Describe your perfect livery yard and yard owner

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rhylis

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Sorry if this has been done to death already!
I'm curious to know what everyone's idea of the perfect livery facilities would be? Possibly of even more interest is what type of person would be your ideal yard owner? What would be your priorities when choosing a yard and what would be nice extras but not essential?
I'm not just being shamelessly nosy ( well, maybe a little bit!) There is a possibility that one day taking on some liveries could be on the cards for me and some pointers in the right direction would be very welcome!
 
My perfect yard and perfect yard owner would be if I had my own place and could be an antisocial hermit. ;)

Sorry, I realise that doesn't help.
 
For me, perfect at the moment would be well drained fields with natural shelter and post and rail fences or dry stone walls or hedges, large airy stables with a view of the outside world, hay/haylage available onsite and secure storage. Also no road work to get to decent hacking. Bonus would be a wash box, indoor or outdoor school and a horse walker. The possibility of assisted livery would be a consideration and an experienced, non-judgemental and tactful owner/manager would keep me happy.
 
... Just as an addendum: if the owner was right, a lot of the other things could be less than perfect and I'd still choose it over a yard where the owner was judgemental, gossipy, unhelpful etc.
 
I think well laid out, well fenced fields with natural shelter and shade, automatic water troughs and proper made pathways between them would be my must have. Good sized stables with room to move around without someone else having to untie their horse first and plenty of storage for hay, feed and stuff would also be high on the list. Safe access to off road hacking would be brilliant too. As to the perfect YO I think someone who understands the needs of different horses without getting overly involved in the day to day management would suit me. I appreciate someone who has the best interests of the horses first and foremost and allows me to make the choices I want to. I prefer there to be rules in place that everyone must adhere to for the sake of safety but not silly things like "you must all feed haylage, MY haylage" or "you must all leave your horses in this week because its rained".
 
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rhylis said:
Sorry if this has been done to death already!
I'm curious to know what everyone's idea of the perfect livery facilities would be? Possibly of even more interest is what type of person would be your ideal yard owner? What would be your priorities when choosing a yard and what would be nice extras but not essential?
I'm not just being shamelessly nosy ( well, maybe a little bit!) There is a possibility that one day taking on some liveries could be on the cards for me and some pointers in the right direction would be very welcome!
Click to expand...

I feel as though I'm at the perfect livery yard.

We have a 50 x 25 floodlit indoor school (sand and rubber).
Use of jumps.
Outdoor sandschool.
Large boxes (12 x 16 ish).
Barn style stables.
Individual turnout.
Great hacks.
Storage, tackroom, etc.

More important, almost, is the atmosphere. It's a really enjoyable, inspiring place to be.

The other liveries are friendly, supportive, knowledgeable and kind and our YO is lovely! Capable, calm, supportive, ethical, creative - She decided because the weather is miserable, to set up Trec obstacles, so several of us, along with our assorted horses, spent the morning playing in the indoor school :D
 
For me it is putting the horses first, in herds not alone, ensuring the horses are not stressed, yard owner to be friendly but maintain professionalism and not getting involved with gossip, stables nice and airy, all year turnout , even if its a few hours a day in winter, indoor school a bonus with solarium....just being picky now !!
 
I miss the old livery yard I was at as a teenager.
It didn't have great facilities and wasn't very smart but we all had a great time.
The horses had massive fields (not so great when you have a difficult to catch pony!) they had forestry areas and streams and were very hilly. Almost like living wild! They lived in a big mixed herd of about 25.
Everyone helped each other out and once a week we did a yard ride (think mini hunt minus the actual hunting!) to the pub.
When my loaned pony was for sale they all found my jobs and chipped in so I could buy him (parents weren't horsey)
I loved it!
 
Not too far from home
Good hacking routes, don't mind a bit of road work
Good sized airy stables ( if I had a choice, double aspect windows so the stables can be inside and out)
Indoor or outdoor school of good size and good surface
Individual tackrooms and hay/bedding store
Plenty of turnout in small herds
Fields with good fencing and hardcore gates
Reliable help
YO who genuinely care for the welfare of horses and owners
Clear payment methods
Approachable YO when change of husbandry needed
Grit yard when snow and ice
Good parking
 
SatsumaGirl said:
My perfect yard and perfect yard owner would be if I had my own place and could be an antisocial hermit. ;)

Sorry, I realise that doesn't help.
Click to expand...

This! :D This is my 7th winter with my horses at home and I would hate to go back on a livery yard now.

That said, the last livery yard I was on before I moved here was probably the best one I have been on- Decent size/condition stables, year round turnout where my ponies were together and not sharing with other liveries, smallish indoor school, basic but perfectly useable outdoor school, use of show jumps, plenty of off road hacking, under cover trailer storage, on site hay and straw, storage area, secure tack room, flexible livery- like you could have part or full for a short time if you needed it, children and dogs had to be supervised and under control. There was the very occasional bit of typical yard bitchiness but nothing too bad at all really. And a reasonable price given the facilities and what other places in the area charged. There was no grass livery only- your horse had to be in overnight in winter, that wasn't an issue for me but it could be for some people. Apart from that there were no obvious negatives that I remember.
 
I am going to reply as of a few years ago when I needed livery.
Floodlite school with mirrors (indoor would be amazing)
Good sized stables.
No flooding etc
Good fencing
Choice of turnout, herd or alone as suits horse
Small to medium sized
Client room with tea and coffee
Secure and heated tack and rug rooms
good hacking and people to hack with

Extras - onsite instruction, horse walker, lung pen, xc course.

yo - friendly and professional, rules that are sticked too
 
Perfect livery yard would have all year turnout with at least 6 hours in winter, on well draining naturally sheltered fields with post and rail fencing that my obnoxious horse can't walk straight through :P large well draining stables, with storage close by and somewhere to hang wet/muddy rugs to dry.
A large indoor school would be nice but I cope alright with my little outdoor.
YO would be friendly and fair, and always happy to stop for a chat and a laugh. They would kick out liveries that don't look after their horses. Have very few rules and none like you have to bring in other peoples horses if you want yours in etc. i couldn't cope with that!
 
24/7 turnout in small herd.
Stable if horse needs it.
Undercover area for vet visits etc and tacking up/drying rugs.
Plenty of good hacking.
Nice fellow liveries
Lovely owner.
I must be the luckiest person ever because those are all the things i love about where my horse calls home.!
 
My perfect YO is my current YO. He is a farmer, he has farm staff who maintain the buildings, fencing etc, he can produce good quality haylage and straw and has a YM who is a horse owner and also a builder. The advantage here is that whilst the YO and YM are there to support, they don't really get involved in yard politics. The yard isn't immaculate, it's functional and homey. There was a time I wanted nothing more than to be on a small private yard but now I would worry about a YO/YM who had no other interest except their livery business, especially on a small, private yard. I feel there's a higher chance they could possibly be interfering, judgmental, controlling and resentful because the margins aren't what they expected- I would rather live with benign neglect.

My perfect yard would have in no particular order- (a) no sycamore trees anywhere near (b) mostly off road hacking, as this is my fantasy yard I would like miles of all weather tracks to wander around so they didn't' get all slippery or muddy or too hard (c) year round turn out (at least daytime turnout in winter) in small herds in well drained fields with natural shelter of an appropriate size (d) well sized, well draining, well ventilated stables that don't leak (e) nice fellow liveries- don't have to be bffs but are easy to spend time with, added bonus if they aren't neatness nazis, sweepy Stalins, control freaks, prone to extreme moods swings, pathological liars, neglectful of their horses or just generally manipulative and it would be perfect if they like to go for short hack in the mornings before work and didn't mind if my horse and I came along (f) good quality hay, haylage and straw included in livery price (g) dry, secure storage (h) an adequately sized, reasonably maintained school (i) unrestricted "visiting hours" preferably stables not too near to YOs house so you don't feel like you're bothering them. (j) not too many kids and/or dogs- and any there are well supervised My current yard meets around 90%-95% of these criteria so is close enough to perfect for me and I am so grateful to be there, I worry that one day they'll just throw me off and I will never find another place which comes even close.

eta- it would be great to have flexible livery where you could book reliable help if you had to go away, but luckily for me I have always got on well with my fellow liveries and we help each other

also, I would like one of those solarium things (for the horses of course!) :D
 
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Someone who isn't a nut case who has reasonable yard rules but isn't a control freak, is professional and doesn't get involved in yard gossip.
 
My perfect yard would have an indoor school large enough for a proper course of jumps and a really huge outdoor school. It would have a really nice cross country schooling paddock and cross country courses aimed at all levels of ability and confidence.

Loads of off road hacking with woods and tracks and access to safe road hacking.

Stabling would be in a barn with plenty of allocated storage for each livery as well as a secure tack room. Ideally the indoor school would be attached to the stable barn so one could access it without getting rained on.

All year round grazing and horses in herds and the option of 24/7 turnout and flexible options for livery.


The yard I'm at has the hacking, but limited safe road hacking. We have a smallish indoor and 2 larger outdoor schools but quarter of a mile hack along a badly lit lane to get to them from the yard on which my horse lives (there's the main yard where the RS is based and some of the liveries and where the schools are and the smaller yard where I am which is all liveries) Most of the time the schools are being used by the RS so not easy, for example, to set up jumps for practicing before a completion. (the bigger outdoor gets ridiculously waterlogged too.) We also have cross country jumps dotted around.

We do have all year turnout with the option of 24/7 of required. The horses do go out in herds unless otherwise specified by the owners. We do have the luxury of flexible livery options as well. The staff and fellow liveries are all really great, no bitchiness at all.

My stable is in a large airy barn with an outdoor window. We have a solarium which is a real bonus and a hot water tap so bathing horses in the winter is possible.

On the whole I have no complaints except for the lack of more conveniently accessible schooling.
 
Nativelover said:
Not too far from home
Good hacking routes, don't mind a bit of road work
Good sized airy stables ( if I had a choice, double aspect windows so the stables can be inside and out)
Indoor or outdoor school of good size and good surface
Individual tackrooms and hay/bedding store
Plenty of turnout in small herds
Fields with good fencing and hardcore gates
Reliable help
YO who genuinely care for the welfare of horses and owners
Clear payment methods
Approachable YO when change of husbandry needed
Grit yard when snow and ice
Good parking
Click to expand...

Estimated cost of supplying that lot ?
 
I used to livery at a farm that was rustic and basic, but with good turnout and the atmosphere was good. I was much happier there than at the dedicated livery yard with far better facilities, but completely untrustworthy people.
 
I pretty much believe that the "perfect" livery yard doesn't exist. There's always something you'd change or add (or remove!) if you could. But, having said that, it would be pretty much where I am now if I'm honest. Good stables, adequate turn out singly or in small groups (my lad shares with a field pal who he adores), good outdoor, very nice indoor, acres of off road hacking accessible directly off the yard, good additional facilities (walker, wash box, safe tack room, adequate storage, somewhere to park my trailer), good staff and good liveries who all get on well. The YO is knowledgable, straight forward and approachable.

Of course, if possible it would be nice if the turnout wasn't completely bogged at the moment, and it costs an arm and a leg but you can't have everything.
 
Greylegs said:
I pretty much believe that the "perfect" livery yard doesn't exist. There's always something you'd change or add (or remove!) if you could. But, having said that, it would be pretty much where I am now if I'm honest. Good stables, adequate turn out singly or in small groups (my lad shares with a field pal who he adores), good outdoor, very nice indoor, acres of off road hacking accessible directly off the yard, good additional facilities (walker, wash box, safe tack room, adequate storage, somewhere to park my trailer), good staff and good liveries who all get on well. The YO is knowledgable, straight forward and approachable.

Of course, if possible it would be nice if the turnout wasn't completely bogged at the moment, and it costs an arm and a leg but you can't have everything.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of people would be a lot happier if they thought more along these lines!
 
My yard has most of it.
True 365 day turnout - daytime only in winter but they're out at least 10 hrs a day.
Nice and local (1.8 mile walk or 2.4 mile drive!)
Small, settled herds
Outdoor floodlit school
Nice laid back, friendly feel

The only things it lacks are:
Indoor school (never really cared about it until this winter!)
Excellent off road hacking on the door step (although that's really hard to get in this area)
Wash box with hot water and solarium for drying off

YO - much like mine. Supportive, but laid back. Treats us like adults (and we behave like them). Sees promises through, flexible in providing assisted DIY - I would never go for full/part livery as I like the care element but sometimes we all need a bit of help.
 
Yard owner:
Someone who allows me to care for my horses as i see fit, including buying my own QUALITY hay/haylage/bedding.
No hang ups, no mental health issues.
Doesn't steal from you.

Yard:
Stables that are spacious and dry
All year turnout
A useable school

I'm quite easily pleased :)
 
A huge outdoor arena with floodlights and jumps, a nice xc paddock and well drained fields. With a nice airy barn that has a safe tack room and big stables, and this sounds silly but a rug room! I'm slightly OCD about rugs and I would love to have them neatly organised. Also safe hacking, a wash box and a solarium. To be honest it would be perfect to have me as yard owner, so I can choose what to do with my horses without being judged.
 
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