How far do you travel to your yard?!?!

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thebear123

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Hi there, i am considering moving to a new yard, however i have a feeling that it is too far away and i am going to get bored or fed up with the journey. The two people that i have spoken to about it have said 'ooo i think that's too far!'' so i starting to doubt whether i will be able to move there. I just wanted to get some feeling about how people cope with a longish journey to their horses and any problems that i haven't seen.

The yard is 13.6 miles from my house and will take 27 minutes (according to AA route planner!). It will take about 37 minutes from work (i'll probably go straight there). My horse will be turned out each morning and mucked out 2 days a week, so will only be making the journey 5 times a week. Is this do-able?! The yard is so nice, with an indoor school, so i will be able to ride whatever the weather, making the journey worth while i guess!

Any thoughts or comments appreciated. THanks
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From work it's 5 mins (Ialso used to live 5 mins away but not any more
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) From home it can take berween 25-35 mins (to do 9 miles) depending on the traffic and time of day. It can be a real pain sometimes.

In perfect weather conditions I cycle there and back at the weekend. I did it once this year
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I have to travel about 10 mins by car to the yard. I used to be at one about 30 mins away - never again!! It was a total nightmare.
I would consider if your horse was ill or there was an emergency, how easy it would be to get there in a hurry, if you needed to visit more than once a day it would soon add up and could become a chore, not to mention the pertol costs!!
It does sound a really good yard but personally i would find that too much travelling.
 
I travel 12.5 miles to my yard.I only go once a day as my horse is on part livery.I do find it is expensive in petrol costs but the riding in the area and the friendly atmosphere more than make up for it.I don't have to worry about emergencies as the YO can deal with anything as it arises and I am just a phone call away.The only real problem is if we get really bad weather as being in the middle of nowhere the roads to get there can easily become blocked by snow.However the YO knowing that some of us live quite a distance away is happy to take care of our horses if any of us can't get there.
 
I think it's possible -- if you need to go once a day.

When Rauti was in Italy, because of the total lack of dressage yards in my area, he was stabled 50 miles away! It was a two-hour round trip each day, but I only had to do it once a day, and it was definitely viable.

(TBH now that I have a flat attached to the yard, I find myself going to the horses 3/4 times a day (purely because it's so close) so I waste the same amount of time every day anyway
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I wouldn't worry so much about emergencies, as long as you trust the staff there. If, touch wood, something happened and you and the vet both left immediately, you would probably be there at the same time!

Also, if there is an indoor school consider that you will be able to ride every time, i.e. no 'wasted' journeys because of bad weather etc.
 
600yards from my front door, in fact the proximity of the yard was the deciding factor on the house - but it has taken me 20 years to get this close to the horses, although I have never driven more than about 5 miles to any yard. I have always taken the view that it needed to be within occasional walking distance to allow for snow/broken car/any other number of factors
 
about 10ft! lol My horses are at home but I am considering putting one into livery from December so that I can make use of at least a school with lights which I don't have at home.

The livery yard I have in mind is only a slight detour from my route to work so I would be able to go on the way to work and on the way home from work. Whatever yard I choose it will have to be either very close to my house (less than 3 miles) or on my route to work as anything else would just take up too much time
 
Mine is about a 10 minute drive from my house or work, max. I love the fact it's so close and the people are really nice, but it's a rough and ready place and doesn't really have any facilities. I would consider somewhere further away when I come to breaking in my youngster if it had the facilities like an indoor school or outdoor school with lights, so that I'll have somewhere to ride him when it's dark. I think it depends on what you need really, if the facilities will make it worth while because you can do more with your horse and you're only going once a day, I don't see why it can't be viable
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I am about 12 miles from my yard. It is further than I would like, but the yard and staff etc are worth it. I did have a look round somewhere closer to home, but didn't feel comfortable there.
As I spend so much time there, I want me and my horse to be happy and so am prepared to spend a little longer in the car!!
 
I used to drive 13 miles 3/4 times a week to see my old share horse for about 17 months in all weathers and still go at least once a week as youngest still has riding lessons there.

By road Bella is about 3 miles away but a 20 minute walk if I cut across the fields
 
My ponies are about 20 footsteps from my back door as I keep them at home
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We ony moved here in mid Sept though and before that they were at a livery yard approx 8 miles from where I lived. They were on diy so I used to do the journey twice a day every day.
 
mine are 0.6 miles from my house. takes about 5 mins to walk or less tha 1min in the car. Ive only had them this close since we moved house at Easter. before that it was a 15 mile round trip and took me about 15 mins each way.
 
Mine are at a yard 20 miles away at the moment, it takes me 30 mins to get there. I work at the yard so have to go up there 5 times a week anyway so I don't find it to much of a problem. It does get slightly annoying at weekends though as I feel like I haven't had a day off in ages!

They should be coming home around Christmas time so it's not a permanent thing, don't think I could cope if it was!
 
My yard is 15mins away from home, even further from work as its the south of bristol and i live north, horse is even further north again, think its about 6miles, I would not want it to be any further away to be honest but thats me
 
I'm 16 miles away - 30 min drive over the mountain road. I moved Sunny there after I had to leave my previous yard because of welfare issues. I specifically chose my current yard for the horse-friendliness of it. I only go once a day normally. Happy horse, happy me, happy yard, happy owners.
 
It is do-able. I live 16.5 miles from my horse (30 minutes) and from work it is about 12 I think (55 mins). I'm DIY and I see my horse twice daily, 7 days a week. Poor car does over 60 miles a day though, so consider your petrol costs and wear and tear too.
 
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The yard is 13.6 miles from my house and will take 27 minutes (according to AA route planner!).

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My yard is only 7 1/2 miles from my home, BUT because I live in the middle of town, getting out there tends to take over 20 mins
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It's perfectly dooable though, especially if you're only going once a day, (as I do for most of the year) and certainly worth it (IMO) if it's the right yard
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We moved yards this weekend...

The old yard was 25 miles away and 35-40minutes drive, absolute killer and hated the journey! I could only get up once a day.

The new yard is 7 miles and 10 minutes drive, it's absolute bliss!!!!!
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I did have them 11 miles/20 minutes from home and fell into a routine of getting them done by the YO at one end of the day because the journey was so boring/costly and took 40 minutes out of each end of my day. I wasn't working at the time.

I am now 2 minute drive/ just under a mile from my house, and I love it.
 
The closest I've ever had my horse is 15 mins away - there aren't many yards where I live. My horse is currently a 30 min drive away and I don't mind it too much. Obviously closer would be better but I'm happy to travel for company/facilities etc. Agree with others that emergencies shouldn't be a problen as YM will usually deal with problems until you can be there.
I'd say go for it
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