Buying
21 articles on Buying.
Updated 2 Nov 2026
Buying7 min read
How much does a pony cost? A child's first pony, priced
A pony can cost less than a horse to buy, but the quiet, experienced pony a child needs rarely does, and the farrier, vet and livery bills do not shrink with it. What published figures exist, the laminitis risk, outgrowing, and what welfare charities say about a pony as a present.
Breeding7 min read
Horse coat colours: the genes, the passport and the foal
Three base colours, two genes, and a passport that records what someone saw. What chestnut, bay, the dilutions, grey and white patterns mean for a buyer, and what a DNA test can tell a breeder.
Buying6 min read
Gelding vs mare: what the research says for a first horse
Mares are moody, geldings are easy: that is what the yard says. What the studies found when they compared mares and geldings, what heat does and does not explain, what a gelding can still hide, and what sex does to the price.
Buying7 min read
How to measure a horse: hands, centimetres and the withers
15.2 hh is 157.48 cm, not fifteen point two. How the officials measure a horse, an exact hands-to-centimetres table, why a tape reads more than a stick, and where the pony line really sits.
Buying7 min read
How much does a saddle cost? New, used and fitted
Nobody publishes saddle prices, so here are four makers' own lists, what a fitting and a re-flock cost at named saddlers, what to check on a used saddle, and who is actually qualified to fit one.
Health & vetting7 min read
Horse body condition score: which scale, and how to feel it
A five can mean moderate or obese, depending on the scale. The Henneke and 0 to 5 systems, the cresty neck score, why a winter coat means scoring by hand, and what a score says about laminitis.
Buying7 min read
Best horse breeds for beginners: what the label tells you
Breed lists name much the same handful every time. What the research says a breed predicts, what the breed societies themselves claim, and why age, training, size and a proper trial decide a first horse more than the label.
Health & vetting6 min read
How much does a horse weigh, and how do you find out?
Weighed on a weighbridge, UK riding horses averaged 545 kg and the weight tape read them 7–8% light. How to get a real number for a dose, a ration or a trailer, and how to track it through winter.
Buying7 min read
How long do horses live? What the age in an advert means
Everyone says 25 to 30 years. The studies that counted deaths found medians of 14 to 19. What a horse's age means for its working years, how far to trust the age you are given, and what you take on at the end.
Health & vetting7 min read
How much hay does a horse eat? Winter bales and the bill
About 2% of bodyweight a day, which is two tonnes of hay for a 500 kg horse over a six-month winter. The floor you should not feed below, what feeders waste, and what the published hay prices make the bill.
Health & vetting6 min read
How much does a farrier cost? Trims, shoes and the bill
A trim or a set of shoes, every few weeks, whether or not you rode. The only recent survey prices, what moves the bill, how often the farrier comes, and who may legally shoe a horse.
Buying5 min read
How much are horse riding lessons? What the price covers
The number on the price list is rarely the price of riding. How schools price lessons, how to compare them per ridden hour, and how to tell a properly run school.
Buying6 min read
Horse boarding cost: what the monthly fee really buys
The monthly fee is only half of it. What full, part and self-care boarding include, the extras that turn up on the invoice, and what a boarding contract should say.
Transport & paperwork5 min read
Horse transport cost: what the quote leaves out
The per-mile rate is the easy part. What a horse transport quote should include, what a transporter has to be licensed for, and who carries the risk if the horse arrives lame.
Buying5 min read
How much is a horse? What actually sets the price
There is no average price for a horse, and anyone who gives you one is guessing. What actually sets the number, how to read an asking price, and how to answer an offer well under it.
Buying5 min read
How much does a horse cost per month? The full bill
Livery, feed, farrier, vet, insurance and the invoices that arrive on their own timetable. What a horse costs every month, and which of those numbers you can actually move.
Buying6 min read
Buying a horse online: what to settle before you pay
A holding deposit is the one payment people send before anything is checked or written down. The order the paperwork and the payment are supposed to happen in.
Selling7 min read
Selling a horse: what the advert has to show
Most adverts that get views and no enquiries are not overpriced — they are under-informative. What buyers screen for, in the order they ask.
Buying6 min read
Loaning a horse: the agreement that prevents the argument
Loaning a horse is the most common arrangement in equestrian life and the least often written down. What the agreement has to settle before the horse moves.
Transport & paperwork5 min read
Horse passport, health certificate and the EU border: what travels
The passport proves identity but does not authorise a movement. What each document is, who issues it, and the order it has to happen in.
Health & vetting5 min read
What a five stage vetting actually covers
A vetting is an opinion about risk, not a certificate of soundness. The five stages, what is excluded unless you ask, and how to read the report.
