How far would you travel for livery?

[TheChestnutThing]

How far would you travel/do you travel for livery?

I currently share a yard (seen as our own) with 2 other people, one being the owner, but unfortunately the owner won’t put money into the facilities and the arena is no longer ok to jump in nor is the fencing in a great state.

unfortunately I also end up keeping the whole yard clean single handedly and if I don’t feed the other horses often they don’t get fed until after 10am.

Many DIY yards in my area are closed/turned to full livery so my question is…how far would you travel?

 

[AmyMay]

I’ve traveled 16 miles in the past.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I’ve traveled 16 miles in the past.

ditto, for fully DIY and it was a slog sometimes. A good 2hrs + of travelling every day to visit twice.
Id go a bit further for part but not DIY

 

[Abacus]

I’ve traveled 16 miles in the past.

Similar here but it was a slog and I only put up with it because it was perfect and not DIY. After having a couple of children I regretfully moved closer to home and then bought my own yard - which still isn’t as nice, but at least it’s run on my own terms.

 

[Starzaan]

My furthest client lives in Bahrain. ?

 

[Z3bby]

Mine are on livery about 35 miles away, but they are on full care (and we are hopefully moving that way within the next year or two). For fully DIY (2+ visits a day needed) I wouldn't want to be more than 5 or so miles away personally.

 

[JBM]

20 minutes have 2 college courses to do and a part time job don’t have time for more

 

[Smooshy]

Previous yard and house was approx 7 miles each way, was on assisted and only had to visit once a day.

Since moving it is now 17 miles each way (approx 35 mins), but is on the way to and from work (about a 10 minute divert off the main road to the yard).
Am now on 5 day full livery, so I can opt for not going up on a day off or if I want a break from the monotonous drive and take the train to work instead. It was the only yard in the area that I felt was the 'right' yard for my horse although it wasn't what I was looking for to start (full livery, but has the best facilities in the area), so needed to compromise somewhere.

 

[fidleyspromise]

I personally won't go more than 10 miles away..

 

[spotty_pony]

I used to live 20 miles away and had them on DIY. My mum had a horse at the time though and so we used to do them a bit between us and I worked 5 mins up the road from where they were kept which was very handy.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Part livery and 12 miles each way. I go twice a day at weekends and go most weekdays too. Costing me about £40 a week on fuel now. About to move my horse 3 miles away- can't wait !

 

[Hormonal Filly]

How far would I go for DIY? No more than 15 minutes. I wouldn’t have the time to go twice a day with working full time and several dogs (and riding!)

Some lovely yards 40 minutes from me, but they’re just to far.

 

[splashgirl45]

I would go up to half an hours drive if the yard was what I and my horse wanted… I moved my old mare to a yard which was 1 hour away because I couldn’t find flat fields locally , I did that commute for 3 months but it only worked because once I was there I stayed and helped out as part of my livery and my horse was fed in the evening for me so I could get home fairly early. I wouldn’t have wanted to do that twice a day

 

[McFluff]

15 miles each way for part livery, so I on,y go up once a day and tend to have one day off a week.

 

[Lexi 123]

25 minutes it cost to much on petrol/ time otherwise

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

Furthest I went for full-livery (everything except grooming and riding) was 20 miles. I loathed the drive in the winter evenings. The livery yard owner turned out to be unreliable so I lasted a year before moving closer to home. I’m now on DIY 5 miles away so twice a day I do a 10 mile round trip but it doesn’t feel anywhere near as bad as the 40 mile round trip I did perhaps around 5 days a week.

 

[Snow Falcon]

Furthest I've ever been on DIY is 5 miles (current)

 

[skint1]

I am currently about 12 mins drive away, always been about that, but it's getting harder to find- so I'd prob go 20-30 mins drive if I absolutely had to... and it could come to that... you never know.

 

[TheChestnutThing]

That’s the problem…current yard is 3.5 miles away one way, next closest one that has what we need seems to be 10 miles away…

 

[EnduroRider]

Mine are 12 miles away, takes 25mins each way and go twice a day. My diesel costs more than my livery!

 

[Mahoganybay]

My current stables are 3.5 miles away via road and easily walkable across country with the dogs. My mare is on DIY and I go twice, sometimes three times per day.

My previous stables were a 40 mile round trip, my mare initially went for rehab livery and then training livery. I was there just short of two years and she was on full livery so went about four times a week.

Im so happy where we are now, however if I hadn’t have done the rehab and then training livery then I could never of gotten to the stage where we are doing well without the extra support we both needed.

The travel was a killer initially, but I did get used to it.

 

[HorseMaid]

Current yard is 15 mins away. We're going to be moving in the spring, lucky to have been able to buy some land of our own. Its 15 minutes away still, but an easier drive and we are planning on moving house to be closer. Nearest village to it is 5 mins.... Just need to find a house!

 

[asmp]

That’s the problem…current yard is 3.5 miles away one way, next closest one that has what we need seems to be 10 miles away…

That’s 40 miles a day which would use a lot of petrol plus wear and tear on car. Time can Obviously vary depending on the roads to get there.

 

[ycbm]

When I was on DiY I wouldn't travel further than I could cycle, in case of problems with the car.

These days the sheer cost of fuel would make me make the same decision, I think, but for some people that would mean not keeping a horse at all.
.

 

[PSD]

I’m quite lucky I have a few yards in my area, however they are all DIY. We don’t really have many full livery and the closest one that I’d be willing to keep my horse on is around 25 minutes away.

My current yard is a 7 minute drive away from leaving my front door to arriving at my stable so I’m very lucky. It has everything my horse needs too, including winter turnout (on grass too!). I personally wouldn’t travel further than a 15 minute drive (I’m useless with miles) if it’s DIY as I wouldn’t get time to go twice a day otherwise.

 

[TheChestnutThing]

Thanks everyone, I guess I should grin and bear it for the forseeable and just do arena hire.

 

[throwawayaccount]

before I could drive, I used to either cycle or take trains/bus twice a day, which varied from 20mins to an hour.

now I drive I begrudge anything over 30 mins haha! my current yard is 20-30 mins depending on traffic. (11 miles each way). I tend to get services to finish off (ie , bring in) else its a 40+mile trip a day which is silly.

 

[Tarragon]

On DIY (as in on my own and no option for assisted anything) I wouldn't feel happy unless I could walk there in really bad weather. So a couple of miles is ok. I have also had to fit it in around working full time so all commuting time is wasted horsey time, which is very precious!

 

[TheChestnutThing]

Thank you again for the help everyone. I have decided to stay there as the boys are happy and it suits due to distance. Will truck out for jumping and have requested that I be taught to harrow the school so I can keep it up to standard. The owner of the yard really is lovely and I know that these are hard to come by. The other lady we share with has given notice, so it frees up a stable and means I no longer have to clean up after people all the time.

You are all correct, travelling further for DIY will kill me and will take the fun etc out of it as I will arrive pissed off that I just spent 40 mins in traffic and have to do it another 4 times (there and back again) that day.

 

[JBM]

Thank you again for the help everyone. I have decided to stay there as the boys are happy and it suits due to distance. Will truck out for jumping and have requested that I be taught to harrow the school so I can keep it up to standard. The owner of the yard really is lovely and I know that these are hard to come by. The other lady we share with has given notice, so it frees up a stable and means I no longer have to clean up after people all the time.

You are all correct, travelling further for DIY will kill me and will take the fun etc out of it as I will arrive pissed off that I just spent 40 mins in traffic and have to do it another 4 times (there and back again) that day.

I’m in same boat all the good yards seem to be ages away!!
My closest indoor is 40 minute drive away and I WISH but couldn’t