# How much does it cost to have a youngster profesionally broken?



## Lucy_Nottingham (29 April 2010)

As title really?

Also could you tell me some of your experiences of having your horse profesionally broken?


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## Abbeygale (29 April 2010)

My 4yo is away being broken in - its about £100 a week, with him being worked 4 days a week.  Livery is £70, and £8 per day for exercise - livery costs include all bedding, feed, turnout, tack cleaning etc etc

I do usually break my youngsters in myself - but I knew he was going to need steady consistent work to get him started - something that I just don't have the time or facilities to do.  

Going on to a busy yard has done my chap the world of good, he is really settled on the yard - he is taking longer than I anticipated, but I keep in constant contact with the YO and the girl who is the rodeo rider (!!!), and I know they are not taking the pee - just doing the best for him. 

I think I would have been a lot more concerned about sending him away to a yard where I did not know everyone so very well - but I trust the yard that they will do the best for him - which is very necessary IMO


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## Lucy_Nottingham (29 April 2010)

No i agree,
I am just thinking about my options when it comes to getting a horse (not yet, just being prepared!  ) as to whether its better to get a broken youngster who just needs bringing on (which i am capable of doing) or getting an unbroken 4yo and getting it prof broken and then bringing it on (which might be cheaper or more expensive, i don't know yet.....) but just want to have all my options made a little clearer  

Thank you for your reply  I hope your boy keeps on improving! 

Also, i wouldnt want to break in a horse myself as I have never done it before and would not want to make a pigs ear out of it all!


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## Abbeygale (29 April 2010)

Ah I see!!  

I know prices do vary - as with everything! 

What sort of youngster are you looking for?

My chap will get there eventually - bless his little cottons!!


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## Lucy_Nottingham (29 April 2010)

well when i do get around to buying a horse I want a MW show hunter (but also has the ability to do a bit of everything as well) Not setting my sights too high right?!  

Hence why i dont know whether to get an unbroken or broken youngster........ 

Id ideally like an ID or IDx but also Clair has some lovely horses called Spanish Normans which are just beautiful and also fit the bill (but only her and one other person in the country has them.....  )


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## tasel (29 April 2010)

Between £600 - £800 a month generally...


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## zandp (29 April 2010)

Depending on facilities of yard and location in country seems to range from £100 - £180 a week.  My youngster's being rebacked atm and I've gone down the hire a professional route - but have a friend who's charging me per day worked - basically he's being the jockey while I'm the on the ground bod.  I backed / started her last year with me being the jockey while another friend was the on the ground bod.  Chose this route mainly because I couldn't afford for eg 4 weeks at £150 a week and pay for it at once just at the moment.  My friend is being great and letting me pay in drips and drabs as and when I can.   Also I've seen him with his mare whereas didn't know any of the professional starting yards around here.


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## Lucy_Nottingham (29 April 2010)

ahh thats not too bad!

And without meaning to sound like a total dunce................

when the horse comes out of the professional's yard...... how developed are they generally? like established walk trot canter and maybe a poles or a small jump? or just basically you can sit on and go a little bit? (sorry never had this done before so really in the dark with it  )


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## Cliqmo (29 April 2010)

My YO backs horses and charges £150/week to do it (this includes full livery) 

She estimated 4-6wk programme to get him backed and schooling but (being a tight arse  ) I decided to do it myself as £150x4 = £600 which is the same as 20hrs of lessons with her    

I'm really pleased I chose this route and I never suspected it would be as rewarding as it is


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## shark1 (29 April 2010)

i would just say really make sure you know the yard backwards as to where its going and how they do things. having worked a pro breaking yard  that appeared fab and then behind the scenes was a completley different story. i know everyone has different standards and expectations but depriving sensible (as in not tricky to break) babies of water and food for days on end is not on in my book. so careful of that! i quit and i made sure i sneaked them some water before i left!!

i paid 150 a week for one particularly tricky young lady (different yard -think a bit extra for danger money!) which i think was a good investment looking back, expensive but worth it.

one guy had the nerve to send one of mine back 'broken' after i rode it at his place, where it went fab. i couldnt understand why it was bonkers when it came home, til about 6 months later when i found out it had been sedated to ride all the time he had it!

just to say - not all my horses are mad, it was just 2!


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## Lucy_Nottingham (29 April 2010)

ahh cool thank you, see its not actually as expensive as I was expecting! (I was thinking it would be like 1.5-2K minimum! No idea why! lol 

Any explanations of the state the horse comes out of the training in in terms of ability? (not meaning I expect it to be perfect, but just general paces and abilities...)


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## Lucy_Nottingham (29 April 2010)

shark - o god yes I would definetly check standards, peoples experiences etc of a yard before sending any horse of mine ANYWHERE really!  

that is terrible that someone did that to your horse, and to those others horses! id have been livid!! 

glad they are ok now tho!


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## zandp (29 April 2010)

I'm expecting my youngster to have steering and brakes and walk and trot established off the lunge.  I'm then paying said friend to hack her out for me initially, if she's basically ok and not prone to tanking off constantly I'll then hack her out as well and will probably continue having lessons - either with said friend - or with another friend who's also a RI on her very infrequently.  I can get canter going on hacks so am just worried that she can be ridden off the lunge, stop, start and go in the right direction.


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## baileymoo (29 April 2010)

I am from around nottinghamshire and i am sending my 4yo away in a months time to be broken. I did the initial work and rode her off the lunge vaguely last year but she is by no means broken. She is going to a lovely yard which is £150 per week and will hopefully not be there more than 6 weeks, she is a genuine willing to learn mare who has been very well handled. The woman breaking her says she will be walking, trotting, cantering and hacking alone and in company on very quiet roads before she returns


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## Lucy_Nottingham (29 April 2010)

baileymoo - see that would be what i would want from haivng my youngster broken (if i got one!)


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## brighteyes (29 April 2010)

Backing is the 'easy' bit.  It's getting them forward and obedient.  I know someone in Cheshire wo always turns out happy and confident horses with lovely mouths.  Bit of a no-frills operation but everything I know done by her is a nice ride.

We've done a few and it is basically knowing what you are doing and having the time to ensure nothing is rushed or overcooked.

I personally hate to see 4yo's scraped into an outline and booted along, all for the sake of a result in the allotted time.


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## JanetGeorge (29 April 2010)

Lucy_Nottingham said:



			shark - o god yes I would definetly check standards, peoples experiences etc of a yard before sending any horse of mine ANYWHERE really!  

that is terrible that someone did that to your horse, and to those others horses! id have been livid!!
		
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Sadly, there are an awful lot of incompetent/immoral trainers out there - based on the experiences I hear or - and the horses who come here for re-backing, often as a last resort!!

A few examples:

1.  a friend - some distance from me - checked out a local yard for backing her nice youngster.  She found half a dozen horses standing in their stables in tight side reins - this was - apparently - to "mouth them"!   (she travelled her youngster 100 miles instead to come to me.)

2.  a client had her horse sent back as 'unbreakable' and 'dangerous'!  He was neither - he's now a model citizen!

3.  another client had her horse at a 'professional' yard for 20 weeks - at the end of this period itwas ALMOST lunging under saddle, but hadn't been sat on!

4.  a breeder I know sent her young stallion for backing - he came back about 100 kg lighter than when he went away!!

I charge £140 a week - all inclusive of full livery and plenty of food!!  Most horses take from 3 - 6 weeks to get to the point where they'll walk, trot and canter on both reins in the school, and hack out quietly alone or in sensible company.


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## Lucy_Nottingham (29 April 2010)

Gosh JG there really are some money grabbing horrid people out there.

Well if I do go down this route I obviously know what to look out for! (I would never accept anything that i considered poor animal husbandry and care before I even considered leaving the horse there for working with, and then id want to see how they handled the horses...) 

It seems like £100-£150 a week seems to be the average cost....... which isnt bad if you get a nicely behaved young horse out of it to me!  I wouldnt expect a fully produced dressage horse or anything other than what I would expect (like what you say you turn out janet!) 

Hmmmm this is going to make horse buying SOOO much more difficult now...


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## JanetGeorge (29 April 2010)

Lucy_Nottingham said:



			Hmmmm this is going to make horse buying SOOO much more difficult now... 

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Nah - it's easy!

I just re-read and saw this bit:




			I am just thinking about my options when it comes to getting a horse (not yet, just being prepared!  ) as to whether its better to get a broken youngster who just needs bringing on (which i am capable of doing) or getting an unbroken 4yo and getting it prof broken and then bringing it on (which might be cheaper or more expensive, i don't know yet.....) but just want to have all my options made a little clearer
		
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To give you a clue.  Last year I sold a nice 3 year old IDSH filly unbroken.  The new owner left it with me to back and bringon a bit (as I recall it was 8 weeks.)  As I always give a substantial discount for backing my own youngsters  (I know how easy they are ) it cost her £800 on top of the purchase price.  If I'd been selling that filly backed - at the stage it was when she took it home - I would have been asking at LEAST £500 more than her total cost - so in that case she saved £500.  And she was very happy with the filly and they are getting on great one year on.

However, it WAS a risk (from her point of view.)  She had no way of knowing if she'd LIKE the filly as much as she did when she finally got on her.  She had no way of knowing how sensible (or otherwise) it might turn out to be.  It worked out well for her - but it might not have!  It can be a bit of a gamble from a buyer's perspective.  As it happens, if she'd hated her - or hadn't been able to ride her once she was backed - I'd have bought her back at the selling price and not charged her for the backing.  But very few breeders/trainers would do that!  You might end up with a youngster you DON'T like as a riding horse - or you can't ride!

So SAFEST option is to buy a youngster that's been carefully started - that you can try out under saddle and be SURE it's the horse for you!  (And if you want an IDx MW hunter type I just happen to have some ready to back now! )


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## Lucy_Nottingham (29 April 2010)

ok you back/breaak them and hang on to the nicest boy for 12 months for me ye?!  hehe


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## JanetGeorge (29 April 2010)

Lucy_Nottingham said:



			ok you back/breaak them and hang on to the nicest boy for 12 months for me ye?!  hehe
		
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Mmm - he might be pretty expensive by then!  But I've got some nice boys that will be ready for backing in 12 months!


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## Evadiva1514 (29 April 2010)

I had my 3 year old warmblood mare backed at a local dressage yard, she was away for 10 weeks and it cost around 2k. She wasn't particularly established when she came back but she is a late maturing mare anyway so im quite glad they didn't push her too much too young. It did her the world of good moving to another yard for that time and being handled and dealt with by someone else. I backed my other youngster myself last year and got a great deal of pleasure from doing this too and it only cost me my time. I think if was to turn back the clock, i would do a lot of the groundwork myself and initially back any youngster and then send it away to a known person/trainer for further schooling and training as and when was needed to a nice busy yard with lots of facilities and things going on.


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## Lucy_Nottingham (29 April 2010)

in 12months i will definetly be calling you (or PM'ing you on here  ) to see if you have anything suitable!  I love looking at your horses on the website they are just beautiful!


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## Passtheshampoo (29 April 2010)

I've just started my homebred 4yr old RID mare last week. I had got her booked in with a local yard for April (£120 per wk) but as it was getting to the end of April and they still hadn't contacted me I thought "sod it" I'll have a sit on (they still haven't been in touch). I have backed a few of my own over the years but as I've has 2 lots of major spinal surgery I had decided to get someone else to do this youngster for me, plus I don't have a school. I only sat on her for the first time a wk last Monday and have to say what a star she is. Have mastered a lovely forward going walk and trot with brakes and steering in place. I have been riding her in my flat 2 acre field where I have 24 ewes and lambs skipping around. Thank goodness she's a sensible sort. I have had 2 lessons at a nearby yard this week (they back and school/sj) and I have had very positive comments on how forward going and well behaved my youngster is. I will continue to have regular lessons as my girl is quite bright and learns quickly. I had had a few enquiries about my girl as she "was" for sale but most people wanted her in work first and were obviously prepared to pay a bit more backed and doing a bit. In my case I think paying for someone to back and bring on a youngster is money very well spent as long as you choose the right yard. Get recommendations from people who have taken youngsters to yards as you'll get a true picture of how your horse will be kept, handled and educated.


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## RSL (29 April 2010)

It varies, One place here is £120, another is £150, The most I have come across is £200 a week.


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