Help choosing between different livery yards?

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icyfreya

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Ok, so I've been looking for a new horse for ages, and on Friday am going to see one who looks just right, for full loan. So I've been looking at the local yards, and I feel really confused! So could I have your opinions?

So, yard number 1 is 10 mins walk from my house. It has an american barn of 6 stables, and all year fenced turnout. It's just a farmer who's got some extra land and stables, it's all DIY, but he has his own hay and straw. Hasn't got a school/jumps or it's own hacking, but there are 3 schools in the area that the other liveries use, and there is alot of good hacking and bridleways around. It's £20 for stable and paddock, and then hay/straw bales depend on different usage and the time of year.

Yard number 2 is a big livery, equestrian centre, training yard and stud...they have about 60 horses, loads and loads of really good turnout, a floodlit indoor school and outdoor school, BSJA showjumps, and they offer training, which I could do alongside keeping a horse there. They have a big lorry where they take the girls who keep the horses there out to competitions/hunting at the weekend, so that would take alot of pressure off my mum haha! But they're a 20 min drive from me, and I can't drive yet, so it would probably be my mum ferrying me there. They have really good hacking in a forest on their doorstep. Livery is £40 for DIY, which includes stable, paddock, and hay. Working livery, where they use the horse about 2/3 times a week (not a riding school, but for their NVQ placements) is £40 and includes hay, bedding and hard feed. Although the facilities sound really good, and the horses looked in excellent condition when I went to look round, and theoretically it would be ideal, I kinda got a bad feeling about it, I didn't feel very comfortable there, not sure why? I felt like I might be judged by the people who run the yard :S it felt a bit snooty, so yeah, really not sure about it.

Yard number 3 is again a reasonable sized yard, about 20/25 horses. It has nice big boxes, and an outdoor school, although it doesn't have a brilliant surface, and has jumps, but not recently painted! and the school isn't that well lit in the evenings. Most of their hacking is roadwork, although they're quiet lanes. The yard is quite messy, but in a friendly way, and all the horses looked in really good condition too. It is about 15 min drive from my house in the opposite direction of number 2, and there is a bus which goes from outside my house to outside the yard, so I could get there under my own steam. They have an equestrian centre which holds unaff dressage and showjumping within hacking distance. They're livery is DIY £28 a week, includes stable/paddock, and get all your own stuff, or Part, which is £80 a week, and includes stable/paddock/hay/straw/feed & supps diet tailored to you/and any mucking out/grooming/full care of your horse on days you can't get there. There is also the possibility that I could have a job as a groom with them part time. Although the facilities at this yard aren't as good as number 2, and I wouldn't necessarily be able to compete or hunt much because of lack of my own transport, and it is wayyyyyyyy more expensive than number 2, because to be honest i'm fine doing all my mucking out myself, I really really liked the people and the yard owner! I felt really at home, and it had a really friendly feel.

AAAAaaaaahhh so I feel really confused? Do I go with what my heart tells me is best, number 3, where although not as good a yard, really nice and friendly, or what my head tells me is best, number 3, because it's half the price, has better facilities, holds its own comps and clinics and can take you out to comps/hunting etc, and I could get some equestrian qualifications too?
Or do I just go with cheap number 1, near my house?

Thankyou for reading and sorry for the essay! :)
 
Would be yard number 1 for me!

I prefer a small yard with good turn out to a large one - the first yard I was one was huge - 70 + horses and I hated it! My current yard, when I moved to it was fields and stable and nothing else (well fab hacking)

If you have easy access to arena's at yard 1 I'd go with that but it will be more difficult in the winter - I struggled last winter and was often found lunging by head torch in the field or trailering to nearby arenas!
 
I'd go for number 1 too, would kill for my yard to be a 10 min walk from my house! :)

Have never been happier than on our current yard of 7 stables, very basic DIY with all-year turnout, lovely & stress-free!

Previously been on middle-sized (25 horses) & large (100+ horses!), never again. Great facilities, but a battle to use them when everyone else wants to. Bloomin' long walk to the fields! Hated the inevitable yard politics too.

I guess it depends what you want to do, and how much you want to compete & hunt.

Best of luck! :)
 
1 for me too but if you prefer more company, I'd go for 3. I wouldn't touch 2 with a bargepole unless you have the skin of a rhino by the sound of it.
Maybe try 1 first to see how you get on then if you decide you need more help or facilities, go for 3 then.
 
I think you need to think about what you want to do with your horse.
1) Sounds nice and local but without transport and facilities would you get lonely? Can you get to competitions etc if thats what you want to do? Any chance of getting lessons which should be essential with new horse?
2) If you get a bad feeling don't touch it. Firstly you couldn't put a loan horse onto working livery without owners permission. Secondly do you want to be relying on your mum to get to and fro? you will probabaly want to spend lots of time getting to know your horse which parents in a rush might not understand! Facilities are great but if you go to another busy-ish yard you will probably find friends to share lifts with etc
Option 3) If you get a good feeling about it, seems like a winner. Still lots of company- possibly opportunity for contributing to lifts, sharing lessons etc- horses don't notice whether paint is flaking on jumps! Is the school surface safe but just not cushiontrack or whatever? Owning a horse is supposed to be fun and you need to be somewhere you feel comfortable- if you could work a bit to help pay your livery you would learn a lot too...
 
Thinks as I stand now I'd go for No.1, that is a nice quiet yard, somewhere to escape from and have a bit of peace and time to myself, although when I was younger would probably have gone for No.3 as maybe No.1 will be a bit too quiet for you?

Hard choice though but def not No.2 - if you've got a bad feeling about then you should go with your gut instinct and its probably not the right place!

Good luck with whatever you choose.
 
i would go for number 1 or 3, was previously at a yard like number 2 and i hated it ! to much drama, people are in everyones business judging you from your riding to how expensive your tack is, not fun at all, i moved to a yard like number 1 and i love it, its so easy to just walk or bike to the yard whenever (cos i dont drive yet either) and my horse loves the relaxed atmosphere, i have to also hack up the road to the menage but it works out fine, i would say number one
good luck :)
 
Haha ok thanks people :) Yeah, I really don't think number 2 would be the place, got to trust the gut instinct, I just felt bad because they have such great facilities/opportunities! Yeah I'm thinking possibly go to number one to start with, so I can get to know the horse and spend loads of time with it without other people interfering, and establish a bond, yeah we have a few local freelance instructors so I could have lessons, and then maybe when I want to get out and compete more and do more move to number 3? :P Thanks for all your advice anyway :)
 
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