Making it Through the Winter
Ways to tighten your purse strings this winter
by Allison Trimble
We are all feeling the pinch with the rising costs of supplies. I am going to try to break down for you the ideas I have come up with for keeping myself afloat this winter. Hopefully, they will help you too.
Feed: Alfalfa prices are hovering around $300 a ton, and grass and timothy prices are right in there as well. That is approximately 150% of where we were just four months ago, and there is speculation that it could climb again by winter. A really important aspect of managing feed is to weigh it. Alfalfa in particular can be challenging to estimate poundage. A flake from one bale can be vastly different from a flake from another bale. Wasting feed when hay is $20 a bale is like throwing money on the ground.
This winter I am experimenting with shopping for local grass hay. I will continue to feed my show horses alfalfa, but at a lower poundage, and I am planning to feed a lower quality hay to broodmares and pasture ornaments, but will increase each horse's grain. Per pound, a complete grain (check with your feed company for options) offers more nutritional value and you can feed a lot of it without having adverse effects. Another option is alfalfa cubes. There is little waste and it is easy to calculate the appropriate poundage.
Bedding: Shavings prices are at an all-time high. With home construction declining, shavings as a by-product are expensive and hard to come by, often requiring a six-week wait for a load. I use pelleted bedding in my stalls because there is minimal waste, it requires little storage space, and it is easy to handle. If you buy by the pallet, you save 20-50 cents a bag. I also have to take into account labor for stall cleaning. Pelleted stalls take half the time to clean and have half the wasted bedding. This saves money in labor and in having my manure pile hauled off.
Regardless of the bedding material you use, it is important to have matted stalls. Matting allows you to use minimal bedding material.
Boarding: Boarding fees have increased this year for those who keep their horses away from home. One option that can dramatically cut costs is self care. Many facilities offer self care board, which is where you pay for use of the stall, arena and shavings, but are required to provide and administer your own feed, watering and stall cleaning. A great way to make this possible is to find a group of friends and work out a feeding and stall cleaning schedule. This can easily save you a couple hundred dollars a month.
Shoeing: Hoof care is so important for a performance horse, but can be very costly. Spending between $80 and $150 every eight weeks can be daunting if you have more than one horse. If you are not showing for six months, talk to your farrier about pulling shoes and just keeping your horse trimmed during that time. Most horses will go barefoot just fine, especially in the winter if you are looking at only occasional riding time. I pulled shoes off of a couple of horses that I am just keeping legged up, and I know that has saved me a lot.
Buy In Bulk: Though it is more expensive per shot, buying in bulk can greatly reduce your costs. In the last few years I have found ways to buy grain, pellets, hay, wormer, and vaccines in bulk. I know that you are thinking, “But Allison, you are a crazy person and have way too many horses. I only have three horses and wouldn’t need that much!” Both points are true, but here is where I emphasize teamwork: if you get together with a group of friends and shop as a cooperative, you can get a bulk discount and divide the cost amongst you. You will be surprised how much money you can save this way. When I changed from buying grain by the pallet to having it delivered to a silo, I saved over $600 a month.
Sale Shopping and Recycling: I know most people are conscious about buying things on sale, but the Internet has made sale shopping even easier. Protective boots, wormer, winter blankets--you name it and it can be found online at a closeout cost. When you are looking to buy mats, feeders, or any other horse supplies, a great place to look locally is on craigslist (search for your nearest major city on craigslist.org). Under the farm and garden section you can find hay, supplies, tack and any other component of your horse operation you can think of. If you need something, you can post an ad with a price you are willing to pay-- someone almost always has exactly what you are looking for.
I would love to do an article full of readers' inventive ideas to combat the damage the economy is doing to the horse industry. Let’s hear your voice on this matter. It is time to band together and get through this as a team!
On a more personal note, I have opted to drop my non-professional status, so there is now the opportunity for this column to address training issues. Drop me a line, guys--I really would love to hear from you! coastalequine@aol.com
by Allison Trimble
We are all feeling the pinch with the rising costs of supplies. I am going to try to break down for you the ideas I have come up with for keeping myself afloat this winter. Hopefully, they will help you too.
Feed: Alfalfa prices are hovering around $300 a ton, and grass and timothy prices are right in there as well. That is approximately 150% of where we were just four months ago, and there is speculation that it could climb again by winter. A really important aspect of managing feed is to weigh it. Alfalfa in particular can be challenging to estimate poundage. A flake from one bale can be vastly different from a flake from another bale. Wasting feed when hay is $20 a bale is like throwing money on the ground.
This winter I am experimenting with shopping for local grass hay. I will continue to feed my show horses alfalfa, but at a lower poundage, and I am planning to feed a lower quality hay to broodmares and pasture ornaments, but will increase each horse's grain. Per pound, a complete grain (check with your feed company for options) offers more nutritional value and you can feed a lot of it without having adverse effects. Another option is alfalfa cubes. There is little waste and it is easy to calculate the appropriate poundage.
Bedding: Shavings prices are at an all-time high. With home construction declining, shavings as a by-product are expensive and hard to come by, often requiring a six-week wait for a load. I use pelleted bedding in my stalls because there is minimal waste, it requires little storage space, and it is easy to handle. If you buy by the pallet, you save 20-50 cents a bag. I also have to take into account labor for stall cleaning. Pelleted stalls take half the time to clean and have half the wasted bedding. This saves money in labor and in having my manure pile hauled off.
Regardless of the bedding material you use, it is important to have matted stalls. Matting allows you to use minimal bedding material.
Boarding: Boarding fees have increased this year for those who keep their horses away from home. One option that can dramatically cut costs is self care. Many facilities offer self care board, which is where you pay for use of the stall, arena and shavings, but are required to provide and administer your own feed, watering and stall cleaning. A great way to make this possible is to find a group of friends and work out a feeding and stall cleaning schedule. This can easily save you a couple hundred dollars a month.
Shoeing: Hoof care is so important for a performance horse, but can be very costly. Spending between $80 and $150 every eight weeks can be daunting if you have more than one horse. If you are not showing for six months, talk to your farrier about pulling shoes and just keeping your horse trimmed during that time. Most horses will go barefoot just fine, especially in the winter if you are looking at only occasional riding time. I pulled shoes off of a couple of horses that I am just keeping legged up, and I know that has saved me a lot.
Buy In Bulk: Though it is more expensive per shot, buying in bulk can greatly reduce your costs. In the last few years I have found ways to buy grain, pellets, hay, wormer, and vaccines in bulk. I know that you are thinking, “But Allison, you are a crazy person and have way too many horses. I only have three horses and wouldn’t need that much!” Both points are true, but here is where I emphasize teamwork: if you get together with a group of friends and shop as a cooperative, you can get a bulk discount and divide the cost amongst you. You will be surprised how much money you can save this way. When I changed from buying grain by the pallet to having it delivered to a silo, I saved over $600 a month.
Sale Shopping and Recycling: I know most people are conscious about buying things on sale, but the Internet has made sale shopping even easier. Protective boots, wormer, winter blankets--you name it and it can be found online at a closeout cost. When you are looking to buy mats, feeders, or any other horse supplies, a great place to look locally is on craigslist (search for your nearest major city on craigslist.org). Under the farm and garden section you can find hay, supplies, tack and any other component of your horse operation you can think of. If you need something, you can post an ad with a price you are willing to pay-- someone almost always has exactly what you are looking for.
I would love to do an article full of readers' inventive ideas to combat the damage the economy is doing to the horse industry. Let’s hear your voice on this matter. It is time to band together and get through this as a team!
On a more personal note, I have opted to drop my non-professional status, so there is now the opportunity for this column to address training issues. Drop me a line, guys--I really would love to hear from you! coastalequine@aol.com
Labels: allison trimble, On the Plus Side, September 2008
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9:09 AM
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