Advice on moving yards after 22 years !

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Donuts

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I have been at current yard 22 years with my mare who passed away and now my new mare who I’ve owned 6 months.
I have never been truly happy there just because I never really fitted in, YO flies off handle when in bad mood, clicky liveries, favourites get looked after better , but the bonus is that I live next door so can walk there. It’s all full livery.
Someone told me about a yard under new management but it’s 25 mins away , but I went to see it and love it !
Trouble is I am worried about not riding so much as my journey there and back will add so much time on.
Has anyone ever made this change. As someone said to me be careful as I will be looking out my back door at the journey I could have !
 
Think very carefully!
Just before we moved onto our own place, the livery YO turned weird, so we moved the horses to a friend's farm. The yard we had been on for 10 yrs was in the village where sister and I grew up and our parents still lived there, so it was easy to drop the dogs off and do the horses. It was at most 15 mins journey from my own house and closer to sister's house. Friend's farm was 30 mins away, on busier roads and nowhere near work for any of us. We only went to the farm once per day and Friend checked them every morning. They were there about 3 months and that was as long as we could stand the journey. Having the horses close to home is worth a lot of compromise, imho.
 
My journey is 25 mins to and back. I like driving so for me it’s not a chore, I use the time to wind down and listen to a podcast I like and consider it my “me” time.
 
If your yard owner is a weirdo I would be worried that moving your horse and living next door wouldn't necessarily get you away from her weirdness tbh. If you were 5 mins away and moving 25 mins away would save your happiness I would say go for it, life is too short to stay unhappy, but you might make more problems than you solve.
 
I guess now ‘spring’ is here it makes us think it will be easier driving etc, it’s hard as I am so uncomfortable on my yard as feel very alone and YO is mentally cruel but I am so scared of making a mistake
 
I'd say move but I do think a brand new place could be a worry.

They'll have good intentions and tell you what they think the rules will be but then you may well find that turnout rules and opening times change. Price might change. YO or other liveries could still be a problem.

Id rather move to an established place really. If this doesn't work out is there somewhere else to go?
 
Is the new one full livery too? I think the drive wouldn’t be so bad if you were just going to ride or fuss over your horse but if you had to do mucking out and chores then it will add on a lot more time.
 
The new yard will be nearly an hours round trip everyday... not the end of the world but -
Is it a nice drive on quiet roads or is it gridlocked/busy main roads?
Is the new yard full livery or diy?

I've been on a yard that was 20mins each way - the roads were quiet and it was a relaxing drive. It was diy so it did become hard work especially in winter.
My current yard is across the fields a back of my house - I can walk there. It's not perfect but, horse is settled and it's so convenient.

Think carefully and choose wisely!
 
As the current yard is so close I think I'd be a bit more cautious about it. Is there a reason you could dream up that would allow you to trial the new yard for a month (maybe you need a different facility at the new yard or horse is going to be schooled there by x) whilst also keeping your spot on your current yard? Appreciate it would be an expensive month but often with yards the new one has it's own set of problems and you might find the drive too much of a compromise.
 
Thanks all, new yard is full livery. Roads are country roads part of which is single track. To be honest I hate those sort of roads as there is no making up time!
I did the run today and it’s a full 22 mins today , no shortcuts sadly.
So new dilemma is obviously fuel costs, distance and it’s £150 a month more livery price wise
 
Yes and I lasted a year before moving. Yard owner wasn’t what they seemed to be I was already having lessons with her when she opened the yard. My horse didn’t settle very well and I found the journey really off putting especially in winter. A colic episode was the last straw. I wouldn’t choose to keep my horse that far away ever again.

More recently I had to move as the yard I was on for 14yrs closed. I had no choice but to move my horses further away around 25minutes and I lasted 5 months before moving them closer again.

It wasn’t just the distance but neither yard turned out to be suitable long term.
 
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