Horses at home - pros and cons

Ive always kept my horses at home, never had to livery and I really would struggle at the thought of it. At my own house now, my horses are literally in a field at the side of our garden (I walk through my back garden straight into their field). I did have to spend money when we moved here as there were no stables so I had a stable block built with tack room etc. I think you need to make the facilities etc. right for you in the first place. I made sure I got decent electric and lighting put in along with water etc. even though the stable block is very close to my house. I also had a hardcore base the stables are on as I leave the stable doors open 24/7 so they can come and go (and its free draining) but I can also put in when necessary. I do things to suit my life so rather than doing haynets, I have a big round bale feeder which makes things much easier and low maintenence. Rolling the bale into the feeder is annoying (only because it would churn my field up so badly if the farmer came in with it) but better than faffing doing nets. I just try to minimise little irritations, and I can do this because its my land etc. so I can keep them however I wish. I would hate to have someone else (ie. a YO) control anything I do with my horses. So I'd say the control aspect is a huge plus point. Also just not having people around, I feed mine every morning still in my PJ's ;) And I can pop outside whenever I like to check on them, I see them even when I'm going to the car. Id hate to have to make specific journeys to a yard, it would make it such an effort. The only thing I miss out on without being on livery is potentially having a school and having people to hack out with but its not enough of a pull for me to ever choose to go on livery.
 
Thanks again everyone, I feel very much reassured. Having had control of their lives for 9 years, even with the major drawbacks, has been brilliant. Lots of great tips on set up too. MagicMelon, the round feeder has been one of the biggest positive changes I made. But good point about trying to get it onto the field without machinery, will put that in my planning ;)

ycbm that's a great barn - can't see us putting up something like that, but it's actually how I would ideally like to keep them!
 
Lintel said:
I'm moving my boy home on Saturday.
Only cons to me are the cost of repairs etc.
But when you think about it... I'm paying 35 per week.. So nearly 2k a year and that's DIY.

A lot of repairs will be done ourselves so not 2k a year hopefully :p

I realise I won't have hacking buddies but tbh I'm not all that sociable anyway and I can trailer him to go hacking with others!

But the FREEDOM will just surpass everything I believe... But I'll let you know in a years time if I still feel the same way!!
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Good luck! How exciting for you :)
 
now_loves_mares said:
ycbm that's a great barn - can't see us putting up something like that, but it's actually how I would ideally like to keep them!
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I'm very lucky, it was a sheep shed built before planning regs, so no change of use required. And it accesses the field directly through a door on the left.

You can put a webcam focused on a ring feeder in a field, for the same check up when you are away from home. Anywhere you know you will be certain to see them.
 
I had my horse on full livery for past 10 years so was a little worried when I moved house and was able to keep them at home. However it has been BRILLIANT! I love having them just outside. I especially like how much stronger the bond is with my very special semi retired lad as don't ride him as much as other one and when we were on livery that the only attention he really got from me was from grooming, now he gets cuddles and carrots throughout the day.

We are very lucky that stables are outside backdoor. The fields are up a very steep hill and are quite narrow so when they are in the back of the 12 acre field it is quite a trek but the way I think of it is that I would rather spend time walking to get them then driving to a livery yard!

We are also lucky in that we have found a very reliable and experienced local lady that is £15 a day to cover all stable/turn out duties. This has been a god send as OH was worried we would be tied to horses and not go on holiday/socialise! Also made friends with lady around the corner so have a riding companion most days. We don't have an arena but do have a box so go schooling twice a week, while it would be nice to have an arena at home I cant justify cost and I think it is good practice going out in the box and riding in different places.

I think it is fantastic to have horse at home and it is what most of us have probably always dreamed of but if any of the above points were not in place I think I would struggle. I have 3 at home and work full time, they are stabled at night (day in summer) so it is a lot of work to fit in (well compared to livery anyway!) but for me it is worth it, the pros (own rules/no bitching/no items going alkies/ things exactly how you want) definitely outweigh the cons
 
I've done DIY and Full Livery in the past and have had my own place for a year (circa 9 acres, 3 timber stables, riding arena). There is absolutely no comparison as most folk on here have said!

However with a full time job its pretty hard going and I do find the never ending maintenance exhausting. Plus I find the lack of actual riding (due to work, the aforementioned maintenance, being plain knackered or the horrible weather!) a bit disheartening. However having the horses with me is priceless. I know what they're getting to eat/drink; they're getting cleaned, fed, turned out/brought in the way I want them to be; they've come on leaps and bounds and I love being able to see them from the house. Plus its lovely to be able to use an arena when I want to & not have to wait for other liveries or riding school classes to finish.

Main cons are:

Expense... Its expensive having your own place. No two ways about that one.
Mud (clay soil) (soon teaches you how to prepare gateways with road planings however)
Weeds (rushes/docks/thistles the size of mountains!)
Moles (we spent months of hard labour getting the fields back to decent grazing only for the moles to move in lol)
Lack of proper drainage around stables, in fields etc. Why the previous owners didn't put drains around the stables I don't know, every time it rains they flood!
Lack of time for riding (but I have decided to get a sharer or two to help me keep the boys tip top)
Holidays are very short breaks organised months in advance so I can rope in a friend to help me.
Mice/rabbits (you need farm cats)
 
TotalMadgeness said:
Moles Mice/rabbits (you need farm cats)
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Add anything else that destroys/digs. We have rabbits and badgers - badgers are the worst as they are protected. Luckily they only feed on our land - ie small holes. But the have dug a set under a neighbours whole stable block making it unsafe to use!! Ask about them when viewing land is my recommendation.
 
The one thing i whole heartedly recommend is putting in a turnout pen. Not expensive to do but godsend in this horrid weather!! Our's is about 20x20 with road planings then half the area has sand so they can roll etc and shelter in one corner. Big enough for our 2 to go in and lets them wander about rather than being confined to stables. These are from the first year it was put in - as you'll see, the paddock was trashed. Now doesn't get like that at all with combination of turnout/pen/stables.

turnoutpen1.jpg

turnoutpen.jpg


We're fairly lucky in the fact that OH works from home a fair bit so around to do jobs and i only work 10 mins away and back for lunch too. Pro's definitely outway the cons, only thing i miss is someone to ride out with if OH is busy in the week, but have a school and 2 to exercise so not a huge deal breaker. And i definitely don't envy anyone having to drive to the yard etc when the weather is horrendous and you literally just have to run out, bring in, feed etc - 10 mins then another 5 to put them back out again later!!
 
That's a really smart set up. When they lived out, I tried to recreate something similar. I had the shelter and hardstanding but it was in a hollow basically, and even when I tried to fence it, it still became a mud pit. I've got a hardstanding area near the house, and that's actually where they go during the day right now and they are really quite happy in it for the moment. I will definitely definitely get a solid set-up like yours. I put my round feeder in the hardstanding and they were mostly very happy.
 
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