Help me!!!

dominobrown

dominobrown

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I quit horses around 6 months ago and got a terrible office job. I cannot stand it, people are lovely but i have never been so bored and i cant 'sit' all day.

Anyways I have decided I want to start my own yard. Even working full time i have a few clients who I break and school for as well as teaching.

The problem is finding a yard. I need a base. I have tried freelance but it is easier and more profitavle to have horses sent to you.

The next problem is... I will have to rent. I have a bit of money saved up but a lot of properties which fit the bill are over 500,000 and this in Cumbria, one of the cheapest places in England.

I was thinking if i could get a long term lease on land with some sort of barn on it, or rent a yard.
I am looking in Cumbria, preferably north and west. I have phoned all esate agents and land agents to no avail.

The only other thing would be working on yard where I could bring my own horse, probably a stud where I could break, school and produce their stock for them. I am to old now to work for pittance though, would need to a reasonable wage, i.e slighlty more than minimum, long gone are the days when I slave away for someone for £2 an hour!

Ideas, suggestions welcome.
My dream has always been to run my own yard but its looking more unlikely and I have to spend the rest of my life doing a rubbish call centre job which I hate. 😢
 
Your thread title probably isn't helping - something a bit more explanatory might have got you a few responses!

Before you go diving into renting yards or land - do you have any experience running a business? Have you worked out budgets like how much you can afford for other things, like insurance? What would you do if you suddenly find yourself without clients? Are you registered as self-employed? As much as you might not like "sitting down", you ARE going to have to deal with a lot of 'boring' office stuff. The content may be horse related, but you will still have to think about things like tax, advertising, licenses (depends on the council).

Apologies if you have all of this worked out, but I would get the above in place, with a business plan, before you commit to anything land-wise. Perhaps a few years working at a yard in a more business-related role would help, so you can learn before making the leap yourself?

Good luck, hope it all works out for you!
 
You could rent a couple of boxes at a DIY yard with good facilities as a starting point? Build the business first with as little outlay as possible and get the reputation you will need (assuming you don't already have it).

Also why did you give up? Are you sure going back to horses is the answer. Perhaps another job would be better. Don't think I fancy a call centre either!
 
I'm afraid the only advice I can give you (as an accountant) is don't do it. It's really hard work, for very little return; you're also taking a high risk with your health if you're breaking and producing. It's "OK" if you've bought your own land/premises, you can just about get it to pay, but renting is really unlikely to get you much long-term. In 15-20 years time, you will not want to be doing the hard physical work that it entails, and what happens if you seriously injure yourself?

Plus, as Numpers says, there's a lot of boring paperwork that goes along with running a business!
 
I'd say rent a field somewhere within hacking distance of a good arena, keep your day job and do this part time. If you end up getting too busy for part time great! If it doesn't work out you haven't lost a lot and you have tried.

I guarantee if you try to run your own horsey business by renting out a yard you will be working for much less than £2 an hour! ( take this from someone who has been there, done it, loved it but also wanted to do things like 'eat' and 'pay bills')

Good luck with your dream :)
 
I would start by getting some boxes on a yard on a DIY type basis .
You can then test the water without full responsibility of taking a yard .
There are bound to be yards to rent in Cumbria there's are lots of people round here doing what your talking about from small rented yards and blocks of stables on larger ones .
 
Goldenstar said:
I would start by getting some boxes on a yard on a DIY type basis .
You can then test the water without full responsibility of taking a yard .
There are bound to be yards to rent in Cumbria there's are lots of people round here doing what your talking about from small rented yards and blocks of stables on larger ones .
Click to expand...

I totally agree; there's not much to lose from giving it a go by renting a couple of boxes on a livery yard. I'd go into understanding that it might not work out, but I've worked in a call centre in the past and know your despair! I love my current teaching job but would certainly take a punt if I thought I could make a career of horses. Good luck!
 
The idea of renting a few DIY boxes to start with is a good idea - do let the YO know you'd be running your own business from their business as it might affect insurance. You've got your mare and foal as well you I presume they'll go with you.

Building a client base is the hardest thing. There are loads of people out there who try to say they can break / produce horses. But who don't have the reputation or industry experience to back it up. I'm being horribly generalistic here - but the clients you are going to attract in the first place are going to be looking for something cheap (you won't be able to charge what someone with a proven background can) but the chances are they'll be expecting something rolls royce in exchange which, when you can't deliver to their expectations, is going to lead to problems.

It looks like your previous horsey experience was in racing. Is there any scope for you to get a role in a show or competition producing yard to get some of that type of experience and perhaps some industry connections? It has more general appeal than the ability to produce a pointer. As a previous responder mentioned too - there is a prodigious amount of paperwork involved in this. If you don't already have your stage 4 that would probably be a good background. But you could work toward that whilst running from a DIY yard or as a WP in a larger producing yard.
 
I have worked on many yards...
I have manged a 50 horse trekking/ riding school. Ran a pretraining and breaking yard for racing, worked for olympic eventer, show jumping dealer etc etc. I have done all the paperwork, risk assessments, accounts etc.
I have also produced hunter and more recently arabs, breaking and showing them.

Lasy year during summer i rented half the yard of my previous employer and took in horses to school break. I got to the point i was too busy without hiring staff and took someone on part time.
Staying within the Cumbria area I believe I would have work, however the chances are making a 'comfortable' living is unlikely.
Obvously not registered self employed at the moment, but my parents where and i have a good friend who is an accoutant.

As for places to rent in Cumbria, its like hens teeth!
I do agree people who do this kind of thing and 'make' money already have the land/house etc there alrready. I only have 3 stables and 2 acres.

I am obvisously stuck between a rock and a hard place. I cannot continue my current job for long without driving off the edge of a cliff soon. When I say boring its exteremly boring, not just like admin work can be. Everything single aspect of your day is controlled, from how you arrange your desk, how many minutes you take to go to the loo. Also 0 hour contract, no notice period, if your a minute late it is recorded and you will be fired if it happena more than once. If you are ill more than 3 times you will be fired. Your are timed on how long it takes to write an email down the the second, constant targets to hit and reminders are how you are failing this and that. Its hell.

Annoying thing is I have a degree, A levels, Nebosh exams etc. If i am going to be poor and work for minimum wage or lower it might as be doing something I enjoy?

Also have stage 4, ukcc 2, and have been a working pupil.
 
Then DominoBrown you seem extremely experienced and qualified.
Just go for it ! Do you have any contacts who would rent you part of their yard ?
Could you go back to the previous arrangement you had ?
When I went self employed after a VERY well paid job I felt as if I had jumped off a cliff but sometimes you just have to risk it and hope you fly.
 
FfionWinnie said:
You could rent a couple of boxes at a DIY yard with good facilities as a starting point? Build the business first with as little outlay as possible and get the reputation you will need (assuming you don't already have it).

Also why did you give up? Are you sure going back to horses is the answer. Perhaps another job would be better. Don't think I fancy a call centre either!
Click to expand...

I used a show producer who rents a few stables at a livery yard and she has her own fields there and it works really well and she is doing very well financially,
 
dominobrown said:
Annoying thing is I have a degree, A levels, Nebosh exams etc. If i am going to be poor and work for minimum wage or lower it might as be doing something I enjoy?

Also have stage 4, ukcc 2, and have been a working pupil.
Click to expand...

Working in a call centre is absolutely soul destroying! Nebosh is a pretty desirable qualification for a lot of employers. Can you not find something that uses that? Have you tried ringing round some specialist agencies to see what they have? Contracting pays very well and gives you lots of time to play ponies on the side and would at least tide you over till you found suitable premises
 
Was offered the whole yard at one point but was just in my early 20's with no savings but said no! Wish i hadnt but hey ho that's life.
Got my NEBOSH to get a job at sellafield, but its who you know not what you know it seems!
Woukd love to buy low farm, its one of the best run hards in the area, but unfortuantly won't get a mortgage, but will approach owners and see if they would be willing to rent a part, i used to work for them and am good friends.

I think where i work now is particualry soul destroying as 90% is dealing with complaints, unhappy customers. You get some abuse, obviously its not personal, as much as it seems like it, but nobody wants to be shouted and screamed abuse at for 8 hours a day.

Agree if i could contract or had a well paid job that didnt want to make you jump off a bridge I would at least have more time or money to throw at my own horses.
 
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