Grass Livery North Surrey

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tilly2

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Looking for the impossible and google isn't being that helpful, especially as loads of great places don't have websites! So, thinking I might get more suggestions here.

MUST haves:

- 24/7 herd turnout, preferably with the option of a stable as well for the odd night.
- Hayed in winter if they need it
- Off-road hacking (happy to do quiet roads now and then but not always)
- Within 40 mins of Sheen down the A3

Would love:

- A school
- A riding field in the summer
.

I have Arbrook and Clandon Park on my list to visit but would love some more options. Basically looking for somewhere nice and peaceful with quality turnout and hacking being the most important things.

Thanks in advance!!
 
Difficult in this area. 40 mins by car or public transport?

The best thing to do is either to have a really good close look at google maps or actually drive down here and go up and down every little lane looking for yards. There are loads of them - but many only 2 - 10 horses. Off road hacking is the holy grail in your radius. None of the yards are entirely off road. This is prime commuter belt. Where there are farms it is because the land is protected by agricultural lien and / or the green belt. This is also very heavy clay soil. If you are allowed to ride in a field in the summer that field will likely not be fit for grazing in the winter. Meaning that the yard has to have an excess of land... something difficult in this very expensive area. The same with 24/7 turn out. To do that all winter in heavy clay will ruin the grass mat - meaning you have no turnout in the summer.

Of the yards in 40 mins drive very few offer 24/7 365 turn out. Manor farm Claygate is 30 mins traffic willing - and if they have space. Indoor school but no field riding. (And no off road hacking) Chessington RC has limited 24/7 field spaces but no off road (or even quiet road!) access. Brightside Chessington has a school but no field riding and no off road access. Northfields chessington - but no school or field riding - or off road access. Slough farm - school and field riding but 24/7 not be possible year round depending on weather (and in Claygate not slough!). Limited quiet roads, but to access the (fairly extensive!) off road network you need to cross a major road. Rushett farm Chessington - but no field riding or off road access. Bridle Farm Claygate - does have direct access to off road hacking - but not 24/7 turnout or a school. Arbrook farm - school and off road hacking, but not 24/7 365 turnout. Lower Farm Stoke D'abernon? But not sure about 24/7 365 turn out Same with Waylands.

You could try places like stag lodge, Wimbledon village stables or Park lane - they have access to off road hacking in the royal parks - but no turnout at all. Horses rest 2 out of 4 at grazing in the Claygate / cobham area. Or go much further out looking for places like thundry farm or parwood. Pachesham has no off road hacking but does have extensive grounds including an XC course - but turn out is not 24/7 365. The closer you get to Guildford (and ideally beyond it) the more likely you will find 24/7 plus off road. But you will also be traveling 90 mins plus.

I absolutely accept there are loads of yards around here which are basically 2/3 horses in the back garden type set ups which might have 24/7 turnout plus off road access. But the soil around here really does not led itself to herd type turn out also 24/7 365. I really cannot think of any commercial yards which meet all your requirements - and I've kept horses here over 20 years. You might need to have a bit of a re-think on your must haves.

ETA: Re-reading your post, you have Clandon Park? That's going to be well over an hour from Sheen, especially in rush hour. Much closer to Guildford. Certainly more options that far out.

EAT Again!! Can't believe I forgot about Aunt Daphnie's (Barwell Farm) and Black Barn. Both within the same protected area as Arbrook. Good access to off road hacking but not 24/7 365 turnout. Kingston Riding center bought a massive quantity of land with 2 equestrian properties within the same area - but it is unoccupied pending sale of their current site. The predecessors did not offer 24/7 365.
 
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Shay said:
Difficult in this area. 40 mins by car or public transport?

The best thing to do is either to have a really good close look at google maps or actually drive down here and go up and down every little lane looking for yards. There are loads of them - but many only 2 - 10 horses. Off road hacking is the holy grail in your radius. None of the yards are entirely off road. This is prime commuter belt. Where there are farms it is because the land is protected by agricultural lien and / or the green belt. This is also very heavy clay soil. If you are allowed to ride in a field in the summer that field will likely not be fit for grazing in the winter. Meaning that the yard has to have an excess of land... something difficult in this very expensive area. The same with 24/7 turn out. To do that all winter in heavy clay will ruin the grass mat - meaning you have no turnout in the summer.

Of the yards in 40 mins drive very few offer 24/7 365 turn out. Manor farm Claygate is 30 mins traffic willing - and if they have space. Indoor school but no field riding. (And no off road hacking) Chessington RC has limited 24/7 field spaces but no off road (or even quiet road!) access. Brightside Chessington has a school but no field riding and no off road access. Northfields chessington - but no school or field riding - or off road access. Slough farm - school and field riding but 24/7 not be possible year round depending on weather (and in Claygate not slough!). Limited quiet roads, but to access the (fairly extensive!) off road network you need to cross a major road. Rushett farm Chessington - but no field riding or off road access. Bridle Farm Claygate - does have direct access to off road hacking - but not 24/7 turnout or a school. Arbrook farm - school and off road hacking, but not 24/7 365 turnout. Lower Farm Stoke D'abernon? But not sure about 24/7 365 turn out Same with Waylands.

You could try places like stag lodge, Wimbledon village stables or Park lane - they have access to off road hacking in the royal parks - but no turnout at all. Horses rest 2 out of 4 at grazing in the Claygate / cobham area. Or go much further out looking for places like thundry farm or parwood. Pachesham has no off road hacking but does have extensive grounds including an XC course - but turn out is not 24/7 365. The closer you get to Guildford (and ideally beyond it) the more likely you will find 24/7 plus off road. But you will also be traveling 90 mins plus.

I absolutely accept there are loads of yards around here which are basically 2/3 horses in the back garden type set ups which might have 24/7 turnout plus off road access. But the soil around here really does not led itself to herd type turn out also 24/7 365. I really cannot think of any commercial yards which meet all your requirements - and I've kept horses here over 20 years. You might need to have a bit of a re-think on your must haves.

ETA: Re-reading your post, you have Clandon Park? That's going to be well over an hour from Sheen, especially in rush hour. Much closer to Guildford. Certainly more options that far out.

EAT Again!! Can't believe I forgot about Aunt Daphnie's (Barwell Farm) and Black Barn. Both within the same protected area as Arbrook. Good access to off road hacking but not 24/7 365 turnout. Kingston Riding center bought a massive quantity of land with 2 equestrian properties within the same area - but it is unoccupied pending sale of their current site. The predecessors did not offer 24/7 365.
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Thanks for all the info!! Arbrook fits my needs as the grass liveries are brought into a big barn overnight in the winter which is fine by me! My need for grass livery is because I can't necessarily get down every day in the winter and don't want to be spending masses of money on assisted/part livery. Clandon Park says 35 mins on google maps but I am sceptical as you say of it taking longer.

Again thanks for all the info really helpful.
 
Clandon Park would suit, has a school and off road hacking plus stable for emergencies. They used to give the grass liveries the higher drier ground in wknter and stabled ones had the clay fields as they could get out of the mud. Hay given in round feeders in the fields.
There's a new yard manager in place as of the end of last year so not sure how it's managed nowadays but having walked through a few times earlier this year it looked like improvements were being made.
In rush hour it would definitely be more than 35 minutes though!

There's a place in Ripley (think it's called millstream) which offers grass, has a school and ok hacking (off road but you have to hack a reasonable way to get to the hacking if you get me)

There's also kings ranch, bit further round literally just off the m25 woking junction (so probably same distance from the a3 m25 roundabout as clandon park would be) there's no hacking other than around the fields but chobham common is close enough to box to easily if you have transport. Has a good school, horses fed and hayed daily as necessary.

You've also got Osterley Park, very cheap and cheerful and means going across town instead of out of town. People are mad as a box of frogs but nice. (Or used to be) Schooling area in a field and not good hacking (especially if you want off road) but so cheap most could afford transport.

As has been said, there's a few yards around Shamley Green that would suit but you'd easily be pushing an hour to get to those ones. Likewise GBEC would suit but is one more junction down the m25 the other way, at Leatherhead, so probably too far.
 
Google maps reckons Sheen to Clandon Park is 53 minutes out of rush hour. I suspect you'll take closer to 90 mins in rush hour - there are a couple of big bottlenecks which stick things up somewhat. Claygate is 30 minutes out of rush hour - but Arbrook is actually the far side of Claygate so you would need to add at least 10 mins or so. You can either come off at Manor Road (Past Woodstock South, Woodstock, Old Barn, past the turns to Brightside and CEC, past Manor Farm, the turn for Bridle Road, past Slough - shows how many yards we have in one small village!) through Claygate and out on the A244 or carry on down the A3 one more junction to the A244 - but that route jams solid in rush hours and race days. It can take 20 mins to get from the A3 to the Calygate turn on the 244. Arbrook is 1 minute from the Claygate turn.

I don't mean to pour a dampner - but when you vist Arbrook, if all off road hacking is important do check how much you can actually access without a Key to Prince's Covert and without crossing the A244. There is a horse crossing there - but its a busy road and you do have to wait for traffic to acknowledge you and stop. We're campaigning for a pegasus crossing - but there hasn't been a crash there for some years, although dogs are killed on that crossing fairly often. The best hacking (wihout a key) is the other side of the 244. You can buy access to Prince's Covert which is crown land. But I'm not sure how far it goes having always been to cheap to do so!
 
Shay said:
.




Of the yards in 40 mins drive very few offer 24/7 365 turn out. Manor farm Claygate is 30 mins traffic willing - and if they have space. Indoor school but no field riding. (And no off road hacking) Chessington RC has limited 24/7 field spaces but no off road (or even quiet road!) access. Brightside Chessington has a school but no field riding and no off road access. Northfields chessington - but no school or field riding - or off road access. Slough farm - school and field riding but 24/7 not be possible year round depending on weather (and in Claygate not slough!). Limited quiet roads, but to access the (fairly extensive!) off road network you need to cross a major road. Rushett farm Chessington - but no field riding or off road access. Bridle Farm Claygate - does have direct access to off road hacking - but not 24/7 turnout or a school. Arbrook farm - school and off road hacking, but not 24/7 365 turnout. Lower Farm Stoke D'abernon? But not sure about 24/7 365 turn out Same with Waylands.
site..
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Blimey Shay, you’ve just taken me down memory lane :). Spent many happy years at Arbrook Farm but they had 24/7 TO when I was there. Also nice to hear all those yards are still around. Arbrook has the best hacking
 
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