Grazing/rent question

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WessieCM

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Hi,
Just wondered if anyone could help me in regards to grass livery and what is to be expected for you money?

I pay £60 a month for grass grazing. No stables, forage etc. Just plain and simple grazing.

But the man who owns the land has had his horses on it too during summer and completely over grazed it. I did say to him in July you need to do it sensibly else there will be none left for winter. He moved his horses off in November and there is just 3 horses left on it now. Bare in mind there is about 20 acres but it is absolutely naked of grass as it's been over grazed to within an inch of it's life, plus a rubbish spring/summer anyway.

We've had a stock of hay over the last two months (not great quality either) but at least they've had something to eat. Now the landlord has said he will get more hay in but we're expected to pay £20 extra a month to cover the costs.

What I would like to know is is this par for the course where you are? I find it quite annoying that at the moment I'm paying £60 for a bare field and am not expected to pay an extra £20 on top. Also he has moved the field shelter out the field so there is a small hedgerow for shelter but not much more.

Having never really known the ins and outs of what is expected I thought I would get other people's advice before saying I'm off or yes I'll pay.
Thanks anyone for any help.
 
Well it sounds far from ideal - so I'd be looking to move.

However, on the plus side - £20 a month for adlib hay is pretty cheap I'd say.
 
To be fair i'd agree with you on the hay front :) And usually i'm happy to pay my way, don't expect freebies but just feel a little annoyed, maybe unjustly so i don't know :)
 
I totally agree with where you're coming from, but I have been on the other side of this one and its so difficult to get it right! I think its easy enough for landowners who have years of experience of renting out fields for renting etc. and know how many horses their land can support and charge the right rent based on the local current market etc...

I don't know how much experience your landlord has but he sounds as though he is learning to me. £20 isn't bad for hay, he can't be taking too much profit on that so is likely just covering his costs. He maybe feels bad about not providing enough grass, doesn't sound as though he's ripping you off tbh

I actually gave up renting out my fields because I tried it a couple of times and it didn't work out. I just couldn't meet people's expectations, I ended up paying out much more than I charged and it became too expensive to continue :(
 
I rent 13 acres with double sized field shelter, do what I want, set up schools strip graze etc, farmer puts sheep on in the summer and tops the field once a year. There is always plenty of grass in the winter for my guys anyway as they are good doers so I like them to lose a few pounds over the winter and I pay £20pw per horse.

I could move down the road with stables, school, postage stamp paddocks each for grazing, tack room, kitchen, lights etc etc for £28pw per horse but I prefer to just do my own thing. Company would be nice though sometimes;)

Could you not come to some sort of deal where you can have say half of the field sectioned off so that you manage it yourself and that way he can still put his horses on.
 
Have I misunderstood or are you paying £60 a month to keep 3 horses on 20 acres? ie £20/horse/month?

If so, I understand you're peeved at the lack of grass/mismanagement - but that's a seriously cheap deal! Last time I paid grass livery it was £20/horse/week - £80/horse/month.

I can't keep 3 horses in hay on £20/month - not even that a week - I would snap his hand off at that offer!

Where are you? Can I come and get some of this cheap hay?!!
 
That sounds pretty cheap to me, about as low (cheap) as it gets round here. I learnt from something fairly similar to this that sometimes moving somewhere more expensive works out cheaper in the long run. Having said all that, even with the hay cost its not that expensive to my mind. The old adage of you get what you pay for...

I would be asking if he plans on fertilising/maintaining/resting some of the land over the next few months and how many horses he plans on putting on it in future. Depending on those answers, I might be considering moving elsewhere. Only you can decide what is the best thing to do.

I pay £50/week for 3 acres/3 stables and I am expected to do all grass based maintenance for that. The Landlord keeps the fencing/buildings up and together. If I were to give it up, there would be a whole host of people lining up to take my place. Currently the grazing is poor due to previous tenants idleness, it will be a couple of years yet before it is as good as it should be.
 
spacefaer said:
Have I misunderstood or are you paying £60 a month to keep 3 horses on 20 acres? ie £20/horse/month?

If so, I understand you're peeved at the lack of grass/mismanagement - but that's a seriously cheap deal! Last time I paid grass livery it was £20/horse/week - £80/horse/month.

I can't keep 3 horses in hay on £20/month - not even that a week - I would snap his hand off at that offer!

Where are you? Can I come and get some of this cheap hay?!!
Click to expand...

Afraid you misunderstood. I keep one horse for £60 per month. There are 2 other people also paying "grazing" as well as me.

And PennyJ to be honest i can assure you there will be no strip grazing, no fertilizing, no topping etc. as he has not a clue on field management and will not listen to any ideas as all he cares about is the cheapest option available and how he can get away with doing as little as possible.

I guess it's just a case of suits some doesn't suit others, or what you expect for your money :)
 
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