Cuting Equine Costs

[lovemycheyanna]

I am in the same economic state as everyone and with costs going up with hay, grain, board, shows, ect. I might not be able to buy myself a horse. I have been full leasing a horse for 3 years and competing for 2 years. Competing and showing means so much to me so every extra penny I have goes towards it because its something I dont want to give up. The thing is, I no longer lease this horse as the owner needed to take her back to her own barn for her own lesson program and I am horseless. The barn I am at is like my family, there is no way I would ever leave. They have the cheapest board and lessons around. Now being horse-less I need to buy a horse to keep up competing and keep lessons because horses are my motivation and a passion for me. But the cost of everything for me is toooo much! Everything keeps adding up.

My question to you is.. How in the world do you still have horses??!
Do you lease them out? Is it easy for you to find a leasor?
Do you get coupons online for feed? If so, what websites?

I can use every tip you have! big or small! Be creative and let me know tips, tricks, and ideas to get around some of those high costs.

Thanks so much!

By The Way- Sorry about the spelling mistakes, wrote real quick as I got to go make dinner!

[singing tree]

Be sure and buy an easy keeper.
Make sure the horse has great feet, instead of needing to be shod.
Only go to local shows, and consider the entry fees.
Look for others going to the same show and share hauling.
Be seen in one show outfit, not ten.
Find another horse to free lease if possible.
Check vet prices. They are not all the same.
Do your own shots.
Only pay cash. If you can't, don't do it or buy it.

Find a generous rich man and marry him (if you aren't already married of course!)

[Rocking Horse]

I don't know if you show English or Western or both.
Check around at shows and on-line for good, clean USED show outfits, tack etc. You'd be surprised at what you can find at the shows.

Always remember, horses are horses and S__t happens, so try to keep a bit aside in case of an emergency (vet, farrier etc.)

I boarded my horses (3 at the time) for years, I found a partial board barn. I fed, mucked etc... It was about a quarter of what a full board facility cost and had all the same amenities, I just did the work. Of course I bought my own feed, hay and bedding... If you want to stay at the facility you are at, see if you can get a discount on board in exchange for work around the barn.

Now I have my own property so my horses are at home with me. Some creative fencing and they have the run of the yard (they mow the grass), helps on the hay bill. Now I have 2 horses and am thinking of getting a third but have a budget and know what I am able to afford (no exceptions).

I agree with singing tree : ONLY pay CASH, if you don't have the cash, save for what you want.

Eat ALOT of Mac and Cheez, Hot Dogs and Hamburger Helper.

[greygirls]

Well I don't show so I can't help you out there but I made up a list of what I buy on a regular basis & tried to budget accordingly. I cut costs with almost everything on my list. I keep mine at home though so some of them may not be possible for you.

Hay - I only feed in the wintertime. My pastures sustain them in good weight the rest of the year.

Grain - Again, I feed it only in the wintertime.

Supplements - are only fed when in strenuous training.

Fly spray - use fly sheets, only spray the sensitive areas or when riding out.

Leave-in conditioner for mane & tail - mix regular conditioner with water. Works just as well & lasts much longer.

Farrier - no shoes

Vet - only necessary shots. My horses rarely leave my property or come into contact with other horses so they don't need the whole shebang.

Worming - Again, due to the small herd on a large pasture & no horses coming or going, no need to worm bi-monthly.

I always make it a point when buying a horse to first find out if it has any special needs; ie: hard keeper, needs shoes, needs supplements, etc. You could also save with pasture board vs. stall board.

Best of luck to you!

[FLQuarterhorse39]

My frugal ideas:

We have 10 horses, so feed got really expensive.

We started buying in bulk, and I mean 60 gallon drums, one barrel lasts us 2 weeks and they cost about $30 a barrel. So we are spending roughly $60-75 on feed a month.

No need for hay in the warmer months, because we have grass but in winter, we up the grain by 1/2 scoop and feed hay once a day-buying round bales for larger herds is nice, but I prefer actual bales because you can store them.

We worm every 6 weeks, the same day the farrier comes, and we buy generic brand wormer from jeffersequine.com. It's cheaper, and you get discounts for buying multiple tubes. None of my horses have shoes, so its 25 a horse. This is probably the only place we can't skimp on money.

Vet-because only one of our horses, comes and goes, and rarely does that happen, we don't pull coggins on everyone. We vaccinate but only for what the vet reccommends.

No unneccessary supplements, no extra feed unless needed for health reasons, buy generic whenever you can, if you don't have high performance horses, buy plain grain, theres no use in feeding a pasture ornament high priced show horse-ish feeds.

As for bedding for stalls-get wood chip bedding, from a local saw mill or something, it's cheaper than from the feed store or buying in bags. You can buy loads and cover it with a tarp.

Storage is also key-store your feed away from wet conditions, or keep it in metal cans

[Mav2007]

I don't show, so that saves me a crap load of money...or so I hear.

I do all the normal things like buy generic, no shoes, buy in bulk, pasture in summer, work for your board (if possible), buy used-save the difference, and I also ask for horse related items for christmas and birthdays if someone wants to buy me a gift. There is only so much you can cut out. You still need to have some sort of income in order to have a horse even following the barest minimum standard of care.

[taelesean]

Buy a horse that is well mannered enough to teach lessons on, and see if the barn will give you a discount on board in exchange for using your horse for lessons. Such a horse would also be more desireable to others to half lease. If you also can also work off some of the board you may be able to board for very reasonable rates indeed.

Take a class on how to trim your horse's feet yourself, or find a farrier willing to teach you and support your efforts - like he or she would come around and trim your horse every other trim, or only 3 or 4 time a year, just to make sure you horse is well balanced and correct any mistakes.

Consider a horse boot instead of shoes. Your horse gets to reap the advantages of being shod while riding, and the benefits of being barefoot the rest of the time. Plus, the boots only wear while you ride, so they last quite a long time.

Show less, practice more, and choose carefully the shows you attend.

[Mav2007]

I reread your post and was thinking. You used to lease a horse, so you could lease again, right? I would think it would be a strong possibility that you could find a horse to lease relatively cheap now since many people can't sell their horse and are turning to leasing as an option. Also, if you like to show, is it possible to find an older horse that someone grew out of (so to speak) that would cost less, but still allow you to show at a higher level?

[RockwoodDawn]

Well if you ride well enough to do well at the shows, do "catch riding". This means you meet the horse you will be riding at the show, get on for a few minutes, then show him. You will get paid for this, but it can be very hard, as you will not be getting the easy to ride horses, but you will learn a lot if you survive. Another thing you can do is buy a young untrained horse. Look for one like the other people told you to. Put your hours in training your horse, then you can either keep the horse or sell, and start over. Again you can learn a lot.

[ttldr]

For Purina coupons got to http://www.omoleneuniversity.com/ sign up and go through the modules (they are actually pretty interesting and don't take much time). as you go through the modulkes they send you feed coupons for Omelene and Purina feeds and for Purina dog food. I think I ended up with a couple hundred dollars off of my feed bill over about 1 year. I would get 2 ten dollar coupons for horse feed and 2 ten dollar coupons for dog food every month or so for about a year. The ten dollars was off one bag. I feed stragedy and equine senior and with the coupon I was getting it for about $4 a bag.

[Slim Pikkens]

Our local dealers are expensive. Fortunately I found someone who regularly goes to a major center with a feed mill for his boss and will bring me back a few bags at a time and no transportation cost. Saves me about $6 bag.

[enchanting]

Not sure the area you are in, what type of riding you do, or if you replace show clothes periodically. Growing up we always went to the Goodwill stores and picked up blazers to show halter and showmanship in. Normally for under $5 a jacket. If we wanted something flashy we would go to the craft store pay $1 or $2 for a bag of sequins and sew them on ourselves. We could even find boots, riding shirts, and jackets that we could use for english at times. Pants were also easy to find at Goodwill, also under $5 a pair (these are current prices at the Goodwills near us, I think they were $3 when we were growing up).
As for shows, we would look for shows with payback classes or that gave prizes (bags of feed, buckets, spray bottles, etc). We went to one show that was rained out after 4 classes, my sister and I happened to have gone in 3 of the classes that ran, and won all three of them, so we left with over $100. Another show we left with 7 50lb bags of feed and some money. This year my niece showed in a few classes at a show and left with $55, and this was her first year ever showing.
Typically halter and showmanship are the classes you can easily win the most money back in. My sister won a high-point earlier this year at one show, won a few odd and end prizes as well as a $50 gas card, so things like that really help.
If you are showing dressage or jumping, I'm not sure if there is any way to make some of the money back. I don't think they offer pay back classes at those, but I've never been.
A friend of ours was married to a farrier that worked at some of the hunter barns, he was always bringing stuff home that they were throwing away. Tack that was used too much for them to use the next year, blankets, halters, etc. Heck he even had some horses given to him from time to time (and this was long before the downturn in the horse market). So maybe you can do some part-time work at one of these farms, and get some stuff that way that you can use later.
Also, as far as buying a horse, there are many people that are giving horses away right now, and others looking for people to free lease horses from them for the time being. Maybe they don't want to sell the horse, but can't afford to keep it boarded somewhere right now that would be willing to work with you.
Another possibility would be to talk to some breeders in your area that may have some young horses that they haven't been able to sell, you could ride and show them, and they may work a deal with you so that if you sell the horse for them you get a commission, then you could work with another horse they have. I know we looked at doing something like that with some we had in the past that needed refresher courses, and we didn't have the time to do it. But if we could have found someone willing to ride the horse for us, we would have gladly given part of the sales price to the person.

[pippy]

My question to you is.. How in the world do you still have horses??!
We have our own place, bale our own hay, only feed grain to the ones that need it- some of mine don't need any. Go to tack swaps and tack trader for good used stuff. Buy quality items- they do last longer. Have an older truck and simple trailer that are functional- do not try to keep up w/ the Jone's.
I give my own shots/dewormer. All my horses are barefoot so I only pay for trims when they need it. Avoid the vet as much as possible. Take precautions to avoid accidents/injuries. I also shop thrift stores and clearance racks for show clothes/boots. (Easy for us- we ride western - games- so a western style shirt and boots all that we need).
I buy my cowboy hats used or again, on sale.
For the most part, I stick to local shows and don't enter every class, instead pick and choose carefully.

Do you lease them out? Is it easy for you to find a leasor?
I've never done a lease. I have 5 horses. One is a yearling- growing yet. One my daughter rides, two I ride. One has no purpose in life.

Do you get coupons online for feed? If so, what websites?
Occasionally- usually in store coupons or straight from the manufacturer (you must subscribe to their newsletters to get on that list) but most times I buy it w/out a coupon. It is spendy over time, but if I need it, I need it. I try to cut back on other things in life to feed my horse fetish - for instance I don't have cable, I don't have any magazine subscriptions, I do not go out to eat alot and I don't go to the movies etc. I don't even own a decent tv. The one I have is OLD but ok. I don't really miss having the latest and greatest of gadgetry or furniture. I don't go shopping for clothes unless there is a great sale. Usually all my clothes come from thrift stores but they are all name brand...it takes time to find the good deals and you never know what you will find but over time, the nice stuff accumulates and soon you have a whole nice wardrobe for next to nothing. I get my hair cut about twice a year. My car is paid for and 9 yrs old. I dread the day I have to buy another. (payments again).
I also try to shop groceries carefully and budget carefully avoid the human doctor bills like the plague. I have found there is no better way to go deep into debt then start letting drs run a bunch of tests on you! So basically be thrifty.

[Horse Show Mom]

I am owned by two horses, and care for an aged one who has an absenty owner, of the three one is an easy keeper, I havn't had the other long enough to know how the winter will go. Just mention the word food and he starts to pack on the pounds. My daughter first western calss this past year he looked like a "pregnant" gelding. I am going on year 3 with his sheets and blankets, he seems to like to stay neat so I have had to no more than fix tiny holes in his sheets. The old man I care for I fixed his sheet more times than I can count. I buy iron on patches from Wal-mart and fix any rips in the sheet that I can, If it gets a hole I will cut a patch out of a ruined sheet and fit it to the current sheet, cover the edged with patching material and spray the whole thing with "Pledge", It acts as an inexpensive waterproofer. I don't replace thing until all useful life is gone.
I also work part-time at night, along with full time during the day, to support my daughters horse "habit" and my husband works full time and has his own little business at night fixing clocks. It is just enough to get by here and have two horses.
Where we board is not very expensive but you have to pitch in to get things done. It is not a self care barn but one of the girls put it as a "DIY" barn. They clean the stalls, feed and let horses in and out, but after that you are on your own. I like it that way you have more hands on care with the horse.

[missa]

For feed- check with your vet or feed dealer, sometimes there is a better quality feed that may cost more per bag but you feed less so actually save in the long run, check for online or instore coupons, check to see if there is a "bulk" price

For hay- generally if you buy multiple bales at a time they will offer a discounted price

For basic vet care- give your own shots

For farrier- learn to trim your own, just have the farrier out once or twice a year to check your work

[David]

Well, I've always given my own shots and I buy wormer kits from horse.com. I only have the vet out for coggins unless in dire circumstances. Also, when the vet comes, we arrange with the neighbors to have the vet out once for both of us and split the farm call fee.

Since my wife lost her job we have had to make some sacrifices in other areas to be able to keep our horses but we are also making horse sacrifices as well. I've went back to shoeing our horses, which averages about 150 bucks a month savings. I wouldn't recommend this unless you know what you're doing, I used to help a farrier and I've had some education and I'm again "in the loop" going to clinics and seeking other education.

Also, I do a lot of our equipment repairs and make our our tack. Halters, lead ropes and trailer ties are actually pretty easy to make just time consuming. Lastly, we have downsized. We used to keep extra horses so friends could ride with us, one has been rehomed to a lady who is just starting to get into horses and the other is in the process of being traded/sold.

Another thing to look into, instead of renting a stall in a barn, you might try finding a farm to lease. If you get the lease reasonable you may be able to make some money renting stalls, if the owner agrees to it.

David