hello from sunny london!

maletto

maletto

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Hello HHOers.

Thought I should take the plunge and post my first post. I have been lurking on and off for a month or so and found the comments and advice very helpful (and entertaining!).

A little about me for those that might be interested...

I am currently working in London at a job I hate that pays the bills for my boy but leaves me with no time to ride. (but if I didn't have the job I couldn't afford the ned... hmm catch 22?!)

My boy and I had some pretty stressful years so, whilst we used to compete a lot, are only just getting back into the swing of it with a little low level dressage and showjumping.

Anyway, that's it really! I would be interested to hear how other people who live/work in London and manage to maintain a horsey lifestyle!!
 
Hi Maletto, welcome to HHO.

I live and work in London, but have only just got back into riding after a 6 year break, so haven't had to try and squeeze in looking after a horse as well (yet).

Whereabouts is your boy?
 
Hello! I'm a London horse owner! I manage with full livery and a sharer to keep down costs/time. I've only had mine up here for about 3 months and it's working out quite well now. :)

Maybe we need a London meet up some time, I think there's a few of us!
 
Thanks for replying! I was getting worried I'd said something offensive :p

I keep my boy near my parents' place in Wiltshire. Bit of a trek really (1.5hrs drive) so I only manage to get down 2-3 days a week. He's currently on full livery (with 3 days exercise included) at quite a bargain rate but I'm considering moving him to surrey & getting a sharer so I can see more of him.

Seems daft that I'm paying for him to be exercised when if I found the right sharer I could have someone to exercise him AND contribute for his keep!

Where do you keep yours Fiona? Jen, are you sharing at the moment or taking lessons?
 
Welcome to the madhouse, Maletto!
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I go to a lovely riding school in Norrff London, it's perfect :D But then, I AM biased... :p
And I work on a farm in the middle of London too... Not your usual city girl!

Ooh, pics please of your horse :)

x
 
i work in london, does that count? i used to live there too, but found the commute too difficult, so now im *just* outside london, but 10 mins from the tube ;)

welcome to the forum Maletto :)
 
Hello from another (just north) Londoner - I've gone for the part livery and sharer route... Not ideal, but the best outcome for me, and hopefully the 4-legged one!
 
Hi there

It can be done, there are a variety of yards round the edge of london from the seriously posh to cheap and cheerful and lots of people have sharers which helps.
I keep Frankie on 5 day livery so week days he is done for me. I ride after work, in a floodlit school in winter with the option of hacking in the summer. I might get to the yard at 7pm and would probably be at the yard till about 9pm.

I actually chose to move my boy out of London to Hertfordshire - still easy to get to but cheaper and much better hacking and he was suffering with allergies in London.

Wouldn't hurt to check out a few yards and see if it's doable. Depending on where you live/work you could consider Essex, Surrey or Herts.
 
It is sunny, isn't it?

I live and work in Putney and I can drive down the A3 blindfold! Horse is in Bookham which works out very nicely.
 
well hello from a sunny financial district!!

I work here but live & keep my horsey in Essex. He is on full livery – I ride 5 out of 7 days – sometime 6 days, I get to the yard around 6:30 – 7pm every evening & leave between 8:30 & 9pm.

At weekends I go very early (around 6-7 am so I can spend a good 4 hours with my horse & have the rest of the day to myself!

I love where I keep him it is beautiful countryside & its my escape from this city/work lifestyle – I suppose I am a country girl at heart!

Working down here is ok – it pays the bills, also working hard & having a lovely boss means I still compete nationally!!
 
Hiya, and welcome to the forum. I keep Zoom in West London. She lives out 24/7 in cheap as chips grass livery. She is in the grounds of a National Trust Park. I'm lucky she lives out as I couldn't afford the livery round these parts, super expensive!!!
 
I'm in south-east London but haven't ridden for a couple of years due to shortage of dosh. I'm hoping to take it up again soon. I'm in zone 3 and there are stables within walking distance... you'll find them in all sorts of unlikely places!

Good luck with it - and, gosh, isn't it beautiful again today?
 
Is it sunny?

I am currently in a 3 man, windowless office in NW London...... wishing I was anywhere else.

I don't strictly live in London, more Herts/Esses/Middlesex border (but apparently this is North London!!) but it is nicely positioned for Epping Forest.
 
I'm based at Lee Valley Riding Centre, which is great as it's a short cycle from worknin Shoreditch and home in Dalston - would be interested to know if anyone who keeps their horse out East, manages it without a car? I would kill for better hacking, but just can't get my head round how I'd possibly manage it.
 
gosh i didnt realise there was so many london people on here !! i work in london but live just outside inside the M25 so only a 45 min commute into work door to door from my house !!
 
im in london too! just by battersea park. Keep my pony in chessington so i too know the a3 very well doing the drive from work in wimbledon to chessington every day
 
Should have said - I do it carless.

Basically if I had a car, by the time I went home and got it and drove to the yard it's as quick to get a train straight from work to Radlett. There is a bus that goes past the yard though you do need to be organised about bus times especially at night or a 20 minute walk from the station if it's a nice day.

I have fantastic hacking and if I get to that point I can hack to Patchetts for competitions in about 15 minutes.
 
AAAaaaahhhhhhhhh

STOP

You're all making me very jealous.

I wanna be back in London reading all this. I moved to boring Hampshire to have some land and ponio's at home having worked in Islington for years and everytime I go back to see my friends I wanna relocate back there.
 
Worked in Central London. Kept my horse in Mill Hill/Totteridge on a 250 acre farm and hacked to Hampstead Heath, Hyde Park, South Mimms Woods, Brickets Wood and Trent Park.
 
gally said:
im in london too! just by battersea park. Keep my pony in chessington so i too know the a3 very well doing the drive from work in wimbledon to chessington every day
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Are you at CEC? I've just started having lessons there, am aiming to go one or two evenings a week. And I live/work in Wimbledon - whereabouts are you, I work in St Georges Road?

I get the train there currently, but given last time I was out of the house for 3.5 hours for the sake of a 30 minute lesson, I may try and bike or run there, it's only 7 miles or so away.
 
I work in London and live in Oxfordshire 1.5hrs - 2hrs commute (today was closer to 2hrs) depending on First Great Western (there's nothing "first" nor "great" about that train company). OH works locally in Oxfordshire - 5 minutes away from home, so he takes me to train station and picks me up in the evening. We go to the stables together after work, he mucks out, I feed, etc.

But yes, not easy... that's why I'd prefer to escape from London!
 
Hello! I live in London, horse lives in Essex and I do it like this in the mornings:

Cycle Bike 1 to train station near home.
Deposit B1.
Take train to Essex.
Collect Bike 2, which lives at Essex train station.
Cycle to horse.
Ride.
Cycle B2 to Essex train station.
Deposit B2.
Take train home.
Collect B1.
Cycle to work.
Shower and change at work.

I do have a car, but driving back to london at 8 am takes about 5 years with all the traffic!

She is on full livery so I don't do any looking after. Can't normally ride "after work" as "after work" could be 2 am the next morning!
 
I live in London too - live and work in Hackney, share a horse (though technically we have two, but one is retired) with my sister who lives in Hackney and works in Kensington. Drive to Essex every day to look after horse who is on assisted livery. Usually ride a number of other horses at our yard as well, and out competing most weekends.

Not cheap, not easy to combine with a demanding job, a social life and in my case, a new relationship, but it can be done... :-) Absolutely nuts when you look at it or try and explain it to someone. I just couldn't not live in a big city though, or be without horses, so this is the compromise!
 
Hi! Welcome to the forum!!!

I live in West Hampstead, work in the West End and am lucky enough to ride in Hyde Park alomst 6 mornings a week exercising the Household Cavalry horses, Id love my own but this doesn't half make up for the fact I dont!
 
Am another City girl. Well, work in City, live and keep horse in Essex. I have full livery three weekdays, the other days I'm up at 5am to muck out and be on train for 7am.
Am in a job now which is a lot more flexible and has a better work/life balance, but I still have someone finish horse off every day as could never commit in the evenings in case of working late or being out for drinks.
I whinge about it but don't really mind it to be honest....I quite like the bright lights, I like the social aspect, and I like the thought of being able to go to the theatre or a museum after work (although I hardly ever do that....more often than not it'll be the wine bar downstairs from the office!). I also like being able to hack within an hour of leaving my desk, which is what I'll often be doing in the summer!!

Welcome to the forum :)
 
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