I've been talking to some of my horsie friends and have a few things we decided could be done if someone were in this situation. (I'M NOT….it's a hypothetical question)

What would you cut first?

I'm the first one to say, if you can't afford to take care of one right, you shouldn't have one…but anybody can find themself in a sudden but temporary pickle and need to save as much $$ a possible…I'm wondering what you'd cut, and in what priority.

1. Self-administer vaccinations to save the farm call
2. Learn to do a basic trim yourself
3. Switch from a branded feed to the cheaper local mix
4. Buy a lesser grade hay (not poor quality, perhaps last years' or first cut rather than second, grass rather than alfalfa)
5. Buy out of the field rather than delivery or out of the barn.
6. Discontinue supplements that aren't absolutely vital
Good point, buckinfun, about trailering in rather than a farm call.

Hmmm…..I can self administer vaccs, and working where I do, we're seeing a lot of that. It's understandable, but it's interesting….some of the same people that order their vaccs from elsewhere, are the same ones that expect to walk in and be handed prescription drugs without having the doctor see the horse. And some of them get really snotty when they get told no. Or they call up and want a health certificate to go somewhere, and the docs haven't even seen the horse. Joe Schmoe other vet from somewhere drew the coggins, but they can't get in touch with good ol' Joe….but they don't want to pay for a visit and exam so the doc can give out the H/C….they want something for nothing.
Basic trims?? Thank you….no. My farrier is very reasonable, and it's not worth the money I'd save to take on that task. I can do a passable job if I HAD to, but doggone it, that's HARD WORK.
I'm not beyond switching to suitable local mix feed, but one thing you didn't mention, is keeping an eye out for specials and coupons, and then stocking up. Or, as with the local feed store here, I go in with another person and buy a ton at a time, and we get a substantial break on the price.
Lesser hay…..yeah, to an extent. My horses ate grass this last winter rather than grass/alfalfa mix because there wasn't a whole lot to be found. But, as you said, it still has to be acceptable quality. And I do buy out of the field, and get my hay bought up early to mid summer so that I've got it stored and secured before quantities get scarce. Supplements…I don't feed supplements for the most part. With a good balanced feed ration, I really don't need any right now, so any supplements I fed would be "vital".
"Car pool" to trail rides when possible. In the past I've hauled people and never even thought about having the riders kick in on gas. The last few times, I've been offered $$$, and I took it gratefully.
Lessen the distance to trail rides. I used to go to TN, KY, and IL for trail rides, but haven't been recently due to fuel costs. There are nice riding opportunities within an hour or two of my house, and I've just accepted being satisfied with that.
Only shoeing the ones that are getting used the most. I used to keep at least four horses shod through riding season, now I've got two. And, I gave up on the borium. Probably better for their joints in the long run, and I detest road riding, so I can get by without it for the most part. I'm just very careful in rocky areas.
Lease out horses that aren't being used, if you can find a suitable place for them. Good for them, they're being used and kept in shape, good for the person using them, they don't have the outlay for purchase, good for you in that you aren't paying to care for them.

I just had two large round bales of grass/oat hay delivered. The bales were $88 each and he charged me $45 for gas for delivery. I wrote him a check and I must have been a little distracted. I had my 3 yr old 5 yr old and my 3 month old, boys with me.
He was suppose to come out at 10 in the morning and I had help rounded up to help me get the bales off the truck bed. He didn’t show up until 3 and my help had gone out of town. So I pushed these bales off by myself ,he stood and watched.
To get to the point I was looking at my bank statement and he cashed the check but I only wrote it out for 200. I figure he has my number and would have called if he thought he was under payed.

What does anyone else think. I think it was his fault he didnt look at the check before he left, knowing I was totally distracted by all that went on.

maybe he felt bad for making you push the 2 hail bails out by yourself and not helping so he decided not to charge you the extra $21 you owed him.

Everyone is saying that Royal Mail are facing competition in the postal market, they are not. The Government has signed Royal Mail up to an uncompetiotive system that effectively forces the company to subsidise its competitors. There is no on street competition to Royal Mail, there is no alternive national mail infrastructure to Royal Mail. Royal Mail are the only company servicing the postal market that must guarentee a six day delivery span to evry address in the uk. Is that fair? Is it fair that TNT, DHL, UPS, Deutche Post, Hays DX, to name a few are allowed by the rules to go along to large companies and pick their mail up. They even supply envelopes with their logo on them. All these companies do is move the mail five or six miles to the nearest Royal Mail Mail Centre and dump it at Royal Mails door. After taking around half of the money for each letter these companies expect Royal Mail to sort the letters, move them around the country and deliver them. Competition? Aye so it is!
Korky, well said yet they are fleecing Royal Mail dry. People will only miss Royal Mail when it is gone. A bit like British Rail! By the way I ran out of characters during my rant.

I totally agree.
It's ridiculous that Royal Mail agrees to sort this letters and parcels at a loss. They are losing money every time they sort anything for the competition.
Most people who don't support the strike say that they will only lose business to the 'competition', the funny thing is that the competition needs Royal Mail!

I agreed to allow someone to use the land for grazing in return for making boundaries secure and removing rubbish from the field, the land has been used for approx 5 years, no money has been exchanged, I have asked the occupant to start paying £10 a week, they have refused and now will not remove the horses & other items - tractor, trailer and hay. I have sent two letters recorded delivery and posted these and notices on field gate and given deadline but he has not removed them. How do I get him to remove the horses, can this be done without the use of costly solicitors fees?

I'm afraid you have got yourself into a sticky situation. Unless there was a contract set up which allows you to terminate the arrangement, you will have difficulty in removing the horses. The fact that no money changed hands has complicated it because it will seem as if you have granted the person grazing rights which are protected by ancient bye-laws. You need a solicitor.

From a Japanese newspaper article:
Four people killed ,one seriously!!!!!
(Bucharest, Romania):
The lift is being fixed for the day. During that time we regreat that you will be unbearable.
Advert for a tokyo hotel:
Our staff are always here waiting for you to patronize them.and on a
Delivery van in Londons China town, Driver on Derivery!!
sad i know but Hay Ho!!!

Holy Molly… that was Simply Hilarious! Oh my God, I'm still laughing!!!

the business entails barn maintence, post hole digging, hay delivery, fire wood, land clearing, tree removal, tractor/ATV repairs, garages cleaned, pressure washing, driveway grading, junk removal, and rennovations for commercial buildings. and as of recently we have taken on more commercialized work so im not sure how to incorporate what we have and perhaps a step up from that. PLEASE HELP ME THINK OF IDEAS!!!
The "honey-do" company!

I had ten bales delivered and fed it to my horse, on the last slice of hay, last night, i found a brown, dead ragwort stem, I am worried now as he has finished the hay and there could have been more. i have another delivery today and am going to tell them but what should i do?
yes that is what i am going to do shake and check the slice now.

If your horse is well fed, he is unlikely to have consumed any ragwort. We also find the odd stem in our home grown, lovingly tended organic haylage……it does happen in the best of crops. Tell the vendor and ask if the land was treated for ragwort before the hay was cut and in future sift through the forage to check for unwanted additions. I always shred the slices and shake the hay before feeding, and we do the same with the haylage.

My father-in-law just informed me that he needs around 300 round bales of hay for his cattle. He doesn't want to pay more than $40/bale. We live in Northeast Texas and can pick the hay up if delivery is not available.

I have tried doing a web search, and didn't produce many hits.

Most farmers don't have web sites so they're hard to find online. Try going to a feed store or tack shop and seeing if there are any signs up for hay for sale. There's usually a bulletin board. Or try visiting horse farms and asking where they get their hay. Sometimes farmers also put ads in the classified in your local agricultural newspapers.