As I was scrolling through Pinterest the other day I came across this post called 'The Real Cost of Owning a Horse', and to be honest I was shocked with the prices that this post had put up.
I feel that if I was a person looking into buying a horse this would be daunting to me and be a big put off.
Up first they did the initial costs to start up, then the first big expense on this was the horse, which okay is dependant on the skill and experience of the rider and what they want out of the horse, but it's been awhile since I've seen a horse sell for over £2,000, even for a well schooled all rounder.
The next is stables at £1,500, I'm guessing this is livery as that's not on the regular costs list, this would be too cheap to be buying your own stables. Again I'm finding this very high for a livery cost even if the horse is on full livery. If you know what this actually is please say as I'd like to know.
Stable accessories can be done cheaply and still have some good quality equipment, to start out I would say you'll only need a wheelbarrow, stable brush, bedding fork and if you wanted to a muck scoop and fork. I would say this would cost no more than £100. This would be higher if you're planning on buying hay racks, tie rings etc.
Stabling and feed equipment can also be done for a fraction of the price shown, I would say depending on what buying under stable accessories this shouldn't be more than £50-£60 for some feed buckets and scoops.
I'm guessing that tack has been included in riding equipment to explain why they have priced this so high. All I'm going to say is I definitely didn't spend £2,000 on riding equipment even including myself when I got Legacy. The Misc costs is totally down to the new owner, although the passport should come with the horse and this shouldn't be an added cost. I don't have a horse box myself so I can't comment on the price but I'm guessing this is for a new box, and these can be bought for a fraction of the price second hand.
Onto the regular costs these prices are down to the trainer but these are priced at £30 if you were to have one a week.
The insurance price seems to be quite good at £33 a month for horse insurance as I've seen some people pay upto £50 a month for theirs, this comes down to what you will be doing with the horse.
The price of the feed comes down to paying £90 a month, on an expensive month I'm paying this for the 2 horses, so this can be cut down quite a bit, although again this depends on what type of horse you have. Good doers you won't be paying barely anything for compared to a bad doer or performance horse.
Bedding is a good one as I can be known to spend a fortune throughout the winter on bedding for Legacy as at times you know she can go through a bale of shavings a night. I've calculated this on 6 months of stabling which is around how long Legacy is in depending on the weather. If you were to have a horse as dirty as her and have them in all year around you probably have more money than sense or no all year turn out and your crying at the bedding bills.
Healthcare is a good one, as your average farrier visit is going to be £60 and this will be averaging one every 6-8 weeks. After this you have worming or worm counting up to 4 times a year. Then there's flu & tetanus jabs including vet visit, and dentist visits either from the vet or a equine dentist. There's also the options of chiropractor visits a few times a year.
As I've previously said I don't have a horse box so I can't really personally comment on the price of the insurance, annual testing and maintenance of these, but I can imagine the prices being somewhat right as the box would need to be looked after well for the safety of the horse.
What are your opinions on this post from Vale Stables and their pricings of a horse. Do you find them just right or slightly too high like me? If you'd like a post with a breakdown on how much Legacy costs me a month/year let me know.
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