Buying your first horse

antonia :)

antonia :)

New Member
Apr 18, 2007
1,758
0
0
31
Essex Bird =]
I had a million questions in my head to ask, but writing them down they didnt make as much sense as they did in my head. :giggle:

If you were buying your first horse, how much would you give yourself to spend/ how much would you be prepared to spend?
 
i bought my first horse last yr :)

i saved for a while beforehand (over a yr), and i knew i was getting a friesian so i knew i had to have at least £3k before i could buy, and that was only for a baby. it did absolutely push me to my limits money wise, but i knew i had to have him and i was prepared for how much he'd cost.

so i know i was expecting to pay what i did due to going for a specific breed, but you can do something similar. have a look at horsemart and make a list of your must-haves, must-not-haves and see what sort of price those type of horses are. then you get a rough idea of what 'your type' will cost, and you save for that much.
 
I would have liked to have paid around £2,500 and got maybe a older schoolmaster type (not schoolmaster as in pushbutton but schoolmaster as in been there done that got the t-shirt and can teach me how to do it all too)

However I do think you can get a nice first horse for anything from £1200 upwards, really depends what you want I suppose and where you're prepared to look :)
 
The mum/daughter share fell pony I have just bought unseen, I wanted an older experienced pony, that was well schooled,been to shows,good in traffic, that what we have got with a good show record behind her, she was worth every penny I paid and more after my daughter lost her confidence riding, riding school ponies that were tottally unsuitable to be in a riding school teaching novices.

To see her face light up every ride she has on Eva is priceless to me :mstickle::mstickle::biggrin::biggrin: In two days she has gone from being scared to ride to trotting in the field and now only has to over come her fear of cantering to be back where she was and I am sure she will be wanting to jump Eva before long :biggrin::biggrin:

But I agree from 1200 plus depending what you are looking for older more experienced horses which have some competition record behind them will of course fetch more. As will pedigree breeds. Youngsters will be cheaper and at the moment it is a buyers market :)
 
Last edited:
I saved up first. I allowed £3000 for the horse and £2000 for tack etc. It made buying easier as I had a budget to work to. As I spent only £2500 on Magic I had more spends for the tack shop! Enjoy! :giggle:
 
When i bought my first horse i had a budget of £2500.

My budget for my next one will probably be about a £1000 however i will be looking for a youngster so a bit different.
 
My total budget was £10,000 to include horse, vetting, transport home, trailer, tack, rugs and all the other bits and pieces. I was thinking of getting a Criollo which would have cost probably about £6-£7k so getting an Arab instead left me with more money towards the other things. It does sound quite a lot but to be honest I think it was easily spent - the horse himself actually cost about 1/4 of the total budget! BTW I have had 40 years to prepare for this!
 
I paid 4k but I wanted a safe mother/daughter share. I was specifically looking for something with good allround experience that's easy to care for and manage.

15 months on he's great, but I have since bought a new saddle, a few rugs and more recently a trailer, so aside from day-to-day costs I've spent quite a lot!! Like Bodshi though, I'm a 'mature' first time owner so I've had some decades to save!!
 
I wanted to spend no more than £2k on my first horse - don't forget to budget for vetting and horse transport too though.

I can't remember exactly how much I paid for Frank last year - it was between £1600 and £1800 (price reduced slightly after the vetting).
 
I paid £6,500 for my first horse (who I still have) he is a Trakehner (sports horse) pink papered etc and was very well schooled and I knew his history from day 1 so was worth every penny.

I paid £2,300 for my irish cob, who I bought as a companion and for my OH to learn to ride on. He is absolutely bomb proof in every way, hacking, clipping etc, not so good in the school but he was very green to the school as he was from a hacking background. Nothing that can't be sorted out. Apart from being a little bolshy at times so needs a firm hand, he was worth every penny also.

I paid £1,800 for my pony and she is fantastic for hacking and schooling etc and has been a little star.

Just a little idea as to prices for you !

Of course you might need extra money for tack and rugs unless they come with the horse.
 
How long's a piece of string? Work out what kind of cash you have or what you're prepared to spend then start looking. Don't forget to include vetting (if you want one), deposit for a stable, transport etc.

Most of all, have fun and let us do some looking for you!
 
we paid £1100 for our first pony back in 1991. I can't remember dad imposing a budget, we were more concerned with something that would be a good mum/daughter(s) share as three of us would be sharing them.

As has been mentioned, a contingency fund for vetting, tack (inc saddle fitting), transport and other miscellaneous equipment needs to be added on top.

When i was horse hunting 4 years ago i had a budget of £2k as that was all the savings i could afford to spend. My choice was quite limited!! but i was looking for a specific breed.
 
I had put about £10,000 aside to get everything I needed, including tack, vetting etc. Then I got Izzy from the rescue for £500 (donation) so had loads left to spend on stuff and lessons.

I was looking at getting a safe first horse so was looking at £5000 for the actual horse if I bought one.

Having a rescue saved me loads of money, but I don't actually own him, just loan him.
 
I would save as much as you can, I had a really decent budget but almost bought a horse over budget.

You keep a horse for a long time (usually) so its better to wait a few months and have a better budget (even if its for extra lessons) then rush into something.

I have had Mischief for 2 years and he is only just getting some bits and pieces. You don't need half as much stuff as you think and can get a lot second hand/in sales
 
I bought my first horse last week!:dance:

I was looking for anything up to £3,500 but could have gone a bit more for the right horse. Stick to your budget though. Don't be tempted to look at anything out of your price range. I budgeted £1500 for tack but already had a few bridles and the saddle was £650, not that I was looking for a cheap one, it just so happened that that particular saddle fitted her so well. Fitted professionally too. 5 stage vetting was £211.14 to be precise! Was suprised, thought it would be more. This is in Essex.

To be honest, I did find some horses have odd prices. For instance, my Rosie was £3,000, 15.2, dapple grey, 6 year old Irish X. Been hunted, doesn't like the school but absolutely sound as a pound on the roads, she just so loves being out and about and is not fazed by anything. I just knew when I trialled her that she would absolutely fit in at my yard and she does. That was what I wanted. People told me you "will know when you've found your horse" It's so true! She's perfect for me, though it's only been a week :wub:!

Another I looked at was a lovely well bread Connie, 6 year old been there done that, he was £2,500. He was lovely but I think just a tad too sharp for me, more what I would have wanted as a teen. Then there was one who was priced at £2,750. She was lovely but couldn't be ridden as needed restarting. No breeding to speak of etc. So prices are sometimes a bit confusing I find. You can get perfectly decent horses for just over a grand too. It all depends what you're looking for and how much work you want to do.

Your best bet is to make a list of your requirements though be prepared to be flexible too, I would have preferred a gelding but Rosie was perfect in every way so it didn't bother me that she was a mare. I wanted one that was already perfect for hacking and I'm happy to work on the schooling and basic ground manners, she's already learning those with me.

Also be prepared that you will want to kit your horse out totally as it's all just so exciting, even though you don't really need the stuff. I'm just about to pop to Ingatestone for a fly mask but I know I'll probably end up with yet ANOTHER rug and numnah! All my buckets etc are purple, so I see something purple and it goes in the trolley! :redface:

I will say, I found the whole horse searching rather overwhelming. it was exciting though I felt bad rejecting the others and could have taken them all and I only looked at 4! :wub:

Sorry I've waffled here a bit!:redcarded:
 
Congrats. with the new horse LauraGeeGee :D

Thank-you for all the replies. I just wanted a rough idea of how much people have/would spend on a first horse. It probably won't be this year I get a horse, purely because I haven't been in a stable job yet and i'd like to be driving first.
However, you have all given me a good insight to how much I should be looking to save.
 
i lost my mare very fast and sudden it was like id been struck with a bolt thought we go into her golden years . then i found myself horseless i couldnt look at a horse for 6 weeks wouldnt ride eneyones . then i wanted my own so sat down turned pc on and looked at prices went to view a few n they werent for me . i set aside 5k for myn n did find my lad
 
My friend has about 4-5K and bought a youngest , thought the money was for everything. Though i know she had a couple of K onto then incase of an vets bills etc.
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back