Cutting Costs

WITH THE COST OF LIVING RISING, WE GET SOME TOP TIPS FROM BD’S PARTNERS AND SUPPLIERS IN THE EQUESTRIAN WORLD ABOUT HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR BUDGETS THIS WINTER.

There are some key tips on keeping feed costs down without compromising your horse’s health, says Spillers’ product manager Sarah Nelson. Always source the best quality forage possible to maintain weight over winter and avoid digestive or respiratory problems. If you keep your horse on a yard, try clubbing together with other owners to bulk buy feed for better prices.

Buying big bale haylage together with friends will also cut down your costs and help to use bales up within the critical time of 3-4 days before excessive yeast growth.

“While it’s tempting to cut costs by choosing cheaper feeds this can be false economy. Always check the feed ticket before you buy and compare the nutrition that the product supplies, including the vitamins added. Vitamins A and D are relatively cheap to add, while vitamin E, an important antioxidant which is often low in hay and haylage, is an expensive addition and is often compromised in cheaper products. Many branded products will supply a significantly higher amount than economy products,” she says.

Also check the label for the quality of the protein, not just the crude protein level – it is likely to be of high quality and thus of a better nutritional value in a branded feed. Look for a feed with a suitable balance of vitamins and minerals for your horse; some feeds contain good levels of functional ingredients such as biotin and glucosamine too. “Always look after your horse’s grazing: resting and rotating paddocks and poo picking daily is not only good management practice, but it will also help to keep your grazing in good shape and keep your horse fed.”

Trailers are becoming more popular as they are more affordable than lorries and you could consider a trailer with living, says Equi-Trek managing director, Tom Janion.

“Horseboxes on a brand new chassis are cheaper to run; the running cost of an older horsebox on an older chassis will cost a minimum of £1,500 a year. Servicing costs for a trailer are much more aff ordable and there is less to go wrong compared to a horsebox.

Hiring is also becoming more popular, he says. “Some of our short term hire customers only have use for a horsebox or trailer occasionally so fi nancially it makes more sense.”

The business off ers short term hire from a day to one month. “We also have mid-term hire which is anything from two to 11 months. This is very popular for people who don’t want to commit to owning a vehicle and is usually used for the season with six months from March to September being the most popular option, with a lot of people then extending another month or two at the end to get to October/November.

“We also do long term hire which is 12-36 months. It is very similar to contract hire with a car where you have a fi xed monthly payment which includes all the maintenance, warranty and running costs, excluding fuel. This is our fastest growing market due to the security it gives people and the money it saves.”

end to get to October/November.

The stable lights from HorseLight are designed to deliver health benefi ts to the horse, working with the animal’s circadian rhythm which is infl uenced by the amount of daylight hours.

By ‘mimicking’ daylight it is possible to infl uence certain physiological functions that are set by the amount/quality of daylight hours. These include reducing the need for clipping as the winter coat develops much later and is reduced in thickness, saving time and cost. It has also been shown that feeding rates – and so costs – can be reduced without losing body condition and that horses seem much happier in themselves, says the company.

For horse and yard owners looking to conserve costs, HorseLight says it can also help to reduce energy bills. “It is the strongest output light on the market – 66W giving 10,500 lumen. This means the cost to run per stable over winter, assuming 1 KW costs 35p (at the time of writing) for a 66W light is 2.3p per hour, and at 11 hours use per day, it costs 26p/stable/day,” says the fi rm.

Some barns/stables may be quite light during a sunny winter day so by using a builtin light sensor, the HorseLight controller

LEFT INSET: DON'T SKIMP ON FEED QUALITY, BUT CONSIDER BUYING IN BULK TO GET A BETTER PRICE. ABOVE: THE RIGHT STABLE LIGHTING NOT ONLY SAVES ON ENERGY COSTS BUT CAN ALSO HELP WITH GENERAL MANAGEMENT. INSET: A TRAILER MAY BE AN ECONOMICAL ALTERNATIVE TO A LORRY NOW LICENSING REGULATIONS HAVE CHANGED, AND WITH THE OPTION OF LIVING ACCOMMODATION, CAN WORK FOR STAY-AWAY SHOWS.

switches off lights during the day if natural light levels are suffi cient.

In winter, many yards have other less effi cient lights/heaters/rug driers etc, and will often have higher wattage strip lights in feed/ tack rooms, so replacing these can also be a good cost-saving exercise.

High temperature hay steaming, usually used to reduce dust and other allergens in hay, will also ensure hay retains most of its nutrients, reducing only some water-soluble carbohydrates, says Haygain. It says research shows soaking depletes nutrients, which may then need to be replaced with supplements, bumping up bills.

For yards on a water meter, steaming will also use less water compared with soaking, with a steaming cycle requiring four litres, compared with 60-100 litres to soak the same quantity of hay.

Steaming can also reduce respiratory irritants by up to 99%, helping to prevent and manage conditions on the Equine Asthma Spectrum, says the fi rm. It adds that steamed hay has up to triple the moisture content of dry hay, helping to keep forage moving through the digestive tract, reducing the risk of colic and keeping horses hydrated.

Haygain’s Forager Slow Feeder keeps hay off the fl oor, minimising waste, and enabling horses to eat as nature intended: slowly, in small bites and over several hours.

YOUR TOP TIPS 4Mix it up with online dressage

1Consider buying larger sizes of feed/ competitions from supplements to get a lower price (often British Dressage’s 20-30% less) or share a bag/bottle/tub approved partners which with a yard friend who uses the same feed use BD tests and with BD judges for great or supplements. Choosing a more complex feedback. Or think about doing multi-day, product such as blends can sometimes stay away shows where you can compete be more economical than feeding several over a two- or three-day period to help diff erent supplements individually. Buying reduce fuel costs. in bulk – such as pallets of bedding, or a load of haylage – will tend to be cheaper than individual bags or bales, so club 5Ask whether your trainer off ers online lessons via WhatsApp or a kit such together with a friend and split a load, or as a Pivo. Your mobile phone is also fi nd a suitable storage area at your yard. really useful for recording progress – ask someone to regularly record your riding

2Most feed and supplement companies or a practice test and watch it back to see run a helpline or online messaging what you notice and can improve upon. service where you can ask for advice, and can sometimes help simplify your feeding regime or suggest changes which might 6 Volunteering to write or steward at events can sometimes be rewarded help save money. with facility hire vouchers (or wine!), and writing can often be as good a training

3Ask whether your vet runs a health plan session as a lesson. which you can enrol your horse onto. For a monthly cost, these can often off er lower cost visits and medication, as well 7Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for servicing trailers and lorries. Always as covering vaccinations, faecal egg counts maintain them so that small things don’t and saliva tests for tapeworm, plus annual become problems that are costly to repair. dental checks and general health checks. Pay close attention to tyre pressure and It’s also worth checking if they off er zone condition and smooth driving to use less visit days which may be cheaper. fuel and for less wear and tear.