Breaking/schooling Livery

[ErinDoig]

Thinking about sending my horse who has been backed but little else away for a few weeks to be started and schooled by 'experts' but wonder if anyone has had any experience of doing this, worth the money??

anyone had any bad experiences with this kind of livery service?

Ta xx

 

[jumpthemoon]

I sent my horse away for schooling on Saturday just gone. He eems to have settled really well and they rode him for the first time today - it went really well and they are pleased with him. I am hoping it's going to be well worth the money! I know its a bit soon for me to have any useful comments for you - sorry. Also, this is schooling - not starting. Same principle though

 

[Bossanova]

If you find a good yard then it's invaluable for many horse's education.
We have a fair few in here and all go away improved and with very happy owners!

 

[ErinDoig]

[ QUOTE ]
I sent my horse away for schooling on Saturday just gone. He eems to have settled really well and they rode him for the first time today - it went really well and they are pleased with him. I am hoping it's going to be well worth the money! I know its a bit soon for me to have any useful comments for you - sorry. Also, this is schooling - not starting. Same principle though

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok thanks, I just want to give her the best possible start so i have good foundations to carry on with!!
Glad your horse is doing well hopefully i will find somewhere suitable too

 

[jumpthemoon]

I think it's important to really check out how the horses are kept to make sure you are happy with it. Not necessarily because they won't be looked after properly, but just to ensure you are happy with the routine and how th horses are handled. Everyone likes things slightly different and some people are more fussy than others (I'm one of those horribly annoying fussy people!). If you find somewhere you like visit a few times at different times of the day - make sure beds are cleaned, horses are fed etc. There is nothing worse than someone looking after your horse who you aren't happy with

 

[Ginn]

I backed my youngster myself, under the guidance of my very experienced instructor. I then had to give her a rest for a good 6 weeks while I had end of year uni exams and so sent her up to my instructor on a breaking/schooling livery for the last week of my exams and then the week following them so I could get onboard and start hacking out accompainied by my instructor.

It was the best decision I could have made regarding the education of Tills - it gave both of us bags of confidence and the change in Tilly has been incredible, she literally grew up overnight and despite being a typical "quirky tb" I can do anytjing with her - out hacking she will go first or last past anything (infact she had to give my instructors horse who was nannying her a lead past some roadworks and a numatic drill lol!). Im sure this is because those first few important weeks of "proper work" were positive, confidence boosting and also established the boundaries.

Definately worth it if you choose the right person - my instructor knew both of us very well, had her own yard or about 12 boxes and is very well known locally for her patience and ability for young/novice/problem horses. I also anticipated T would be very unsettled as she gets nervous in new places very easily but felt confident that if she was going to be unsettled because she was away from home this is where I'd like her to be - as it happened she didn't bat an eyelid and on a few mornings refused to get up so I could tack her up as she was quite happy flat out sleeping! PMSL!!!

With regard to cost, if you're interested, I paid £140/week (£20/day) and that was for as long as Tilly needed work wise (some days 30mins, others we were 1 1/2hrs as we hacked out), full livery including all hay, feed, bedding, turnout, grooming mucking out etc. etc. and I was welcome to come and go as I pleased. For the second week I rode everyday and received tuition the whole time (usually £20/hr anyway!!)