Pony's Advice please

[kado]

We want to get my daughter a pony for my daughters birthday. I have a couple of questions

1 What can i be expected to pay for its stable's if Its DIY

2 What can i be expected to pay for its stable's if they pay
for everything.

3 How much does a farier cost and how long does it last for

4. What injections should the pony have

5. What sort of tack should i get.

6. What size pony should i get

7 Anything else you can think of

I would not go out and just get one i want to find out everything before hand and i am sure that some on here have one.

thank you
jane

[dinahsmum]

Phew!
Rather you than me.
I think the lifetime cost of a pony has been estimated at £70,000:shock:
This (http://www.horsetrust.org.uk/pdfs/beforeyoubuy/affordahorse.pdf) might help

[smudgley]

We want to get my daughter a pony for my daughters birthday. I have a couple of questions

1 What can i be expected to pay for its stable's if Its DIY
Lots. We used to pay £40 per week to rent a field of 15 acres for our horses but this was about 20 years ago! You wouldn't be renting a whole field for one pony but it is expensive.

2 What can i be expected to pay for its stable's if they pay
for everything. Full livery is rediculous prices.

3 How much does a farier cost and how long does it last for
About 6 weeks. Costs I'm not sure of now.

4. What injections should the pony have
Not sure on this one

5. What sort of tack should i get.
general purpose saddle, bridle, head collar, lead rope, brushes, rugs, ..... the list goes on and on.....

6. What size pony should i get
depends how big / how old your daughter is

7 Anything else you can think of
I always had ponies / horses when I was a child, my Dad ran a business with the horses. It is not a cheap hobby. I would love my girls to have a pony now, but can't afford one & we both work full time.

I would not go out and just get one i want to find out everything before hand and i am sure that some on here have one.

The other thing is can she ride? SHe would need someone to teach her to ride.

thank you
jane

Hope that helps. Get some books from the library about ponies before you do anything else.

Fran has a horse, maybe she will know more about the cost.

[yola]

I was going to suggest PMing Fran too. The only thing I can add is, looking at the prices at the stables where Domi does his riding lessons the monthly cost for livery is about £250.00. The other hefty consideration you need to factor in are vet's bills.

Your daughter will need to tend to the pony every day . . . mucking out/feeding, exercising or at least taking outside/bringing in. It's a major commitment!

I broached the subject of getting a pony with OH as Domi is very keen on riding (and he wants to get Sebi into it too). All he did was look at me and say 'Do you have ANY idea . . . . ' :shock:

[kado]

I will take all your ideas into consideration and will seriously think about it.

jane

[yola]

I hope I didn't come across as negative . . . it's just that it is an expensive and time intensive pursuit. If your daughter is fully committed to taking on a pony and you're able to fund it they I'd say go for it.

[kado]

No you didnt come across negative. I wanted to find out more before we fully commited. After the holiday period i am going to ask around where i live as there is so many people with horses. I wanted to ask on here as i know some of you have them and i trust and most times take notice of all of your advice.

jane

[Moli]

No you didnt come across negative. I wanted to find out more before we fully commited. After the holiday period i am going to ask around where i live as there is so many people with horses. I wanted to ask on here as i know some of you have them and i trust and most times take notice of all of your advice.

jane

Farthing keeps horses, she would be able to advise...:)

[Kazz]

Fran would be a good person to ask.....A few friends of mine have horses/ponies, I know it is expensive and one friend and her hubby work full time but she works part time to supplement the horses upkeep.

How about considering sharing a horse or pony cutting the cost with someone who already has the horse/pony.....who has a child around about your daughters age/riding level....I imagine lots of people may be struggling to find the upkeep at the moment.

[Fran]

Hi, I don't wish to be negative but just to be realistic, it really is VERY expensive to keep a horse/pony. Please think carefully and do your homework.

You can expect to pay anything from £20 a week upwards for DIY livery, then there is the cost of the hay/haylage and bedding for the horse on top of this. Full livery can be anything from £50-£75 a week up in this neck of the woods and I would expect more down south. The horse/pony needs annual vaccs. One year it's flu the next year it's flu/tetanus and this would be for the entire life of the pony. Expect to pay around £50 for vaccs upwards. The farrier costs around £50 every 6-8 weeks and this is if your pony requires routine shoeing. Specialist shoeing can cost £100-£150 EVERY 6-8 weeks. You need to worm your horse regularly, set aside £20 every 3 months for this and then horse insurance as even if you don't take vet cover you must have third party liability incase your hose injuries someone or their property, so expect around £30 a month for this. This is without injuries and illnesses, vets bills for horses/ponies are really expensive so insurance really is a very good idea. In the winter you will probably have to supplement your pony with hard feed, the price of this varies a great amount dependant on what you feed. You will then need tack and grooming equipment, haynets which frequently need replacing and above all the commitment to the horse/pony which is not anything like looking after a small animal. Rain, snow, gales, your pony needs attending too and checking on twice daily, every day of the year. You will probably need to pay for someone to look after it whilst you are away unless you have a very good friend who would do this for you.

Size of the pony is very difficult to asses without seein your daughter. More important is the temperament of the pony. You would be well advised to take a knowledgable person with you and shop round. Do not find the first pony that is available and if it seems cheap, then there is probably a good reason why it's cheap! Pony's can be headstrong and willful and will pick up on insecurities of the rider. If your daughter is not an experienced rider then she needs a schoolmaster type pony and will probably need to be lead reined until she has gained in experience and confidence. Have you the time to devote to lead reining your daughter on her pony most days? Often if ponys/horses don't get enough exercise then they can become difficult to ride.

I am not trying to put you off, not at all. There are so many benefits of being owned by one of these wonderful creatures but I am trying to give you a realistic view of what life/cost is like with a horse or pony. And may I say this is just a small amount of info/cost involved.

A good option for your daughter would be to try and 'share' ownership of a pony or have one on loan, preferably one that you know or someone you trust knows. Good luck and do let us know how you get on ;)

[farthing]

First and foremost, does your daughter ride, if not I would invest in lessons first. My neice was really keen to ride but after she fell off a couple of times she decided it wasn't for her

How old is she, lots of girls are into horse riding until puberty and suddenly boys become a lot more interesting and the pony gets neglected.

What do you plan to do when she outgrows it, will you be willing to keep it or will you sell it on, and how will you feel about that.

If she can ride, why not take a horse out on loan, I only started riding in my late 20's and felt it would be better to try a horse on loan first, incase I didn't enjoy the actual work side of it. It will show you how much it costs and the work involved without the full commitment of buying.

If you are not used to handling horses it can be quite dangerous, even the best of horses soon learn when somebody is inconfident and become very bargy. Why not invest in some stable management classes or offer to help at a riding school, just to give you an idea of how difficult some horses can be.

Again, I don't mean to sound negative, and I don't know your experience, but if it is limited, I would get some practical experience first, even the smallest sheltland can be dangerous.

Finally, as for cost, I would call local yard and ask, and also what facilities they have, same for a blacksmith, up here they are like gold dust. Definately get it insured, it can save a lot of cost, and remember you still have to cater for every day vet bills, like vaccinations, yearly.

Hope this helps.

[Fran]

First and foremost, does your daughter ride, if not I would invest in lessons first. My neice was really keen to ride but after she fell off a couple of times she decided it wasn't for her.

Very very good point. A few years ago, we loaned a very experienced, school master pony. At the time, my daughter had had lessons and was a reasonably confident little rider and this was an absolutely bomb proof pony. However, one day during a lesson, she lost her seat whilst cantering and had a nasty fall. That was it, she never got on that pony again. The pony did nothing wrong but children don't see things the way we do. My daughter will ride our 16hh horse! but she wouldn't ride the little 12hh pony again. Luckily as it was on loan, we eventally returned it to it's owners.

[tilly]

I know nothing of owning horses but had a thought if you wanted to loan a horse what about one from the ILPH as i think they loan out horses here is a link.http://www.ilph.org/hls/

not sure if that would help or not

best of luck

Sally