How do Livery Yards work?

[Grackle123]

I will be buying my first horse when I return to the UK in a few months time.
I have ridden for many years but never had the privilege of owning a horse before and would be really grateful for any help with the following questions:

- Will I need to find a Livery Yard before I start to look for my horse or should the process be happening at the same time?
- If I find a yard I would like to keep my horse at, would I be expected to pay for the livery to hold the space while I look for a horse? How long would a Livery Yard keep a space available for me?
- In your experience, how do Livery Yards organize the use of facilities? If they have 1 arena, do you book slots or is it a free for all and you are expected to share?

I understand it may vary from place to place but would be very appreciative to hear about your experiences.

Many thanks for your time!

 

[meleeka]

You need to find the yard first and reserve a space. There are much fewer than there used to be so good yards usually have waiting lists.

Yards vary on how they organise the school, so something to consider when choosing one.

 

[milliepops]

as above. booking slots vs a free for all - both of those can have their downsides.
When looking around at yards i would ask when they tend to be busy and see how that fits in with when you expect to ride.

I have been on yards with booking systems and those without, *generally* i find it easier when there is no booking. Last booking one was a flaming nightmare with the resident instructor booking most of the day including peak times for weeks in advance. eventually YO changed it so you could only book 20 min slots which was effectively pointless. I used to ride at 6am in the dark

 

[Auslander]

It varies from yard to yard. I ask for a deposit to hold the space, but don't charge livery til a horse moves in.
I don't have a booking system for the school, so it's a free for all - but if someone wants to be absolutely sure of having sole use, they can pay a small fee to reserve it - the money goes into the carrot fund!

 

[RachelFerd]

My answer to "how do they work" is that they rarely work smoothly!!

Oh, and I'd never ever ever ever ever go to a yard with a strict sole-use booking system because those are UNWORKABLE....!

 

[AntiPuck]

You would reserve a space and pay a deposit to hold it until your horse arrives.

At my yard, people can only reserve the school for lessons, but other than that it's a free-for-all, and it seems to work well. They do have two schools and a round pen, though, so a bit less pressure than if there were only the one school.

 

[equestrian7474]

I’ve never seen a yard with arranged arena times and sounds like a bit of a pain. We do share arenas when needed but most liveries stick to hacking And rarely use the school. We’ve got 3 arenas too so it’s not a big issue. If someone really needed an arena to themselves people are happy to ride in another one. I know not all yards are as convenient but that’s my experience!

 

[j1ffy]

Sounds exciting!

Every yard and YO is different - make sure you come up with your list of priorities when you start to look at yards. My list included:
- Good school with floodlights
- Decent hacking
- A YO who wasn't completely nuts (this should possibly have been top of the list..!!)

You will need to reserve a spot and talk to the YO about deposit, fee to hold the stable etc. Each will have a different approach but I would expect to pay.

As above, each yard has a different approach to the schools. My previous yard was a free-for-all but you could 'book' it in the diary if needed. My current yard has a smaller, slightly crappy, school that's a free-for-all and a very smart 60x40 arena that is bookings only and we have to pay for it - the latter has a lot of outside customers so there's an online booking site and liveries get a discount. It's an unusual setup but is working well!

 

[Wishfilly]

I will be buying my first horse when I return to the UK in a few months time.
I have ridden for many years but never had the privilege of owning a horse before and would be really grateful for any help with the following questions:

- Will I need to find a Livery Yard before I start to look for my horse or should the process be happening at the same time?
- If I find a yard I would like to keep my horse at, would I be expected to pay for the livery to hold the space while I look for a horse? How long would a Livery Yard keep a space available for me?
- In your experience, how do Livery Yards organize the use of facilities? If they have 1 arena, do you book slots or is it a free for all and you are expected to share?

I understand it may vary from place to place but would be very appreciative to hear about your experiences.

Many thanks for your time!

Definitely find the yard first- you don't want to miss out on a horse you love because it turns out you have nowhere to move them to! Often, good livery yards will have a waitlist!

When I reserved my space, I paid a deposit to hold the box. At the time, the yard had more than one space (someone had just left with a couple of horses) but the agreement was that if it became the last box on the yard then I would pay the basic rate for the stable (obviously not including any hay or bedding etc).

We have one arena, but also a jump field that we can ride in in the summer months- any can be booked for sole use (limited to 30 minutes at peak times) for a lesson/saddle fitter etc, but otherwise, we generally share or take turns. It honestly does work as people often choose to ride etc at different times. and most people are sensible/capable of sharing anyway.

 

[Red-1]

It depends.

I you have spare cash, I would look for both at the same time. If you find the horse first, it is easier to find a spendy schooling livery first, which will help you settle with the horse. Then move once you have secured the yard.

If cash is an issue, I would get the yard first and pay a holding fee.