Horse(s)! and full time 9-5.30?

Part Livery for me. I'm up doing everything that needs to be done and riding one end of the day anyway (morning or afternoon depending on shifts), but it's nice to know that if I have an appointment or am not well then she'll still be tended to, turned out etc, and having the end of the day I'm at work covered makes it so much easier, I'd be up at the stables at 11:30pm on a lateshift or 4am on an early shift then, and that idea does not fill me with glee!
 
You can do if your horse is on grass livery.

I was on DIY grass livery for 6 years and I work in London which meant it took 1 and half hours to get to yard from work. It was hard in the winter and I did have some assistance in that YO or another livery would do morning checks and I would in return do the evening checks after work.

I think if you are going to be totally DIY then you need to be live and work near the yard and if your horse is in at night you need to be on a yard where catch in times are flexible so don't have catch in by a certain time which might be earlier than the time you get to work. Ideally your horse will need to be ok out on their own so if you are catching in later than everyone else it is not a problem.

I moved yards and now on part livery and it is so much easier as if I need to stay late at work it is not a problem, if I feel ill again no problem. All I do is groom and ride and at weeks I catch in {though I am 7 day part livery so if I wanted to go away for a weekend that would all be covered too} Also catch in for farrier is included, saving me 5 days annual leave a year - when I was on DIY I was having to take half days off work for farrier.

With regard to riding after work I don't get to yard till 6.50pm but we have a floodlit school so can ride all year round and also as no jobs to do apart from groom and pony is already in his stable munching on his hay it does not take long to get ready to ride.

On our yard there is also assisted DIY which includes T/O and C/I which most people have during the week. All the horses are fed in the morning at 7am and the fields are poo picking is done by yard they have a poo hoover and included in the livery for everyone.

Personally I think it is a bit risky to be on DIY if you have absolutely no-one to help you at all, as if either you or your horse gets sick and need specialist care it could be tricky. I would at least try and find a yard that offers services so if you do have an emergency you do not need to worry about your horse.
 
I work full time and have three on DIY, kept stabled all year part time and all in full work for eventing/hunting.

Mornings take me an hour to turn out, muck out, do hays and waters. Ag night I bring in and ride.

You need to be organised and prepared to get up early. Im I'm on the yard by 6, home around 7 and at my desk by 8. I leave at 4. Often work during my lunch to make sure I'm out at 4.

I don't use any livery services, but my dad often helps in the evenings
 
I work full-time and have two on totally DIY livery. I get up about 6am - sometimes earlier, go to yard and usually exercise one of them - 40 minute hack, quick muck out and chuck them out. I am done by 7.30am or thereabouts. I either then go home to shower, or call in at the leisure centre on the way to work and have a quick swim and shower there and try to get in work by 8.30am. I finish at 5pm and then exercise the other one after work and make sure that everything is ready for the following morning. It can be done easily, but you have to be organised
 
The average person has no choice. I used to work 8-5, ned on DIY with no sharers or help and the yard 6 miles from home. In the winter I'd turn out and muck out in the morning, then ride in an evening (because I knew I wouldn't have the motivation to do both after work). To keep them in full time work you do need a floodlit school, or off-road riding that you know well and a headtorch, but it is doable.

Nowadays I've changed to shift work, and do early shift. I throw out on the way to work, then muck out and ride when I leave in an afternoon. I find it fits better around the horses, though it does force you (kicking and screaming) to become a morning person :)
 
Get up very early and ride, muck out and leave everything ready for the evening before work every day. Then pay for them to be brought in evenings. Easy. I did it for years and rode 5 or 6 times a week.
 
MrMuleMe said:
Just wondering how people manage it! They must do it somehow.

Do correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems the only way it can be done is if you've got sharers galore, full livery, space to keep a horse at home, or your yard is minutes away and or you can get very good assistance. Especially in the winter.

As for working them, most yards I've been involved with feed up well before 6 PM. And after that point working them doesn't generally seem to be done which is understandable. This basically rules out the week.

So at any rate you're only getting two clear days a week to have any quality time?

That is, unless you simply turn them out to grass all week?

From what I can tell, even being a sharer seems difficult. Mainly because the owner is likely in the same situation and will probably want week day help only.

Any thoughts on all this?
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I get up between 5 and 5.30 depending on how tired I am and if I snooze my alarm, turn out, muck out in the winter and just fly spray and pick out feet in the spring/summer/autumn (now, yay!). Work 9-5.30 then back to the yard. Lighter eves I'll ride either in the school or field, or if I wait until 6.30 for traffic to calm down, I'll hack out. Usually 2 times a week, on top of riding on my days off. In winter months I try to going the school some eves, but this winter our flood lights were out (which I think contributed to my lazy no-riding month!).

It is hard, but you just make it work. I barely have a social life in the winter, as people constantly arrange meals etc for around 6.30, but that's not late enough for me! I have never been on livery, but I agree that DIY is much better because you have more bonding time.

Ax
 
I work full time and have 5 horses. Commute takes around an hour and the horses are at home so no help. 2 are in all year round at night and only 3 are ridden but they all get worked at least 5 times a week. Hard work but if you want to do it enough it will happen!
 
I work 7.30am to 4.30pm 4 days a week and 8 to 3 on a friday and i own 1 horse. My yard is a 10min drive away and its DIY. We have daily turnout in winter and 24/7 turnout in summer. I have a lovely girl who turns out in the morning for us and will muck out if you want her to but i do it myself after work. I think it depends on your yard how easy it can be. Our yard is small and everyone helps each other. I dont ride in winter during the week as my mare hates the school so its just weekends but in summer i ride when i can in the evenings and all weekends. I think it just works for some people. I would rather not work but as a single home and horse owner, i dont have a choice and my life and the way we do things suits me and my mare perfectly and thats the main thing. As long as my horse is happy then im happy x
 
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