We have always insured our horses but I’ve been unable to find any statistics on the percentage of horse owners who have equestrian insurance. Given the costs of horses, tack and increased litigation, there are more reasons than ever to have insurance but carefully reviews the costs versus benefits as I’m sceptical whether all options represent good value for money.

I’ve always believed that the liability options are a must, given the potential for horse to escape or be let out from fields and potentially causing an accident on the road. My horses once escaped from their field from a broken fence during the night and wandered the roads for several hours until someone let them into a field several miles away. We were very lucky to come through this incident without injury to the horses or drivers.

We have also always insured for theft and accidental death options. Again I was unable to find any statistics for horse theft but prior to freeze branding it was quite common. I certainly recommend freeze branding and my preference is on the top of the back in the saddle area rather than the shoulder or hindquarter.

We also used to have the loss of use option for the competition ponies and horses. One horse developed navicular disease and could not longer be competed. However it was quite difficult to prove this to the insurance company so this took many months to be resolved. Following this experience, we stopped this option as we felt it significantly increased the premium but the chances of a successful claim were quite low.

We have never taken up the vet bill option as again it can significantly increase the premium but there are always a number of restrictions on what can or can’t be claimed and excesses etc. However I do know a number of people who always have this option. Even when my horse had a serious foot injury we did not feel that we would have recovered much of the veterinary costs on the insurance. When we came to renew our insurance policy, the injured foot was excluded from cover on the policy as a ‘pre-existing condition’.

The company had not paid out against the injury but were not prepared to accept any additional liability. Fortunately we did not have further problems with the foot.

We have never insured tack either. I recently did have some tack stolen and did look into this option. Neither house or horse insurance were practical solutions. House insurance covered the tack only if it was stolen from my house or car. My horse spends the summer and winter in two different locations and both had different levels of security which did not meet the requirements of my horse insurance.