Help us care for our horses during winter lockdown

We need your support.

We are being told to lockdown again, however unlike many businesses we cannot simply shut down and walk away. Our wonderful horses still need to be fed and cared for. Times are very tough, we have had a very wet Autumn meaning grazing is running out which in turn means more feed needs to be bought to keep the horses healthy. The horses need daily attention for exercise, feeding and care.

Below are examples of the costs involved in caring for the horses:-

• 300kg bale of haylage costs £41 and lasts up to 5 days
• 20kg bag of feed costs approximately £14 and lasts about 1 day
• 20kg bale of shavings costs £5.96, each horse using approximately 1 per week
• Farrier costs £25 per horse every 6-8 weeks
• Worming costs £35 per horse per year
• Dentist costs £45 per horse twice a year
• Flu and Tetanus jabs are £37 per horse annually

Covid-19 has already hit our industry and business hard, savings have had to be spent on the horses care that were put aside for projects such as buying some new show jumps and building some new sheds to store feed and bedding in, leaving us with little to spare before we reopened. Once able to reopen from the first lockdown, lessons were limited to experienced riders that could mount, adjust stirrups and girth and ride in walk, trot and canter without needing to be lead. As time progressed restrictions eased a touch and we were able to begin sessions for less experienced clients, our only option for complete beginners was to put them straight out onto the lunge (when leading a horse you are closer than the recommended 2m distance and even wearing masks it could not be guaranteed you would be keeping the leader or rider safe). 

Just as we were starting to make good progress and rebuild our client base the Government have decided we need to lockdown again, with winter fast approaching and the horses having to be in their stables more due to the bad weather, the bills are starting to rise and mount up.