Does anybody keep their horses at home?

Pearlsasinger - if you ever feel like trundling down the hill on your tractor you know where we are!

Seriously, its more for rolling, harrowing and topping we need one, and shifting haylage around. Our muckheap hasn't needed moving for the past 3 years since we went onto straw! We keep meaning to buy one, but husband is so fussy about what we get and the price! He just got paid with a farm quad at work, so that will help in the meantime!

Having them at home means you can adapt things to suit your horses - like adding winter turnout paddocks of chippings etc. I don't think its fair to say people with horses on livery don't know their horses as well though. Not true. I had mine on livery for a year and knew just as much about her..

I've never struggled finding people to ride with - there are lots of horsey people around. I've also grown up with horses at home, so am used to being by myself - being raised in the middle of nowhere helped!

Heres a pic from the last of the summer we had at the end of Sept - horses at the end of the garden..

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I hate yards and would never go back to one! I don't miss them at all - far too many thieves, bitchy women, irritating kids, and all-the-gear-but-no-ideas. I'm sure they're not all like that but still..

I much prefer doing my own thing, when I want, how I want. We use 20+ acres, shared with sheep and cattle which is fab for worm control. One field for summer, one for winter with barn and loose box. Before we were here I was the only livery on the yard for 3 years until the YO brought in more, fortunately we bought this place just after, so we escaped.

The only down side for me at the moment is that my youngster could probably do with more horses to play with/learn manners from; he rules the roost in the field despite threats from the others. I could do with chucking him out with my old YO's herd, they'd sort him out in a couple of weeks!

Even so, you can't beat being able to watch them from the house, and have them looking over the fence while you're gardening!
 
I wouldn't have horses if I didn't have them at home, aside from the fact that I couldn't afford board for them all, I'd have a job finding a place to take stallions and broodmares and the thought of having to drag myself up and out to do them twice a day is utterly abhorrent. Been there, done that, not happening ever again :D

Pros:

As people have said, you can do what you like, when you like and how you like without the curtain twitchers snipping at what you do.

It is quite nice to look out of a window and watch them.

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It is even nicer to be able to say "Sod this, I am freezing, they have food/water, the dirty stalls will still be there in an hour (but no-one but you is going to bitch about you being lazy) I'm going indoors to warm up/dry out"

Cons:

If you are a sociable sort sometimes company is only fur covered.

You can hear what they are up to, which is not always as good as it sounds, if Z starts yelling in the middle of the night I know I have to get up to investigate because something is not right.

If it breaks you have to mend it.

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If you have to mend it, you have to pay for it.

It is more expensive than you can imagine.

It is flipping hard work.

You tend to collect horses just because you can.

You have to source your own hay/bedding.
 
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Always had them at home except in between moves when we were on DIY.

I box to ride with people or they box to me, so still socially involved with horsey friends.

We make an effort to meet at pub once a month for catch ups also.
 
Mine have been at home since moving to the UK 18 years ago and have had 2 or 3 horses at all times. Echo what everyone has said.

The only time I was at livery was this spring when I lost my beloved mare suddenly and I couldn't go out to the stables for a good while. Neither can TB stay on his own & I didn't know whether I ever wanted another horse.

Livery run by a very good friend who doesn't do DIY and it was absolutely wonderful once I settled in to not having to do anything as felt like a spare part for a while. Lovely to have peeps to hack out with and a chat plus a few pub visits. Everything done for me, trainers regularly visiting, etc. etc.

Contemplated selling up and moving to a house without land & stables and leaving horse at livery, but then novelty wore off and I decided I did want another horse (daughter also moving back home after uni so would have help & a riding companion). Couldn't afford 2 on full livery so moved back home with both boys.

No regrets :D
 
I was fortunate enough to meet a lovely chap and move in with him - who had room at home for a couple of horses.
I box up to use a friends school down the road. Hacking can be a bit boring - lots of roads so I box up to go to other peoples places.
Its great.
On the other side of the coin a friend of mine also had her horse at home but shes taken him to a yard now, with a school and has him on full livery. She's just had a baby and figures its the best way for her to free up the time so she can just crack on and ride without doing all of the other jobs.
 
It is my absolute dream to have my beautiful boy living with me. My hubby has agreed that for our next house we will look at getting a smallholding :D (catch is, we have only just upgraded to our current house, so a few more years waiting yet :( )
 
I have always had mine at home and couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like on a livery yard. I'm not the most social of creatures and I'm a complete cow when it comes down to people not doing things my way. I'm an awful ringside critic and can't stand rules. Heaven help anyone at a yard if I do ever decide to go down that route.
 
EKW said:
I have always had mine at home and couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like on a livery yard. I'm not the most social of creatures and I'm a complete cow when it comes down to people not doing things my way. I'm an awful ringside critic and can't stand rules. Heaven help anyone at a yard if I do ever decide to go down that route.
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LOL !! glad its not just me..........!!
 
Mine are at home, it gets lonely at times and I miss not having a school and disposing of muck is a pain sometimes but.....

No yard politics, nobody telling me to do it their way, horses can live out all year round so they're much happier and healthier, I can keep everywhere spotless, I dont have to speak to people and be polite in the mornings, I can buy hay and feed from wherever I like, nobody uses my stuff, nobody takes things without consent, my dogs are free to roam about without getting dirty looks and I can mind my own business from morning until night and its peaceful...
 
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nikicb said:
Yes I do. I had to wait until I was in my mid 40s though. I never gave up the dream and now they have been at home for 2 years. In that time we have had the worst snow I ever remember and a continually wet summer and now autumn. Still hanging in there though and despite no facilities I wouldn't change it. :)

Keep the dream. :) x
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I had to wait until mid 40's too and they've been at home just over two years and the first year we had the worse snow ever and frozen outside taps and we got snowed in but it was the best winter I'd had for 20 years !!
 
Have always kept them at the family home (my mother had ponies for my brothers before I was born) and I have no real desire to ever keep horses on a livery yard. The family house is about 3 miles from me but I work there too so am there all day. I'm sure keeping horses at livery has its plus points but for me I love the freedom of having them at home with nobody interfering. I do however appreciate that I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to do so. I might feel differently if my horses required stabling or if I was having regular lessons and wanted access to a menage and so forth. I know there are some livery yards, such as the one Starzaan runs, where I could be happy to keep them if necessary.

Ours live out 24/7 all year and are pretty cheap to run. Keeping them on our own land just helps to lower the cost and means that they are always in sight of myself or the family. The main thing that I like about it is that they can be checked on very easily at anytime of day or night.
 
Our two are kept at home. I much prefer it to livery. We bought another five acre field this year and have gone from having to find a field to borrow while our grass grows to having too much grass and having to borrow sheep or cattle to graze it down. Next year I hope to have some hay off it.
 
My horses have always been at home and I would not have it any other way. I would never join the WI either, or any other group of women!
 
I grew up with my horses at home, I loved it. I lived in the middle of no where with miles of off road common land and beautiful routes to ride on. I used to meet a friend who lived over the mountain and we would ride together sometimes. But I was always happy to hack alone, and always really enjoyed it, though I loved meeting my friend when we did meet up. I used to go and stay at hers the night and keep my lovely late Seren down there with me overnight and we played 'streetfighter' all night :D
Sorry, I digress, I do hope one day to keep Nell at home, I would of course have to get a second :D
Given the choice I would keep horsey at home every time, just need that winning lottery ticket!
I do really like my yard and some of the people, but for me, having your own land is the best.
 
Mine are at home, we swapped a 2 and half bed semi in Berkshire with a 40 foot garden for 12 perfect (in my eyes) of rural Lincolnshire. Lots of compromises and it's certainly hard work (I agree with everyone above re no holidays, fencing/ DIY/ lack of riding out friends) but all in all it's well worth it and if you're prepared to compromise it's more achieveable than you might think
 
We rent the field and barn next to the house, with two ponies here now, though a few years back we had five competing/hunting. Brilliant not having to drive to a yard, being able to do morning and late night stables in pyjamas. Downsides, apart from not having an all weather surface, are having to organise my own muck heap removal, collecting hay and bedding, nobody to help so never going away, but the worst thing for the kids was sheer loneliness. Hacking with your sister or your mum can't be as much fun as hacking with a bunch of friends, and they never had friends in hacking distance, hence so much enthusiasm for Pony Club and Riding Club, meeting the same crowd several times a week for training or competitions.

This is the most boring place imaginable to hack out. If you're looking to buy somewhere with land, the available hacking is a massive consideration.
 
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ive kept mine at home for years, I couldnt have so many if I was on a yard. We dont have anywhere near enough grass for them all, but we rotate the paddcks strictly and in the winter unfortunately they have to stay in some days or at least part of the day. But I have beautiful purpose built stables, nbody rummaging in my tack room or feed room. I can go to see them last thing before I go to bed, and do morning feeds in my dressing gown in the summer. I spend far more time just being with them, which probably wouldnt if I was on a yard. Yes the maintenance and upkeep is a lot of work, but well worth it. Also getting back from a show late at night is bearable if you can jus fall into bed once the horses are settled.
 
I look out of my bathroom window and either see the horses in the field, or in the winter in their stables. I married a farmer, so horse keep was on tap so to speak, but for many years I had to share with dairy cows - and horses were considered 3rd class non profitable animals. So I spent 15 years proving that they could pay their way, by dealing in them, These days I go out to work (far more profitable then horse dealing) and because I am more than contributing to the farming income - I have successfully negotiated a five acre field - three stables (well a converted cattle yard) and demand that at least one crop of hay / haylege is exclusively for my horses.......when I was training point-to-pointers that was easier to negotitate, (because the other half saw a point in that, and shared in the fun) now they are strictly leisure animals - I still have battles. For instance the stables were flooding - the agricultural response to this was to lay 40 tonne of hard core......trying to tell him that horses can't stand, or even lay down on huge lumps of stone, was tricky - I was accused of being ungrateful! So yes, very lucky to have my horses at home, but not all sweetness and light - as they also from time to time share their field with cattle - and I spend much of the summer trying to scrape off encrusted cow poo off them before we can ride.........
 
mine are at home, and to be honest the only downside for me is lack of an all weather surface, on my plans for about 6 years time. With kids it is the only feasible way for me, i'm not away for hours at a time, and i pay the older kids to do jobs like fencing for me (i'd probably end up giving them the cash anyway). It is so easy just to nip out while tea is cooking and put the horses to bed. If i was really fussed i could hire an aw arena, but balk at paying £10/hour for a very average one, when grass livery there only costs £25/week (not that i'd want that). Grew up keeping my pony on my uncles farm so used to lack of a regular hacking companion, and actually often that is easier as hacking is part of our fitness regime and no need to ask, is it ok if we trot for around 6 miles of this hack etc.
i do know how lucky i am, i look out of my bedroom window in the morning and appreciate it.
 
Not quite at home but 2 mins drive, i can leave the house and be at the yard do night checks and be back in 10 minutes tops.
Quicker than some folks can walk round to their stables and back :D
And its a sole let, so can do the run in my jammies, theyre on a lovely farm with people in the farmhouse 24/7
 
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I do ! Had my lot on livery in the south east for nearly 20 years , and then concluded that instead of paying over £400 a month just for stable and facility rent , that we might just as we'll add it onto the mortgage , and at least then the land was ours .

We moved kids , horses and dogs to a house in Norfolk , with 3 stables and 5 acres in 2006 . It's been a long haul. The house needed a lot of remedial work , the bathrooms ain't right , the yard was in the wrong place and badly built , which meant the roofs leaked , there was no hard standing to speak of , which meant come winter time we were up to our knees in mud for the first winter . It was a real education in summertime too , realising how much of our time was spent harrowing , fence repairing , ragwort digging etc etc , which really impacted on my riding time at first . More than once , one or the other of us has thrown our hands up in the air and said ' That's it! ' Damn money pit ! Sell it! Sell it! ' Actually I think that was me when I fell through the soakaway for the septic tank ....

BUT . Now , I wouldn't go back . Ever . Courtesy of husband's retirement , our new stable yard has literally just been finished . The fields are sorted after 3 years of hard work. The horses are SO relaxed , because their routine is the same day in , day out . There's no bun fight at the gate because they know they all come in at the same time . My stuff stays where I put it , the muck heap is tidy and there's just peace . Peace and quiet , peace of mind . I went back to my old yard a few weeks back , and although it's a really nice yard , with nice people , tidy , lovely school , great YO's etc , I was so glad when I got home .
 
We've just moved to our 14 acre place we've been working on for years and I can now see my 4 little ponies out of the window which is lovely. Since I was seven I always wanted to live somewhere with a post and rail drive with horses to one side and now I have it :) I have about 3 acres of paddock fenced in total but the land is predominantly woodland so there is plenty of work to do to make it decent grazing land for when I get another riding horse and a bigger pony for the children.
My husband is about to embark on building an equestrian property (4 acres) in West Wycombe which will be sold. I would love to live there as the scenery is gorgeous, but its too far out from our little bubble, I only tend to operate in a 10 mile radius!
 
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