Closing Livery Yard

[scally]

For all other livery yard or especially ex livery yard owners, had enough of liveries, this winter has done it for me and i cant keep up with their "demands" to what they pay the state the yard is left in, bending every rule possible so the yard is closing end of this month and expecting to pay nothing for livery and want thousands of £s of facilities that they cannot or will not look after.

Now obviously with business rates etc its a pain, so has anyone found another use to diversify into something else, i have more than adequate grazing for my and a friends horses i have that will stay so i have 10 spare acres two barns one 30 metres by 20 and a second 20 metres by 20 metres. Or just better off keeping it for myself. We are in an area where development is going to be something in a few years time however in the mean time just wondering what others do.

 

[fredflop]

Do you have diy or full?

 

[scally]

mostly DIY a couple of full its the DIY that really have made the decision though. Apologies as I know there are a lot of fantastic DIY people and not wishing to cause offence.

 

[neddy man]

Indoor car boot sales, caravan storage, barn dances, remote control car racing, pottery classes, maybe rent tò scout groups etc. loads to think about, guess easy access is most important, and maybe a heat source.

 

[scally]

Thank you some nice ideas there, one barn can be heated easily the other not so.

 

[neddy man]

Put a local ad up and see who rings.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

How sad I’m sorry you ve been driven to that decision. What about dog exercising/training classes?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Dog agility people are always looking for places to go.

There are loads of other options so you don't have to deal with muppets on a daily basis!

 

[mariew]

Offering storage I have heard is similar money without the damage to property

 

[rabatsa]

Can you just make hay with the land and store in the barn before selling? A dog exercise paddock and let dog trainers use the indoor area. Dog trainers round here are always looking for areas that they can use for tracking ect.

 

[chocolategirl]

A friend of mine runs a livery alongside a doggy day care business, she says she makes 4 times the income from the dog thing and it’s a lot less hassle apparently! The unfortunate fact is that to house something the size of a horse, with all the space they need, the damage they cause etc, the price us YO’s can charge, just isn’t realistic?‍ I’m fortunate, as like my pal, we also run a very successful business alongside the livery, so it’s not stopped me so far from carrying on. Good luck OP with whatever you decide to venture into next ?

 

[Berpisc]

Do you have any farmers locally who would graze sheep on some of the pasture on a year to year basis? (ie not getting into some sort of complicated tenancy. They do it in my area)

 

[Frumpoon]

If you have loads and loads of land you could do youngstock/full grazing livery. A friend of mine has about 50 young and retired horses that pay £30 a week for good quality, well fenced and managed grass Livery that's the yard owner checks every day, ad lib hay in the winter is £15 per horse, again there's approx 50 horses owners that will pay this

 

[fredflop]

I’d suggest full livery only for a start

 

[Red-1]

Before shutting completely, I would put the prices to what you think they should be and give notice to people you don't think add to the wellbeing of the yard.

A yard local to us only has people who fit in, and are not cheap, but somehow are often full, and are never empty.

I would also do no DIY, have assisted at least, so you know at least that the mucking out/ feeding/ turning out is sorted.

 

[southerncomfort]

The farmer I get hay from doesn't farm any more. He uses most of his land for silage/hay/straw production and rents the rest of the land to his neighbours who graze sheep on it.

Feel really sad that your liveries have driven you to this.

 

[pixie]

Have you thought of doing retirement livery? Are the barns located in such a way that they could be used as free-access shelter from the fields? How about a track livery round the edges?

 

[sport horse]

One day liveries may start to realise that £20 to £40/week does not even cover the YO providing stable, storage facilities, well fenced 24/7/52 turnout on nice grassy fields with no mud, manege or indoor school in a good area for riding. Add to that they want 24 hour access to that facility plus security for their horse.

Add to that the debts owed by some liveries, the rudeness and aggravation. Frankly it is not worth it.

 

[canteron]

How sad I’m sorry you ve been driven to that decision. What about dog exercising/training classes?

Some people are offer wrong ‘safe’ places to walk dogs off lead, which seams to have a market!

 

[HashRouge]

What about a campsite for the summer months? Depends where you are of course, but if it's an appealing area that might be a way to earn some extra cash. You'd need to put in washing facilities though, which would mean some initial outlay.

 

[SEL]

Could you rent all the spare stables to 1 person? Might be easier dealing with a professional.

I know the guy who owned the yard I used to be on (sold for housing) said he'd make more using the barns for storage. He now lets a local guy take hay off the fields.

 

[PeterNatt]

Keep the place to yourself and your friends. That way no aggravation.

 

[Orangehorse]

I was going to suggest dog training facilities, agility, securely fenced area so people can train and let their dogs off the lead. There are some around here, I don't know how they are doing.

Or as the others suggest, grazing for youngstock, retirement livery.

 

[dominobrown]

Caravan, car, camper van storage, classic cars etc. Pay is fairly good for how little work you need to do!

 

[Ben2684]

Our yard is full livery only. There are rules and if you don’t stick to them.... oh wait I don’t know? Everyone sticks to them as we all know that if we ‘bend’ the rules our days are numbered. This sounds bad but actually, we know the yard are selling a very decent product and we can choose to either abide by the way they do things (which I have no complaint about) or leave? Horses are well cared for and want for nothing and they have a waiting list as long as my arm. I have been on a few diy yards and how they made it pay I don’t know. Would full only be a consideration before giving up completely?

 

[Cob Life]

Dog agility people are always looking for places to go.

There are loads of other options so you don't have to deal with muppets on a daily basis!

As an ability person I second this!

 

[splashgirl45]

it saddens me that so many diy people are giving the rest of us a bad name. it seems that bad behaviour and not respecting other peoples property is commonplace nowadays in all walks of life. i understand why you are closing the yard and agree dog agility or similar would be much less aggro...

 

[scally]

Thank you all for your suggestions, much appreciated, and as said there really are some lovely lovely DIY people out there but sadly i have had a run of ones that think what they pay gives them the right to do what they want too much has been broken, misused, horse damage, full is a possibility and may consider it, dog agility I could certainly do, would a cat playground barn work do you think for people with indoor cats in a large secure barn with trees to climb tunnels etc etc as i have thought of that too?

 

[honetpot]

If you have a loo, an sinks you could use the 28 day camping rule and perhaps run some sort of residential course.https://www.pitchup.com/how-start-campsite-caravan-park/

 

[cindars]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Have been at the Same yard since 1980. Was large yard but has now shrunk to just three people. We have stables,storage and year round turnout but as yard got smaller we lost our schools but we pay very small amount a month and we stick to the rules.