Rent or Buy Horse Equipment? A UK Cost Comparison
Should you rent or buy horse equipment in the UK? A 2026 breakdown of costs for lorries, trailers, clippers, solariums and more.
The honest answer: it depends on how often you'll use it
There's a simple rule for horse equipment: if you'll use it more than about 20 days a year, buying usually wins on cost. Below that, hire wins — and you avoid storage, maintenance, insurance and the eye-watering depreciation on big-ticket items.
Trailers and horseboxes
Buying a 3.5t horsebox: £18,000–£45,000 secondhand, £60,000+ new. Add insurance (£600–£1,500/yr), MOT, servicing, and a driveway big enough to park it.
Hiring a 3.5t horsebox: £90–£160 per day plus mileage. Break-even sits around 15–20 hire days a year — and that ignores depreciation.
If you compete once a month and hack from home the rest of the time, hire wins comfortably. If you're on the show circuit every weekend, buy.
Trailers
Buying a used Ifor Williams HB506: £3,500–£6,000. Cheap to run, easy to store.
Hiring a trailer: £35–£65 per day.
Break-even is around 60–80 hire days. For most amateur riders, buying a secondhand trailer makes more sense than long-term hire — but you also need a car that can legally tow it and a licence that covers you.
Clippers
Buying decent clippers: £180–£450, plus blade sharpening (£8–£15).
Hiring clippers: £15–£25 per day, sometimes with a mobile clipping service that includes labour (£40–£90 per horse).
Solariums, treadmills and specialist rehab kit
These are the strongest case for hire. A solarium costs £2,500–£5,000 to buy and needs a permanent installation. A water treadmill is £15,000+. Very few private owners can justify either.
Hiring session-by-session at a rehab yard runs £15–£40 per solarium session and £30–£70 per treadmill session — perfect for a targeted six-week programme without owning the kit.
What to check when hiring
- Is it PAT tested / roadworthy / insured for hire use?
- What's the deposit, and how are damages assessed?
- Is delivery included, or is it collection only?
- Is there a minimum hire period?
Where to find it
Equibase's equipment section lets you browse UK equestrian equipment for hire — from clippers and solariums to trailers and mounting blocks — with daily and weekly rates and direct messaging to the owner.