Fair offer or cheeky ask ?

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Joe Public

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Fair offer or cheeky ask ?

Just bought the wife and daughter a 7 acre paddock. It is fenced has a small all weather surface outdoor arena and is securely fenced. Access to the field by car is possible and its secure.

Just weighing up the best way to go about managing it.

At the moment the plan is to rent half to a local farmer to make haylage and turn the other 3.5 acres into a paddock paradise system. Already got a farmer to say yes to making the haleage and managing the fields.
My question is do we try and find someone to rent the paddock half to so the horse we have isn't on its own. Ive said no to 2 of our own horses so let's not go there ;) .

Ideally id like to give someone free use of the paddock system for their horse, free haylage. In exchange for caring for the horse we have when the wife can't get to the field for work reasons. So mucking out, watering, poo picking, letting in and out etc etc. Obviously this would work both ways if the other person couldn't get we'd be doing the same for their horse.

Field has no running water or electricity. In addition I am used to dealing with tenants, I would like to think I am fair but won't have people taking the piss.

My wife would full livery her horse in the winter in someone else's yard.

Do you think its a fair offer or are we wanting the moon on a stick for free ? Do you think someone would be up for it.

Any advise welcome including 'your after the moon on a stick comments'.

Thanks
 
I think you'll get people biting your arm off for that, especially as it sounds as though they wouldn't need to look after your wife's horse in the winter. Even without amenities it is still a very good deal.
 
sounds a good offer. Poor wife though, "the wife" "the dog" "the car". How incredibly possessive, "the woman" doesn't belong to you, shes a person in her own right and has a name.
 
I think it's fair, my only concern would be finding someone that's either happy to have their horse left alone for part of the year while yours is on livery, or someone happy to send there's elsewhere for winter too.
 
, this sort of arrangement is fine for friends but maybe more difficult if the 2 people dont know each other also just 2 horses kept together may get very attached and you may have problems when one of the people wants to ride and the other isnt. also will you be telling the other person they also have to vacate the paddock in the winter? if there were stables would your wife keep hers there in the winter? i used to keep my horse in a field with stables but no running water or electric....no running water is very difficult and having to lug water containers is very hard work , electric is much easier to sort out as you can use head torches or use a car battery to rig up lights..
 
What does this other person do with their horse in winter? Keep it on its own at yours or do they then have to find winter livery for it every year too?

As it stands I don't think it's a very attractive offer and you also have the complication of finding a companion for your wife's horse that neither horse minds being separated from without stabling.

To me it would make more sense to get a couple of pony companions that can live their year round and can be friends to your wife's horse while there in the summer.
 
The idea is attractive, the reality probably less so depending on what the actual 'payment' amounts to. What's the cost of DIY livery in your area (your contribution) and what's the cost of a freelance groom for the number of days you expect to require it (the livery's contribution)? How does that stack up?
 
I think it's a fair offer but I'd be careful who you took on. I'm sure there would be lots of people willing but make sure they will take care of your horse too! If they decide they can't get down to their horse as often as they said and you end up doing a lot of care for theirs it might not work out the way you wanted.

I wouldn't keep a horse by itself, and for that reason you'd need to outline to the person you allow to share the field that your horse will be going away for winter. I don't think it would be fair for the other horse to be left by itself so they might have to make arrangements for it..... Again be careful of them getting too attached to each other as two horses can become bonded, so both you and the other owner might need to work on teaching each horse to be left alone while the other rides.
 
Wow you got me sussed on my first post.

'The wife' to me, is a term of endearment. If she didn't like me calling her that i'd know about it. Also used to describe somebody slightly more in charge in a business partnership, which isn't far off either. Me and the wife are friends and partners.

Never thought or acted like she's my possession. She is an independent professional in her own right. I don't think she'd approve of me using her name on a public forum either.

Sorry the phrase is so negative for you.

Downton Dame said:
sounds a good offer. Poor wife though, "the wife" "the dog" "the car". How incredibly possessive, "the woman" doesn't belong to you, shes a person in her own right and has a name.
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Thanks for the input, it had occurred to us, there are horses in adjacent fields but it would still be a negative for the other person.

AFB said:
I think it's fair, my only concern would be finding someone that's either happy to have their horse left alone for part of the year while yours is on livery, or someone happy to send there's elsewhere for winter too.
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Thanks for the input. I think we'd leave it up to the other person wether they used the land in winter. My wife wouldn't feel comfortable going to the field in the dark, so I don't think its fair to expect the other person to go for our horse.

splashgirl45 said:
, this sort of arrangement is fine for friends but maybe more difficult if the 2 people dont know each other also just 2 horses kept together may get very attached and you may have problems when one of the people wants to ride and the other isnt. also will you be telling the other person they also have to vacate the paddock in the winter? if there were stables would your wife keep hers there in the winter? i used to keep my horse in a field with stables but no running water or electric....no running water is very difficult and having to lug water containers is very hard work , electric is much easier to sort out as you can use head torches or use a car battery to rig up lights..
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Thanks for the input. We'd still need someone to look at the ponies in the winter though.

ester said:
What does this other person do with their horse in winter? Keep it on its own at yours or do they then have to find winter livery for it every year too?

As it stands I don't think it's a very attractive offer and you also have the complication of finding a companion for your wife's horse that neither horse minds being separated from without stabling.

To me it would make more sense to get a couple of pony companions that can live their year round and can be friends to your wife's horse while there in the summer.
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I wouldn't accept someone taking the piss. It may take while to find the right person. I'm hoping the wife will find someone she knows that's up for it.

Thanks for the advise on bonding.

Amye said:
I think it's a fair offer but I'd be careful who you took on. I'm sure there would be lots of people willing but make sure they will take care of your horse too! If they decide they can't get down to their horse as often as they said and you end up doing a lot of care for theirs it might not work out the way you wanted.
.
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FfionWinnie said:
Just get another horse so they have one each for goodness sake :D
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This with bells on...!!!
After investing in the land etc you might as well just get a couple of small pony companions. A charity would likely bite your arm off if you could rehome a couple of little guys. They would keep each other company while the big horse goes on livery:)
 
FfionWinnie said:
Just get another horse so they have one each for goodness sake :D
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Agree! I genuinely think buying a small companion pony is going to be FAR less hassle in the long term. Field tenants aren't the same as house tenants and I think both you and your tenant would have to be incredibly flexible to make it work.

As others have pointed out above, I wouldn't want my horse kept on it's own all Winter either. Not many horse owners would to be honest.
 
The one issue could be that it will only be available for half the year. While your wife might be happy to put her horse into full livery for the winter, whomever you find to share the paddock might want a bit more stability but they also won't want to keep their horse alone.

You horse will need company though and I genuinely think buying another horse might be the simplest solution. 3.5 acres is plenty for two horses, especially on a track system. If you put a field shelter or stables (mobile ones to avoid the need for planning) in a place which means they can choose whether to be in or out, managing them over winter wouldn't be too difficult and the money you'd have to pay a freelance groom to look after them when you're away would be offset by the saving in livery over the winter. You could keep two at home for less than half the price of one at full livery.

ETA - the reason I haven't suggested a companion pony is that if your daughter rides too, you may as well pay for one you can ride as one you can't and then your wife and daughter can enjoy them together.
 
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You may find someone to bring their TWO ponies or horses into your paddock. But personally I wouldn't bring my one horse, knowing that in winter it's companion was going to disappear off to livery and it would be alone.
 
Just want to say thank you to everyone for all the help. I'm hearing the issue regarding the second persons horse in winter. So we need to find someone who'd like to leave livery in the summer and go back in the winter. My wife stills wants the whole livery yard experience.

I'm wondering if someone with more than two horses might be interest in sending one of there horses for summer.

Another horse for us might be an option sometime in the future but we'd need to pay for help when the we can't get there.
 
Does your wife have somewhere sorted that will allow her to flexi-livery or do you intend to pay for the livery all year round and move out to the field in summer anyway- I know some people that do that to get more grazing but usually only if they have to.

Good yards usually have waiting lists so to be able to go to and from one just in winter - which is usually the busier time anyway might not be that easy unless you have something sorted already - and that is also the problem you would be putting this other person in if you want them off the field in winter.

Do you actually want them off the field in winter? Is your track going to be grass or hard? I am asking because you might be able to find someone with two horses for whom the 7 acres would be plenty to not damage the grass too much in winter, presuming you have a fairly good doer if you want to track them anyway. Then you could just join them in summer.
 
I find myself asking why you are bothering, for one horse.

Why not just rent the field to a farmer/horse owner, and keep the one horse you have in the livery stables all year round? It sounds like a heck of a fuss and disruption for very little gain to me.

You need to organise managing a track system, maintaining and grading an arena, etc, etc, just for the summer. Your wife is scared to go there after dark in winter, so how bad is the security in summer? Do you realise how much of an annoyance carrying water is likely to be? And how unreliable many farmers are when work is needed on very small pieces of land? And how much upset it can cause when a livery horse bites or kicks yours?


I give it one summer before your wife and daughter decide that they want the comfort and companionship of a livery yard year round., sorry !
 
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To me, this is reading very much like something you want and are organising, not the keepers of the horse, your wife and daughter.

Why did one of them not start this thread instead of you?
 
Sounds more hassle than it's worth. Keeping horses on private land is a pain in the backside even in the summer, doubly so without water and to a lesser extent, electricity. It sounds like your wife/daughter would be better off having a horse on livery full time, even if it's just part livery and not full livery.

You could then rent the field out to someone who wants to keep their horses on the land year round, which would help offset the cost of livery, and your wife and daughter can rest assured knowing that their horses are being cared for by paid professionals :)
 
ycbm said:
I find myself asking why you are bothering, for one horse.

Why not just rent the field to a farmer/horse owner, and keep the one horse you have in the livery stables all year round? It sounds like a heck of a fuss and disruption for very little gain to me.

You need to organise managing a track system, maintaining and grading an arena, etc, etc, just for the summer. Your wife is scared to go there after dark in winter, so how bad is the security in summer? Do you realise how much of an annoyance carrying water is likely to be? And how unreliable many farmers are when work is needed on very small pieces of land? And how much upset it can cause when a livery horse bites or kicks yours?


I give it one summer before your wife and daughter decide that they want the comfort and companionship of a livery yard year round., sorry !
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Finding myself agreeing with this ^^^ I'm afraid.
 
Joe Public said:
I'm wondering if someone with more than two horses might be interest in sending one of there horses for summer.
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I don't think this will work either to be honest. If I had two horses I wouldn't want the hassle of travelling to two separate yards all Summer AND taking care of your wife's horse too. That's quite a workload.

I'm afraid I agree with the others. The whole things seems far more hassle than it's worth and paying to secure a stable on a livery yard all year when you are only using it for 6 mths totally negates the advantages of having your own land in the summer.
 
depends on your perspective and how much you would be doing as landlord. Water being the obvious thing would you be providing and keeping the water available at all times and providing, charging and recharging batteries for electric fencing etc. If it was only poo picking checking and a bit of land management I can see it would work especially for someone who doesnt work. It would suit me and my ponies down to the ground as I am retired, a track is how mine are kept and they eat standing foggage in winter so would be eating off the long grass in winter. But for most I guess it wouldnt be ideal. I also like being on my own, having a measure of control over the land (I have OCD about land management) and am not afraid of the dark or bogeymen
 
Not to mention, you'd probably have to pay to keep your space at the winter livery yard throughout the rest of the year, or risk not getting a space anywhere for the winter. Livery yard spaces fill up very quickly in the run up to winter in my experience.
 
I am very concerned that the last thing you are considering is the welfare of the horse, OP. Horses need equine company. It is a basic welfare issue and if you are not prepared to provide that company then you shouldn't own a horse. This horse will be alone all summer (as I doubt anyone will want to keep moving their horse backwards and forwards to livery, or have it alone all winter). It will then be put in a livery where it will have company and form bonds, only to be wrenched away again in the Spring/Summer. Not a kind way to treat a horse IMO. I am actually thinking this post is a wind up.
 
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