Grass livery

[Arab_Nutter]

I have a couple of questions regarding grass livery.
I have a little set up which I'm slowly changing to a track system as I've cut my numbers down and I would like company when I'm there.
I want a grass livery as I don't have stables, but have tack room, just in process of new fencing and feed room. It will include hay (I want to charge a flat rate instead of summer and winter). Eventually I would like a round pen and we current have a grass school area.
I'm in Nottingham area and not many places around here.
How much would people charge as it will only be one or two people as I don't want too many people?
How would you vet them?

 

[planete]

I am in the south and full grass livery on a track is around £395. For this amount I can get a set up where I just turn up, groom and ride and attend for farrier and vet. DIY on a track with shared duties of poo picking and haying and the occasional communal odd jobs like ragwort pulling would be around £250 but can be a PITA to keep working smoothly. It is essential to have shelters and some hard standing too or at least areas that can remain mud free all year round. A stable for emergencies is also usually available and an undercover space for grooming, feet trimming or shoeing and tacking up. Without any of these I would expect to pay the going rate for ordinary grass livery.

 

[dorsetladette]

I have had a couple of grass liveries over the years. some good, some bad, some totally amazing. We don't have a track but an equicentral type set up.

I've charged the following previously,

£90 per month - nothing included - I ended up doing everything even providing feed as owner never turned up. Had to put an abandonment notice up and then rehomed the horse.

£120 per month - morning checks/feed/rug change included but nothing else (I check mine twice a day anyway). This worked really well with an older retired horse that kept mine company. Owner was lovely and adored her pony. She only moved when he could no longer eat hay and we struggled to accommodate his changing needs. He went and lived with another oldie with similar needs.

£150 per month - including hay and morning checks, but this lady did all the poo picking (mine included) and waters during the day in the week

£180 per month - including hay, morning checks and trailer parking. This was short term.

I've found the less you charge people the worse the behaviour and less they tend to care about the welfare of their animal. It's difficult to vet potential new liveries, I'd recommend a reference from current YO or recent previous at the very least. I'd say you want someone who is actively doing things with their horse as it shows they are interested in their animal at the very least.

We have good hacking and close to a few riding clubs for clinics etc.

ETA - we don't have facilities - just storage, shelter and somewhere to tie up for grooming, farrier, vet visits.

 

[Abacus]

I have grass liveries but not on a track system. All checks, feeding and haying are included but not the cost of feed and hay. I offered a flat rate for hay but all the liveries chose to just pay (more) in the months we need it, which does make sense. It would be unfair on a livery who arrived in spring and left in autumn to have paid for hay they didn't get, or unfair on you if one came in autumn and left in spring.

I charge £350 per month not including hay. We do have facilities including an arena and a jump field, and stables for use if needed.

 

[hazel25]

The yard I’m at charges £275 pcm for grass livery, includes hay, morning checks and feeds given. There are two floodlit schools and other general facilities which are pretty good. It’s in a fairly decent area with okay hacking and a few riding/pony clubs nearby.

Would recommend having a sectioned off space where any new horses can be kept for a couple of weeks to settle in/quarantine in case of strangles etc.