Anyone from Guernsey on here?

[fatbird]

my OH is looking at a new job on Guernsey.
After initially thinking wow how fantastic, I am now worrying about the whole idea! Mainly worried about the horses. I have two (one semi retired) which we keep at home at the moment.
I don't expect we could get a place with land and stables on Guernsey like we have now... What is livery like? Is it easy to transport horses over there? What is the riding like?
Any advice greatfully accepted.

 

[IdoShowing]

There are quite a lot of horsey people - i don't keep mine here, but my sisters going to take one of hers over at the end of the year. Hay is very pricey at the moment cos you have to have it imported etc. The beaches are great to ride on in the winter & they have BS there regularly as well as a Guernsey HOYS etc
http://www.bsjaguernsey.co.uk/

Transport over is easy - we've took ours over in an old hunting lorry (you have to make sure that the lorry is small enough to get round the lanes!!) The speed limit is 30mph, & 25mph in some areas, so hacking is ok, but can get busy cos its only a small island, they also have Routes Tranquille which are good hacking roads. I'm only going on what i've seen & what my friends tell me cos like i say, i've never kept one there a a long length of time.

 

[mavandkaz]

i used to live there, moved away 8yrs ago to go to uni and never quite made it back. will hopefully go home at some point, but house prices aren't helping. Have a quick search on the net and you'll soon see what your up against house price wise. for the price of my 3 bed detatched here i could get a 2 bed flat there
horsie wise theres a good competition scene. hacking isn't great, there are some nice quiet lanes but the roads are generally very busy, even if the traffic isn't moving that fast. although drivers are generally much more conscientious. it really depends on where abouts you are. there is of course the beaches which is a real bonus if your close enough to hack to them.
easy enough to transport horses. there are a couple of companies that do it, or if you have your own you just literally book on the boat and fill in a few forms.
am a bit out of touch with livery yards so can't help too much, but again be prepared to hear some high prices. have a friend who is paying £45 a week for DIY, with stabe, field, elec and water and small school. 10yrs ago i was on one of the biggest yards and paid £80 a week for the equivalent of DIY assissted. (hay and bedding included)
things like bedding and hay tend to be more expensive as they have to be shipped in (friend is paying £9 per bale of shavings)

as i said i would love to move back, really miss the lifestyle. but would struggle to afford a horse, although of course there are always ways to reduce costs.

 

[fatbird]

Thanks for your input. I had realised house prices are shocking but hadn't really thought about other stuff like livery, feed and bedding being high too. Any livery charges will seem high after being at home and not paying any!

I think my panic might be over though, as OH seems less keen on the job today, so with luck he won't apply and I can relax again, although the dream of riding on those beautiful beaches was nice while it lasted....

 

[Rusty_GSY]

I live in guernsey