Full livery with no school?

[EquestrianE01]

Hello lovely people,

For a little while now I've been looking to get a yard to run as a business, part and full livery only. My Grandad was helping me with this venture (business plan, viable locations/facilities), but sadly he passed away in April. I've carried on the search, but very half heartedly and will admit to being slightly lost as I don't have quite the business mind that he did.

Anyway, I've recently been offered a lovely looking yard in a great location. The stables run straight onto the fields (small fenced off yard obviously), amazing grazing with more than enough space for it never to be a bog, field shelters already in place in every field, and hacking straight onto the South Downs Way. The only issue I've seen with it so far is that there's no school.

I'm unsure ATM whether or not there's one nearby that would be available for hire, but that could be a right pain in the winter. Not really a problem for me as it would be my job, so I could go in daylight, however liverys with full time jobs probably wouldn't.

I would probably not be able to charge a lot less either, as it's feed, hay, bedding, insurance ect, that ramp the cost up.

So my question is, would anyone be interested in part/full livery with no school?
Could hunting livery be an option?

As always TIA

 

[ihatework]

Your market will be extremely limited by this and it’s a huge risk - especially if you are renting and your figures are coming out in line with local livery yards that do have schools.

2 markets that might work
1) High class retirement livery - for people who don’t want the horse turned away 24/7 and will pay for the pampering. You really would need to be in an affluent area to stand any chance of this working.
2) Hunting livery - but I would stress that you would probably need the clients that just turn up to hunt - so you would need to be good at producing/turning out hunters and potentially manage the transport on hunt days.

There are happy hackers out there for who turnout and access to good hacking is their priority and would pay a good rate for a professionally run yard. But there aren’t many of them.

My gut feeling is this will likely be a no go in advance.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Rehab livery?

I'd personally be happy with no school, but I'm a DIY'er who doesn't aspire to do anything other than happy hack, so not the sort of client you would be after.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Do check whether there’s a school available for hire within reasonable hacking distance, say up to 15mins on quiet roads. If not, then I fear that you will find your potential customer base to be too restricted. Such a shame, as otherwise it sounds fab.

Someone once set up a livery yard opposite me, and told clients that my arena was available for hire without even asking me first . I do not hire out my arena (it has tricky access apart from other issues).

 

[Theocat]

There is definitely a group of people who would pay for high quality livery and who wouldn't need a school, but I honestly don't think they'll ever be in a high enough concentration in one area to make it viable.

Even travelling out to a school is a pain if it's a cold, dark January evening.

This would be a no go unless you can do high end retirement livery, and that's also a limited market. More people seem prepared to compromise on hacking or turnout than on an arena, because it suits their needs better.

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[Archangel]

My friend kept her horse at part livery (South Downs as it happens) - there wasn't a school so they hired the one next door. It wasn't ideal but the hacking and excellent yard owner made up for it. From memory part livery was £440 a month. It was a big yard (20 or so boxes) and spaces were rare.

The yard you are interested in sounds like it has a lot of plus points and if I was looking I would certainly consider it even though I would like a school.

It is hard to make a living running a yard as running costs are so high. Have a google to see if there are any free business mentors local to you, often they run a drop in clinic.

Best of luck, I'm sorry about your grandfather.

ETS - have messaged you the location of the livery yard mentioned above.

 

[JillA]

I suspect it depends on what competition there is in the area - DIY on farms (which accommodate those who don't want to pay a lot) competition livery, retirement livery and good quality full livery for those who don't have the time to even exercise never mind stable manage.

Are you talking about renting the yard? Because if so, the rent you will have to pay will push up your prices and have to be more than owner occupied yards. Without a good area to lunge etc you will have to exercise out hacking and maybe need someone to help with that, so wages to be factored in.
It won't be easy and unless you move in the sort of circles where there are a lot of people with high powered jobs needing a horse or two cared for at a premium rate you will struggle to find that sort of client.

I think your starting point will have to be what you will need to charge to cover your costs (including consumables, water, electricity, repairs and maintenance and your time) and then investigate prices being charged locally.
Good luck, been there and couldn't make it pay so I don't envy you.

 

[be positive]

If you need to make a proper income I think it will be extremely hard going, as a YO I have always managed to do ok but that is without paying rent, having an arena in an area where some yards do not, taking in breaking/ schooling and sales liveries to top up the income, I live on site which is important for many liveries and am very flexible about what I can do.
Hunter liveries are a good income but very time consuming to do properly, especially if you cannot pop them on a walker or lunge to get the extra exercise in on a foul day, 3 done properly would be pretty much full time 7 days a week and any more would mean getting help which could take most of the profit each week.

I would really research the area and see if you can find a gap in the market that you could fill but ensure it is needed before taking the yard on.

 

[Bellaboo18]

Sorry about your Grandad and I hope you can turn your dream in to reality.

It sounds like a lovely setup. One I'd be interested in but I'd want DIY. I think a huge amount depends on what other yards are in the area. I like IHWs idea of retirement livery. I'd just be concerned what you can charge per month for happy hackers or retirement livery and can't imagine it covering a full-time salary.

 

[ester]

I know a few similar but they are all DIY with people who are around in the day anyway so daylight for riding isn't an issue because those that need the assistance of full/part are usually short on time which means that not having an arena in winter is a problem.

 

[hollyandivy123]

what you also need to do is look at the number of yards in the area with vacancies at the moment............in a 3 mile area around me we have 7 yards with 5+ stables available at the moment. these are all with schools, some with multiple schools, they have all been trying to get clients through the summer and can't, they are running as part or full livery yards and a couple are looking on very rocky ground

with the uncertainty at the moment, i would only take something that you can actually fill

 

[EquestrianE01]

Thank you all for some very helpful replies, it's very much what my head's saying, but always helpful to hear from other people.

I do currently manage a yard (however the YO is very involved so mostly gets the last say), so do understand costings quite well. I've also managed a small hunt yard in the past so realise what hard work that would be should I go down that route.

I have also looked at other yards in the area, many of which would be much more viable. Most with lovely facilities and only a compromise on turnout. The yard I've asked about here is much more what 'I' would like though. However, no point having the yard I love if I can't keep it running.

Do check whether there’s a school available for hire within reasonable hacking distance, say up to 15mins on quiet roads. If not, then I fear that you will find your potential customer base to be too restricted. Such a shame, as otherwise it sounds fab.

Someone once set up a livery yard opposite me, and told clients that my arena was available for hire without even asking me first . I do not hire out my arena (it has tricky access apart from other issues).

That's exactly what I was thinking, there are a few other yards (private, I think), with school's nearby, and the roads to get to them are lit. So if they were willing to hire out the school, it would be entirely feasible to get there.

I know a few similar but they are all DIY with people who are around in the day anyway so daylight for riding isn't an issue because those that need the assistance of full/part are usually short on time which means that not having an arena in winter is a problem.

This is my worry, even if it was easy access to a school, would a 10-15 minute walk there put people off?

 

[ester]

yes, because you can't do that after work when you really need it.

(As a working and very happy to hack person).

 

[AmyMay]

You could always put a school in, presuming you’re buying.

 

[Leo Walker]

yes, because you can't do that after work when you really need it.

(As a working and very happy to hack person).

You also cant pop in to lunge or do a few minutes ground work etc. Its really not going to be viable to run a full/part livery business sadly

 

[ester]

Obviously I'd just take off up the south downs way in the dark but .

 

[Goldenstar]

What’s the hacking like ?

 

[CMcC]

What’s the hacking like ?

in the OP, direct on to South Downs Way

 

[Littlebear]

The yard I’m at has a school that’s not useable all winter, there are plenty of liveries there that don’t use it anyway most people are there for the good turnout and hacking available
Full livery there costs around 500 per month and it’s full x

 

[LaurenBay]

There is a yard near me that offers full livery with no school. She is always full. Hers are all retired Horses who don't cope with 24/7 turnout. They are out 24/7 in the summer and in during nights in winter.