# Costs Of Owning A Horse



## Cookie876 (28 April 2011)

I need some help, Can anybody break down the prices of owning a horse. 
food, vets and livery etc.?? Thanks


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## LaurenM (28 April 2011)

Cookie876 said:



			I need some help, Can anybody break down the prices of owning a horse. 
food, vets and livery etc.?? Thanks

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Alot!

I have mine on DIY;
Rent - £16 p/w
Insurance - £35 p/m
Feed - £20 p/m
Hay - £25-30 p/m (I have old hay so it's £3.50 p/b rather than £5 p/b) 
Bedding - £28 p/m (Flax bedding - like shavings) or £20 for big bale of straw
Shoes - £70.00 for full set, £35.00 for fronts or £20.00 for trim

I have two horses so tried to work it out per horse. My feed costs do fluctuate as the horses are out 24/7 in summer. Won't have to buy hay and bedding over Summer either for the same reason.

My mare has fronts on and my gelding is unshod so both relatively cheap.

Also; if I need the vet the call out fee is £40.00 each time unless split with another person/booked for a Friday afternoon when it's half price. Per horse it works out about £55 to have flu/tet jab inc £20 call out fee.

Hope that helps!


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## ngrace (28 April 2011)

There was an old thread on this, you might find it if you use the search thing.

There are soooo many variables to consider, depends on what horse, where, what you do with it, so many things.


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## GypsyGirl (28 April 2011)

I have mine on full grass livery which is £35p/w. 
This is with feed included 2 feeds a day. 

Insurance - I think was £363 a year/
Feed is about £20/£30 a month but is included in my rent
Shoes on fronts and cost £30 for re fit, or if she needs new ones then its £50 with the hinds trimmed too. 
Vet - about £40/£50 for the annual injection but ive spent £350 on 2 vet bills in the last couple of months. 

My mares a 5 year old tb btw! 

To be honest I think it all depends on what livery your looking for, what feed its going to be on, if the horse is barefoot or shod, what type of breed it is etc. Just because on here although horses are horses and will get hurt etc .. my tb has had lots of vet visits as shes so fine etc. 

All depends on what you want.


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## Cookie876 (28 April 2011)

Yes that helps alot thank you


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## Damnation (28 April 2011)

Mine costs in the winter:
£10p/w shoeing (gets shod every 5 weeksish and its about £50)
£20 p/m feed.. if that, she lives off fresh air
£60 p/m bedding (Shes messy!!!!)
£36 p/m insurance
£25 p/w stable
£10 p/w hayledge
Jabs are about £60 once a year.. daylight robbery!
£1 per turnout/bring in as and when I need them to

Of course its more if she needs replacement rugs, looses shoes, I want to go competing. And the costs of Part livery if I need to go away for a day or two.


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## Spotsrock (28 April 2011)

Rent £108 each/month
Hay £25 each/month (7 months of the year)
Bedding £9 each/month (I top up shavings with shredded paper free from work)
Feed £25 each/month winter approx £5 each/month summer
Shoes £30 each fronts only every 2 months
Jabs approx £55 for the 1st then just the cost of jabs for the rest additional
Wormer £5 each/month
Insurance £30 each/month
Supplements/medication £10 each/month
£100/year each minimum replace rugs boots etc

I have 1 with seasonal COPD so have to factor in ventopullmin and occassional call out fee and jabs if she is getting bad (depends what they spray crops with). Also need to allow for the future, my old dear is now on 2 supplements and going onto Bute at end of the month as she is getting increasingly arthritic, I would never dream of selling her though and she is pain managed and very happy. I'm not saying don't get unless you can offord an old one, your circumstances may change before it gets old but be aware, they can get more expensive as they get less usefull. This horse owes me nothing and I owe her a lot so I'll be keeping her!

You can do it cheaper if you buy the right horse, ie field kept instead of a lovely yard with indoor stables and private turn out.
sharing with a few others on bulk orders can keep costs of feed and bedding down if you have the storage.
straw and hay are cheaper than shavings and haylege but a horse which coughs can't have then obviously. 
Some will go barefoot but I have found most can manage with only front shoes on, this has also kept our vets bills down as squabbles cause less damage than iron shoes behind would. 
If you only have 1 it is nearly as quick to turn out and muck out 2 so you may be able to get cheaper rent if you look after someones to help them out, I wouldn't rely on this though as people change their minds! 
Places like CWG in Melton do their own brand feeds which are cheaper. I have found some other own brands to be less good quality though. 
Insurance is NOT an area to save on as you may end up having to PTS if it gets ill when insurance could have paid for treatment. By all means get the best deal but I would never just insure third party. 

I would start from being able to afford at full cost then look at saving if you want to. I wouldn't get a horse unless you can afford the things it might need. I save the costs on mine where I can but if it came down to it I would manage all on shavings and haylege with shoes all round somehow if they needed it.


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## seoirse (28 April 2011)

My 15hh connemara is on DIY grass livery at a lovely yard with great facilities (indoor and outdoor school, XC course etc). He has haylage all winter. I have my own trailer and I have 1 lesson a month all year round and compete approx once or twice a month from April to October at local dressage, ODEs etc. He costs me £250 per month to keep including all of the above, less if I'm not competing and having lessons like at the moment though sadly as he is currently on box rest so expenses are a bit higher at the moment!

To break it down its about:
£55 pm grass livery 
Farrier £20 per month - he only has fronts on
Feed £35 per month - he lives on fresh air in summer, but this is what it evens out to over a year and includes joint supplments
Insurance is with BHS so only £5 per month, I don't insure for vets fees anymore, long story, but I put away £40 per month instead - this works for me!
Lesson is £35 a month
Trailer £20 per month - this is annual service and the odd spare tyre etc.
Competing £40 approx per month
Plus additional things like the dentist, new rugs etc.

The general cost doesnt need to be really high, but you do need to have some reserves or be able to stretch a bit when things go wrong!

Don't read the article in one of the horsey magazines last month that estimates the cost at £10k per year for an average riding club horse. Thats cobblers! I can see how it would be easy (and nice!) to spend that much, but it need not be anything like that.


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## celia (28 April 2011)

Depends completely on where you keep it, type of horse you have and what you want to do with it. We have three horses at home - 1 tb, 1 welsh and 1 native x - and manage to keep the spending fairly minimal, however I'm sure many people pay a lot more for just one if they're on full livery and out competing every weekend. 

Our basic costs are:

dentist - £200 per year + extra £50 every 2/3 years (we have one with rather excellent teeth!)
farrier - £95 every 2-3 months; they're all unshod and do plenty of hacking so don't need seeing as regularly
feed - probably £10 per month then maybe another £10 for supplements
vet - just over £100 for jabs, usually don't need anything else *touch wood*!
saddle check - approx £100 per year
wormer - we poo-pick and worm count so use as little as possible, prob about £100 
straw - we used two big bales this winter (they don't come in that much) @ £50
hay - we make our own so costs are minimal

So, overall that's around £1300 each year for the three of them. Insurance is on top of that but I'm afraid I have no idea what that is as my lovely parents pay for it.. 

Obviously that's excluding anything that needs to be bought or replaced although thankfully there are plenty of bargains about!

We used to have them on grass livery and paid £120 per month and then had to buy hay through winter which really adds up. We usually had a round bale per week from nov - april depending on weather @ £30 each so.. around £700. Ouch. You don't notice it so much when it goes out each month!  

Even so, just over £1000 each year per horse isn't too bad. There are far worse things to spend money on! 

Sorry for rambling on but I've never really totalled it all up before and it's actually really interesting (and not quite as scary as I thought which is nice!).


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## Dizzle (28 April 2011)

Livery -£120 a month
Assisted DIY top up & Lessons- £40
Hay- £34 a month for a large bale, he gets ad-lib (possibly less but I figure budget a bale a month!)
Hooves- £30 a month pro rata
Hard Feed- £15 a month
Supplements- £30 a month
Vaccinations- £10 a month (pro rata)
Dentist- £5 a month (pro rata)
Saddle fitter- £10 a month (pro rata)
Bedding- £20 a month
Insurance- £35
Worm counts- £1.50

About £350 for the basics and I budget in another £50 a month for extras, although some months are more than others

I could though keep him cheaper but I like shavings and also need him brought in for me over the winter. I tend to feed more hay and less hard feed , I could probably save a bit of money by having a farrier do his hooves and not a barefoot trimmer but I have hoof paranoia, will probably switch to a farrier next winter.

Also add in the extra cost of fuel and wear and tear on the car! OH and I could get rid of one of our cars if I didnt have a horse but as it is we both need to be in different places at different times! Sadly since buying my horse my credit card and overdraft have gone silly as I kitted him out with lots of sparkly new things (well ok, not sparkly but certainly new) he also owns two of every sort of rug... credit card is now residing in the freezer....


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## Meowy Catkin (28 April 2011)

Pretty much everything you own... plus your sanity. 

I'm going doolally. The mare's lame again... bruise this time. 

ETA. don't get me started on the cat, he's worse than the horse for causing me worry.


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## Spotsrock (28 April 2011)

Ooh forgot 
£45 every 6months for dentist and similar for Mctimoney practitioner. Only as I am wonky I have Mctim every 4 months to help the girls cope with me.


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## Dizzle (28 April 2011)

Faracat said:



			Pretty much everything you own... plus your sanity.
		
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*nods sagely*

Ooh and also gloves... I am forever buying new gloves, I have a very large collection which usually all go hiding all at the same time only to reappear once I've bought yet another pair!


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## indie999 (28 April 2011)

Hi

I always say having a horse is just like running a car! 

My NFU insurance was approx £300+ per annum
Field rental £15 per week + DIY per horse
Teeth (I only do yearly or twice yearly)£37 unless there was a problem etc
Shoes anything from £50 to 65 per set(depends on size). I shoe 8 weekly in winter and 6-8weekly spring/summer. Can be bare footed depends what you are going to be doing.
Vets £30-40 vaccinations etc
Microchip you would have to check that
& freezemark one offs obviously.
Grooming kit/hat/body protector/high vis/saddles/head collar etc

Hay wow £5.50 per large bale order more then less(find a good farmer) Hay was going for £8+ around here. Pony nuts etc salt licks

Stabling will cost you more etc incidentals keep
In fact if you cant afford it riding school/lessons/hacking/pony share schemes etc But no different to running a car


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## Rachaelpink (28 April 2011)

Mine costs me £290 a month without additional bills like vets. About £200 of that is livery.


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## Puppy (28 April 2011)

seoirse said:



			Don't read the article in one of the horsey magazines last month that estimates the cost at £10k per year for an average riding club horse. Thats cobblers! I can see how it would be easy (and nice!) to spend that much, but it need not be anything like that.
		
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Oh my....!!


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## cptrayes (28 April 2011)

Don't forget that you need to put £250 -300 in the bank and leave it there, because when the time comes that you need to have the horse put to sleep (and knowing horses, it could be tomorrow or not for 20 years) you will need that much available immediately for "disposal costs", and more if you have it put to sleep by a vet and the body collected by a knackerman.

I have lost two horses that were not quite four and not quite six. It can happen, and you need the funds to cope if it does. Some insurances now pay disposal costs, I believe, but check it out if you insure.


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## Cookie876 (29 April 2011)

GypsyGirl said:



			I have mine on full grass livery which is £35p/w. 
This is with feed included 2 feeds a day. 

Insurance - I think was £363 a year/
Feed is about £20/£30 a month but is included in my rent
Shoes on fronts and cost £30 for re fit, or if she needs new ones then its £50 with the hinds trimmed too. 
Vet - about £40/£50 for the annual injection but ive spent £350 on 2 vet bills in the last couple of months. 

My mares a 5 year old tb btw! 

To be honest I think it all depends on what livery your looking for, what feed its going to be on, if the horse is barefoot or shod, what type of breed it is etc. Just because on here although horses are horses and will get hurt etc .. my tb has had lots of vet visits as shes so fine etc. 

All depends on what you want.
		
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Thank you very much


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## Bop! (29 April 2011)

If you ask my husband he'd tell you it about £50 a month


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## noodle_ (29 April 2011)

i say around £300 a month on average for the whole year (shoes/vaccs/rent/feed)

but that dosent include any other physsios/saddle fitters/rugs etc....


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## Cookie876 (29 April 2011)

Thank you everyone, that really helped i am trying to make my parents get me a horse because i am obsessed with horses haha


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## The Fuzzy Furry (29 April 2011)

The 2 fuzzys of mine cost me £2,500 for the pair per yr, inc of vacc, feed, shoes, wormers, hay & bedding. Contingency is also put aside for emergencies.
This month (April) they have cost me £5 in total (max) - being the cost of hard feed as have used 1/4 bag of mix, a bit of chop & a small amount of hifi - as they are out 24/7 & feed is a little in a bucket.

Next month will be more as annual jabs due and also shoeing (5-6 weeks).

Month after ought to be more pricey as am hoping hay may be on its way & then in July I'll be ordering in the winter bedding in bulk.

Good luck with the horse shopping


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## SuperCoblet (29 April 2011)

Barely anything D: 
We have our own land, stable and small barn, so no livery fees.
Not too sure about insurance but not much i don't think.
He only uses his stable as a shelter and on hard standing with stable at night and we get a bale of hemcore bedding about once a month which is £5.40 a bale.
Feed, barely anything! We use a bin and mix it up and he only has about half a scoop a day, can't remember when we last bought food! 
And in winter we pay £30 a horse/month for field rent so we can save our own grass for the summer!
I think I'm quite lucky tbh!


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## sonjafoers (29 April 2011)

I worked this out the other day and had a bit of a shock. Mine (for 2 horses I hasten to add) averages out at about £750 a month although I spend less in summer & more in winter. This is based on DIY livery but included everything including shoes, insurance & non-emergency vets bills.

What this doesn't include is tack, lessons and competitions. I think if I factored in fuel I would have a heart attack but I'm burying my head in the sand on that one


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## Cookie876 (29 April 2011)

Dizzle said:



			Livery -£120 a month
Assisted DIY top up & Lessons- £40
Hay- £34 a month for a large bale, he gets ad-lib (possibly less but I figure budget a bale a month!)
Hooves- £30 a month pro rata
Hard Feed- £15 a month
Supplements- £30 a month
Vaccinations- £10 a month (pro rata)
Dentist- £5 a month (pro rata)
Saddle fitter- £10 a month (pro rata)
Bedding- £20 a month
Insurance- £35
Worm counts- £1.50

About £350 for the basics and I budget in another £50 a month for extras, although some months are more than others

I could though keep him cheaper but I like shavings and also need him brought in for me over the winter. I tend to feed more hay and less hard feed , I could probably save a bit of money by having a farrier do his hooves and not a barefoot trimmer but I have hoof paranoia, will probably switch to a farrier next winter.

Also add in the extra cost of fuel and wear and tear on the car! OH and I could get rid of one of our cars if I didnt have a horse but as it is we both need to be in different places at different times! Sadly since buying my horse my credit card and overdraft have gone silly as I kitted him out with lots of sparkly new things (well ok, not sparkly but certainly new) he also owns two of every sort of rug... credit card is now residing in the freezer....
		
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Thank you i have sent you a private message


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## moodymare123 (29 April 2011)

celia said:



			Depends completely on where you keep it, type of horse you have and what you want to do with it. We have three horses at home - 1 tb, 1 welsh and 1 native x - and manage to keep the spending fairly minimal, however I'm sure many people pay a lot more for just one if they're on full livery and out competing every weekend. 

Our basic costs are:

dentist - £200 per year + extra £50 every 2/3 years (we have one with rather excellent teeth!)
farrier - £95 every 2-3 months; they're all unshod and do plenty of hacking so don't need seeing as regularly
feed - probably £10 per month then maybe another £10 for supplements
vet - just over £100 for jabs, usually don't need anything else *touch wood*!
saddle check - approx £100 per year
wormer - we poo-pick and worm count so use as little as possible, prob about £100 
straw - we used two big bales this winter (they don't come in that much) @ £50
hay - we make our own so costs are minimal

So, overall that's around £1300 each year for the three of them. Insurance is on top of that but I'm afraid I have no idea what that is as my lovely parents pay for it.. 

Obviously that's excluding anything that needs to be bought or replaced although thankfully there are plenty of bargains about!

We used to have them on grass livery and paid £120 per month and then had to buy hay through winter which really adds up. We usually had a round bale per week from nov - april depending on weather @ £30 each so.. around £700. Ouch. You don't notice it so much when it goes out each month!  

Even so, just over £1000 each year per horse isn't too bad. There are far worse things to spend money on! 

Sorry for rambling on but I've never really totalled it all up before and it's actually really interesting (and not quite as scary as I thought which is nice!).
		
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WOW yours are expensive , how do you do it??


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## Marley&Me (29 April 2011)

I seem to spend much more than some.

One horse 15 hh Traditional Cob (a good do-er)

£162.50 box rent
£100 per month DIY assistance
£60 per month hay
£35 per month straw
£15 per month hard feed
£25 per month supplements
£40 per month trimmer (inc travel)
£25 per month insurance
£5 per month wormer (pro rata)

£467.50! oh my!

vet bills, dentist and vaccinations on top


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## Tnavas (29 April 2011)

Cookie876 said:



			I need some help, Can anybody break down the prices of owning a horse. 
food, vets and livery etc.?? Thanks

Click to expand...

Not a good thing to do! You'll never buy one if you knew in advance. I cringe when I do my studs annual return - did I really spend all that throughout the year. It's scarey.


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## Girlracer (29 April 2011)

Okay as a little guide this is how much my 6yo TB costs me!

Livery (incl hay, haylage and straw) - £33 a week (+£4 a day full livery if i'm away)
Feed - Approx one bag of feed (£12) and a bag of chaff (£6) every 2 weeks, i also incl oil which i get from aldi for £1.19 a bottle (1 bottle lasts exactly a week).
Shoes - £65 + 4 road nails at £1 each every 5 weeks
Dentist - depending on what they need doing but usually £40 every 8 months
Chiropracter - £30 a session every 2 months
Insurance - £24 a month
All the goodies you will buy it - well we pretend they don't happen


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## BlizzardBudd (29 April 2011)

livery per week - £75  (part)
feed etc. included on the livery
insurance - is high, so it cant be counted because the mare i am looking at is on box rest and has had alot of claims on the insurance
farrier - £65ish (every 6-8 weeks)


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## Dexter (29 April 2011)

I keep 3 for £3000 ish a year. Actually, the 3k covers field rent, feet (all unshod) wormers, insurance etc, basically all day to day running costs. I probably spend another £500 to £1000 on things like vaccs, random vet visits, replacment tack thats been damaged etc. Mine are cheap because they all live out and live on fresh air! 

I worked out that I could have one horse on a livery yard with nice facilities and have lessons and do the odd bit of competing or I could keep my riding horse and the 2 youngsters. However its not as bad as I thought, I made compromises to keep them, but its not as bad as I though. In fact I'm loving it and cant see me going back to livery!


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## shadowboy (29 April 2011)

Mine monthly:
£105 DIY livery
£16 insurance
£15 trim from farrier (done every 8 weeks at £30)
£10 suppliments
£30 odds and ends such as fly repellents etc

so about £176 per month (and thats quite cheap compared to some)


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## Echo Bravo (29 April 2011)

Dont ask as that way if my OH ever read this post, he will never learn the truth


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## myfatpony (29 April 2011)

i pay :

£45 per week for livery 
approx £13 on feed every 3 month (he only gets happy hoof)
not sure on the insurace but its not much
£30 every 6-8 weeks for farrier ( only has two front shoes)
£80 on rugs ( only for winter)
£40 once a year for vet
£40ish for dentist once a year or so.
then theres the tack, the showing stuff, dressage stuff, entrie form costs, petrol costs, trailer cost per week for storage. t

the list goes on


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