Bit of personal research (livery and sending horses away to be schooled)

[spotty_pony2]

Im sure you would get interest but I think it's an awful lot of work for one person 7 days a week. If someone's paying for bespoke livery then they will want every box ticked, maybe doable in the summer but winter it could be extremely hard going.

yes and no, again it depends what is wanted as to how much work is required so it’s a bit like how long is a piece of string. I used to do ten on part livery which were not kept at home - 3 were mine, 4 were on full livery and I had help with the mucking out 3 days per week so i could concentrate on the riding but I did it all apart from that… and still had plenty of time to ride so it it doable. I’d vary the work schedule so some were hacking, some were lungeing and schooling and they all only different days off.

As eahotson has said - I’ve seen it many a time where you pay for a big name and the professional doesn’t even sit on your horse so what you see isn’t always what you get in the very top yards. I’m not saying they are all like that but some definitely are.

 

[Brownie in Bahrain]

I’ve had need for rehab livery in the past and a lack of CV wouldn’t have bothered me. My boy went to someone who did have a competition record but I found her through the recommendation of my trainer, and to be honest my criteria was someone brave enough and physically light enough. If you are well known in the hunting community, that would have been good enough for me.

Where was your rehab please? I may need a good one soon..

 

[94lunagem]

Hi @Brownie in Bahrain, this was 15+ years ago, we’re still friends but her livery packages have changed over time due to a change in location. I’m sure someone here will have some helpful suggestions though, or I always ask farrier, vet, physio etc for their recommendations.

 

[irishdraft]

Where was your rehab please? I may need a good one soon..

There are a few in the south east, a couple I know, haven't used personally. I don't know where you are x

 

[canteron]

I think there is always a need for this and people are prepared to pay for a good service, especially is you can marry up owner/horse at the end.
However, when you start up, the key is being able to survive while you establish a reputation.
Honestly, there are some horror stories I have heard from even established yards, of people forgetting to mention the horse has a dangerous issue or won’t face up to the fact the horse needs serious vet intervention and then those who ‘forget’ to pay, so you need to be financially and mentally tough enough to check them out and turn these people away!

 

[spotty_pony2]

I think there is always a need for this and people are prepared to pay for a good service, especially is you can marry up owner/horse at the end.
However, when you start up, the key is being able to survive while you establish a reputation.
Honestly, there are some horror stories I have heard from even established yards, of people forgetting to mention the horse has a dangerous issue or won’t face up to the fact the horse needs serious vet intervention and then those who ‘forget’ to pay, so you need to be financially and mentally tough enough to check them out and turn these people away!

I am lucky that I wouldn’t have any rent to pay on the stables until they were filled so I really wouldn’t be losing out. I am self employed and have work I can carry on until I got my first clients. And yes would definitely be vetting them just as well as they are vetting me - if they have behavioural issues I would want proof everything has been physically checked before they come to rule out it being a health problem.

 

[SOS]

Thinking about costs per day, even with low overheads you would be unlikely to be taking home a living wage with just three horses and rent, hay, insurance, your time, feeding* etc.

I personally wouldn’t send my horse on rehab, unless facilities outweighed what I could offer them. But when I have been rehabbing horses/have seen others attempt rehab, many owners seem baffled that there is a purpose to each step and how to build their whole horse back up after box rest etc.

I wouldn’t send on training livery to someone who didn’t have an established track record. Note not necessarily a high level competitive record but would need to be someone known for regularly producing nice(!) horses.

With the above considered would you not be much better not taking liveries and instead travelling out to help people? There is definitely a gap in the market for teaching people HOW to rehab their horse, doing groundwork with their horse, teaching people about building fitness/muscle etc. You’d be teaching them how to look after their horse everyday and for the future rather than how to ride it.

Unless you’re doing hunting livery. I’ve worked on and, at other times, had horses on hunting livery. It’s good pay, but incredibly time consuming and you do need a second pair of hands at times. Most owners want transport to and from the meet, and sometimes meets are too far to come back before second horses meaning a whole day off the yard. Owners will often take them back for the summer, so you struggle for regular income, and if they are injured they often go home too. And when trail hunting inevitably gets banned, your client base will be greatly reduced, if not eliminated if they take drag hunting down with them too. That said if you have a good name in the hunting world you’d fill your stables for next season instantly! There is a huge satisfaction in getting hunters fit, beautifully muscled, keeping them sound and turned out to perfection which it sounds like you’d enjoy.

*As an FYI I saw you said you’d feed whatever owners wanted, next to nowhere offers this, basic feed and any extra ontop would be expected else they will literally eat you out of house and home!

 

[MissTyc]

I use these sorts of services all the time, usually for mid-winter respite or to work through a difficult issue as I have no facilities. I prefer using someone with fewer horses, pref 2-3 on training livery only with the promise that all handling is done by them. This is expensive, so I can normally afford a maximum of 3 weeks at a time. I bring my own feed as there are normally only pony nuts on offer! The energy of a yard and how the other horses behave means a lot more to me than the competition record of the trainer, however I do need them to have a reputable. I expect to be able to social media stalk them and not find anything negative, or at least nothing that is on MY negatives list. ("left my horse out in the rain" was a recent negative comment I saw. That is a positive for me, as most places I checked out didn't have the turnout in this very difficult winter, and that's fine, however to have enough turnout to leave them out in the rain is a big tick as mine usually live out). I do expect to be able to turn up unannounced and find a relaxed horse.

 

[Alibear]

Just to add if your clients work full time, they will want to be around either mornings, evenings and weekends. As it's at your home would that be OK?

 

[spotty_pony2]

Thinking about costs per day, even with low overheads you would be unlikely to be taking home a living wage with just three horses and rent, hay, insurance, your time, feeding* etc.

I personally wouldn’t send my horse on rehab, unless facilities outweighed what I could offer them. But when I have been rehabbing horses/have seen others attempt rehab, many owners seem baffled that there is a purpose to each step and how to build their whole horse back up after box rest etc.

I wouldn’t send on training livery to someone who didn’t have an established track record. Note not necessarily a high level competitive record but would need to be someone known for regularly producing nice(!) horses.

With the above considered would you not be much better not taking liveries and instead travelling out to help people? There is definitely a gap in the market for teaching people HOW to rehab their horse, doing groundwork with their horse, teaching people about building fitness/muscle etc. You’d be teaching them how to look after their horse everyday and for the future rather than how to ride it.

Unless you’re doing hunting livery. I’ve worked on and, at other times, had horses on hunting livery. It’s good pay, but incredibly time consuming and you do need a second pair of hands at times. Most owners want transport to and from the meet, and sometimes meets are too far to come back before second horses meaning a whole day off the yard. Owners will often take them back for the summer, so you struggle for regular income, and if they are injured they often go home too. And when trail hunting inevitably gets banned, your client base will be greatly reduced, if not eliminated if they take drag hunting down with them too. That said if you have a good name in the hunting world you’d fill your stables for next season instantly! There is a huge satisfaction in getting hunters fit, beautifully muscled, keeping them sound and turned out to perfection which it sounds like you’d enjoy.

*As an FYI I saw you said you’d feed whatever owners wanted, next to nowhere offers this, basic feed and any extra ontop would be expected else they will literally eat you out of house and home!

I’d feed whatever owners wanted as long a they were paying for it of course! Supplements etc would need to be provided by the owner.

 

[spotty_pony2]

Just to add if your clients work full time, they will want to be around either mornings, evenings and weekends. As it's at your home would that be Ok?

We are having a separate drive out in from the stables so in time this would be fine; but this mostly aimed at people who won’t be coming up all of the time due to work/illness/other commitments but yes of course they can come up.