Horse owners

It really depends on where and how you are going to keep it. Prices vary so much due to type of horse, region.

As an approximation I would say (I have 2 at the moment but one is my sons 12hh welsh mountain. The other is a TB eventer so pretty high maintenance I've based these figures on the eventer

Livery - £25 a week (don't actually pay this as my own yard but this does mean I'm reponsible for the cost of the field maintenance and the menage)

Bedding - £10 a week (only in winter as horse out 24/7 in summer also I have rubber matting)

hay/haylage - £40 a week

Feed - winter=£70 a month summer £50 a month

supplements- £30 a month

Shoeing - £65 every 5 weeks

Worm count and Worming - £50 a year

Routine Vet - £70 a year

Dentist - £40 every 9 months

Physio/back checks - £35 every 2 months when competing, every 4 months when not

Saddle checks and reflocks/maintence - £35- £80 every 6 months depending on what is done

Insurance - £40 a month

Training/instructor fees - £80 a month

Competing - Too bloody much for the amount of prizes I bring home ?

Urm I can't think of anything else just now (maybe thats because I've blocked it out though) if I think of anything else I'll come back.

My two live out but ill do what it cost for one.

livery £10

feed £5

farrier £25 per 8 weeks(front shoes only)

insurance £23 monthly

hay(winter only) £10 per week

i have a dressage clinic/lessons monthly at £20

edited to add, thats either a 16.2 or a 14.2 it was def cheaper to keep the mini shetland x

Totally agree with WW - it so depends on where you live, what livery you intend to keep the horse on and what horse you are getting (ie what you intend to do).

To give you an idea, I have a 14.3hh welsh x dales. These days we are happy hackers and I keep her at diy livery and she is a good doer so doens't need loads of feed and we don't compete or have lessons. Its a farm so we are pretty much left to our own devices (there are 11 liveries), we have our own winter field, our own summer field, menage and great hacking in the Peak District (we're in Derbyshire).

I pay the following

Livery - £24 per week in summer (stable and field) winter is £32 (stable, field, and as much straw and hay/hayledge as she can eat)

Farrier - £55 (at the moment every month as she is getting a lot of work but in winter will be every 7 weeks)

Feed & Suppliements - at a guestimate £15 per month throughout the year. She is a good do-er so only has dengie hifi light and suppliements of gluscosimine and vitimans

Worming - £40 the year

Dentist - £30 once a year

Insurance - £30 per month

Then its just extras like fly spray, tack, horse treats, carrots in winter etc.

HTH

Our livery bill for the month for 2 averages around £300/month, then another £50 for turnout.

Farrier - we go 7 weeks, = £150

Our hay is £3.50 a bale and straw £1.60, I have around 10 bales of each each month

Food = £20 a month (2 good do-ers luckily)

Supplements = a fortune at the minute, used to be nothing but having one with hayfever and the other with navicular I spend about £70 a month on this

Dentist - 6 monthly £35 x 2

(I live in Kent)

Insurance ... dunno, my mum has always paid it

Good luck horsey shopping! Do you know what you are after yet? x

Thanks all for getting back to me.
Can I ask what you feed you give you horses.

Mine gets a small scoop of dengie high-fi light in summer - just enough to put her suppliments in really. In winter she gets a good scoop am and pm with the supps and carrots.

Ha ha, the question horse owners most hate to think about the answer to! ?

I have a cob-X who is on DIY livery (in Scotland). She is out during the day and in at night during the winter (Nov-April) and out 24/7 in summer (May-Oct). Below is including winter costs, which are obviously less in the summer!

• Livery: £26/week
• Hay/Haylage: £14/week
• Shavings: £3.50/week (half a bale per week on top of rubber mats)
• Feed: £10/week inc. joint supplement
• Farrier: £11/week (£65 every 6 weeks!)
• Worming/vaccinations etc: I budget £5/week for which more than covers it over the course of the year
• Insurance: £7/week (includes trailer insurance and vets fees)

I pay the yard manager ad hoc for her to be turned out/brought in/mucked out etc if I'm away in the winter or can't make a morning/evening for any reason. On top of the above costs, I also go out for lessons through my riding club and compete. My horse has "her own" bank account which gets a direct debit of £200/month put in it and then I filter away money when I go to top it up!

I also have a sharer who pays £80/month and rides twice a week. This is great as it lets me have a couple evenings off and my horse is kept fit. Plus the extra cash is very helpful! I tend to build up extra in the account over the summer which then is needed over the winter, however I spend more on competing in the summer than I do the winter, so it maybe balances out a little!

I would live on beans and toast if it came to it in order to keep my horse, I can't imagine what I'd do with all my time or money without her! ?

Got any idea in mind of what you're looking for? I always said I wanted a gelding, 16.1hh or bigger, coloured (definitely not "boring bay"!) and have ended up with a mare, 15.2hh, "boring bay"! ? She kinda found me rather than the other way around and I wouldn't swap her for the world, even though she spend the last two summers on field rest through two different injuries! ☹️

Can I post a gratuitous "I love my pony" picture? ? (this was from last weekend doing a XC training day, she was definitely "flying"!)

Some good estimates here. Just to say that the horse and hound online forum is also a useful source of this kind of information.