Keeping Your Horse For Less
Living through the credit crunch is difficult enough, but when you have ponies and horses who rely on you for nurishment, shelter and medical attention, every spare money left over helps.
It's a sad fact that dozens of horses and ponies are abandoned every week, as owners struggle to cope with the current economic climate, as a result there are currently many horses for sale.
Sara Tuppen founder of the Horse Refuge in Wittersham Kent, knows all about looking after horses on a tight budget, and relies solely on donations to help keep over 40 rescued horses in good condition. According to her there are a few points which could help make owning a horse on a tight budget a little easier:
1. A lot of horses can live quite happily outside for the majority of the year, as long as there's nurishment, water and shelter available. Providing this is an acceptable option for your horse, it could reduce your stabling prices by a large amount.
2. Removing shoes can be an easy way to keep costs down. If only ridden occasionally, and not ridden on rocky ground, a great deal of horses will be happy without shoes.
3. Loaning your horse is a fantastic way to cut (even halve!) costs, and helps to provide a cheaper introduction to horse riding for another person.
4. Quite often it is possible to get free stabling and perhaps even hay and straw in return for helping out around the yard. Mucking out, grooming, yard and paddock maintenance etc. are all jobs which could reduce your outlay for a little work!
5. Vets bills are an unknown factor but still have to be considered. If you're budget is low, you may find a lot of Vets will allow you to spread the cost.
6. Most of us can also make lifestyle changes! It's not all about finding ways to keep your horse for less, see if you can do it for yourself!
7. If achievable, horse owners can often join forces to buy feed and bedding in bigger numbers, reducing the overall price and helping everyone save a little.
8. As a last resort, you can look into placing your horse in a foster home, even as a family friend.
If you're in a position to share, or even buy a horse or pony, there are still many horses for sale and ponies for sale available.
Mar 09, 2010 | 1 | horse care tips
May 21st, 2010 at 5:57 am
Outstanding blog post man, I highly like the look and the feel of this valuable site. You write genuinely well, you must be a knowledgable guy. Will surely come back