It doesn't seem like you're at a secure enough place to be purchasing a horse right now. School and work can take up a lot of your time and if you can't maintain a full time job, how will you afford the horse? Maybe a better option would be to look at leasing a horse? That way, if things become too hard and you are finding you can't afford it or have enough time, you are not stuck with a horse you cannot keep.

P.S.
I'm 39 and have wanted a horse since I was 7 yrs old, but am just finally getting to a place where I can buy. Something to think about...

 

i was a horse crazy kid. dad bought my horse, tack, and paid my board for me. then i grew up, got a job, got my own apartment........ and realized that having a horse was not in the financial cards.

took me 12 years to be able to afford riding again. took me 13 years to buy my horse. i keep her at a bare bones type place where board year round is under 200 a month. i work full time, have a non horsey boyfriend living with me, a kiddo, and other pets at home that require daily care and attention. i'm at a point in my life where i can do it all myself financially, even if the boyfriend was not in the equation.

i barely find enough time to see my horse, although my horse bills are always paid.

personally i would say wait. don't buy a horse now while your life is still getting itself sorted out as far as school/work/etc.

lease if you can. a half lease would be perfect finance, responsibility, and time wise for you. you'll get to ride and have barn time without the commitment of owning right now. what would you do if your horse had a huge vet bill tomorrow? that's what i always asked myself when i was deciding if owning was right for me again. i didn't buy my mare until i had a cushion in the bank for just in case situations.

 

I don't think there is any good or easy way.

Since my parents wouldn't buy me a horse, I had to wait until I could pay for it on my own. I bought my first horse during college, which in hindsight was incredibly stupid of me. I could barely afford him - I remember one month where my bank account balance actually hit $0 (eek!). I found a place that used him in lessons, then I had him on partial board, then pasture board to help keep the cost down.

That horse passed away after 4 years, and then there were a few years without a horse (I took lessons). I graduated college and got a full time job, and decided to start leasing a horse. On my entry level salary, and now with all the expenses of living on my own, my budged was super tight. I often had to put something back on the shelf that I really wanted to make ends meet.

Then I got married. With our double income, affording the horse is now easy, but the time management is increasingly hard. I work full time, and the barn is not close, so my poor husband barely sees me many days, which can frustrate him (understandably).

Now we're planning on having kids, and I know my free time and energy will completely disappear once that happens, so I'm preparing to go horseless again It makes me sad, but has to be done.

When we're young, we have more free time but no money. Then once we are older and have the money, we have jobs and families and no longer have the time. It sucks!

 

When I was a kid my parents paid for my horse. In return I had to keep my grades up and be a good kid. I was at the most basic board place - completely self care with no arena or riding area.

Now I'm an adult, but I am still studying at university full time. I work to pay for all my costs. I get it all done by prioritizing and time management, but the horse always falls the side. I care for him but ride rarely these days.

In two months I have to do a compulsory 3 month unpaid work placement for my course. I will have to give up my current job. I'll receive a government study allowance but it's not enough to really keep a horse on. I plan to have enough savings to pay for my horse through my placement, and then work really hard to get a job again as soon as it finishes.

Having a horse can be hard because it is a significant expense. If you're still at school you need to make sure your parents understand that if they do get a horse with you that if for some reason you can't work, which happens all the time for kids, then they will be responsible for the horses care.

 

When I turned 15 myparents said "Congratulations, we bought you a horse! Now you have to figure out how to pay for it."

McDonald's would hire me at 15 and I could walk there so I worked full-time. Went to school full-time. Nearly every other waking time during which I could beg rides to the barn was spent with the horse.

My grades suffered. I did not care then. I care now.

And, ironically, I think my parents thought that having the horse would keep me out of trouble. It didn't. Not the horse's fault though, but that of uninvolved parents.

 

I pay for our daughters horse and my own by grooming dogs as a second job. She pet sits, cleans stalls and such to help out. At 16 her job is to go to school get an education and enjoy being a kid.
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I worked part time at a walmart type story. I think my paycheck was about 100 per week. I spent 7 a week for horse feed (prices have obviously gone up since then) and he went through a bale of hay a week. But if you only need 250 a month then you should make that easy enough if you have a good part time job.

I only worked about 16 hours a week I think it was... 2 or 3 four hour shifts during the week and an 8 hour on the weekend. You have to give up some of your social life for it but it can be done.

 

I'm 16 and pay for my own horse. I babysit a lot, and that's where I get most of my money.

You could offer to clean stalls at the place you board in exchange for some boarding money maybe?

 

While $250 a month sounds reasonable, I doubt that's going to be the case every single month. You still have to plan for unexpecteds, like fly spray, a new water bucket, vet bills, etc. It always seems unexpected costs spring up from no where!

Ok now, how do I afford my horse? Basically, I was paticent. I focused on school and good grades, while riding at the barn I was working at. Never paid a dime to ride all that time, besides my lessons of course. The best horses to ride are the free ones!

So, I got my first horse back in December (at age 26) after 10 years of riding and a life time of dream for a horse. I graduated from nursing school and planned on buying myself a reiner, but as I turns out my BO and I made an arrangement with me for my favorite lesson horse (who wasn't used much in lessons, only I really rode her and enjoyed riding her). It was a happy moment, but even with a good career lined up (I'm a registered nurse) the stress of the finances scared the poop out of me!

Do yourself a favor, don't buy a horse now. Lease, take lessons, work at a barn where you can ride in exchange for work. Stay in school and get good grades! Go to school for something that you can live comfortably on! It seems like that day will never come, but it will. Life goes much faster then you think!
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I was given my horse after I graduated, by my previous boss whom I had worked with for about 3 years. It required me to have 2 part time jobs, and no social life. While I wouldn't trade him for the world, it was extremely intense as I had to buy his feed myself and feed him 3 times a day as he was a hard keeper, and spend all of my free time training him because he was unpredictable and dangerous.

Now I have three part time jobs, and still finding myself spread thin whilst in college.

Personally I'd see if you could lease