Does anyone keep their horse at DIY Livery and how do you find it?

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thorney84

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I've just recentley come back to riding after a 10 year break and i hope to maybe one day own my own horse! Financially for me DIY livery seems the only option but i would love to know more about it and how you fit it around your lifestyles and is it secure? x
 
I have my horse on DIY and i wouldnt have it any other way.

I turn out and muck out sort feeds for both evening and morning in the morning, as i work 2-10 then one of the girls at the yard brings in. I turn hers out.

Its brillients, you get a strong bond with your horse.

Lou x
 
I do its easy especially when you only have one unlike me who has 4. You get to know your horse better and can tell when theres something not right with them and you can be comfortable knowing that they have the right rug on etc and its cheap lol
 
Do they have a stable or is it usually just a field?
If you don't mind me asking how much do you guys spend all in each month on your horse? x x
 
DIY for me is perfect, I like to do my own horse/s and as someone else said you get a lovely bond when you do your own.
I was on part livery for a few years and although the yard was great, there's no comparison, in fact I now don't like anyone else doing mine at all unless it's an emergency.
I get to the yard at 8am feed all if I'm there first, do whatever I need to and then I'm back at the yard later in the day to do the other end, depending on what time of year it is.

Also doing your own you notice any little changes that a busy YO may not, obviously sometimes in winter it gets a bit tiring but I still wouldn't change it.

Lots of luck to you and I hope you find your dream horse
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My stable is £17 perweek including straw and hay etc and field but no school, and they he is a good doer so one bag of happy hoof lasts him about a month
 
Yes I do! I have had full livery but I am too much of a control freak and couldn't cope with it lol!

I pay £ 15 pw for a 15 x 15 stable and 24/365 turnout. It's a tiny yard, no nastiness, we all get on really well.

I love it, I have such a special bond with my mare. You can't beat it IMO!
 
Sorry x posting here
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I pay £25 per week for stable individual grazing use of menage, storage etc. then in the winter months for one horse 4 bales hay a week at £2.50 per bale, 1 bale shavings at £9.00 per bale, to just top up an existing bed, then short feed is only about £4.00 per week as mine don't get too much protein,more bulk ie chop and nuts.
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I have 2 on DIY livery. Luckily the yard is only 2 mins walk from my house. For £17 each I get a stable for each horse, grazing, locked tack room, floodlit arena with a variety of jumps and trailer storage.

In winter they live in and I go at 7.30 feed all the horses (as I am first there), turn out my two, muck out and fill haynets. Sometime during the day the YM gets my 2 in and I pay £1 per horse per day for this.

In the evening me and daughter ride and put our horses to bed.

In summer I pay the same £17. One of mine lives out 24/7 but the other comes in at night. Again, I go in the mroning and turn him out, but they don't come in until me and daughter go again at about 5.30.

I can have 'add ons' with my DIY livery - for instance getting them in when I'm at work, YM gets in if the farrier is coming. I pay a bit extra for the YM to care for them if I'm on holiday etc.

I pay £6 for a bale of bedding and in the winter I use one per week per horse. I pay £2 for a small rectangular bale of hay, or £27 for a large square of haylege, or £20 for a large round bale hay.

Hope that helps!
 
We have ours on DIY - £25/wk per horse which includes own field, stable in American barn, own tack/feed room, sand/rubber arena and xc course. Good hacking too.

costs vary hugely depending on horse and workload and weather etc etc
in the winter (worst case scenario)
I use approx 3.5 bales straw/wk per bed - £8.75/wk
hay is £2.50 - and my greedy giant horses eat £17.50/wk
or big bale haylage I buy in at £25/bale which lasts about a week but means I can cut down the hard feed.
Our guys are hunters and eat scary amounts of concentrates in the winter - approx £15-20/wk each.
Total approx £40-45/wk (then livery on top)
Can obviously do a lot cheaper in the summer when there's grass so much less hard food and hay/lage - partic cos they're not really in work yet.
Does that help?
Set of shoes £60 too
 
I have my boy on DIY. Livery is £25 p/week for this I get a stable, tack room, rug room, use of our large menage and grazing.
My horse is out 24/7 in the summer but can use stable if I want. In the winter they are in over night and out during the day. We pay £25 for a massive bale of straw (one per person) which last about 2 months or more. £6 a week for haylage. Feed wise I only spend about £20 a month or so and extra on carrots apples etc.
He is now shod again after nearly a year without due to injury and not being able to work him. Shoes are £50 a set and he has a new set every 6 - 8 weeks.
With being on DIY I get up a stupid O'Clock in the winter 5:30am to muck out before work. This winter will be much better as I now work nearer home so I should be there to bring him in, where as If I am not there to bring in YO will bring him in and sort rugs, feed etc for and extra £1.
I wouldnt have it any other way DIY suits me and him just fine.
 
Yeah so i will defo need to find some where near to where i live as you have to get up so early.
I'm just thinking in the winter i will have to ride in the dark as i leave for work at 7.45am and get home at 6.30pm! Or do most of the places you keep your horses have lights on the school? xx
 
there are varying rates and quality of DIY. You can find grass livery which is obviously the cheapest option. Obviously the more expensive yards have good hacking, floodlit school etc, better fencing, grazing etc etc

I keep my horse at a more expensive DIY yard in my area, £30/week. He probaby costs me £250 / month if you include everything divded up across the year (farrier, dentist, vet, insurance, feed, hay, bedding etc etc)
 
I much prefer DIY - it's hard work if you work full time but it can be done.

You need to get up early
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and tell your OH not to expect his tea on the table before 9pm
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It helps if you have willing family and friends to help out if you can't get there etc.

I've got 1 x 14hh pony and 2 x mini shetlands. I pay £15 per week for stable and grazing on a farm - no other facilities though I have my own space for all my stuff - I don't leave my tack there but farmer lives next door and ponies are freezemarked. I pay £10 per week for my shetlands and small stable they can share. However, mine mainly live out 24/7 so I don't spend much on bedding and no mucking out either! They are all good-doers too so don't spend much on feed either.

I have a field to myself for my three which is big enough - have to restrict it in the summer but need to supplement with hay in the winter. I think I got through about 3 or 4 bales a week last winter but they wasted a lot and could have looked leaner coming in to Spring so could probably reduce that.

Other 'normal' outgoings are: insurance, farrier, vaccinations, wormers, dentist etc etc.
 
I have done DIY for years, work full time, and am soon to start my final year of three years of night school on top of everything else, plus i have a bit of a lazy OH who does not help much with anything, but i manage.
Sometimes its hard, especially in winter, but you get through, then comes summer and things are much nicer all round generally.
In the last year i have buddied up with another lady and we share the days and do our two girls between us now which means i get a couple of days off most weeks which is handy for college. So in time you may find you can do the same, gives each owner a nice day off or two.

You can do it, it's just tough sometimes, but that's horses, expensive and hard work, but there are some rewarding times too
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DIY, being a control freak thats how I like it, I go twice a day winter and, summer, you gets up early and finish late, security is an issue at most places I would think unless you are lucky, reading on here even people with there animals right outside their property still get done, it'a amazing how quiet pro scum can be, I had my van broken into and £700.00 worth of tools stolen, I had cameras and 500 watt light and 2 collie dogs just the othe side of the window, they never heard a thing, neither did we
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We have security guards at our place which helps but they cant be everywhere.
 
Bear in mind if you are in Surrey you'll probly pay more than most other areas! I am East Surrey and the cheapest livery is £25-30/wk for just stable & field. You are more likely to be looking at £35-40/wk for DIY for somewhere with facilities/school etc.

Also a lot of yards don't do 24/7 T/O in the summer due to lack of land so you are still paying for hay/bedding in the summer.

I pay £265pcm for assisted DIY - includes straw, haylege, feed & 5 turnouts or bring ins per week.

Plus shoes/worming/insurance etc averages out about £350pcm.
 
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