Grass livery - does it still exist?

[junglefairy]

I'm returning to horse ownership after 9 years out, and desperately trying to find grass livery in Kent (near Sevenoaks/Bromley etc.) and I can only find one yard offering grass livery, and it has no spaces.

Most of the yards I've contacted seem surprised at the question, does no one do grass livery anymore? I won't own a horse if I can't offer it 24/7 turnout so this is quite an issue. Maybe it's because of the area I'm looking in, have other people experienced similar issue finding grass livery?

 

[matt_m]

Definitely think it is becoming rarer.

I think the problem is probably that there is no profit in it for yard/land owners. The cost of land is going up and the availability of land going down.

Sorry I can't help in suggesting a place for you, but wish you the best of luck in your search. I think it would be very sad indeed if grass livery became a thing of the past, unfortunately I think it is likely. Even good DIY yards are becoming harder to find.

 

[Echo24]

There are grass livery yards but you may struggle to fine anything Sevenoaks way. I've seen some near Maidstone and also towards Canterbury which may be too far for you.

I agree that even good DIY yards are hard to find these days, most yards are part or full livery.

 

[naza]

We offer it at the yard i work at

 

[Kikke]

We have our big boy on grass livery. Very we happy we found it (we are in oxfordshire) as he will not be stabled and being a belgian draft if you try to stable him he will kick the door down, because he can.
We I don't think the yard it taking on any new ones. Just keeping the ones that are there and trying to thin out as much as possible. Good thing the other two are fine with being stabled for part of the day!

 

[mynutmeg]

I had the same problem when I moved to the midlands - I wanted grass livery for my mare but the only grass livery I could find was more than half an hour away :-(

 

[Leo Walker]

I was shocked how many yards offer it in Buckinghamshire. They dont advertise generally, so sometimes you just need to get out and door knock! Mine lives out on 30 acres with 13 other geldings. The yard arranges for big bale haylage on the winter and splits the cost between the owners. I also have an outdoor and indoor school and all the nice things you dont expect with grass livery. Its also dry enough to walk across the field in trainers as its on sandy soil so no real mud

 

[KVH]

There are a few yards offering Grass livery in my area (some more questionable than others!) however they do seem to be few and far between, and they've certainly been decreasing in numbers over the years which is a shame.

Junglefairy, are you looking for 'Full' grass livery with facilities etc, or are you happy to rent a field on a DIY grass basis?

 

[bheb2186]

Similar problem up here in scotland. I had to hunt for ages to find grass livery, most places were only offering part or full livery and dont want grass livery because the horses are out all year. Thankfully I got grass livery from the local livery yard, got a big field that wasnt being used.

 

[russianhorse]

Grass livery really only exists in the sense of knocking on lots of doors asking to rent their land.

 

[junglefairy]

I'm amazed it's so difficult to find nationally, I thought it might just be a problem in SE England.

I am looking for somewhere that has a floodlit school otherwise I won't be able to ride after work in the winter. So I suppose that's anadditional requirement which makes finding a place harder.

It's a shame if people don't offer grass livery for financial reasons, I'd gladly pay extra to have 24/7 turnout, although I appreciate it will sometimes be due to land quality.

I'm just not sure this is something I can compromise on, but otherwise I'll spend the next few years horseless...

 

[SO1]

There are certainly grass livery yards around even in the SE.

I was on grass livery for 7 years and recently moved to a part livery yard.

I have been on 2 grass livery yards which both also offered stabled livery and had floodlit schools. However the compromise was that the fields were very far from the yard for the grass liveries. When the horses were in far field on the first yard it would take an hour to catch in your horse as the field was so far from the yard. The second yard I was also was also very similar and it would could take 40 minutes to catch in from the fields. So if you wanted to ride you would need need to factor nearly 2 hours just to catch your horse and turn it back out again if they were in the far field. I think the only reason both those yards offered grass livery was because they had fields that were so far from the yard that stabled liveries would not want to walk that far 4 times a day. Realistically you need more land per horse to provide decent grass livery than you do to offer stabled livery and for the YO to make money they would need to charge perhaps twice as much money for a grass livery than a stabled DIY to make the same money but a lot of people who want grass livery would not want to pay that much.

Neither yard were cheap Yard 1 was £160 a month and yard 2 £145 and you had hay on top of that too in the winter.

Having said that DIY stabled livery is not that easy to come by in that area either I know of 3 large DIY yards that have shut or about to shut in the last 18 months that have been sold to developers for housing. A 4th yard that used to offer DIY is now part/full livery only.

I think the rise in part/full livery yards is somewhat related to the expectations of employees to be able to work flexibility to work late or travel and longer commutes, so more people are needing more services and it is often easier to just provide a part or full livery service because it can be easier to find someone to work a full day than just come to help with catch in or turn out. There has also been rise in demand for childcare/nurseries as well so I do think the change in working patterns is having an impact on quite a lot of areas of people's lives.

 

[milo'n'molly]

I was shocked how many yards offer it in Buckinghamshire. They dont advertise generally, so sometimes you just need to get out and door knock! Mine lives out on 30 acres with 13 other geldings. The yard arranges for big bale haylage on the winter and splits the cost between the owners. I also have an outdoor and indoor school and all the nice things you dont expect with grass livery. Its also dry enough to walk across the field in trainers as its on sandy soil so no real mud

You're just rubbing it in now.

I agree that the grass livery isn't generally advertised, I have moved areas recently from an area that I have horses for the last 20yrs where I knew all the yards to somewhere I know nobody? I have looked at a few yards and only managed to find one place that does grass livery, most don't offer any turnout through winter or if they do it's in a small/muddy pen.
I am now considering moving in the spring time to a diy yard that offers 24/7 summer turnout but it works out expensive as it includes hay/straw/feed which I won't be using then sending him home to winter out unless I hear off somewhere suitable in the castleford/Wakefield area

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I'm returning to horse ownership after 9 years out, and desperately trying to find grass livery in Kent (near Sevenoaks/Bromley etc.) and I can only find one yard offering grass livery, and it has no spaces.

Most of the yards I've contacted seem surprised at the question, does no one do grass livery anymore? I won't own a horse if I can't offer it 24/7 turnout so this is quite an issue. Maybe it's because of the area I'm looking in, have other people experienced similar issue finding grass livery?

That is because there is no money in grass livery minimal income for the Y/O. Lot of cost involved more than they get coming in so yards turn to more financial gain like part/full/diy, also fields get trashed by horses on it full time.

 

[Copperpot]

I have grass livery. No school though. I have a stable but keep feed and rugs in it. 8 acres plus 2 double field shelters, water and electticity. YO makes a small amount of hay too.

 

[Caramac71]

Our yard offers full grass livery although doesn't advertise. I know of a few yards in Chelsfield/lullingstone area that offer grass livery although I don't know if they have vacancies. PM me if you want any details.

 

[Penny Less]

The only people who offer it round here are farmers who have lots of grazing. I think yards take on more horses to make money and have a high ratio of horses to land so need horses off the grass for parts of the year

 

[chilledoutpony]

There's still grass livery around, just! I'm at a grass livery in Yorkshire area. I'll have a look at Bromley area for you

 

[rascal]

There are a couple of yards near us (midlands) that do grass livery, but after spending a few months on one we decided to rent a field just for our horses. The only things we miss are the shool and the tap. We have take water now.

 

[Dizzle]

I think cheap grass livery is hard to find, I've had grass livery at two different yards and it has ranged between £120-£160 a month. I was happy to pay that. My mare is now of full livery as I couldn't find a yard close enough to home that had facilities, good hacking and grass livery. I would happily pay YO the same amount if my mare lived out in a herd, I think it's evolving and I'm happy to pay for it.

 

[Polos Mum]

Plenty of full livery yards have them out 24/7 in the summer so it's worth asking around if you have sensible money to spend on a good quality yard with facilities and well kept grazing.
If you want somewhere that doesn't overstock to allow sufficient grazing to be out as much as they want then I'd imagine you have to pay for it.

 

[rascal]

Dizzle thats expensive. We were only paying £50 a month.

 

[irishdraft]

I have a couple of grass liveries & I am in the south east, OP I also know at least 2 yards that will do grass livery in the chelsfield/lullingstone area but they don't advertise, you will need to go out door knocking, that's how the 2 I have arrived here, but I don't want anymore !

 

[whizzer]

Our yard does grass & stabled livery, we have school etc, however none of it is ever advertised really as people come word of mouth or as I did, by driving up there on spec. Worked out really well for me as when I bought a youngster last Autumn he's had the stable I have there & my older horse has been moved onto the grass livery, old boy much prefers living out & new one doesn't mind being in at night!

 

[LadyRascasse]

Have you asked the yards if they will allow you to rent a stable but keep out 24/7. Though most yards round my way don't do DIY (South East) they would allow people to keep there horses out 24/7 if they desired.

 

[DreamingIsBelieving]

You sound like me. I'm not in the position to own at the moment but when I am, a floodlit school and 24 hour turnout will be musts. In my area grass livery generally consists of a field and hay in winter. there seems to be only one 'proper' livery yard that offers it. It has great facilities and charges £35 p/w in summer and £50 p/w in winter (hay must be more expensive than I thought!).

There are a couple of DIY yards that offer 24 hour turnout, so maybe it's worth searching that way as previously mentioned. Most DIY yards will mention it if they do offer 24 hour turnout - it seems to be a much coveted and notoriously elusive service. Prices up here definitely reflect that.