Dream of buying an equestrian business?

[horseForce]

Thanks I think I'm pretty much decided, save up and buy a yard. For just my own horses, one of these days! I didn't want to mention it in case it was a load of old BS but I did have a yard owner tell me once to NEVER do it which does appears to be the consensus here also

Was hoping for a different out come ah well.

 

[teapot]

Thanks I think I'm pretty much decided, save up and buy a yard. For just my own horses, one of these days! I didn't want to mention it in case it was a load of old BS but I did have a yard owner tell me once to NEVER do it which does appears to be the consensus here also

Was hoping for a different out come ah well.

I'm currnetly knee deep in equine business management finances and I can assure you the net profit for the majority of yards is pitiful. There is SO much to consider, far more than most horse owners ever think of.

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

Have you thought about running a retirement livery? I have had experience of two retirement liveries in different parts of the country and both have offered wonderful herd grazing in huge paddocks all year round. They both look like very viable businesses and if you look on the internet there are more and more around and good ones are at a premium. Also, it is more about horse and land management and less about the owners and their issues

 

[dorsetladette]

Yes, sadly I do. At a private yard (well I say private more like a bungalow with 8 stable blocks that the owners used for liveries) there was this girl who had two rescue horses. One day she announced she was going to Uni and couldn't take the said horses with her or sell them as they were rescues with some behavioural issues. Solution? Have them both lead out and bolted and cut up for the hunt, yard owners 'helped' her. No effort at all in trying to get them rehomed (I would have even taken them on) I have never witnessed such a Blaise attitude to lives of animals or otherwise.

I was furious on hearing the news and NEVER returned to that place. I would gladly name and shame all involved but that would probably result in some swift justice by the Mods.

Far worse things to happen to a horse than be PTS. If you can't guarantee an animals future IMHO it is the responsible thing to do. I would suggest you are possibly not the right person to run a livery yard and maybe need to think of an alternative career within the industry.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Yes, sadly I do. At a private yard (well I say private more like a bungalow with 8 stable blocks that the owners used for liveries) there was this girl who had two rescue horses. One day she announced she was going to Uni and couldn't take the said horses with her or sell them as they were rescues with some behavioural issues. Solution? Have them both lead out and bolted and cut up for the hunt, yard owners 'helped' her. No effort at all in trying to get them rehomed (I would have even taken them on) I have never witnessed such a Blaise attitude to lives of animals or otherwise.

I was furious on hearing the news and NEVER returned to that place. I would gladly name and shame all involved but that would probably result in some swift justice by the Mods.

Well this forum doesn't have moderators but what a very strange attitude. What on earth does it matter what happens to the body after the horse has died? And I personally prefer the quickness of shooting when I need to pts my horses. And just for info, there are far worse things that can happen to a horse than pts. I think you need to consider very carefully whether you have the experience (life or horse) to run a livery yard.

 

[Cortez]

Gosh, have you never been on a farm? Do you know how livestock farming works?

 

[ForeverBroke_]

I don't think running/managing a yard will be for you if I'm being completely honest. Within reason of course, there has to be a huge ability as a YO to 'step back' and let owners do what they see best/fit for their horses - and ultimately that is because it is THEIR horse and not yours. Loving what you do and being emotionally attached to the horses is one thing, but becoming emotionally involved is another.

The running costs of yards and equestrian centers alike especially with modern business rates is unfortunately unlikely to provide you with the income you had hoped for, but your own yard for your own horses sounds lovely.

 

[Goldenstar]

Yes, sadly I do. At a private yard (well I say private more like a bungalow with 8 stable blocks that the owners used for liveries) there was this girl who had two rescue horses. One day she announced she was going to Uni and couldn't take the said horses with her or sell them as they were rescues with some behavioural issues. Solution? Have them both lead out and bolted and cut up for the hunt, yard owners 'helped' her. No effort at all in trying to get them rehomed (I would have even taken them on) I have never witnessed such a Blaise attitude to lives of animals or otherwise.

I was furious on hearing the news and NEVER returned to that place. I would gladly name and shame all involved but that would probably result in some swift justice by the Mods.

Now I know you should never ever be involved with horse care in a professional capacity .
What gives you the right to decide when others should PTS their problem horse and the YOer while they can support and advise have no say either .
You should never ever pass on your problem horses to an uncertain future it’s unethical .
There is nothing what so ever wrong with getting horses shot at their home by the hunt .
Hunts never butcher horses on site they remove them and do it at the flesh house at the kennels ,the meat is then used theres no welfare issues there .

 

[Orangehorse]

What people in your position do - that is earning a good salary - is to buy a place and then employ a Yard Manager for the day to day running and hands on. VEry often the Yard Manager has their own horse, and would look after yours too.

You would have a robust contract for all the liveries, with everything covered such as worming, what happens if they don't pay, and so on.

There is a farm around here that sold a few years ago and the daughter runs a dressage yard and I believe the father is a builder. So they put in nice facilities, an arena, good stabling and they even tarmaced the drive, so daughter runs the yard and has liveries and does breaking and schooling. Presumably Dad pays the mortgage, but land and buildings don't lessen in value, hopefully, so the bank must have been happy with lending them the money.

 

[Laafet]

Just looking for some practical advice here. In the medium to long term I've always had this dream about ditching my consultancy and taking on an equestrian business where I'd ideally live on site and part run it. I'd imagine it would be a small livery yard or something along those lines with some existing liveries so I wouldn't need to start from scratch. May hire a groom or two.

Obviously, I wouldn't be looking to get into this to make a fortune and it would be more of a life style type business. If I could afford to pay myself 25k-30k per year that would be incredible but I think breaking even might be more likely which would probably mean I'd have to supplement my income somehow.

I think having only a few liveries would be ideal as I'm a one man band. 10-15 perhaps. My only anxiety would be getting stuck in and suddenly realizing it involves endless nasty stuff. Dealing with neglect / abuse / cruelty plus owners that want to casually PTS healthy horses day and night would crush me. If anyone would like to share some first hand experience of managing an equestrian business such as this that would be lovely.

I have done this - ran a yard that had some existing liveries, 15 boxes, a nice little flat above the stables. I was lucky, I broke even but I definitely did not make enough to pay myself £25-30k a year. I just took my living costs out of the business, had no fancy clothes, went away once in 18 months for a business related break, didn't have a full day off in all that time. My liveries were all part/full, I had a groom I took on who worked part time in return for livery of her horse. The money I made to stay afloat came from my breakers/reschooling horses. I made a name for myself competing my own horses on a shoestring and this got clients in. The facilities I had were top class which helped.

It is not easy. I now have a nice office job on that sort of money and my horse on DIY and have a much better standard of life! I would advise not to do it!

 

[Orangehorse]

I have done this - ran a yard that had some existing liveries, 15 boxes, a nice little flat above the stables. I was lucky, I broke even but I definitely did not make enough to pay myself £25-30k a year. I just took my living costs out of the business, had no fancy clothes, went away once in 18 months for a business related break, didn't have a full day off in all that time. My liveries were all part/full, I had a groom I took on who worked part time in return for livery of her horse. The money I made to stay afloat came from my breakers/reschooling horses. I made a name for myself competing my own horses on a shoestring and this got clients in. The facilities I had were top class which helped.

It is not easy. I now have a nice office job on that sort of money and my horse on DIY and have a much better standard of life! I would advise not to do it!

I think this is how most people do it. The liveries pay for the owner's horses and the lifestyle and enough to get by, but don't earn a salary on top. If there is a partner earning from a good job or business then it can appear that they have a dream lifestyle!

 

[Starzaan]

From someone who has run yards for a long time, I would say don’t do it.
From your posts on this thread I don’t think you would be the right fit to run a yard. i don’t mean that to be offensive at all - simply that I don’t think you would enjoy it.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

OP, from everything that you have said, running or even owning a yard, definitely isnt for you. I would look to buy your own place for your own horses only.

I would guess you would be horrified if I told you that horse owners over here join a waiting list for the local zoos, their horses (obviously that meet the criteria - i.e. drug free), are then taken to the zoos once PTS, to be used there. Disposal over here is extremely expensive and the zoos are free.

 

[Shilasdair]

I wish more owners of horses with behavioural issues would do the right thing and put them to sleep.

OP - I see you are avoiding answering questions regarding your experience and qualifications to work in the industry - and combined with your strange attitude to a responsible owner putting their animal's welfare above your desire to 'rescue' them, I am sure that caring for other peoples' horses is not for you.

 

[holistichorsemanship]

There are 2 locally to me in NW Surrey currently for sale.
One is excess of 4m and the other is over 3m, both run down and currently empty. The 2nd one has sold half the grazing and has about 10 acres tops, dilapidated stables, an outdoor arena that needs ripping up and replacing and an old early 70s 40 x 20 indoor arena. Owners accom is a mobile home but they have got planning for a decent house in the front field.....

Hi, do you have a link to this property as I'm looking for something similar?

 

[horseForce]

Have you thought about running a retirement livery? I have had experience of two retirement liveries in different parts of the country and both have offered wonderful herd grazing in huge paddocks all year round. They both look like very viable businesses and if you look on the internet there are more and more around and good ones are at a premium. Also, it is more about horse and land management and less about the owners and their issues

Thanks, I've known about retirement yards but how do they work / differ as opposed to your usual livery yard? I presume you'd offer either just fields or very basic stabling / facilities on a DIY basis. Sounds like a far more relaxed than trying to run a busy yard! Either way, the more I think about it, the more I realize getting into the industry to make money is probably not the approach for me. Certainly 25-30k is very small beer in my existing line of work and I'd definately not want to kill myself for that!

 

[horseForce]

Also, one massive thing I forgot to mention is where is the best place to look for equestrian estates? I presume there's a zoopla or something similar. Be interesting to see what's out there and for how much!

 

[CMcC]

Also, one massive thing I forgot to mention is where is the best place to look for equestrian estates? I presume there's a zoopla or something similar. Be interesting to see what's out there and for how much!

Equestrian estates sounds a bit grand! I found my equestrian property on Rightmove (Bungalow, 7 acres, stable and school) Select area, max price etc then when search results come up just out in key words such as “equestrian” “land” “acres”. Prime Location is also good.

Also ukfamsandland.co.uk

 

[Archangel]

Zoopla is good, you can add keywords like equestrian, acres, stables.

 

[Spotherisk]

OP have you considered running a different type of equestrian business instead? I owned and ran a feed merchants for the best part of ten years, with my husband and a couple of part time staff.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Hi, do you have a link to this property as I'm looking for something similar?

The 2nd one? Not at present, on phone at work.
Google NW Surrey equestrian properties in GU24 area