Holidays with your horse.

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Hillfarmjane

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Hi. I was just wondering if any of you people have used, or would ever consider using, a holiday let or campsite where there were paddocks/stabling available for you to take your horse with you. We are considering setting something along those lines up but are not really sure what kind of interest there might be. We are in the middle of rural Devon about 20 minutes from Datmoor or Exmoor, lots of small country lanes and could provide off road riding on the farm too. Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance.
 
sounds good to me, if the human and horsey B&B were up to the same standard. We went on a hol in Wales where such accommodation was available and it was great. They organised trails of 4 - 6 days with neighbouring properties so people could tour the area on horseback. Sounds like you're in the right location.

Go for it and good luck
 
Hi Jane, welcome to the forum! :)

I have also been thinking of setting up something like this but am still considering my options. I know a few friends who take their horses off once or twice a year for holidays, they probably travel no more than 2 hours from home to their destinations. I'm not sure how far people would want to travel with their horses, or how much they would be willing to spend for this type of holiday, considering the extra costs of horse transport/horse livery etc.
Other things to consider would be insurance and business rates- tho not sure how this would be calculated as it's not a regular livery type arrangement?

Do you offer B&B/Holiday Cottage accommodation already? If so you could always trial it for now and see how much interest you get?

I'd be interested to hear how things go if you do decide to go ahead, as i may well go down this route next year too!
:)
 
I have been to a few of these and have several friends who take their horses on holiday too!

For me, well cared for grazing with safe fencing and shelter is a must. A stable is also important in case of bad weather and to have somewhere to get your horse ready.
 
Have taken my horse on holiday several times over the years and have had great fun. Been to Mid Wales, Quantocks, Exmoor and Gloucestershire.

Requirement are:
Well fenced individual turn out were horses can not kick through fencing (or a corridor between turn out paddocks).
Stabling with water supply,mucking out wheelbarrow forks, brooms etc
Hardstanding for horseboxes/trailers
Safe out-riding either on farm tracks, direct access to bridleways and/or safe lanes.
List of local vets and farriers
 
Thank you for your comments! We have assorted lists of ifs and maybes and various possible options! There are so many possible variables and I guess it would be a case of trying to get the best balance of everything to start with. We would probably be looking at a self catering holiday let and initially possibly camping only 28 days a year to test the water as you don't need permission for that length of time as a campsite. Whether we provided units (tipis/yurts..)could be a possiblity. Numbers would be restricted to match horse accomodation in the first place, I guess. Also whether there was an option to use just grass keep or not instead of stable+paddock. There is also an inside school and ample parking for trailers etc. Lots more to keep thinking though!
 
We are always on the look out for more places in exmoor to take our horses as we head down that way quite a lot, but the big no for us is places that charge silly money to take dogs - for example we have 4 well behaved Springer spaniels but if we were to take them to most of the places already up and running it could potentially add up to over £100 for the week just for them to stay with us too :-( so that definitely let's some of the places down .............. Somewhere secure ie a stable with a top door to shut them in while you go for a ride etc but where they will be safe while you are gone.
 
I went away once - horses stayed at a stables in the New Forest and we stayed on a local campsite. We did look into similar places where we could stay onsite with the horses but it worked out much more expensive, I would think cost would be a factor.

The stables we were at only gave us stables, no field, which was fine as it was only for a few days and we were out riding for a good few hours a day so the horses werent too cooped up.

Do you have direct hacking onto bridleways that reach Dartmoor/Exmoor? In all honesty I wouldnt want to stay somewhere I had to do 20 minutes of roadwork before getting to the moors - my thoughts on country lanes from the times Ive been to Devon is that I wouldnt want to ride along them if I could avoid it!
 
I really want to take my horse away, but not sure if OH would like it as he doesn't ride, I think it would depend on the place really as he said he would be up for biking along with us. I might feel a bit bad if he didn't come depending on how expensive it was!

This is the place I am thinking of going next summer, its not far from me and some people I know just went and really liked it http://www.forestlodgeholidays.co.uk/

From the gallery I think if you were going to set up accommodation - make it look like that! I love the idea of a lodge! For the horses I would prefer a well fenced field over stables and I wouldn't go somewhere with no turnout unless it were just for a night or two.

Would love either forest or beach location personally, but then most places are better than our hacking :-)

I would personally find a week of riding and camping a bit too hard, especially in summer, I need my home comforts if I've exerted myself and a hot sweaty tent would not be ideal! A mobile home or caravan to rent would be a nice compromise :-)
 
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