Grass livery - I'm confused!

[maisiestreet99]

I am going to be moving to uni in September and I want to have my horse close to me so I'm considering grass livery. I'm aware that this might not be doable so I'm asking about the schedule/routine you follow.

1 - When you visit your horse (once or twice a day) what do you do? (in order if possible)

2 - At what time(s) do you check on them?

3 - What is your cost for feed? I'm guessing her fieldmates would steal the feed?

4 - Can you keep tack in the shelter provided by YO?

5 - Do you still use haynets or is the grass enough? If you do use them, when do you put them out?

 

[MissTyc]

I help to manage a grass livery yard ...

My first reply would be that there are so many variations on how they are run. In out case, horses are out together as a herd. Most owners check on them once a day, not always at the same time. There are a few regular morning people whose horses know to be waiting at the gate in the mornings, but otherwise we don't have anyone hanging around the gate. We have a little yard with emergency stables and tie up spaces, so that's where people bring in to feed anything that needs supplementation. November to March, we have to put hay in the field, for everyone, charged back to the owner. The rest of the year some owners buy in hay and sit with their horses while it eats a net; others don't get any hay at all. Some are in grazing muzzles.

We have a little tack area, but it's rudimentary and I personally don't encourage anyone to leave anything valuable. Many liveries bring saddles in their cars; a few have put up their own sheds - again, at their own risk.

 

[GrassChop]

I rent my own field for my mare and her companion but we do have a separate private yard adjoining it with storage.
1. I don't go up mornings as the YO is there and will check them.
2. In the evenings I go up after work so about 6ish.
3. If I'm just putting her feed out in the field, the companion will have a handful of nuts so it keeps them away while she eats and so they don't get upset. Otherwise, I will get her out if I'm riding or grooming etc and I will feed her on the yard. She only gets soaked hay cobs so a bag probably lasts about 2 months at £20 a sack and will probably be about one bag a month in winter.
4. Tack stays in the boot. Feed bins are kept in separate barn with hay.
5. Don't feed hay during summer as it isn't needed personally as I have 2 acres. Definitely needed in winter. They both share a shelter and have a hay bar which is filled up plus a large haynet on the other side to get them through until the following evening. (They swap around taking turns on the hay bar or net). They never run out and luckily don't gorge either.

 

[Fransurrey]

1 - When you visit your horse (once or twice a day) what do you do? (in order if possible)

2 - At what time(s) do you check on them?

3 - What is your cost for feed? I'm guessing her fieldmates would steal the feed?

4 - Can you keep tack in the shelter provided by YO?

5 - Do you still use haynets or is the grass enough? If you do use them, when do you put them out?

Grass livery is incredibly variable. Sometimes you have your own paddock, sometimes there is no shelter, sometimes checks are on a rota... However, to answer the Qs:

1. Groom, ride, feed, poo pick. Normally one visit a day, but sometimes two. Depends if I need to take things up or in winter they need more feed/forage.
2. Anytime as nobody lives on site at the moment. Another yard owned by the same YO has hours of 7am to 9pm (they live there).
3. Varies with season. In winter I get through 2 bags of Pure Easy a month, this summer it's half that as the grass is bonkers, but normally it's somewhere in between (one horse, one pony).
4. Yes. My shelter has lockable storage - I don't have access to main yard storage, but the upside is that I don't have to worry about other people going in there!
5. Yes I do, as the grass is too rich. I restrict that in the summer and currently feed a slice a day between them in a slow feeder (horse reaches into top and therefore gets more!). In winter they go through two bales a week.

 

[Red-1]

Mine was on grass livery for summer only in my youth. It was a huge 70 acre field, but on a cliffside! Around 20 horses. The grazing wasn't rich and they kept kind of fit through going up and down the tracks on the rocky hillside.

In the morning, I would do a drive by check. I would stay in the car if pony was walking, and obviously sound. If stationary I would pull over and stop for a minute or two, just to make sure eating, not tucked up, no obvious massive leg or anything.

Afternoon, I would always do a proper visit and catch up. If not riding, pick feet and give a small hard feed outside the gateway. Whilst eating, give a brush over, usually a spray with fly repellant. This was even if the pony didn't need a feed, just so I always knew I would be able to catch him (70 acres on a steep hill is good incentive to keep them sweet at being caught).

If riding, I would take up to the yard, we wouldn't have a stable but could use a tie point to access the tack room etc.

I'm afraid to say, the field was never poo picked. The flatter parts were harrowed at the end of summer.

In winter, I preferred to stable at night.

 

[HashRouge]

I am going to be moving to uni in September and I want to have my horse close to me so I'm considering grass livery. I'm aware that this might not be doable so I'm asking about the schedule/routine you follow.

1 - When you visit your horse (once or twice a day) what do you do? (in order if possible)

2 - At what time(s) do you check on them?

3 - What is your cost for feed? I'm guessing her fieldmates would steal the feed?

4 - Can you keep tack in the shelter provided by YO?

5 - Do you still use haynets or is the grass enough? If you do use them, when do you put them out?

As others have said, you will get lots of different variations on grass livery!

1. I go once a day (my YO checks them in the morning). I always poo pick first, then brush/ check/ fuss, then feed (mine are retired). Last thing is always fly spray and take off fly masks for the night. My YO does the am shift, so will put masks back on/ do sun cream for pink skinned mare etc. Jobs in winter are slightly different - i.e. putting hay out/ rugs etc.

2. I generally don't go in the morning, as my YO checks them for me and does things like rugs/ fly masks/ hay in the winter. I go up afternoon/ evening and am a bit flexible on times. When I'm working, I'm usually there around 6pm, but in the summer I sometimes go later and have my tea before I go. At weekends and in holidays I often go a bit earlier, especially in winter as it is nice to see them in daylight!

3. Not much. I have a fat Welsh, who gets nothing in summer and hay in the winter, plus an elderly Arab who does get a proper feed all year round. We have good grass, so generally I don't need to start feeding hay until late December/ early January. We only have one field mate and he doesn't get a bucket feed. I have a separate paddock where my guys go for their bucket feeds, and when we're giving hay they all get a separate pile at the same time.

4. We have a lockable barn where I can store anything I want. My experience is that there is usually storage, but you might not always want to leave your tack there depending on how secure it is.

5. No hay nets, but we do feed hay for maybe 3 months of the year. Not huge amounts (we don't need to have a bale out, for instance) and we tend to just feed off the ground. We don't have anywhere to tie haynets.

 

[Annagain]

I'm not quite on grass livery but ours all live out 24/7 in summer.
1. I go once a day in summer but there are 4 other horse in the field and we all go at different times and keep an eye on them all so would know if something was amiss. If not riding, I do a thorough check over, pick out feet, apply sun cream and fly spray as necessary.
2. It varies depending on when suits me.
3. We bring them out of the field to feed them - no feed buckets are allowed in the field to prevent fighting.
4. We have a storage shed for all our stuff (in addition to out stables). I share mine with my friend, others have a bigger shed between 5 of them.
5. In winter they have hay overnight in their stables but I would supplement in the field if they were out. If it's a shared field I imagine it would be managed by YO and costs split equally between all owners.

Things vary so much from yard to yard though, you'll need to ask these questions of any yard you're considering. I would look for somewhere with a decent area to deal with the horses and a stable for emergency use if you need to box rest.

I'd also consider if you REALLY want to take your horse to uni. The first term in particular is full of getting to know new people. Going out in the evening and breakfast in greasy spoon cafes with communal hangovers are a big part of that. If you always need to be leaving early to get up the next morning to see to the horse it definitely interferes with that. I loved my old boy dearly but was very pleased not to have him at uni. It was the one time in my life I could do everything all my friends were doing.

 

[AmyMay]

I’ve never had a horse on grass livery, but have had horses out 24/7 over several months.

I always visited twice a day. If feeding, horse was brought out of the field to eat. Hay only fed if everything else was having hay (obviously).

Tack was always taken home.

 

[PSD]

I had a section a on grass livery and the owner of the yard (it was a huge equestrian centre) checked him daily for me. Even brought him in to be wormed, she is a good friend though.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I'm a YO who offers DIY grass livery.

I have a couple of liveries at the moment; both have their separate paddock areas and both manage their horses totally differently.

Livery A: has four horses (hunters) and rents 4 acres of grass. She rents other fields in the area as well and has access elsewhere to another yard, so tends to flit her horses around a fair bit. I tend to leave her to her own devices. She checks on her horses once a day and feeds hay (feeder in the field) in the winter months, and moves them to a yard with hard-standing available when necessary. This arrangement seems to work well for her. She does her own field maintenance.

Livery B: has one old boy (retired) on a fenced-off area of a big 10 acre field which is shared by sheep and he has access to a small area of hard-standing with shelter & hay storage etc plus livery's tack room. He is not needing any hay at the moment and probably won't until he has to come off the field for any reason - we are on Devon clay and tend to get very waterlogged in the winter.

My yard is a "strictly DIY" affair; I don't offer "services" or handle other people's horses, end of. I don't put out haynets, rug-up, or bring in/turn out. I make this very clear as I think it is fair to everyone to know what to expect. Too many people expect caviar livery but are only prepared to pay popcorn! As I live on site however I am quite happy to have a look to check all is well and if something isn't will notify the owner, such as a recent occasion where a livery's horse was lying down and "just not looking right" and I told the owner so; later on that particular horse colicked so I'm glad I said something.

All I would say OP is to make sure that grass livery will be sufficient for your needs all year round. Not just now in the summer months, but in the middle of a really vile winter when you're late back from work and you've got to go out with a head-torch in pouring rain and a gale into a mucky field and be greeted by a wet, miserable, unhappy horse; then do it all again the next morning ............ IF you think you are liable to need Assisted or "Services" livery then may I respectfully urge you to think carefully before going for just grass livery, that is all I will say.

 

[fidleyspromise]

Grass livery. We have our own field and shelter with tackroom. If I don't ride I go up and dish out feeds (I make 5 up at a time), poo pick and fill water. If I ride, I ride after that.

When I was in a shared field we had hay included and it was put out in field. I took my horse out of field gate to give hard feed.

 

[windand rain]

I only do full grass livery I provide feed, poo picking and maintenance. We use a track system so have standing foggage most of the year but supply hay when it runs out. The only thing owners supply is supplements. They also pay for vet, teeth, physio saddle fitters and farrier. Got fed up of people squabbling about costs, what food, when fed, and who wasn't poo picking so now it is a bit my way or the highway. I do cater for the horses needs if one needs more or expensive food it gets it but not keen on catering to the owners whims. We have a fenced grass school usable just about all the year it can get a bit hard in summer or if deeply frozen but it is rare as I water in summer and we don't get the really hard weeks of frost. It can be used in walk and trot year round. We have storage but discourage expensive stuff being left

 

[coblets]

Depends on the grass livery. I’ve known two different grass liveries, one which was in quite a urban area and had a bit more ’help’ (A) and one that was in the middle of nowhere and was mostly just a massive field (B).

1 - When you visit your horse (once or twice a day) what do you do? (in order if possible)
A: people often visited just once, as liveries were very good about checking over everyone’s horses, not just their own. So they’d arrive, poo pick, check everyone’s horses, then carry on with the usual routine of grooming and riding.
B: People tried to come twice or three times a day, as horse wasn’t checked unless they did it. Large field meant no need to poo pick, so just grabbed horse and got on with it.

2 - At what time(s) do you check on them?
A: YO wanted all horses checked by 9am in the morning, or by 9pm. (Again, this just meant that someone needed to be at the yard by then - didn’t have to be you.)
B: Whenever people had the time. Depending on how close they lived, people would try check before work started, in their lunch break, and on the way home from work.

3 - What is your cost for feed? I'm guessing her fieldmates would steal the feed?
A: there was a little sectioned off hard standing area where you could feed. Other horses couldn’t get in there so no increase in cost.
B: cannot remember anyone feeding their horse beyond a handful of pony nuts to say good morning.

4 - Can you keep tack in the shelter provided by YO?
A: yes, but no one kept saddles there as was the occasional break in.
B: there wasn’t a shelter for tack. A couple liveries were very good friends with land owners so kept tack in their private yard a few minutes walk away.

5 - Do you still use haynets or is the grass enough? If you do use them, when do you put them out?
A: can’t remember what they’re called, but we had a round bale holder that horses could eat hay from.
B: grass was enough.
Do make sure to check whether your livery includes cost of hay though, and it’s always worth asking what the usual cost and usage of hay is.

 

[Leandy]

I have kept retired and out of work horses on grass livery. One place was DIY and the other included checks. Both included hay in the field for all during the winter ie from about end October to March.

1 - When you visit your horse (once or twice a day) what do you do? (in order if possible) - For the DIY I would visit once a day, sometimes just a drive by and check from the car. He had a field mate so the other owner was also checking regularly but usually at a different time and other liveries were passing the field on their way in and out and so someone would notice if there was some sort of catastrophe or they had got out etc. For the other yard, I just visited every week or so when passing.

2 - At what time(s) do you check on them? Completely variable although often a drive by before work in the morning. This is the beauty of grass livery, you don't need to keep to certain times.

3 - What is your cost for feed? I'm guessing her fieldmates would steal the feed? No extra costs as none fed extra hard feed and hay included in livery in winter. Yes, if you provided feed yourself and put it in the field others would steal it! I wouldn't like a yard where everyone is doing that though at varying times as it could lead to fights amongst the horses. If they need extra or something special then the owner needs to take out of the field for feeding for safety reasons as well as it getting pinched by fieldmates.

4 - Can you keep tack in the shelter provided by YO? At the DIY yard there was a secure container to keep tack in and at the other yard I rented a spare stable to keep my stuff in and kept it padlocked.

5 - Do you still use haynets or is the grass enough? If you do use them, when do you put them out? As above.

 

[Celtic Fringe]

I'm extremely lucky as my old horse was on supported grass livery and my son's horse is in the same yard. There is a small established herd (7) and the YO lives on site. The YO or my son generally feed in the morning - the horses each have their 'station' down the fence line and know where to go. Fortunately they all just need a small amount of pony cubes at the moment so it doesn't matter if there is a bit of swapping about. They all get a small evening feed too - normally the YO does this. Any horse that needs additional feed normally gets this after they have worked. They have ad-lib hay as needed in the winter. The fields are a reasonable size - 4-5 acres each and the herd gets rotated round them through the year. Livery cost including all feed, hay as needed, daily checks and field maintenance is £250 per month - this is in SE England. There is also a reasonably secure tack room, a sand school, good local hacking and stables in case of emergencies.

My old horse (now sadly deceased) was the absolute boss of the herd and in his later years needed a lot of extra food as he could not chew hay. He was the only horse I've ever met who could eat a feed entirely at leisure in a field, totally unmolested by any other horses - they didn't dare venture within 10m

 

[Tarragon]

I suppose that mine could be considered grass livery - I have access to a 10 acre field, cross-grazed with sheep, and a stable block with 2 stables and a feed/tack room. I actually only see my ponies once a day, in the mornings. I will feed, poo pick and then ride.
I do feed hay, though only small amounts. In the summer it is because they are on restricted grazing and I like them to have the roughage and occasionally in the winter if they look hungry or there is snow.
They have access to the stables at all times so fed in the stables to make sure individuals get the feed they need.
Honestly, really minimal costs! Hardly any money spent on bedding and minimal on hay (perhaps get through 1 or 2 small bales a week in summer). Feed would be the same whatever.

 

[Lipglosspukka]

Once a day, when I can be bothered. No feed. Big round bale of hay in the field through winter months, cost split between owners. No tack left.

 

[spookypony]

I am going to be moving to uni in September and I want to have my horse close to me so I'm considering grass livery. I'm aware that this might not be doable so I'm asking about the schedule/routine you follow.

I hire a wee yard on a DIY basis, but they live out 24/7, and when I first got the SP, I kept him at grass livery for the first few years.

1 - When you visit your horse (once or twice a day) what do you do? (in order if possible)
I generally go to yard once a day.

If it's a crazy-busy-at-work, non-riding day:
1. turn on water to the trough.
2. take feed buckets to field, distribute, and supervise so there's no bucket wars.
3. collect buckets and prepare next day's feeds
4. turn off water.
(Total 10-15 minutes at yard.)

If it's a riding day:
1. turn on water to the trough.
2. take feed buckets to field, distribute, and retrieve mare(s) to be ridden, tie up on yard so she/they can finish their dinner(s).
3. tack up
4. turn off water
5. ride
(5a.: turn off water if forgot earlier!)
6. untack and enfield mare(s)
7. prepare next day's feeds
(Total 45min-3h at yard, depending on what I'm doing, riding-wise.)

2 - At what time(s) do you check on them?
Any random time that works with my schedule that day. They know to expect me when I get there!

3 - What is your cost for feed? I'm guessing her fieldmates would steal the feed?
Bucket feeds are supervised, so no stealing allowed. Just a minimal amount, to carry meds/vits/mins. 1 bag Alfa-Beet lasts several weeks, even among 1 horse AND 2 ponies!
Haylage: none needed over winter (horses out on long grass); this summer about £50/month divided among all three. Maximally was about £160/month among all three, when they were out on JUST hay with no other forage.

4 - Can you keep tack in the shelter provided by YO?
A locked space is available.

5 - Do you still use haynets or is the grass enough? If you do use them, when do you put them out?
I get large bales in, which are put out on an ad-lib basis. 1 big bale lasts 3 equines ca. 5 days when it's their only source of forage, and is lasting about 2 weeks at the moment. This is a "how long is a piece of string?" question: the answer will depend entirely on the grass levels vs. stock levels.