I wish I had known...before I bought my own yard.

[TheChestnutThing]

We have just made an offer on our first equestrian property. Which we hope will be accepted, but if not we will continue our hunt.

What are the things you wish you had known or things you needed before you bought your first property where your horses could live with you?

 

[Nasicus]

Not from my experience, but a friends: How wet the land gets in the winter.
Place looks great in the summer, but my GOD does it hold water.

 

[dorsetladette]

Whether the neighbours are horse haters or not

 

[TPO]

That there's always something!

Poo picking
Managing/disposing of muck heap
Cost of fencing
Managing the land- rotating, seeding, harrowing, rolling
How the weather makes things feel impossible at times
Cost of everything
Poached gateways
Icy walkways
Frozen pipes
Storage for forage/finding a good supplier

It's worth it to not be on livery but it's hard going

 

[jnb]

About MudControl mats!
Water supply / flooding/ drainage
Muck heap removal / hay supplier
Feed merchant (proximity to one that perhaps delivers)
Neighbours, horsy, horse hating or otherwise
Bridleways/hacking

 

[honetpot]

That you do not save money on livery, because you spend it every year just to maintain it, and you need time, and it is never the right time because of the weather when you want to do something. When its the right time. because of the weather, you are usually having to do something else.
You can never have enough gates, or watertroughs

 

[milliepops]

that you might get lonely. i've had horses at home and horses at livery. at home i needed to work on my local horsey network much more because doing stuff by yourself all the time gets a bit isolating and at times, also difficult. easier if you have an horsey OH who wants to get stuck in though.

 

[cauda equina]

Is this about what you wish you had known about a specific property, or about having horses at home generally?

If it's the first and you're buying a place where horses are already kept you can get a head start by picking the current owner's brains about hay suppliers, where their muck goes and so on

 

[Fruitcake]

Definitely agree with the comment above that you can never have enough gates! Get them put between every field, paddock and border with the yard.

Also, water pipes are a nightmare when they freeze. If you install a tap underground, down an inspection hole, you can still have some way of topping up troughs in the bad weather.

Oh, and don't put up permanent internal fencing straight away. Do a whole year with temporary electric fencing so you can play around and see what works first.

 

[reynold]

that unless the stables and any arena are within the 'curtilage of the dwelling' (i.e. the garden) then they are subject to business (Non-Domestic) rates. Changing ownership of a property can get both the council and the neighbours 'interested'.

 

[PurBee]

The fields design/everyday practicality for turn-out - it took me ages to design my place because i have fields in a long line - 1 field leads to another - there isnt the central dry yard with individual fields off the yard easily accessible.

It’s far easier to have the yard central to the fields. I’ve ended up building a 200m road/track through the main field to use all year round access for turnout. Im in a high rainfall area and constant passing through 1 field to get to another meant the horses soon churned-up a very boggy path. Hock deep mud. Hardcore track was the only solution.

The need for a dry-lot turn-out area. Again, due to the climate of 2000mm+ rain per year i absolutely need a drier area for turnout when the fields are drenched from days of rain. It does depend on your individual site/soil type - whether you really need this - but for me to keep the land from being pure bog, this was necessary.
The usefulness of a 1/4-1/2 acre dry-lot area is that if you have a horse needing box rest - the turnout onto the dry yard is a bonus as they are given more freedom without the risk of them hooning about hurting their injury. When mine have had mild tendon pulls i’ve used the dry yard turnout to keep them moving sensibly while healing. Rather than standing in a box going out of their minds, and joints seizing up/leg filling etc.

The dry-lot is far easier if its directly on the yard infront of the stables, or as close as possible - some make a back door off the stable to the dry lot out back , while the stable front door is to the general yard and fields. This gives the option for making it easier to let just some horses out on the dry- lot - with access direct to their stable if convalescing - and the horses being turned-out into fields are taken out without the others on the dry lot being disturbed.

Bury water pipes - winter freezes are rare here but when they happen, lugging buckets around from house to yard becomes a chore too much at that time of year!

 

[Becca-84]

Whether the neighbours are horse haters or not

This definitely. Having had horse haters on both sides at our previous property, they made life hell. Called the police, the RSPCA, blocked the lane so hay delivery couldn't get in, let off fireworks right next to the field, knowing how upset the horses were.... After that experience I wouldn't have them at home again. Gave up after 5 years and moved.

 

[Parrotperson]

rates. If the council cos and decides you have to pay business rates it's a real hassle.

 

[windswoo]

This definitely. Having had horse haters on both sides at our previous property, they made life hell. Called the police, the RSPCA, blocked the lane so hay delivery couldn't get in, let off fireworks right next to the field, knowing how upset the horses were.... After that experience I wouldn't have them at home again. Gave up after 5 years and moved.

Yep definitely try to find out what the neighbours are like!!

 

[Ceifer]

Fencing is a lot more expensive then you think it will be.
Check all perimeter fencing for stability. All of ours is post and rail with stock netting (I hate the stock fencing but with the sheep and the deer around here it’s a necessity). All of ours needs replacing and the total cost is 20k.

 

[Rowreach]

That I'd never be able to go away, ever again.

 

[SEL]

That I'd never be able to go away, ever again.

^^^ I've already told my OH that we can go away.... just not at the same time.

Weeds are the other thing I'd wish I'd been a bit more on top of. Very little ragwort thankfully but we have toxic mares tail making one paddock unusable in summer (its going to be sprayed) and yellow rattle and buttercups galore.

I'd also double check exactly what planning permissions are already in place. There are a lot of buildings on my yard which didn't have planning but fortunately for me they've been up so long that my solicitor shrugged it off. My neighbours aren't the type to bother anyone (mainly because they wouldn't want to be bothered back) but I can see if new people moved into any of the local houses who weren't into horses it could be a PITA

 

[Ceifer]

That I'd never be able to go away, ever again.

I’ve found a wonderful freelancer to look after mine when I’m away. I just have to be super organised and book her up in advance.
Christmas is a bit of a b*llache because I can’t get cover for Christmas.

 

[TPO]

Oh yeah check your soil type/get an analysis as this could affect what you feed the horses and what to seed with

 

[Xmasha]

the number of horses you own start to multiply, its a weird phenomenon

Good luck and hope you enjoy. Nothing beats it

 

[sport horse]

How cheap livery is and that YO was not so bad after all!

 

[honetpot]

You have to have horsey resilience, because any problem, from the water pipe popping or one being unwell, you have to sort out, and often on your own, making quick descensions and having to live with it.

 

[blitznbobs]

Put electric on the inside of every fence with long insulators - it will save you a fortune in the long run. Modern fence rails appear to be made of matchsticks and snap regularly - electric fence stops this most of the time.

 

[Spotherisk]

That it’s lovely to have your own place, but you spend more time doing stuff and a lot less riding. I have two retirees at home, if I ever get another horse it will be kept on assisted diy.

 

[FestiveG]

Just also be aware that neighbouring houses may change hands! When we got here all was all, but then some of the houses have changed hands and two of the newer neighbours asked to buy parcels of land, at knock down prices and then got very, very nasty when turned down ( think police, planning, rspca,environmental health and defra)

 

[spotty_pony]

Most of our fields are on steep hills - never I’m underestimate how knackering this is when walking backwards and forwards and also lugging water to them as most do not have automatic water troughs in them. Also one of them gets VERY wet in winter and partially floods and in the spring attracts lots of midges so we don’t use it very often for the horses. As others have said, everything seems to take a lot longer to do and you seem to spend more time doing jobs but it’s so worth it to be able to have them at home! ?

 

[PeterNatt]

That you need very deep pockets to improve it and maintain it! Drainage, Fencing, Gates, Installing Water and Water Troughs if well done prove to cost a lot of money.

 

[ponynutz]

How difficult going away for a holiday is.

 

[Polos Mum]

For a particular property

Planning for anything you can't prove has been there 10 year
Do they pay / should they pay business rates - on a school this can be huge
Have they applied for planning for anything - how reasonable are the council
Is the land formally equestrian or still planning as agricultural

What pylons - noise and they fly helicopters up and down to check them regularly and call in to climb them unannounced

Quality of fencing definitely

Water on meter or not - huge difference

Access for deliveries of big stuff

storage - never enough

Muck heap rules / planning in the area

 

[Tiddlypom]

that unless the stables and any arena are within the 'curtilage of the dwelling' (i.e. the garden) then they are subject to business (Non-Domestic) rates. Changing ownership of a property can get both the council and the neighbours 'interested'.

You can challenge that successfully. We did just that after a backdated demand for nearly £7k in non domestic rates landed on our doormat. The revised invoice showed that we owed precisely nothing.

We have 7 acres, 4 stables, a feed store, a rug room, 2 field shelters and a 40m x 20m arena.

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/...-round-stable-tax.744176/page-6#post-14759589