# Can anyone give me some tips about being a horse owner? The cost of a horse and livery.. etc



## shamara (Sep 1, 2015)

Hi

I am extremely intrested in horses and I really love them...
But I have no experience and I have never ridden a horse ...
And I would really love to get a horse but I have heard you need be riding in a riding school and have papers saying you are a qualified rider :0:Shamefullyembarrased


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

To buy a horse when you have no experience of handling or riding would not be a good idea.

Most horses are very good at sussing out a novice, even the bombproof ones, and will take advantage.

I live in the North, where livery is not that expensive, so I'll give you a quick summary of the cost to keep my horse :

Weekly livery is £36.
Two bales of bedding cost £15.
Shoes cost £65 every six weeks.
Extra feed is, on average, say £8 a week.
I pay to have him turned out/brought in £1.50. each time, every day.

You would need insurance, as Vet bills can be very costly.

Teeth rasping costs around £25 per year.

Wormers/worm counts cost around £60 per year.

You also, of course, have the purchase price of the horse and, if he doesn't come with tack/rugs, those would cost you well over £1,000.

You do not need any qualifications to own a horse, but it is a huge commitment. Horses do not live in fields, but need stabling, and you have to go every single day, even Christmas Day, so you would need reliable transport.


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## shamara (Sep 1, 2015)

Hi
I am in north london ...and you dont really see horses there but in places like yorkshire, hertfordshire, buckinhamshire.. Etc why is that??
Secondly: But do you still need livery if you live on an equestrian property?
2 more years and I will be going riding college but I would also like to be an equine vet... Would I be able to apply for both?


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## FeelTheBern (Jan 13, 2016)

shamara said:


> Hi
> I am in north london ...and you dont really see horses there but in places like yorkshire, hertfordshire, buckinhamshire.. Etc why is that??
> Secondly: But do you still need livery if you live on an equestrian property?
> 2 more years and I will be going riding college but I would also like to be an equine vet... Would I be able to apply for both?


If you live in London, do you really have the space to keep a horse? Where would you be thinking about housing the animal?


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## FlorayG (May 4, 2016)

shamara said:


> Hi
> I have heard you need be riding in a riding school and have papers saying you are a qualified rider :0:Shamefullyembarrased


I would suspect if you believe this then you have a long way to go before you are ready to own a horse, but then we all have to start somewhere. here's a rundown of my costs;
Livery yard £25 a week
hay about £5 a week 20 weeks a year because they are on a huge field and rarely need it. They have stables provided but nobody uses them so there's no bedding costs
feet £130 a year, my horse is barefoot so mostly I do her hooves myself but that's another thing you would need to learn
teeth, worming, etc. about £100 a year if you are lucky and nothing goes wrong.
Vet bills ...well I have had a year with none at all and one year I paid out over £3,000 so that's a chance you have to take and be prepared for


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## shamara (Sep 1, 2015)

FlorayG said:


> I would suspect if you believe this then you have a long way to go before you are ready to own a horse, but then we all have to start somewhere. here's a rundown of my costs;
> Livery yard £25 a week
> hay about £5 a week 20 weeks a year because they are on a huge field and rarely need it. They have stables provided but nobody uses them so there's no bedding costs
> feet £130 a year, my horse is barefoot so mostly I do her hooves myself but that's another thing you would need to learn
> ...


Thanks..
I have currently been taking riding lessons.. I have not gotten the hang of cantering yet as I find it hard to turn left or right when Im cantering  And no I do not have enough land to keep the horse on which is why when I finish mastering the gallops and the cantering Im sure I would be able to buy a horse from my riding school as they do livery there 

Oh and... What livery stable do you keep your horse at?


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## bogdog (Jan 1, 2014)

Have you considered horse share? You would learn about horse care from the horse owner and if things didn't work out you wouldn't have made large financial commitment.


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## Calvine (Aug 20, 2012)

Have you still got your cat? Did she eventually have healthy kittens and is she now spayed? 
You say you have never ridden a horse but then we hear you are having riding lessons. Which is it to be?


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## Calvine (Aug 20, 2012)

bogdog said:


> Have you considered horse share?


@bogdog: I often had a sharer for my mare, but for reasons of safety it was always someone with at least basic experience and who could ride proficiently.


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## bogdog (Jan 1, 2014)

Calvine said:


> @bogdog: I often had a sharer for my mare, but for reasons of safety it was always someone with at least basic experience and who could ride proficiently.


Fair comment, but I guess we all have to start somewhere and there may be an owner with time and inclination to teach a complete novice.


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## Calvine (Aug 20, 2012)

bogdog said:


> Fair comment, but I guess we all have to start somewhere and there may be an owner with time and inclination to teach a complete novice.


Or help in a riding school and get some tuition/riding in return for the help?


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## delca1 (Oct 29, 2011)

My horse experience is nil (apart from pony trekking a couple of times many decades ago) so I read this thread out of curiousity to be honest. 
My gut feeling is that if you are a real novice in all aspects of horse ownership, although everyone is a beginner at some point, and you intend to go to riding college and possibly more then your life will be full without taking on the daily cost and huge effort I think a horse takes. I would stick to a riding school, learn all you can there and then when you are free from studying in the future you will be more knowledgeable, have more time and be earning money to support a horse. But, as I said I am not a horse person!


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## bogdog (Jan 1, 2014)

Calvine said:


> Or help in a riding school and get some tuition/riding in return for the help?


That certainly is another option


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## shamara (Sep 1, 2015)

Calvine said:


> Have you still got your cat? Did she eventually have healthy kittens and is she now spayed?
> You say you have never ridden a horse but then we hear you are having riding lessons. Which is it to be?


Yes she did have 4 healthy kittens.. We sold them at 5 months, ?? I am having horse lessons right now but I published this thread 1 month ago


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## Calvine (Aug 20, 2012)

shamara said:


> We sold them at 5 months,


So she still isn't spayed in answer to my question and you will be selling these and any future litters..


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## shamara (Sep 1, 2015)

Calvine said:


> So she still isn't spayed in answer to my question and you will be selling these and any future litters..


Yes...
No she isn't spayed... After she has these kittens I will be spaying her.. Can you please take this chat to the cat forums where I posted the thread? Because this is the horse chat


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

shamara said:


> Yes...
> No she isn't spayed... After she has these kittens I will be spaying her.. Can you please take this chat to the cat forums where I posted the thread? Because this is the horse chat


Well, Calvine's questions are very relevant.

Your cat, having had kittens several months ago, is now pregnant again, as you say in your today's threat in the Cat Section.

You said you cannot afford to have her spayed, yet you think you can afford a horse.

Take care of the animal you have, rather than go looking for another.


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

Calvine said:


> Or help in a riding school and get some tuition/riding in return for the help?


I've seen one or two riding schools offering people to have a share in one of their horses. This could work out cheaper in the long run and you can help take care of the horse at the same time but still have support.


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## shamara (Sep 1, 2015)

Calvine said:


> @bogdog: I often had a sharer for my mare, but for reasons of safety it was always someone with at least basic experience and who could ride proficiently.


Oh about that.. I have been going through the list of horses for sale But I dont really understand how you can share a horse with someone.. How many weeks or days do you keep that for?


Sweety said:


> Well, Calvine's questions are very relevant.
> 
> Your cat, having had kittens several months ago, is now pregnant again, as you say in your today's threat in the Cat Section.
> 
> ...


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## Calvine (Aug 20, 2012)

shamara said:


> How many weeks or days do you keep that for?


@shamara Well, no, as a sharer you wouldn't get keep the horse...you and the owner would agree how many days a week you could use the horse and the horse would stay at the same yard as before. The owner might want you to take care of it on those days, either feed it, turn it out, bring it in etc. change its rug, present it for the farrier or the vet. Or they may prefer to keep on doing the horse themselves and the sharer just gets to ride the horse x number of days a week. But ideally, the owner would want a sharer that had some experience in riding or stable management or both...the sharer makes an agreed financial contribution to the livery and other costs.
Having a horse on loan is totally different, the horse may get to stay at a yard chosen by the sharer who is then responsible for taking care of all its requirements as tho' it were her own and obviously pays all the bills which, as you have been advised, are quite considerable. The owner might well just pay the insurance on the horse.
So basically, an owner gets a_ sharer_ to help with costs (plus save themselves some time as horses are in fact extremely time-consuming) while keeping the horse themselves, and sends a horse _on loan_ normally as they have acquired a new horse more appropriate to their needs, but wish to retain an interest in their previous horse and know that it has a good home and is not being passed from pillar to post (as happens to some horses which then end up in a market somewhere).


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## Hanwombat (Sep 5, 2013)

If you've only just literally starting horse riding lessons and you will have no real knowledge of the aspects of looking after a horse i.e. stabling, graze management, worming, ailments, grooming etc then personally you're years off.

I was around horses / riding horses for about 5 years before I got my first horse back in 2004 and I would spend all weekend helping out at my local riding school ( where I also rode ) to gain as much knowledge as possible and eventually years later I got a horse on part loan and eventually bought her and I still have her today at 26 years old.


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## kirksandallchins (Nov 3, 2007)

If the riding school does liveries, why not start by asking there? Or ring around other livery yards. I would think in most areas of London grazing would be limited and most horses will be stabled for a large of the day, so grass livery will be rare. My friend had her horse at full livery around 4 years ago and it cost £60 weekly then, plus she had the cost of shoes, vaccinations and insurance. In London I would think you would be lucky to get any change out of £100 weekly, and probably its a lot more


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## Hanwombat (Sep 5, 2013)

@kirksandallchins The OP is now banned.


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