



## Drum (23 March 2009)

Its for a riding school of approximately 30 school horses/ponies and 20 full liveries, so quite a large place.

Could anyone tell me the approximate annual cost of the following things (and maybe help me with things I've missed off the list).  

Insurance
Business rates
Council license
BHS approval
Advertising

And costs per horse/pony per year:
Hard feed
Hay
Bedding
Vet costs other than vaccinations and teeth
Replacement of horses, tack and equiptment

I think can do the costs for staff, electricity, phone, water, farrier, worming etc.  But if you can think of anything I've missed that would be really useful too.

Thanks in advance!!!


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## JavaJaneW (23 March 2009)

Bit of an endless piece of string!

License approx £204 plus the vet fee to inspect the horses,.
Insurance depends on who with and what is insured, when I ran one it was for 12 horses, public liability and employers liability plus basic horse insurance was £2500 (did not cover  tack/buildings etc, so very basic.

Have you grazing? My costs were £1260 a quarter for grazing 
	
	
		
		
	


	





Hay/Straw was approx £400 a month, hard feed varied as some  had more than others, but was about £300 a month.
Vets were as and when needed, so can't possibly say for per horse. One bill came in at £2000, others when needed were £100 or so.

replacement of horses? Hard to say, some were cheap as chips/loans/gifts/ others between £1500 - £2500.

really difficult to tot up for you!

You need a good strong client base to make an ounce of profit......


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## teddyt (23 March 2009)

Business rates depends on size and number of buildings. Insurance will be several thousand for 30 horses plus liveries, it goes up by the number of horses. And by having liveries.
Advertising is up to you. You could spend £20 or £2000.

Another one for the list is yard and field maintenance, again it is impossile to say as depends on damage/rate of wear.

Very hard question to answer accurately as there are so many variables. Whatever way you look at it though it would be a hell of a lot of money for a yard that big!


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## oscar08 (23 March 2009)

I can probably help a bit on bills....
We have anywhere from 12-17  horses each year. 
Average cost to keep each of our horses over a 3 year period properly per year (i.e vets, hay, straw, feet trim, wormer etc) was £650. (not included insruance, livery, ground maintenence etc)
Our total vets bill for 2008 was £3500, and 2007 £4000.
You can save on things like, buying a years wormer in bulk from a manufacturer, buying round hay bales direct from a farmer. Find a contracter to do you round straw bales, we pay £6 per bale for 5' by 4' bales.
Hope that Helps!


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## emma69 (23 March 2009)

To calculate the costs below you would need more specific information. For example, if any of the horses would live out for all / part of the year (as that would affect your feed and bedding costs), during the day will they be in their stables, or will you throw beds up each day (increasing labour, decreasing bedding costs). In terms of insurance, for all activities for all horses is significantly more expensive than liability insurance, and would you be offering hacking, xc, hunting as these will all increase costs. 

Hard feed, would you be feeding straights or mixes? Supplements? How many horses in hard work v leading rein ponies, as their costs will be very different. Rates etc depends on the property, facilities and where you are. Licence pretty minimal in the big scheme of things. 

Replacement tack and equipment, how much can you spend!!! Seriously tho, I would factor in a couple of bridles a year through wear and tear and idiots, several stirrup leathers, a couple of girths, a few rugs, and no doubt any new horses will need new saddles as murphy's law dictates that old ones will not fit. You will also need to provide riding hats, and these need to be changed after falls. Fly spray, shampoo, various cuts and bump lotions and potions all get used very quickly. Grooming kit can and does go missing, so add that in, shovels, rakes, brooms and wheelbarrows seem to have an alarmingly low lifespan, as do, for some extraordinary reason, haynets and buckets. Headcollars too for that matter! fencing and gate repairs need to be factored in too, as will jumps, jump cups, etc. Replacement horses, well, whatever the current market price is really, a few hundred to several thousand!

Other things that always seemed to come as suprises - resurfacing for the school (depends on material etc, but periodically it needs levelling (so hire or purchase of equipement) and topping up. Removal of muck heap, re-treating of wood stables and whitewashing of brick, repairs to surfaces (tarmac, concrete etc). Costs of getting fields maintained (harrowed, re-seeded etc), maintenance repairs to stables (horses kick through doors, walls etc, and roof repairs if the buildings are older), cost of taking credit cards (a % of the transaction), the cost of teabags, milk and biscuits for staff (I kid you not, 5 members of staff x 4 cuppas a day adds up!) and all the odds and sods (cotton wool, salt, vet wrap, saddle soap, sponges, hose pipe connectors and nozzle bits, etc) Basically, all the stuff livery owners buy once and it lasts the life of the horse, factor on getting at least once a month on expensive trips to the saddlery and/or boots!


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## Drum (24 March 2009)

Thank you so much.  That informations really useful.  

I knew most things were very dependant on how much you want to spend on them or what the existing facilities are like but it makes it very hard to budget for!!!


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