Horsey Holidays

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fabian

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I'm looking to diversify our farm in the Scottish Borders and considering the possibility of offering luxury holiday cottages/B&B with the option to bring your own horse. We have a five bedroom farmhouse with self contained annexe, a two-bed cottage and a one-bed cottage that could be let out in any combination. Horse facilities are arena, stables, grazing and direct access to forestry for miles of off road hacking.

My question is, would this kind of holiday appeal to anyone and, if so, what kind of facilities would you want for both horses and humans guests? Would you prefer self catering or bed and breakfast?I would love to know what your dream horsey holiday would entail!
 
Sounds lovely. Good riding country is an essential. Easy to park a lorry good tack storage and places for horse paraphernalia rugs brushes buckets etc.
a deep bath for stiff muscles. Nice food or good SC facilities.
 
pistolpete said:
Sounds lovely. Good riding country is an essential. Easy to park a lorry good tack storage and places for horse paraphernalia rugs brushes buckets etc.
a deep bath for stiff muscles. Nice food or good SC facilities.
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Thanks so much for your reply. We do have lots of parking. I think we would have a tack room solely for guest use. Good call about the deep bath!
 
I've recently started doing holidays like this with a few friends. We did 2 last year and have 2 booked for this year so could say we're hooked 😄 Unfortunately you are way too far from us otherwise we'd be guinea pigs!

Miles of off road hacking is the golden ticket, so you're likely onto a winner. Many extra bonus points if you can recommend routes that are fun/safe/good gates/livestock free etc. and provide good directions.

We prefer to have a substantial breakfast provided as something of a holiday indulgence, but wouldn't dismiss something ideal just because we had to DIY brekkie.

Oh and providing stable bedding (included or extra cost) and mucking out kit is a game changer from a guest POV! Makes packing so much easier for the average horse owner who isn't well practiced at stay-aways etc.

Very happy to answer on any particular Q's you have, I'm the planner and the researcher of the group!
 
flat3 said:
I've recently started doing holidays like this with a few friends. We did 2 last year and have 2 booked for this year so could say we're hooked 😄 Unfortunately you are way too far from us otherwise we'd be guinea pigs!

Miles of off road hacking is the golden ticket, so you're likely onto a winner. Many extra bonus points if you can recommend routes that are fun/safe/good gates/livestock free etc. and provide good directions.

We prefer to have a substantial breakfast provided as something of a holiday indulgence, but wouldn't dismiss something ideal just because we had to DIY brekkie.

Oh and providing stable bedding (included or extra cost) and mucking out kit is a game changer from a guest POV! Makes packing so much easier for the average horse owner who isn't well practiced at stay-aways etc.

Very happy to answer on any particular Q's you have, I'm the planner and the researcher of the group!
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This is all really useful information. Thank you so much! I will be looking for some guinea pig guests once the refurbishments are finished. Do you think guided rides would be of interest or would well-mapped routes suffice?
 
fabian said:
This is all really useful information. Thank you so much! I will be looking for some guinea pig guests once the refurbishments are finished. Do you think guided rides would be of interest or would well-mapped routes suffice?
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Also in terms of grazing, do people prefer small paddocks or larger fields? Do you think an option for restricted grazing would be useful?
 
Having done a fair few stay aways, apart from things mentioned above is somewhere to hang and dry waterproofs or sodden riding gear.
Nothing worse than leaving dripping over a tackroom floor, and definitely not worth upsetting host by hanging over bath or shower etc!

Best place I stayed at had a shared yard kitchen with heating, with a big table to sit round, kettle and fridge. Ideal for winding down after riding but still in horse gear etc, before doing them up for the night.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Having done a fair few stay aways, apart from things mentioned above is somewhere to hang and dry waterproofs or sodden riding gear.
Nothing worse than leaving dripping over a tackroom floor, and definitely not worth upsetting host by hanging over bath or shower etc!

Best place I stayed at had a shared yard kitchen with heating, with a big table to sit round, kettle and fridge. Ideal for winding down after riding but still in horse gear etc, before doing them up for the night.
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That sounds fantastic. We actually have a yard kitchen/laundry room already. It's good to know we are on the right track. Thanks so much everyone for all of your help.
 
rhino said:
Ooh perfect! Nice riding round there
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Hopefully we'll be up and running by the summer but will probably offer some heavily discounted trial stays first so we can make sure any issues are ironed out before taking proper bookings. I'll be sure to stick an update on here when we're ready to open.
 
I'll be watching out for the update. Tbh I'd be all about the hacking and probably make do with whatever facilities were available as long as I could eat and get clean and dry. Also being coeliac if you were to provide breakfast I'd want to know you understand about contamination etc (and I'd feel very embarrassed asking!)

I don't know the first thing about hosting holidays but I'd look into the insurance implications of offering guided rides. Everything seems to be about 'where there's a blame there's a claim' these days.
 
Hackback said:
I'll be watching out for the update. Tbh I'd be all about the hacking and probably make do with whatever facilities were available as long as I could eat and get clean and dry. Also being coeliac if you were to provide breakfast I'd want to know you understand about contamination etc (and I'd feel very embarrassed asking!)

I don't know the first thing about hosting holidays but I'd look into the insurance implications of offering guided rides. Everything seems to be about 'where there's a blame there's a claim' these days.
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That's a very good point re: insurance. I'm coeliac as well so totally get what you're saying. Actually, maybe being allergy aware would be a good selling point!
 
fabian said:
That's a very good point re: insurance. I'm coeliac as well so totally get what you're saying. Actually, maybe being allergy aware would be a good selling point!
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I'd definitely come and stay! 😅 And yes I do think it would be a good selling point.
 
The place I stayed at in Dorset put together maps in holders with directions on the back that you could wear around your neck. Brilliant idea. Each one had an estimated time it took plus mileage.
 
Lovely lady that ran it for many many years made huge and beautiful cakes. Arrival was after lunch so cake time. Then evening meal two or three courses. Heart cooked brekkie. She’d do sandwiches if you needed. We never did. Just came back early afternoon each day in time for more cake. Horses had a small paddock for a bit of fun out. Also stables. Mucking out by a local lady offered too. Owner was in her 70’s so didn’t do the cleaning etc. she was an amazing cook.
 
I live near Cholsey Farm Riding (J5 M40) & they offer camping, hook ups & 1 room plus paddocks for horses. They always seem busy in holiday months so I'd say your idea would absolutely work.

It's all self catering but with a local pub.
 
I haven't been on that kind of holiday, but have been away at camps/training with my horses a few times. I very much prefer to have reasonably large fields, where the horse can move around freely. Not saying a place that couldn't provide that wouldn't be an option for me, but definitely a bonus. Same with the allergy aspect, saying that you're coeliac friendly sounds like a very good selling point.

Maybe offer both guided tours and marked maps. I'd probably prefer navigating using only a map, but there's probably people who prefers guided tours.

Overall, it sounds like a great concept and I wish it was more common here.
 
I used to enjoy doing Bridlerides Holidays when they were in business - you stayed b&b with your horse, were given an OS map marked up, and off you went, eitehr "petal rides" (day rides, coming back to the same b&b) or place-to-place with your luggage being transferred on.
These days I would prefer a one-base holiday so am not packing every day but can spread out and relax in the bedroom. Paddock a must as my horses live out at home. Good riding straight from farm. Nice breakfast or facilities provided to make nice breakfasts (it's easy to have a supermarket delivery to your chosen accommodation to give you all the food you need for your stay if it's not catered). Nice pubs or other eateries nearby for dinner. Nice non-horsey things to visit nearby if the holiday includes a non-riding day.
 
No actual experience yet but would be interested in the near future. Plus you're the ideal location to meet my Scottish pals in the middle.

Guided rides would be more appealing to solo travellers I'd imagine.

Fields preferred over stables but I'd personally prefer smaller fields for diet issues.

Also I'd be thinking of dragging my biking non horsey husband along and he'd like a big breakfast, hot tub and secure bike storage 😅
 
I went to a talk from an equine holiday company once. She said riders won't travel with their horse much over 2 hours to a holiday stay and they tend to be more interested in their horse's accommodation than their own! Think bio-security. Separate paddocks for each visitor, and scrub out the water trough between guests. Safe fencing obviously. Some would want the horses to stay out, so they eat and walk around all night, others might prefer stabled. Even so, somewhere to tie up when preparing to go out riding is necessary. Good riding routes and good instructions essential, that is why they are going there.

Most offer breakfast, maybe evening meal if you are miles from eating places, and if not in walking distance are you going to take them?

Suggest offer a marked up map and instructions for the rides, to be returned when they leave (otherwise they will keep the map and camp somewhere next time so it is cheaper - it happens, and people have actually told me that they used to do that.)

Don't expect hordes of riders, offer the accommodation to bikers, walkers and ordinary guests as well, and think about your prices, obviously with horses you are offering more than a normal B & B.
 
We stayed at a lovely place on Exmoor a couple of years ago. The accommodation for humans was nice but basic, but it had a lovely log burner for the evening (we went end of March). It had a good kitchen with all equipment we needed to cook and a nice big bath. Our horses who usually live out at home were quite happy to be tucked up in the nice big stables for the night after we'd been out riding for hours, and there were small (but not ridiculously so) paddocks for them to be turned out in pairs for a few hours too. Somewhere to put our tack and easy parking for two cars with trailers.

A bonus was a nice little pub 5 mins walk away which was good.

Downside was that the stables didn't have mats, therefore needed to be bedded down well and consequently all the bedding needed to be removed which felt a bit wasteful after only two days. I think it would have been better with mats and a thinner later of straw.
 
fabian said:
Also in terms of grazing, do people prefer small paddocks or larger fields? Do you think an option for restricted grazing would be useful?
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We've done this a few times and while we're happy with a larger field as we usually go as ayard group so the horses are used to each other, smaller paddocks are probably more versatile as a lot of people will be coming with friends where the horses don't live together so more, smaller paddocks would allow more horses to use them. you could always pop a gate between 2 paddocks so if people want to share they can open the gate to give the horses more space.

A drying cupboard is one of the best things I've seen on our horsey camps. It's just a large cupboard with a couple of electric heaters in there. It gets really warm and dries clothes really quickly. That's for accommodation in log cabins with no heating though, a proper cottage might have a better drying solution or just be warmer in general.
 
Your set up sounds great! Like @Suechoccy above, I did a Bridlerides holiday where it was a mixture of "petal rides" (eg. A-A) and some A-B-C-A days, where you stayed at a different place for three consecutive nights. They moved your luggage along for you. It all worked really well, but I remember really enjoying the petal rides as they were shorter rides, and more relaxed.

I'd definitely say that good maps and suggested routes will be very much appreciated - and rides of different lengths and for different interests/experience levels.

Good luck!
 
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