Buying a horse

[bannerlover]

I have been riding for two years, and I am a pretty good rider.(I have already been asked to school someones horse over the summer.) I really want to get a horse, but it is too expensive. Any money saving tips that I can use to help persuade my parents to get me a horse?

[Piaffe]

I don't mean to sound negative, but if your parents aren't 'horsey' and you are unable to get yourself to the stables everyday, twice a day, then I don't think you have much of a chance!

Have you thought about how much it costs to keep a horse? How much time you will need? - you will need to be up the stables every day before school/work and every evening, unless you can afford to have the stables do this for you.

Why don't you find out about sharing? I am sure your parents would be happier for you to do this until you can afford to keep a horse yourself and get yourself about. It sounds like people are offering you rides etc - make the most of this and gain as much experience as you can. Keeping a horse is hard work - no matter how ill you are, how much homework/housework you have to do, you still have to see your horse everyday to feed, muck out etc.

I'm sorry if I sound negative, but I am sure you will agree, you have to be 100% dedicated to own a horse and have enough money and time to support it. I do wish you luck though when you do eventually start your search for the perfect horse of your own!!!

[horsemad]

I agree with Piaffe that you should see if it is possible to share a horse before committing yourself to buying one. This way, you get the benefits of having your 'own' horse to look after and ride, but without the full cost, and full time commitment.

Before starting to look after my share horse, I completely underestimated the amount of time it would take to look after a horse. Don't get me wrong - I love every minute of it, but I now realise just what a big commitment it is to have your own horse, and I just don't think I would have the time or money to do it all on my own. It definitely helps if you can share the responsibility (and the cost!) with another like-minded person.

And if you can't persuade your parents to go along with your idea, don't give up - having your own horse is something you can aim for later in life. I always wanted my own pony from the age of about 7 and it never happened.....but now, 20 odd years later I have a wonderful horse to look after and ride! Hopefully it won't take you so long to acheive your dream - but do think about the share option first. Good luck!
:D

[Dressage_Luvr]

Hi,

i am in exactly the same boat as you!!!

ive been riding for 2 and a half years about, but i learned tons before i started.

and my parents arent horsey, dont have a lot of extra munny.

My barn is getting 3 new horses, so if they work out and they keep them, i want to look into halg boarding one of them, since the weather is nicer now, and i would be able to get up a lot more than in the winter.


well, PM me sumtime!!!

[Lgd]

One method of keeping your bills down is to arrange a Working Livery contract with your riding school. This means that in exchange for them using your horse in lessons for a specified number of hours per week they will provide appropriate care for the horse. I had this arrangement with my niece's first pony and it worked very well for us. The arrangement we had was that she did 6 hours of work a week for the school - 2 hours during the week and 2 hours each Saturday and Sunday mornings. If we wanted to go to a show she caught up her hours sometime else in the week or when Claire was on holiday she would be ridden every day and would build up hours of 'credit'. We were responsible for worming, shoeing, vaccinations and provision of tack. They fed her, mucked out, groomed and turned out/brought in. I kept her insured for our purposes but when used in the school she was covered under their liability insurance. If you go down this route make sure everything is down in writing and is very clear on both sides. It worked very well for us but you do need a good relationship with the riding school. You would also need to get a horse that would be suitable for their clients to ride. It also means that when you go on holiday you do not have to pay someone to do the work and exercise the horse. The only real drawback is that you have to share your horse with other people. However if you get a nice horse the better riders will want to ride it and it will be schooled for you. Our pony was very popular with the smaller instructors and often did her hours as a lead horse on hacks or was used for the instructors own lesson.

My annual costs for insurance and other things like shoeing usually came to around £500. (That does not include one off things like tack costs and buying the pony).