The Rising Cost of Keeping Horses in the news today

The business linking equestrian’s in Essex is vast – and includes vets, farriers, etc; it’s a huge economy in our local community. As we all well know the cost of fuel, hay, feed and straw is all going up, and these mounting concerns are having a huge effect on the rural community.

“What goes first – the horse or the second car? What goes first, the horse or some other luxury? Is a horse a luxury?” Dave Monk, BBC Essex Radio.

“A lot of people can’t afford to keep their horses anymore and are abandoning them. Thank goodness we have sanctuaries in Essex who are doing an amazing job. They are absolutely inundated with horse at the moment,” said radio presenter Dave Monk.

On Dave Monk’s BBC Essex radio show this morning, the topic of conversation was the rising cost of keeping horses, generating a huge response from the equestrian community!

The rural community in Essex is based around horse riding, and Essex is the most populated county with horses in the whole of the UK.

Dave and his callers tried to dispel the myth that just because you have a horse does not mean your rich! ‘Usually the opposite’ said one caller.

Another caller, Sheila from Boerham, is a horse owner said it’s a fallacy that rich people keep horses – adding that horse owners keep other people in business including saddleries, shops, farmers etc – what will happen to them if there are no more horse owners? It’s a huge knock-on effect.

It was also reported that more horses than ever are being neglected and abandoned. The credit crunch has affected most, but the equestrian community really does seem to be feeling the pinch.

Sue Burton, from Remus Memorial Horse Sanctuary, Ingatestone reported that their calls are up from five a week to five a day, and this is mostly due to the rising cost of keeping horses.

Jenny Murrell from Shopland Hall riding school in Rochford said “The credit crunch has hit us all hard, the hay is up 75% and the straw 25%. There are so many costs and they are only going one way and that’s up!”

The rural community, including farriers, dentists and vets are all feeling it.

To listen to the full article please visit the BBC iPlayer nowhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/radio/bbc_radio_essex/watchlive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dlqrt