# Average monthly cost to keep a horse of DIY livery?



## Tayto (8 March 2013)

Hey guys!

As per an earlier post - I am looking to buy my first horse after having a horse on loan for a wee while. At the moment, I pay for her livery and shoes but all other costs are covered by the owner. 

This is what I have budgeted to put away each month - do you think I have got everything covered or am I missing something really obvious?!


Grass livery - £85
Shoes - £30 (£85 every 6-8 weeks)
Feed - £20
Misc fees (worming, vacs, teeth) - £50
Insurance - £25-£30
A wee bit extra for emergencies - £35

I would be putting this £ into a seperate bank account so any unused £ could build up over time so I have a wee bit put aside for emergencies or to unecessary things like pretty numnahs etc haha!


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## ihatework (8 March 2013)

Hay through the winter
Are you intending to have lessons or to compete?
You feed bill is fairly low so I assume you have a good doer?

Plus your shoe bill is low - £85 every 6-8 weeks does not equate to £30 a month!


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## Amymay (8 March 2013)

Feed will be more than £20 a month - you'll spend that on hay alone.

And shoeing ideally should be done every 5-6 weeks.


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## GeeUp&Go (8 March 2013)

Have you been given a quuote for your insurance? Yours seems quite low - mine was £50 a month (and he was on the most basic cover and was only insured for 2 grand. he was 17 though)


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## BillyBob-Sleigh (8 March 2013)

Lisa_Reid said:



			Hey guys!

As per an earlier post - I am looking to buy my first horse after having a horse on loan for a wee while. At the moment, I pay for her livery and shoes but all other costs are covered by the owner. 

This is what I have budgeted to put away each month - do you think I have got everything covered or am I missing something really obvious?!


Grass livery - £85
Shoes - £30 (£85 every 6-8 weeks)
Feed - £20
Misc fees (worming, vacs, teeth) - £50
Insurance - £25-£30
A wee bit extra for emergencies - £35

I would be putting this £ into a seperate bank account so any unused £ could build up over time so I have a wee bit put aside for emergencies or to unecessary things like pretty numnahs etc haha! 

Click to expand...

£85 for shoes ! It wold take me ages to break it all down by Billy's monthly costs are around £230 a month before shoes, lessons, competing etc


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## KatB (8 March 2013)

Shoe wise, please don't leave them 6-8 weeks!! 5-6 weeks as Amymay says should be MAX. 

Mine breaks down as Livery (210 through the winter including hay and straw), 75 for shoes, 38 for insurance (insured for 2.5k) Feed is £30 (2 bags of alfalfa cubes @ 8.50 each, quarter a bag of speedibeet, @ 2.50, Linseed and brewers yeast) plus misc worming, rug repairs, lessons, etc...

Mine is a good doer, so feed isnt a massive expense, but I would probably still be spending £140 a month on field and hay if she was living out based on your grass livery price...


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## Amymay (8 March 2013)

Livery - £130 (DIY)
Shoes - £85
Hay - £35
Hard Feed - £20
Insurance - £50
Bedding - £40

Extra's - £90 (minimum)

Total - Around £450


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## holeymoley (8 March 2013)

Per month for me- 

DIY livery - £120per month
Shoes - £70 every 6 weeks
Hard Feed - varies as bags s usually last over a month
Hay- small bales avg£30 , big bales £40 but goes over a month 
Misc fees (worming, vacs, teeth) - worm twice a year £15 each, counts twice a year at £11.  Vacs once at £85, teeth once at £ 30ish
Insurance - £25 per month
A wee bit extra for emergencies - I have £100 as spare.


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## HaffiesRock (8 March 2013)

Lisa_Reid said:



			Hey guys!

As per an earlier post - I am looking to buy my first horse after having a horse on loan for a wee while. At the moment, I pay for her livery and shoes but all other costs are covered by the owner. 

This is what I have budgeted to put away each month - do you think I have got everything covered or am I missing something really obvious?!


Grass livery - £85
Shoes - £30 (£85 every 6-8 weeks)
Feed - £20
Misc fees (worming, vacs, teeth) - £50
Insurance - £25-£30
A wee bit extra for emergencies - £35

I would be putting this £ into a seperate bank account so any unused £ could build up over time so I have a wee bit put aside for emergencies or to unecessary things like pretty numnahs etc haha! 

Click to expand...

These are my costs and I appreciate I keep him very cheaply.

These are monthly:

Livery £40
Hay over winter £40
Hay in spring/summer(good doer in bare paddock) £20
Feed £8.50 in spring, £17 in winter
Feet - Myself and pony trim so no cost here. Every now and again ill get the farrier to have a look and check him over at £10
Insurance is £25. Thats for full vet fees and public liability only
I agree with your misc fees and do the same.

Hope this helps x


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## Tayto (8 March 2013)

Hay is included in my livery. 

My current horse goes 8 weeks between being shod - but she is older so her feet wont grow as quickly so maybe need to get my new horse done more regularly IF they even have shoes (I havent actually bought one yet). 

Please note - these are ROUGH figures and give or take I am thinking it will work out about £250 in total. 

Any lessons etc will be over and above this money.  This money is just to cover feeding and general maintenance. 

I am looking at some cobby types that will not need much feeding hence the lower budget for that and obviously in winter I will need to budget more.


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## skint1 (8 March 2013)

Here's the cost of my 2:

Mare 1:
£60 for livery, lives on a farm, no school, basic stabling, nice grazing 
£40 for feed/hay/straw- average per month for winter, about half that in summer 
£40 shoes and trim
£28 insurance

Mare 2
£120 for livery inc haylage and straw
£50 shoes
£20 insurance
£20-average for feed and supplements

No wonder I am broke haha

I pay the insurance for my gelding but my daughter and loaner split all his other costs, which are similar to mare 2, though his shoes are more expensive


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## pudz02 (8 March 2013)

My monthly costs-

Livery- £125 (stable and turnout)
winter months
Feed - £40 
Hay - £50
Summer Lives out-
Feed £10 roughly

Insurance £28
Shoes £35 - every 6-8 weeks mine doesnt need shoeing as regularly as 5-6 weeks.
Dentist twice a year £40 a time
Vets as and when so cant really budget for that.
Worming - roughly 4 wormers a year from £12.95 - £20.00 per wormer.

I dont think your calculations arent too far off, you just have to think of initial out lays. i.e rugs, take, buckets, wheelbarrow etc etc thats the stuff I forgot about haha!! 

What I try to do is throughout summer, save up the same amount of money I spend on the winter months and then its a bit of a cushion going into winter, if that makes sense?

 enjoy owning your own horse


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## Amymay (8 March 2013)

8 weeks is a long time for anything to go in between shoeing - sorry.

Is the hay that's to be supplied as much as you want, and good quality??


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## kezz86 (8 March 2013)

Lisa_Reid said:



			Hey guys!

As per an earlier post - I am looking to buy my first horse after having a horse on loan for a wee while. At the moment, I pay for her livery and shoes but all other costs are covered by the owner. 

This is what I have budgeted to put away each month - do you think I have got everything covered or am I missing something really obvious?!


Grass livery - £85
Shoes - £30 (£85 every 6-8 weeks)
Feed - £20
Misc fees (worming, vacs, teeth) - £50
Insurance - £25-£30
A wee bit extra for emergencies - £35

I would be putting this £ into a seperate bank account so any unused £ could build up over time so I have a wee bit put aside for emergencies or to unecessary things like pretty numnahs etc haha! 

Click to expand...

I keep mine as cheaply as possible without her going without..

She's a good doer which helps.

Livery - £20 a week including hay living out 24/7 no stable but one available for emergencies (so £80-£100 depending on how long the month is)
No shoes but she is trimmed every 6 weeks ish - £50 a time about £40 a month
Insurance with NFU - £36 a month
No feed as she's a good doer but I do buy fast fibre as a treat for her (£9.99 a bag once every two months)
I try to allow £30 a month for replacing equipment etc...
You may also need to take into account fuel to travel to your yard? For me it's about £25 a week for that too.

Total - £256 monthly worst case scenario

Plus the things that aren't monthly - 
Wormer (£10-£30)
Teeth £50 for normal horse around here but mine needs to be sedated as she turns into a giraffe! So more like £150 ish
Back check - mine likes to have hers done every 4-5 months - £50 a go as I have a friend of a friend do it!
So another £280 ish a year on top...

I like to over estimate my costs a lot as I suddenly feel better about it all if I don't use up my "horsey allowance" lol


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## ihatework (8 March 2013)

£250 a month for a grass kept DIY is probably realistic to be fair - if you are getting a good doer/cobby/native type.

I would echo don't leave shoeings 8 weeks apart, if you are trying to keep to a strict budget look for horses with good feet and keep them unshod.

I would worry about the quantity/quality of hay if it is included in an £80 a month grass keep fee ... this winter my monthly hay bill for a good doer out 24/7 has been £80 alone (although he hasn't had hard feed)!


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## slumdog (8 March 2013)

Mine is approx
Livery £112 for all 3 (£10/week for big ones with stables, pony is £8/week with no stable)
Shoes - £70 (1 full set every 6 weeks and 2 trims)
Feed - £30 Just haylage, they don't have hard feed, although noticed tb has dropped a bit so will probably start feeding him again.
Misc- (worming, teeth) - Around £50
And then there's shows and running the lorry on top. I'm lucky with my livery though.


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## SirBrastias (8 March 2013)

For fun, after I'd had mine around a year, I tried to roughly work our how much it cost me per month on average. I got a figure of £400-£500. My livery is only a £100 per month inc hay and straw with excellent turn out but it's the things you don't plan for ie vets bills, new stirrup leathers, rug washing, carrots and apples (though I'm naughty with apples), all the little things. It's a very hard thing to predict, my horse is quite accident prone and has poor feet which I couldn't plan for (nor his love of apples). Anything to do with horses is hard to plan


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## TheoryX1 (8 March 2013)

For the two of them its £195 pcm each which includes very nice stables with rubber matting, nice facilities, good hacking and ad lib hay/haylage and 24/7 turnout. I also pay £200 to insure them both, one is 20 years old the other is an 11 year old Novice eventer/dressage horse and I do have loss of use cover as well.  On top of that it costs:

My 20 year old cob
Shoes every 6 weeks - fronts only with road nails and rear trim - £35.00.  All being well going barefoot totally over summer so even less then.
Is fed on chaff only and I buy any make as he gets just a handful in which he is fed his supplements -biotin which costs me £8.00 every two months and glucosamine - £40 every 3 months.

Mini TX's eventer.
Shoes with stud holes every six weeks £70.00.
Sack of horse nuts a month - £6.50 as buy cheap as chips feed merchant own brand (same formulation as a leading brand), plus speedi beet in winder.  The mare is a KWPN/TB cross and is a very good doer.

On top of that there are BE entry fees and BE yearly membership, plus BD fees etc.  Both are pretty spoiled, so lots of nice new things like rugs etc.  Obviously worming costs and costs of vaccinations and boosters, taking into account our eventer is having twice yearly vacinations in line with FEI regulations.

I would hazard a guess I spend around about £10K a year on the pair of them.  I am considering putting them back on part livery, so then my costs will go up to about £14K a year.


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## Tayto (8 March 2013)

amymay said:



			8 weeks is a long time for anything to go in between shoeing - sorry.

Is the hay that's to be supplied as much as you want, and good quality??
		
Click to expand...

Unfortunately it is not up to me when my current horse gets shod - the owner insists on arranging it so that is out of my control. The BHS guidelines are every 6-8 weeks but obviously I would do whatever was necessary for my horse - I would never make my horse go longer without seeing the farrier just to save my pocket!

The hay is good quality and we can have as much as we like - we are quite lucky in that respect


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## ktj1891 (8 March 2013)

I am in Wiltshire on DIY Livery it costs me roughly per month:

Livery - £113
Hay - £35.00
Feed - £60.00
Bedding (straw) - £20.00

Other costs
Shoes - £55.00
Wormer - £15.00-£20.00


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## JHC (8 March 2013)

Livery - £100 (for 1 horse, 1 mini)
Trim - £40
Bedding - £15 (in during the day)
Feed - £50 inc supplements
Hay - £20 
Misc - £30 

So around £205 a month.


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## Slave2Magic (8 March 2013)

Horse 1
Livery DIY £100
Bedding £30
Hay £35
Feed £15 Chop and Vitamin sup
Shoes £40 a time fronts only
Insurance £25

Horse 2
Livery £140 youngstock livery inc hay and straw £100 when out 24/7
Insurance £25
Trim £25

Extras - wormers, rug wash £20 a month


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## Polos Mum (8 March 2013)

£85 a month for DIY livery and good quality ad lib hay is a fantastic deal (my boy eats a bale a day which at £3.50 a bale would be £110 a month on it's own!!)  

It might be worth budgeting a little more for livery or hay - just incase the rules change or you have to move to a new yard for some reason


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## Littlelegs (8 March 2013)

I think that sounds a good estimate. Only thing is even if its only shod @85 every 8 weeks, its still more than 30 per month. And if stabling isn't available for emergencies at the yard, its worth checking local cost of renting a stable for a few days if there was an emergency. I know you have budgeted for extras, but if the nearest stabling available is a big venue charging £20 per night for comp stabling, it will soon eat your extra budget even with a relatively minor injury.


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## DosyMare (8 March 2013)

I don't think your far out tbh. 

£85 for grass livery including hay - I pay £100 for grass livery and in winter I pay extra for hay. It's not the best hay but they eat it. 

Mine is only trimmed every 8 weeks sometime more - £20. I thought £85 for shoes was expensive. My WB only had fronts they cost me £40 and she went 7 weeks easy. But you always get a pulled shoe or lost overreach boot that needs replacing - another tenner. 

Insurance wise I would be looking a little more  £40 per month - I would make sure your vets fees are covered up to £5k.


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## Rhodders (8 March 2013)

My lot eat a £4.50 bale of hay every day from November to Mid march (1 haffy, 2 midgets and a rising 3 welsh d) shoes are £65 every six weeks.  I don't feed hard feed at all other than carrots and stuff as a treat.  Straw for bedding about 2 bales a week (on rubber matting) @£3.50 per bale, dentist, saddler, back lady, injections etc all between £50 and £100 per go once a year.  If you'r going to be at a yard you need to factor  in the cost of getting there as fuel is not cheap any more.  My insurance is about £28 per month for the first £19 for the second and I just 3rd party the midgets


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## little_critter (8 March 2013)

ktj1891 said:



			I am in Wiltshire on DIY Livery it costs me roughly per month:

Livery - £113
Hay - £35.00
Feed - £60.00
Bedding (straw) - £20.00

Other costs
Shoes - £55.00
Wormer - £15.00-£20.00
		
Click to expand...

£60 per month on feed!!!
Crikey - I pay about £10 per month (Baileys lo cal balancer & Hi-Fi, the Hi-Fi lasts for ages and I won't even feed that once the spring grass gets going)


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## Orls (8 March 2013)

I'm in a similar area to you OP and keep my little horse on grass livery with hay supplied for £85 per month but this means ad lib good quality haylage so those saying that it won't be enough hay or of good quality then I suppose it all depends on each individual livery yard and you do tend to get a lot more for your money up here as opposed to further south.


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## dreamcometrue (8 March 2013)

I think your budget is about right for a cob-type.  

If you buy a horse that is unshod you can save a mint.  My mare (sec D) has never been shod, will never need to be and costs £25 every 12 weeks for a trim and tidy by my farrier.


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## midogrey (8 March 2013)

interested in the range of costs
I pay £50 per month DIY livery and £2 for small bale hay (good quality meadow hay)
£40 for foot trimmer every 6 weeks
£45 insurance

and the odd bag of grass pellets and alfalfa-oil


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## leanda (8 March 2013)

Lisa_Reid said:



			Hey guys!

As per an earlier post - I am looking to buy my first horse after having a horse on loan for a wee while. At the moment, I pay for her livery and shoes but all other costs are covered by the owner. 

This is what I have budgeted to put away each month - do you think I have got everything covered or am I missing something really obvious?!


Grass livery - £85
Shoes - £30 (£85 every 6-8 weeks)
Feed - £20
Misc fees (worming, vacs, teeth) - £50
Insurance - £25-£30
A wee bit extra for emergencies - £35

I would be putting this £ into a seperate bank account so any unused £ could build up over time so I have a wee bit put aside for emergencies or to unecessary things like pretty numnahs etc haha! 

Click to expand...

I pay £70 grass livery.
£45 every 7/8 weeks shoes that is the norm @ our yard( I only have front )
£31 Insurance
Haylage in winter is £45 per week but we split that between 6 of us and have haylage December till March approx for 4 months ...
Teeth Rasping, worming,vacs approx approx £100 a year...
Chaff £12 for winter months approx 3 sacks over winter.


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## Arizahn (8 March 2013)

Well, my estimate based on my last horse would be:

Grass Livery £90 - £125 pcm (higher in winter due to haylage costs)
Farrier £25 pcm (barefoot, usually didn't need done every single month but good to have the money there just in case)
Wormer £5 pcm (wormed quarterly by the yard for £15, but set this amount aside each month)
Dentist £10 pcm (cost £60 every six months, again easier to save a little each month)
Insurance £30 pcm (full veterinary cover, personal accident and public liability, as well as theft, straying, euthanasia and disposal costs)
Saddler £5 pcm (covers call out and measuring etc, twice per year; obviously repairs and/or replacement tack are not covered by this)
Incidentals £50 pcm (savings for repairs and/or replacement tack and equipment, emergency transport to and from vet if needed, veterinary excess cover)
Lessons and clinics etc £40 - £150 pcm (mix of groupwork and private sessions)
Petrol £80 pcm (to and from yard, twice per day)
Additional feed and supplements £10 pcm (bulk bought quarterly online)
Vaccinations £5 pcm (£60 per year, flu and tetanus)

So between £250 - £445 pcm, depending on time of year, additional feed/supplements, and amount of lessons/clinics, etc. (And then double that as your "Oh God, how did it get up onto the roof?" fund!)


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## flump (8 March 2013)

5 horses, per month

Yard rental 215
Feed and hay and bedding (same supplier) £600
Shoes £185 (3 x fronts 2 x trims) 
Treats £100 PCM
Vets and wormers and teeth as and when needed (don't know prices just faint at invoice) 
Saddles checked by mother hen..
Can't think of anything else! 

Oh yes 
Matchy matchy at least one or two sets a month lol


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## Dab (8 March 2013)

Lisa_Reid said:



			I would be putting this £ into a seperate bank account so any unused £ could build up over time so I have a wee bit put aside for emergencies or to unecessary things like pretty numnahs etc haha! 

Click to expand...

Assume you already have funds set-up to pay for tack and sundaries! also check your insurance to see what it covers in terms of disposal costs as you may need to put aside those types of funds before you even consider purchasing said coblet. 

also what about transport costs? if said horse needs a visit to the vets?


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## Undecided (8 March 2013)

For me:
DIY Livery: £95
Feed: £30 over about a month and a half.
Farrier: £10 - £15 every couple of months (unshod and very good feet that wear naturally).
Bedding: £32 per month between November and March depending on weather and fields though, sometimes he goes out and comes in earlier/later.
Haylage: between £25 and £35 for a round bale yh


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## Undecided (8 March 2013)

Whoops wrong button!
Haylage is a round bale that fills approx 50 nets, he gets 1 and a half each night.
Insurance: £25 per month.
Lessons: £25 per week/every other week.
Competing: max twice a month, unaffiliated dressage and sj, 2-3 classes per comp at around £8 per class, transport is free as we hack there and back 
Diesel to get to him every day: £70 odd per month including driving to town, school, shops etc.


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## Spit That Out (8 March 2013)

It costs me approx £250 a month which includes stable, field, use of outdoor ménage, straw, hay, trim (barefoot) feed (good doer) and insurance.

Doesn't factor in things like wormer, money for rugs, tack, my equipment, stable equipment, lessons, fuel to get to the yard twice a day or fees if the YM has to do anything like turnout or bring in.


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## FinkleyAlex (8 March 2013)

I'm in North London but my costs are quite low for the area:

DIY livery £112 per month (x2 as I have two horses so £224)
Insurance £55 for one horse (soon to decrease as he's now retired!) and £18 for the youngster
Hay £70 a month (two round bales at £35 each) lasts them just over a month between both
Straw £75 a month (bales are £2.50 and they're both super messy)
Feed £80 a month (which is pretty much only for one horse, the youngster lives off thin air)
Shoeing £65 every 8 weeks for the retired horse (feet grow slowly but he needs a full set), £20 for a trim every 12 weeks for the youngster (feet also grow slowly!)
Other £20 for wormers every few months (equest regime currently) and replacing buckets etc.

From May-October I don't need to pay hay/straw as they live out, and my feed bill is much much lower. I seem to spend a fortune on getting all their rugs cleaned and fixed though!


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## ponypilotmum (8 March 2013)

I haven't a clue, I'm too scared of the final figure


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## spotty_pony (8 March 2013)

At the moment I'm on DIY and I'm paying per week (approx):
Livery: £40
Haylage: £7 (using from the yard's main supply)
Shavings: x3 per week @ £7.80 per bale
Hard feed: approx £10 per week

So not bad... he is shod every 4 weeks though at around £70 a time because he has to have remedial shoes.


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