Full livery, including exercise?

Greylegs

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I was having a friendly debate with a horse owning pal the other day about the relative benefits/disadvantages, costs, time commitments etc of full livery versus DIY - a topic which has been discussed many times on here.

My friend (on DIY at a good yard locally) said she would expect any yard offering a good full livery service to also include daily - or at least 5 times weekly - exercise for the horse. So she would expect someone competent to tack up and ride her horse, for a meaningful period of time (at least half and hour or more) regularly during the week, as part of the livery package. I am on full livery at a very good yard where my horse gets the very best of care in every way, but is not exercised by the YO or her staff. In our area I can only think of one yard where this is offered, and that is on a schooling livery basis, where the (extremely competent) YM schools horses for owners at extra cost (£35.00) per session, on top of their other livery services, which would add a significant amount to the monthly bill if it was done 5 times per week.

I argued that she was asking a lot, that such an arrangement was unusual and that she would struggle to find a yard that did this routinely. She maintained that she would expect it as part of the service "for what you pay per month" (£500 all in, for the record). I asked my YO about it and she said, apart from anything else, she wouldn't have the time, that the fees charged at my yard are fair for the services offered (I agree) and would also be worried about liability issues if something went wrong - horse got injured, she/staff member fell off etc.

So ..... who's right?

Is anyone here on a full livery package which includes, as part of the monthly cost, regular exercise for the horse by a competent rider. And if so, is it charged for as an integral part of the livery fee, or added on as an extra.
 

Winters100

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My understanding is that Full is everything including exercise, and Part is all daily care excluding exercise. Mine are on Part, but with some limitations, such as harrowing field instead of poo picking, so I do that myself.
 

Greylegs

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My understanding is that Full is everything including exercise, and Part is all daily care excluding exercise. Mine are on Part, but with some limitations, such as harrowing field instead of poo picking, so I do that myself.

I think it's a matter of definition. I've never known a full livery yard offer exercise as part of the package, and certainly not for what I pay. At my yard, part livery is care minus mucking out ... part livery clients do their own mucking out, but everything else is included.
 

iknowmyvalue

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I was on a yard where there were two “levels” of full livery. The standard one didn’t include exercise but the “premium” one did. But you could pay extra to have your horse ridden as and when even if it wasn’t part of the livery package.

it was an amazing yard, and I 100% trusted them to ride my horses and know they’d come up with the right regime for the horse. Would go back there in a heartbeat if I moved back to that area.

saying that, I absolutely wouldn’t expect it for what you’re paying. That is fairly cheap for full livery, so if they were riding too I’d expect it to be SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive
 

Pippity

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I 'worked' on a yard that offered exercise as part of the package. They called it hunting livery - owners basically showed up at the meet, got on their horse, had a jolly, and handed the horse back. Quite a few celebrities and politicians kept their horses there.

'Work' is a very loose term. A woman I worked with kept her horse there, and exercised the horses in return for money off her bill. I came along once or twice a week and hacked out with her on some incredible horses.

My yard offers exercise as an add-on but not as part of the standard package.
 

Bernster

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My experience has been what I’d call full livery is all care exc for exercise and sometimes doesn’t include grooming. Exercise, schooling or competition livery is offered as an extra package which includes some exercise but not always 5 days a week, ranges from 3-5 days. At my current yard, for 2 or more exercise sessions a week it makes more sense to have the exercise livery which inc grooming, tack clean and up to 4 exercise sessions a week.
 

Tash88

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I worked at a yard in London a few years ago which provided full livery with exercise as standard, all horses were exercised 6 days a week either by the owner or staff, and we would school / hack / lunge / have the odd staff lesson depending on what the owner wanted. There was no reduction in cost if the owner rode more than we did though. We also had to clean their tack after every ride too, and often if the owner was in a rush we would tack the horse up so it was ready when the owner arrived and then untack when they had finished.

Horses were groomed fully each day too.
 

j1ffy

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Like others, I think the terminology differs area-to-area (or yard-to-yard!). Around here, all care with no exercise would be £120-170 pw or more if the facilities are particularly good (indoor, clubhouse etc - you can go over £1000pcm at some very smart places).

With exercise is a minimum of £180 a week from what I've seen, or considerably more if it's schooling by a well-regarded rider. However I doubt any would do 90 minutes plus. My old yard would hack for about 40 mins, my current is the same and it's £15 extra per time. The old yard gradually did shorter and shorter hacks and I heard that it was about 20 mins at time by the time I moved..!!
 

AandK

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A yard I worked on many years ago did part and full. Full was everything, including riding, grooming and tack cleaning. Part was all care but no riding/grooming/tack cleaning. The full horses were exercised as requested by the owner, some just hacked, some schooled and hacked. To me, schooling livery is where your horse is brought on by a rider, rather than just hacked out for exercise.

It seems what is included with full these days is dependant on the yard. At the end of the day, if a yard is advertising full livery and it does not include exercise, then that is the package, no matter what your friend thinks. I cannot see a £500pcm package including riding in any shape or form, I think that is cheap for my definition of part livery tbh.
 

bouncing_ball

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My yard offers full livery for £840 a month. Services additional to part livery are:

- Horse is exercised up to 5 days a week. Typically for 30-40 minutes. Doesn’t include schooling in the improvement sense, though can include riding in school by yard staff.

- daily groom,

- holding for vet / farrier / physio

- Full doctoring / rehabilitation stuff

- bringing in or turning out ANY time of day,

- weekly tack clean.
 

ihatework

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Terminology is always confusing.
To me, all care with no riding is part livery. All care with riding is full livery.
However I appreciate that this varies regionally and to many people their definition of full is my definition of part.

That aside, ridden livery is perfectly possible to come by. So your friend isn’t wrong. But neither are you. It basically comes down to what you are paying mind.

In my experience ridden livery whereby yard is just keeping horse ticking over, would generally be 4-5 sessions a week of walker/lunge/hack/R&L. Depending on quality of yard and location in the region if £140-250pw.

If it’s quite a comprehensive full including quality schooling/training then generally you are talking a minimum of £30/day but more often nearer £40
 

[59668]

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I was on a yard that included exercise as part of the package, 5 days a week, but that was £200 a week.

Regular full livery without exercise in my area is about £650 a month. I'm in the South East.

So for the price she is paying no I wouldn't expect it!
 

Fransurrey

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For £500 a month, I certainly wouldn't expect exercising. What you have is considered part livery, round here. I never kept horses when I lived oop North, so maybe terminology and prices differ.
 

OrangeAndLemon

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There is a yard near me that does this. The price is similar (about £10 month more expensive than my current 5 day full on a yard with extensive facilities). They are a dressage and breeding yard so I'd trust them. They dont have extensive turnout so I think its reasonable.
 

eggs

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Many years ago when I was on livery it seemed more straight forward. DIY was just that and assisted DIY didn't exist. Part livery was your horse looked after seven days a week including hay, feed and bedding and full livery included riding, tack cleaning, plaiting for shows, etc. However that was also in the days when YTS students were paid £15 per week!
 

The Irish Draft 2022

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In Ireland full livery doesn’t include your horse being ridden . It only includes mucking out, feeding, turnout and rug change. There is training livery where horses are broken in and schooled by a professional. It crazy the different between the uk and Ireland.
 

teddy_

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Mine is in full livery with a professional, including all the usual, grooming and bathing (where necessary).

He is exercised 3 - 4 times a week by YO, granted, not for any great length of time because he is quite young.

My bill varies month on month dependant on how much ridden work the YO actually does (this might be less some months if I have annual leave, for example), my bill is never less than £800pcm :).
 

SibeliusMB

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In East Anglia and at all the yards I looked at, to include the one I chose, full livery is all care but no riding. Any longeing/schooling/hacking by yard staff is extra.

Same was at all the various farms/barns I boarded at in the US as well. "Full board" there usually means full care (feeding/ turnout/in/mucking/vet/farrier/ rug changes etc), but no riding or exercise. Most professional barns in the US have training board too, which is all full care, grooming, and exercise up to 5 days a week by staff and/or a combination or pro rides and lessons. Many boarding barns have encouraged that model because even full board/livery isn't usually terribly profitable. Most make their real money in additional fees such as training, etc.

At £500/month I can't see a full livery plus exercise 5 days/week being profitable for the yard owner.
 

lannerch

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In Ireland full livery doesn’t include your horse being ridden . It only includes mucking out, feeding, turnout and rug change. There is training livery where horses are broken in and schooled by a professional. It crazy the different between the uk and Ireland.
It’s No different that’s the usual here to
 

ew0855

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My current package includes up to 2 lessons &/or 4 schooling session &/or 4 hacks on a yard with professionals riding and excellant facilities so the yards are there. It usually works out as 1 day off/2 lessons/1schooling session with his pro-rider/2-3 days hacking.

Competant staff working a horse properly 5 times a week isnt cheap. I dont expect much change from double 'what your paying at the moment'. The problem is this level of service is out of reach money wise for a lot of people (I've done my years of mucking out at 3am on DIY around work!) but cheaper often means staff working for (less than) minimum wage or cutting corners.
 
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Also based in East Anglia and pay £115 full livery; schooling is an additional £20 per session. My horse is currently being sch a couple of times a week. I was previously looking at DIY but worked out that if I needed to pay someone to bring in or turn out during the week it wouldn't be lot cheaper.
 

Annagain

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I've seen "full livery" mean so many different things, it's impossible to say what it is / isn't on a general basis. As long as those involved are aware of what their specific package comprises and are happy, that's all that matters.
 
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