Home Vs livery

[HeyMich]

Hi All,

I know there was a thread about this recently, but I can't for the life of me find it.

Hubby and I are very tentatively looking at a property that comes with some land and stables. I know the absolute ball-ache that will be selling our current house in the current housing market (current house is actually really lovely, just doesn't have more than a garden), but I can't help constantly thinking of the rural dream of house and land, waking up to see the horses out of the bedroom window etc. I also know the land will take a lot of time, maintenance and money to keep right, and I may miss the companionship etc of the yard I am at.

We are really dithering! So, can the collective HHO audience please try and convince us one way or the other?

Keeping old house pros: horse settled at livery, no moving/costs, lovely house and neighbours, better the devil you know.
Keeping old house cons: livery yard a good 20 mins drive away, diesel and time costs, not so much control over horse routine and care.

Moving to new house pros: land right next to house, riding from home straight after work, getting companion pony
for kids, rural lifestyle, freedom of being in control of horse care.
Moving to new house cons: cost of moving, time/costs of land maintenance, bigger mortgage payments so less to spend on horse (!), loss of livery yard companionship.

Anything I've missed? Any other wise words of wisdom?

Thanks All xx

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Ease of getting cover when you want to go away, are sick etc.
If on livery yard, you usually can get services, at home you need to find a good freelancer (which can be quite tricky in some places!)

Maintenance: On livery, you don't need to be involved with muck heap, water troughs, repairs and replacements of all manner of things, inc fencing.
At home, its down to you...... all of it.... physically and financially....

(ps, I have my own yard, and wouldn't swap for going on livery ever)

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Moving to new house pros: land right next to house, riding from home straight after work, getting companion pony
for kids, rural lifestyle, freedom of being in control of horse care.
Moving to new house cons: cost of moving, time/costs of land maintenance, bigger mortgage payments so less to spend on horse (!), loss of livery yard companionship.

its more difficult and more expensive to get away, its also harder if you are ill-both of these impact on your family.
I keep mine at home or rent land nearby and love it but factor everything in and even with my two, low maintenance and low cost natives its not as easy as being at livery-its more work even when things go well. When you have a winter like the last one/have poorly parents or if like me, you are battling a chest infection that will not die it does make life a bit more difficult. Because of the illness I am behind on outdoor maintenance and have ridden twice in a fortnight despite one of those weeks being annual leave (yes, I am feeling sorry for myself).
Do you have transport? if not factor that in too-means you have it for emergencies and to get yourself about. Can you get the time off work for farrier and vet visits if necessary, how/where will you store hay and bedding (much cheaper in bulk), what will you do about a muck heap etc etc

 

[HeyMich]

Ease of getting cover when you want to go away, are sick etc.
If on livery yard, you usually can get services, at home you need to find a good freelancer (which can be quite tricky in some places!)

Maintenance: On livery, you don't need to be involved with muck heap, water troughs, repairs and replacements of all manner of things, inc fencing.
At home, its down to you...... all of it.... physically and financially....

(ps, I have my own yard, and wouldn't swap for going on livery ever)

Thanks FF.

Yes, I have a few horsey contacts in the area already, and am hoping that horses would be out 24/7 - in an ideal world, holiday/sick cover would be minimal. But that may not be the case, as we know these beasts like to keep us on our toes!

I have a practical OH, who says fencing etc would be fine for him to manage. Removing muck, rolling fields and delivering hay etc, we would have to establish new contracts, yes.

So, even with all the above, you wouldn't have it any different? Would you say go for it? Of course, I will totally blame you, FF, if things go wrong... (!)

 

[Ceriann]

Been in livery, now at home and simply no comparison but it is hard work (def takes you into lifestyle not hobby - assuming you’re not there already).

I miss the network and support of a livery - had to start from scratch for every supplier from farrier, vet to hay, field maintenance etc. People let you down all the time! I don’t find it lonely (i was never a big fan of the livery social side!) as travel for lessons, hack out with others and go out to the odd test but it is hard managing a yard of just 3 neddies!

On the positive every penny I put into the yard is invested in our property not a YOs. No one’s making more land so long term I think it’s a better use of my money - I would have to be on full livery as turnout etc on a diy yard would be impossible (with time to travel there).

Advice - get yourself as much land as you can for your needs. Do whatever you can to make life easier for yourself eg we’ve just finished hard standing the yard and added a poo pit (last winter was awful trying push the barrow from the yard to our pile in the field). We have a poo Hoover (Best Buy ever). This all means you have more time to spend with the neddies, which is ultimately the point.

 

[HeyMich]

its more difficult and more expensive to get away, its also harder if you are ill-both of these impact on your family.
I keep mine at home or rent land nearby and love it but factor everything in and even with my two, low maintenance and low cost natives its not as easy as being at livery-its more work even when things go well. When you have a winter like the last one/have poorly parents or if like me, you are battling a chest infection that will not die it does make life a bit more difficult. Because of the illness I am behind on outdoor maintenance and have ridden twice in a fortnight despite one of those weeks being annual leave (yes, I am feeling sorry for myself).
Do you have transport? if not factor that in too-means you have it for emergencies and to get yourself about. Can you get the time off work for farrier and vet visits if necessary, how/where will you store hay and bedding (much cheaper in bulk), what will you do about a muck heap etc etc

Thanks MoC.

Yes, we have decided that all holidays from now on will be spent at home! Joking aside, holiday cover is something we have discussed, and hope to have that covered.

Yes, I have a trailer, and lots of local hacking buddies. Also just got involved (before horse injured herself!) with local unaff dressage at riding club, so would still hope to be out and about. There's no school at the potential new house tho, so would need to find a bit of dry, flat field to school in, or borrow a neighbour's school.

Work could be flexible, as OH and I own half of the company. Some days I'm away on site tho, so these things would have to be worked out between us. Not a show stopper, but definitely a consideration!

 

[Polos Mum]

Agree with lots above but I would add loneliness and the temptation to start on the never ending job list rather than ride.
There is always poo to pick, fence to mend, stuff to tidy, calls to make etc. and I struggle with motivation to ride.
Find a lovely neighbour to hack with, join a riding club or even look at those video dressage competitions etc. to have something to work towards.

Lack of motivation was a big surprise to me.- but not uncommon

 

[MotherOfChickens]

you sound sorted then

we live quite remote in a new area to us, so not that easy to find help from the get go-it all went very difficult when OH's mother suddenly became very ill but I couldnt leave the horses much during the first year. It was one of those things that we werent expecting for quite a few years yet. And despite OH being used to having the horses for about 8 years prior, I think he didnt quite realise the amount of commitment it takes-so I've had to make sure we get time off away together. Have a great house/horse sitter now. I wouldnt do it any other way but there have been a handful of occasions where I thought life would be simpler if I didnt have to do the horses myself today! then I see them and they cheer me up.
Its good to have horsey friends around, I could have used that when having problems with one of mine (or I might have got rid of him sooner lol).

 

[HeyMich]

you sound sorted then

HAhahahahahhahahhah!!!!! (nervous laughter)

 

[HeyMich]

Been in livery, now at home and simply no comparison but it is hard work (def takes you into lifestyle not hobby - assuming you’re not there already).

I miss the network and support of a livery - had to start from scratch for every supplier from farrier, vet to hay, field maintenance etc. People let you down all the time! I don’t find it lonely (i was never a big fan of the livery social side!) as travel for lessons, hack out with others and go out to the odd test but it is hard managing a yard of just 3 neddies!

On the positive every penny I put into the yard is invested in our property not a YOs. No one’s making more land so long term I think it’s a better use of my money - I would have to be on full livery as turnout etc on a diy yard would be impossible (with time to travel there).

Advice - get yourself as much land as you can for your needs. Do whatever you can to make life easier for yourself eg we’ve just finished hard standing the yard and added a poo pit (last winter was awful trying push the barrow from the yard to our pile in the field). We have a poo Hoover (Best Buy ever). This all means you have more time to spend with the neddies, which is ultimately the point.

Thanks Ceriann.

 

[HeyMich]

Agree with lots above but I would add loneliness and the temptation to start on the never ending job list rather than ride.
There is always poo to pick, fence to mend, stuff to tidy, calls to make etc. and I struggle with motivation to ride.
Find a lovely neighbour to hack with, join a riding club or even look at those video dressage competitions etc. to have something to work towards.

Lack of motivation was a big surprise to me.- but not uncommon

Thank you PM. I think my horse would appreciate it if I lacked motivation occasionally! (lazy so-and-so that she is)

Joking aside, I understand that the list of jobs may be vvveeeeerrrryyyyy long, and the relaxing and enjoyment of the horses may get lost along the way. Definitely something to bear in mind...

 

[ponios]

If you write a list I imagine there would be more cons than pros. HOWEVER for me the biggest pro, that outweighs all the cons is having full control over your horse, what it eats/ turn out/exercise etc. My horses have never looked as good since they moved home. I have been on DIY livery where turnout wasn't in my control and full livery where horses never truly had ad lib forage. Now my horses are out as much as poss and when they come in during the winter they have as much to each as they want. I do however have to remind myself of this when I get a little lonely or long for an arena that I can just pop in when Im short on time rather than always having to box up.

Edited to add that we found that we are always on the bottom of the list for land management stuff, rolling/harrowing/spraying/muck heap removal etc etc. as contractors put bigger farms higher on the list (understandable). So I would budget to buy your own equipment, while expensive upfront, it is absolutely worth it. We started with quad and trailer and have added harrow, roller, topper, sprayer, spreader. The window of opportunity to do some of these things is small (e.g. rolling after winter while wet enough to make an impact but dry enough not to get stuck!) so if you don't have it yourself and you only have small acreage it just wont get done. We have 12 acres and it is manageable for us.

 

[southerncomfort]

We moved to our property last November and I have absolutely no regrets.

Yes it is bloody hard work and the never ending job list does sometimes impact on riding time but you become very self sufficient. We've worked really hard on the land management and changing the yard to suit our needs but we get a great sense of satisfaction when we get the jobs done.

Do think about how rural is too rural! I love it here but I know many people might feel isolated.

This was a huge move for us (120 miles away...leaving all my friends and family) but you can't beat taking a cuppa out and watching your horses graze. And yes, I do check them in my PJs.

My advice would be to for it!

 

[HeyMich]

If you write a list I imagine there would be more cons than pros. HOWEVER for me the biggest pro, that outweighs all the cons is having full control over your horse, what it eats/ turn out/exercise etc. My horses have never looked as good since they moved home. I have been on DIY livery where turnout wasn't in my control and full livery where horses never truly had ad lib forage. Now my horses are out as much as poss and when they come in during the winter they have as much to each as they want. I do however have to remind myself of this when I get a little lonely or long for an arena that I can just pop in when Im short on time rather than always having to box up.

Edited to add that we found that we are always on the bottom of the list for land management stuff, rolling/harrowing/spraying/muck heap removal etc etc. as contractors put bigger farms higher on the list (understandable). So I would budget to buy your own equipment, while expensive upfront, it is absolutely worth it. We started with quad and trailer and have added harrow, roller, topper, sprayer, spreader. The window of opportunity to do some of these things is small (e.g. rolling after winter while wet enough to make an impact but dry enough not to get stuck!) so if you don't have it yourself and you only have small acreage it just wont get done. We have 12 acres and it is manageable for us.

Thanks Ponios

My hubby is already eyeing up a sit on mower (for the garden) and a quad for the stables, I'm sure he'll need no encouragement to buy the rest of that list!! (Mr Bank may object slightly tho...) Being able to use the gadgets, and knowing when/what to do may be a bit more difficult!! Boys and their toys, eh!?

 

[milliepops]

Thank you PM. I think my horse would appreciate it if I lacked motivation occasionally! (lazy so-and-so that she is)

Joking aside, I understand that the list of jobs may be vvveeeeerrrryyyyy long, and the relaxing and enjoyment of the horses may get lost along the way. Definitely something to bear in mind...

The jobs are indeed endless, i found it helped to have times of the day when I rode and did NOT do jobs then

I LOVED having them at home but I really did get a bit lonely. I also work from home so basically never went anywhere most days and while I never struggled to motivate myself to ride, I hadn't realised how much I got from the social aspect of being on a yard (even a not-perfect yard!) Starting a green horse was also tricky without any other riders close by to help nanny her.

It's so special being able to see them from your window though and at some point I hope to be in that position again, I will just have to make a bit more of an effort to get some more local horsey connections to avoid the isolation factor.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Horses at home every time I would never want to go back to having them on livery again.

 

[LHIS]

I moved to my first horsey home last year. I love it, but it’s hard work. As others have mentioned the maintenance is a big one, both in time and money. If anything goes wrong or breaks it’s up to you.
Muck heap removal is my biggest issue at the moment, I cannot find anyone for this for love nor money.
I miss having company, someone to chat to and ride out with. I find I spend more time doing jobs than I do riding.
All that being said I do love it and I would pick it every time.

 

[FBDD]

Definitely love having them at home and would never go back to livery if I can ever help it.

Yes, there is always something to do. But isn't there always in life? Totally agree about a previous poster saying that it really is a lifestyle. It is and I love it. I've made connections with local people and that does help when you need anything doing.

I do however need to find a hacking friend or two, and that will happen, I just need to make the effort.

I love it and my horses have never been so relaxed xx