Full Livery in sleepy Devon, do people want it??

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welshyrider

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Hi,
Would you say there was much demand for full livery in Devon, we are in the Blackdown hills, beautiful place 15 stables some DIY liveries but its nice and peaceful there and dont really want 15 DIYers. Love the ones weve got but want to keep it as a quiet, friendly yard.
Thank you!
 
welshyrider said:
Hi,
Would you say there was much demand for full livery in Devon, we are in the Blackdown hills, beautiful place 15 stables some DIY liveries but its nice and peaceful there and dont really want 15 DIYers. Love the ones weve got but want to keep it as a quiet, friendly yard.
Thank you!
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Are DIY'ers more noisy than Full Liveries then? Or unfriendly?

I've been on DIY for 15 years and I am friendly, quiet, sociable, sensible, honest, reliable and sane! I'm certainly not loud or unfriendly. Just because DIY people can't afford full livery doesn't mean to say we are working class, common and loud you know!!
 
I suppose you're hoping that full livery people might just turn up and ride leaving the yard empty inbetween but there's no guarantee of that. The yard I'm at is a mixture and there are some DIYers you hardly ever see and full livery people like me that spend every spare minute there.
 
actually we have just been lucky enough to be granted planning permission and now live on site and have 3 years to prove a better income than its currently producing. Full liveries obviously provide that. I have had my horses at DIY livery for as long as ive had horses so no offence was meant-clearly as the title would suggest i just want to know whether there would be a demand for it. We are in an AONB and the lovely DIY liveries that we currently have like the peace and quiet and i was assuming that full liveries would be requiring someone to care for there horses while they are busy and come up to ride when they can, which would mean the current clients wouldnt be upset by the change too much and yet we would still be able to build the business.
As i said before i have always been at DIY yards and i am very much working class and i think that assumption that my post was meant as an insult is a bit ridiculous really.
Just a young couple trying to get on in life! Have generally found H&H forum users to be helpful- will triple check that what i have written doesnt offend in future!
 
I didn't take it as an insult to DIY people but I did think there was a assumption there that some people make that people on full livery just ride and go.

It could be because they live or work a bit further away that they don't have time to come up twice a day every day but when they do come up they may hang around longer.

If you take more people on it will inevitably have an inpact on the people already there and they may not like the yard getting busier and all you can do is try and find people who will fit in.

You may find if people are on full livery because they are working is that they come up at different times (evenings and weekends may be busy) so they may not affect your other liveries. However if you live on site how will you feel about people turning up at 6pm and by the time they've groomed and ridden and chatted still hanging round at gone 9pm especially in the summer with the lighter evening.

I don't know about your area but I think there are alway people looking for reasonably priced full or part livery that take good care of your horses. It can be difficult to find.
 
hi just enquiring where are u in Devon exactly? how much would u ask for full/part/diy livery? what facilities do u have, school, horse walker, grazing etc? thanks
 
I have a yard in Devon and we offer DIY, Full and Part and we have found that DIY and part are by far the most requested. People down here frequently have their own places if they are serious competitors. Land was relatively cheap (until about 5 years ago) and plentiful. We don't have major cities in the county. I can happily go from one side of Exeter to the other in about 20 mins, and as a driving instructor I do that daily, so people don;t tend to commute too far to work , so DIY is more likely to be the option. We actually include morning turnout in the price of the DIY livery so liveries only have to come up once a day. My DIY liveries are great - we are a really peaceful yard, and find that the DIY's make the atmosphere. I also find that actually the DIY liveries are by far the most profitable. We have only had 2 full liveries in the 3.2 years we have been open, all our others are parts and DIY.
www.ballhillequestrian.co.uk
 
not in your area so cant comment on area related issues. you need to do a business plan and your costings. diy bring in a no strings income, part and full liveries bring in a higher income, BUT with much increased overheads and time involved. DIY s are obviously there am and pm, whereas part/full liveries tend to come up when they want to ride. but dont necessarily increase your profit, tho they will increase your turnover and expenses. your prices should take into consideration your business rates, electric, water, insurance, field maintenance costs (ie fert/liming/spraying/fencing/water) you also should implement yard times so that liveries dont ncroach your owm space and time by being there at odd hours. assisited DIY might be a way forward, charging for services. really depends on what your overheads are and what your competitors offer in way of services and facilities. downside is diyers require individual storage which is space that isnt earning. Good luck and do your research in your local vicinity.
 
welshyrider said:
actually we have just been lucky enough to be granted planning permission and now live on site and have 3 years to prove a better income than its currently producing. Full liveries obviously provide that. I have had my horses at DIY livery for as long as ive had horses so no offence was meant-clearly as the title would suggest i just want to know whether there would be a demand for it. We are in an AONB and the lovely DIY liveries that we currently have like the peace and quiet and i was assuming that full liveries would be requiring someone to care for there horses while they are busy and come up to ride when they can, which would mean the current clients wouldnt be upset by the change too much and yet we would still be able to build the business.
As i said before i have always been at DIY yards and i am very much working class and i think that assumption that my post was meant as an insult is a bit ridiculous really.
Just a young couple trying to get on in life! Have generally found H&H forum users to be helpful- will triple check that what i have written doesnt offend in future!
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I didn't take it as an insult either, it just made me smile. It like differentiating between permanent staff and temporary staff. As a temp with the exception of one company that I've worked at during 22 years of temping I've found that other colleagues ALWAYS look down on temps. Its the same with DIY'ers and full liveries always seem to look down on those. I wasn't saying you were I was just asking why you were differentiating, although I don't think it quite came across as such.
 
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