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ATTN: Aussie horse owners. Help a first time owner out?

1K views 14 replies 6 participants last post by  Lifeofriley 
#1 ·
Hi ya!

I may or may not be the proud owner of my first horse next year. Absolutely NOTHING is set in stone but I'm already planning, researching, studying etc. horse ownership. I've been looking at two prospective stables and I was wondering if my fellow Aussies think the prices are reasonable. My parents and I will split the agistment and weekly lesson costs. I'm leaning toward Stable Two's full-care paddock agistment, just quietly. I'm not a massive fan of stables, but that's just me.

My situation:

19 year old FT Arts uni student and have about 10-15hrs contact time a week. Work Saturday and Sunday afternoons (2:30 - 7:30) PT. Currently earn just shy of $150/wk but will get a pay rise in January, June (my 20th birthday) and July thanks to the union. I live at home, my father is a property developer and next year, when our financial situation hopefully improves, we'll seriously look at buying a horse. My parents are very supportive of me and there's no pressure on my to move out until I'm done with Uni and have stable, full-time employment.

Riding goals:

I'm an avid dressage rider and have been riding for 5 months (rode for a couple of years as a kid but quit due to depression - I've wanted a horse since I was 12!) and might do local/schooling shows. I'd LOVE to do "official" Equestrian Queensland shows but who knows?

I've attached a document with weekly costs for agistment and did some basic research for tack costs. Out of curiosity I looked at equine insurance ($75/wk for a 10 year old, $3000 horse doing hacking/pleasure riding) but I mightn't get it.

Questions:

How much would yearly vet fees be? Floating, shots etc.? Needless to say I'll be stashing what I can aside for emergencies.

What about farrier fees?

If I choose one of the options where I supply feed, approx. how much would it be per month?

I totally understand that it depends on the horse etc. but any approximations would be really appreciated :D Sorry it's a ZIP file, the .doc was too big. Oh, and sorry for the novel!
 

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#2 ·
I could unzip your file but none of the contents would open.

I would not get insurance for a $3000 horse. I had horses for years and I called a vet out maybe once. You'd be much better off saving $75 a week.

Well you need a dentist usually out once a year which I'd budget about $100 for but it may come in a little less. I don't know how much shots are, the place I agisted did it for me, but I would guess that it wouldn't cost much more than $100, especially if you combine when you do it with other people at your agistment place. For the farrier, if your horse doesn't have shoes and just needs a trim it would be about $40 - $60 every 6 - 8 weeks, shoes would be $70 - $100. The quality of farriers in Australia varies a lot - the best way to find a good one is to ask around.

I can't read your file so I can't answer much more, but you can put information on here. Alternatively, in the future you can load a document into Google Docs or something, and then just share the link so everyone can access it.

Feed will depend on your horse and where you keep it. If you're in the Brisbane area then I imagine there is some feed in the paddocks (you guys get rain don't you?). For a bag of "hard feed" I paid about $20 - $30. Many of the feeds like this are mixed in with chaff and molasses and sunflower seeds that you can either see or that are compressed into pellets. This means that you have to feed a lot for adequate nutrients, and it gets expensive. I think its better to get a concentrated feed and buy your own chaff and seeds. There is this interesting website called FeedXL Horse Nutrition: The D.I.Y. equine diet planner. It costs a bit to use but it has pretty much all feed brands from Australia, you put in your horse details such as age, weight, height, condition etc. and it works out what your horse needs and what the feeds offer. You can even input different types of Australian grasses. I played around with it a while, and got a little obsessive balancing it all out, but it can be good when you get your horse. Australian soil is renowned for being bad quality, so it is pretty important to feed your horse vitamins and minerals.

Hay is about $12 - $20 for a bale, can't even guess what you would need not knowing your circumstance.
 
#3 ·
Sorry about the file. I didn't even think about Google Docs and I'll put it up when I get home.

Thanks for the vet and feed advice :D I do live in Brisbane and we get a fair bit of rain (there was a massive flood in city vack in January but only in the 'burbs surrounding the river and a few towns close by).
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#4 ·
Hey from a fellow Aussie :D
It's good your planning it all out, I pretty much got handed my horse and was struggling for the most part of this year, untill I managed to get a full time employment :)
Personally I don't pay for insurance as my horse is 16 and was free, some of my friends do, that have much younger horses and paided a decent amount for them.

To be honest I don't think my horse has seen a vet this year, but he happy and healthy is something went wrong he would be straight on the float there or I would be on the phone.
Teeth cost about $80-$100 I think, unless you want sedation (which my horse needs so its like another $90)

My horse is barefoot and cost me $35 every 6 weeks to be done, thats pretty cheap around here some of my friends are paying $50+ for barefoot. If you want your horse to have shoes that costs around $100 I think


It costs me around $50 a week to feed my horse but he is a hard keeping TB, so that really depends on the horse, my friends pony could probably live off the smell of chaff.

I wish you luck and hope you get your horse :D
 
#7 ·
$75/week is absolutely ridiculous!!!! What company was that quote through? (PM me if you like). I have insured my yearling with PetPlan for $12 000 for death or humane destruction, and it costs me $43/MONTH!
As another poster said however, I would not bother insuring a $3000 horse. You are better off just putting some money away each week for an emergency.

Farrier, depends on the individual and whether its a trim/shoe, but anywhere between $40 - $110.

Dentist, again, depends on the horse, 6 months - annually, you're looking at around $80/visit.

Vet, really just vaccinations so maybe $100/year, but just hope you don't end up with a whopping $7000 vet bill like mine on a horse that I can't ride now anyway!

Feed, again depends on horse, work load and quality of paddocks, I spent maybe $20/week on feed and supplements per horse, but they are currently in brilliant paddocks of spring grass so not needing much hand feeding. Goes up to about $50/week in summer and winter.

I usually plan to spend around $10 000 year on a competition horse. Though can be more depending on lessons, I go to clinics as frequently as possible which can cost upwards of $100 for 40min lessons. Competitions are quite expensive too, and EA registration. You need to have the horse microchipped to register EA. And you must also be a full EA member to 'own' the horse, so you're looking at around $300 for your senior membership, and around $250 for horse reg. and another $100 or so for microchipping.


It's not a cheap hobby, particularly if you want to be competitive!!! Be prepared to skimp out on some of your other expenses
 
#8 ·
Okay that worked better.

The first problem you are going to run into is that the cheapest saddle in Horseland is likely to be terrible. I know the kind that they have and the chances that it will fit your horse are pretty slim. Getting a saddle can be a quite difficult because many horses/saddles are not compatible, even the more expensive saddles don't fit all horses. A poorly designed saddle can throw you off balance and make your riding pretty bad. Although, you can find some second hand saddles if you look around, but its important to ensure they fit your horse. You'll probably want to get a saddle fitter out. I know most Horselands have one on staff, and they bring out a range of saddles and try them all on your horse and see what fits.

In Australia, the most popular "basic" saddle in the Wintec. Its a synthetic saddle with a changeable gullet which means that it will fit a wider variety of horses that many saddles, but that is still not a guarantee that it will fit your horse. They go for about $800 new, but if you can try one on that fits you might be able to pick a secondhand one up cheaper. They're not the best saddle, but I think they are the best in their price range.

About your agistment places. Which do you like more? Do they have the same facilities? Will you be going there daily anyway? I'd be leaning towards the closer option, option one, because with 50 minutes to get to option 2, and then back, is close to 2 hours of travel which I think is too much. What do they offer? Is it full agistment in a stable or a paddock? What kind of feed do they feed? Do you want to be taking care of your own horse or do you want to pay them to do it for you?

I think these agistment costs are quite expensive. If it were not for the distance involved, I would go for the self care paddock because I think part of horse ownership is actually looking after your own horse, but many people have different opinions. Although $80 is a lot I think for just a paddock. I guess I'd go for the first option just because of distance, but I would never pay this much for agistment.
 
#9 ·
I have a feeling the saddle will probably be the most expensive tack I'll buy. I'm a big fan of leather tack because, in my mind, it would last a lot longer if I take care of it properly. I'll probably go for a semi-decent Wintec synthetic saddle but might splurge on a leather one (my parents are most likely going to be footing the original start-up costs so it's their call!).

The first stable is 24/7 supervision, full care, feed, exercise etc. and have a vet and farrier on call. I do like the sound of 24/7 care but I'm really not keen on having any horse of mine stabled. Even if they get turnout and exercise it's not the same as living in a paddock.

I would go for the semi-care paddock if it wasn't so far away. I like the facilities better at stable two and the yearly membership ($200) gives me full access to the facilities and access to the instructors outside of normal lessons.

Kayte, the insurance is $75 a month, not week :P My bad! I also had no idea competing would be so expensive!

There is an eventing stable 30mins away that offers agistment for $30/week plus $140 membership a year but it's very competition orientated (need to have membership with Equestrian QLD) and I'm not going to spend money on membership every year if I'm not going to be a mad keen competitor. Besides, eventing isn't my cup o' tea :P

I really am torn...I'm prepared to drive the distance to stable two just because I like it better, but the closeness and 24/7 supervision of stable one is very appealing. I'll be going at least every second day and even though it's a while to drive it's easy enough to get to. Gateway Motorway ftw!

Good thing I have a while to figure everything out! Thanks for all the advice, everyone :D I appreciate it so much.
 
#10 ·
Phew, $75/week would be for insuring a horse like Totilas I'd imagine :P

As for agistment, well we need to weight these things up. I agist for $35/week, only my yearling is there currently but I've had my riding horses there too. The paddocks are brilliant, beautiful brick stables, heated washbay, great roundyard, etc. But they haven't done their arena yet so I need to make do by riding in the paddock or floating to my coach's place up the road. And yes, when I have horses going under saddle, they are regularly out competing in office EA dressage competition.

I would much prefer my horses to be out in the paddock 24/7, hence I agist where I do. It is close to home, and they can go out permanently, but the stables are there if I need them. I'd much rather have my horses living in an environment that is as close to natural as possible, I have found that it makes for a much happier horse. Australia doesn't have severe enough weather to warrant full time stabling, and there is plenty of land to go around to paddock.
 
#11 ·
Oh and saddles.
Don't go the HL or Saddleworld, they are ridiculously overpriced. Even little things like brushes and boots, I was in HL the other day and they're selling simple body brushes for $25... no wonder most of us are buying online now!

You can get a good leather dressage saddle for quite cheap second hand, just ask around and check all the classifieds regularly. My current saddle I've had for nearly 10 years and it cost me $500 near new, fully mounted. It would have to be the most comfortable saddle I've had and just about fits every horse I've had!
You just need to be patient and look around.
 
#12 ·
Not too sure where you're located in QLD, but if you're anywhere near me I would recommend Sandale Saddlery on the Sunshine Coast or Aitken's Saddlery down towards Logan for any saddlery/gear. Both offer payment plans and have much better quality than Horseland. Personally I would avoid Wintec but that's just my two cents.

My bills generally run something like this:

Agistment: free (we have a free lease on the land they're on)
Farrier: $77-$120 depending on who I use
Teeth: $40-$90 again depending on who I use
Insurance: I don't insure my horse, I realise it's a peace of mind type thing but I've never done it
Memberships: I'm an EFAQ member which costs me $230 per year I think but I showjump so it's a necessary evil. I'm also a member of pony club which at my club is $70 per year.
Feed: I feed oaten chaff & calm performer pellets which run about $30 for a bag of oaten chaff which lasts about 2 weeks at 2 scoops per feed and the pellets are about $13 a bag at 1 scoop per feed they last about a week and a half.
 
#13 ·
Thanks for the information, Lifeofreily :D I have no idea of
I'll ever compete but at least I know the costs.

Also - horse floats. If you don't show do you need one?
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#14 ·
Cost totally depends on the type of horse and your discipline. I do things pretty cheaply.

Here's my stats. I have three horses, all good doers, and I compete my mare in ASH shows, campdrafting, mounted games and pony club.

Agistment is free because my dad manages the property.
I trim myself between farrier visits so it's $40 per horse every few months.
None of mine are fed regularly. It's about $15 for a bake of Lucerne hay to take away on weekends and less for grass hay. Occasionally buy whole oats at about $13 a bag and about to try maxisoy at $24 a bag. But they are all hog fat on grass.
Teeth is about $85 per horse yearly.
Occasionally they get a massage at $65.
I started out with a wintec which did me well, now have a custom made saddle and bridle which together cost around $4k. I spend a lot on tack but it's all unnecessary, I work in a tack shop so just buy stupid stuff.

My biggest expense by far is association memberships and comp entries. I'm a member of:

Australian stock horse society
Southern campdraft association
Australian mounted games association
Pony club
Used to be in EA but it's too expensive for me to justify it as I don't do any of the disciplines it covers

Then entry fees each weekend can be up to $100.
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#15 ·
Gilly, if you aren't competing or constantly travelling somewhere to train I'd say a float is a secondary expense. You can hire them from any servo, I don't remember the price we haven't hired one in years but back then it was $50 with a $50 deposit, and touch wood the only time you'd need an emergency float is a vet emergency.

I'd definitely recommend if possible joining a local ponyclub or riding association, you do learn a lot from everyone (even if it happens to be what not to do) and while you don't have a horse some clubs have "associate" or "social" memberships which allow you to be involved in a horseless capacity. Feel free to PM me if you have any more detailed things you'd like to know
 
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