Finding stables/land to rent?

[Nepenthe]

Many of you seem to rent yards or grazing - and that would be bliss.

May I ask how you find basic small yards (<5 stables) and grazing (<10 acres), to rent (or possibly buy) if it's cost-effective and whether you do all the grassland management yourselves?

 

[HashRouge]

I have a slightly unusual arrangement - my small yard (3 stables, 8ish acres) is rented by my YM, we then pay her a set amount rent per month plus any services. I assume she makes profit on the rent, but whatever she pays the owner must be pretty reasonable as I think what we pay her is very fair. She found the yard by utter coincidence - she lives almost next door and there is a footpath going through one of the fields so she knew about the stables (you can't see them from the road). I had also had a nosy when using the footpath! Anyway, the property was sold and the new owner wasn't living there, but she heard he was very nice and so found out his number and messaged him to ask if he might rent the stables. 2 years later here we are! She rents another, larger set up on the same road and I used to keep my two there, but much prefer this place as we have a bigger, much better draining winter field. So I suppose we relied upon a hefty dose of luck and right place, right time to get this yard!
As for cost effective - my YO pays each year to have the winter fields rolled/ harrowed as needed, and then the same farmer takes a cut of hay for her. So the cost of getting the field maintenance done is balanced out by getting hay off a large field. The exterior fencing is secure but the internal fencing diving the fields is not great so we use electric fencing - would obviously be expensive if we did need to replace any of the fencing ourselves.
I genuinely think I have the best of both worlds, because I get all the enjoyment of a small, private yard (with just my two horses and a quiet gelding owned by a very nice lady) BUT I have someone who is there everyday to do services if needed. It definitely makes life easier if I want to go away!

 

[teddypops]

We found ours advertised on a local horsey Facebook group.

 

[HorseMaid]

I sent an SOS to a friend who is a farmer, she found us through her contacts what was initially a 3.5 acre field to rent (was meant to be short term) which has morphed into another 3.5 acre field and use of part of a barn which we have made stables in. We are really very lucky indeed and the farmer is just lovely.

 

[NLPM]

I Googled various versions of 'land for sale in XXX county' every day (often more than once ) for about two years. We probably viewed around 15 places over that time, and put offers in on 5, I think.

I quite often find notes attached to our fields from people looking to buy/rent the land - that might be worth trying.

I pay local farmers to help with the land; I'd love my own mini tractor but the maths just doesn't add up, plus I'd have to store it on the land and there's the very real risk of theft around here. I budget £600 a year for harrowing (3 or 4 times), rolling, and spraying ragwort. I buy hay in as I found it cheaper to do so and I worry about ragwort in our paddocks. Fencing is our biggest outlay by far... I completely underestimated the cost (time and financial) of this!

 

[Lotsoflemons]

I would say Facebook is probably the most effective way to find somewhere maybe join some local groups in the area that your looking to find somewhere in or even preloved etc we found ours on as the owners didn't have Facebook it was free for over a year so maybe ask local farms aswell. Hope this helps!

 

[Lotsoflemons]

I would say having your own land is way more cost effective then livery

 

[Nepenthe]

Thank you for the helpful suggestions.