Considering offering full livery at our home in Midlothian

[edinburgh75]

This post is really to see about some advice from anyone that has done a similar thing. We have our own yard with 10 stables and an indoor school, lots of local hacking and big fields that we are thinking of splitting up. Has anyone ever taken the plunge and run it as a had from their own home? We have 6 horses of our own but only 2 are stables in the winter and it seems such a waste of space

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

You'll doubtless get good advice on here.

But what may be a "good idea" may be totally different in practical terms!

You only have to read some of the posts on here about Yards and the dreaded Yard Owner's to realise that!!!

I'm a YO who lives on the premises and does DIY livery; we only have room for the one livery, which simplifies things a lot I think.

There are all sorts of issues like Planning Permission (dunno what your situation is in Scotland.......??? may be different to the UK???); also you'll need to think about whether you'd be employing any staff (i.e. if you were doing Full/Assisted livery), issues like employers liability - and also insurance for your yard which may work out considerably more costly than you think!

Think, for now, you need to do some research. Think about what sort of livery you will be offering, i.e. DIY, Assisted/Full, etc - and research what similar establishments in your area are charging for this.

Then take into account any alterations/permissions you may need to make your yard safe & compliant - and user-friendly, i.e. you may need to put in more electric/water points than you have currently, and other general alterations & improvements such as good secure fencing. Write lists and get estimates.

Consider what (if any) additional staff you may need.

Bear in mind that if you are offering Full or Assisted livery, AND you live on the premises - how you are going to deal with the inevitability of constant interruptions & disasters such as late night/Bank Holiday veterinary emergencies.

Plus also bear in mind that if living in situ, you will be constantly "invaded" by other people on a regular basis.

Also you need to consider bio-security and isolation facilities: essential IMO as if liveries horses are regularly competing, you need to have some means of isolating them from your own horses.

Have you any equine/management/financial qualifications?? Not that this is essential - but as a YO myself I'm sure that if I did have any quals of this sort they'd come in blimmin useful!

How are your people-skills? Running a yard isn't easy: if you have more than one livery and/or a difficult livery your people-skills, tolerance, and downright grittiness will be tried to the limit, trust me.

Most importantly: when you/if you get to this stage. CHOOSE YOUR LIVERIES WITH GREAT CARE and don't be afraid to be ruthless in weeding out people (and horses) who you think will be bothersome from the first. A good livery is a rare gem which is worth holding onto; conversely a bad one will cause you endless misery; you've only to read some of the threads on here to realise this.

Finally.......... its not all gloom and doom! We've been doing livery now for over twenty years and in that time have only had one really bad livery (and she only stayed for a month). You will meet some lovely people (hopefully), some of whom will become your friends and you will have the chance to have some truly lovely and great horses through your yard.

No, you won't make mega-bucks at it, sorry to say that but you won't. But hopefully it'll be just bleddy good fun!

 

[edinburgh75]

Thanks for such a considered and details response. This is why these forums are invaluable.
We have had horses for many years now and have met a considerable variation of people and expectations. I suppose we just have to try it and see how we get on.

We do have all the facilities that we think makes a good private yard and it's part of the reason we chose the house. Beautiful Victorian stone built stables and a farm setting down a 3 mile private road. We have access to never ending grass if we want from the nearby estate so it could accommodate most livery types. We would only want to keep a small concern at home and more to have use of the place rather than a money maker.

I think the next stage wil be to advertise and see how we get on. Winter is coming so I think it's the time to be doing it.

 

[cm2581]

If you have plenty of grazing you may want to consider offering a full grass livery arrangement as this is something that is lacking in the area and many horses need to live out for various reasons. Most yards seem to think if you want your horse on grass livery you don't think it needs looked after!

 

[edinburgh75]

That's an interesting idea actually because we have far more grazing than stabling. I suppose full grass livery will include bringing in daily or checked in field. Feeds given, feet picked out and a general check over, rug changes if required and access to the indoor school. We are also thinking of an outdoor school next to the house as we have a big field we don't use and thought of combining it with a jumping course too.

We have never had to pay livery so we will need to do some checking around for what local charges are.

 

[baran]

That's an interesting idea actually because we have far more grazing than stabling. I suppose full grass livery will include bringing in daily or checked in field. Feeds given, feet picked out and a general check over, rug changes if required and access to the indoor school.
We have never had to pay livery so we will need to do some checking around for what local charges are.

You may find that this is why very few yards offer grass livery with services - price people are prepared to pay won't cover your labour costs.

 

[chotty]

Edinburgh75 - where about in Midlothian are you? If you do end up taking on some liveries then let me know please would be very interested in full grass livery as there's none around here! Also know someone who may be interested in full livery with stables as she finds it hard to find yards around here that are up to scratch, as most full livery are big yards and she would rather be somewhere smaller x

 

[Sologirl]

Following this, always interesting to hear of good up and coming liveries in the area

 

[edinburgh75]

We have decided to open our yard for the beginning of October but as per the rules on this forum, we won't be advertising on here.

 

[embemt93]

Hi I would be very interested in livery if you could give me any details of location etc I could contact you using other means?

 

[edinburgh75]

You can mail me at frasermitchell@live.co.uk

 

[Wiz201]

You can mail me at frasermitchell@live.co.uk

I would PM your email address to interested parties otherwise unscrupulous persons could contact you.

 

[edinburgh75]

Haha thanks. Didn't think of that but then I do seem to win the Nigerian lottery an awful lot. Seems unfair on everyone else. Just not had time to pop down to western union to pay the admin charge! ;-)

 

[asbo]

My friend is looking for grass with stable for 2 geldings, if you still have space could you PM me your info and I can pass it on.

 

[Princess Rosie]

I second the post advising to vet your liveries carefully, it can be very difficult having people constantly at your home coming and going at different times, it can feel like you never have your home to yourself. We have three liveries and they were very carefully selected and it all works brilliantly, we only offer full luxury livery and I do them all myself (we have total of 6 soon to be 7!). I've done DIY and part livery in the past from a different bigger yard and never again, I'd also avoid grass livery as your labour costs will far outweigh the price paid by owners. You'll never make a fortune but it's worth doing if you have the space and the time.

 

[edinburgh75]

Well it's been a lot more work than we thought but lots of progress. I am now in agreement with you all about grass livery so we are sticking to part/full and just supplying the best yard we can. So far the indoor school is sorted with shredded carpet, the courtyard has been resurfaced and I have many many blisters from tidying up and painting the stables. Now to sort out the paddocks! Fencing isn't much fun and incredibly expensive but I suppose we are making 10 fields out one of our huge fields. Can't believe we actually had space for 12 fields!