Keen to hear experiences of those who work full time and have horses on DIY/Part/Full livery.

I work full time, no kids and have a horse on DIY. I now work from home but when I was office based I would arrive at farm at 6.30am to turn out, muck out etc. Home again by 7.30am to get ready for work. If I wanted to ride in the week I would go back in the evening. I have an arrangement with a friend who works 6am-2pm whereby I feed and turn her horse out in the morning and she brings in and feeds for me in the afternoon. Therefore both of us only have to go the yard once a day and we don't need any services.

These days I work from home so I can ride before I start work and also arrange the farrier for 7.30am (he lives in the next village) so it doesn't affect working hours.
 
I'm on DIY, work full time (hybrid) and have a son, who lives 50% of the time with me and 50% with his father, and a dog.
My mare lives out although I do bring her in some days for a few hours, to let her feet and legs dry off/get some hay into her.
I do have support in that YM will provide services if I need them (holiday cover, hold for farrier/vet etc.) and OH chips in and will go up and feed for me/change rugs if needed, on the days I'm based in the office. Work are fairly flexible but I still have to be really careful with annual leave and planning ahead for the unexpected.

Even though I don't have mucking out daily to contend with, it's still a hard slog. I poo pick mainly at weekends although do try and keep on top of it in the week when I can, and when the ground isn't too wet to get a wheelbarrow across! When it's been really wet, I just poo-kick instead of poo picking, so they break up and disintegrate into the ground faster. YM doesn't poo pick and will just harrow and rest the winter fields come spring, but I can't just leave it all so I keep on top of the worst of it, bagging it up and leaving by the yard gate for people to collect for free.

My son is 5 and getting him dressed and out of the house can be a battle some days. When I've got him at the weekend he sometimes doesn't want to go to the yard. It feels like a constant battle of wills, bargaining, balancing his needs with my horse's (and the dog's!). He would rather be sat at home watching TV or on his tablet, which I limit his time on. I want him to spend time outdoors in the fresh air, not being constantly entertained by electronics or me. The best play and imagination comes from a bit of boredom, and the natural world around us. I think an awful lot of kids these days don't get that opportunity. So I drag him with me to the yard and on dog walks, tantruming or not, and he always enjoys it in the end, when he gets over himself! Hopefully it'll get easier as he gets older, in some ways.

It's a joy on my childfree weekends, when I can just faff about as much as I want though!

I constantly feel like I'm rushing from one thing to another and that there aren't enough hours in the day. And I'm exhausted 😂 I do love it though. Not sure I could cope with 2 horses! One's enough work for me right now. My son isn't in the slightest bit interested in riding so no pressure to get him a pony.
 
I have my horse on DIY (although nets/feeds during the day are put in).
My usual day consists of me getting up at 6am, at the yard for 7.30-7.45am back home to start work for 9am-5pm. Then evenings back to the yard to muck out, exercise & prepare nets & feeds for the next day. Usually home for 9pm to eat, chill, sleep and repeat!
I could be at the yard less, but it's also my social life and its not the closest (20mins each way) so that adds on!
I am lucky that when we turnout in the fields I share with someone who can turnout in the morning, which allows me to start work earlier and have extended lunch breaks to bring in when turnout is restricted or get to the yard earlier in the evenings.
I've been on part livery previously and I'm much happier on DIY, and wouldn't say I'm worse off time wise- other than the mornings. Some people only go to their horses once a day on my yard due to feeds being put in by fellow liveries.
 
I had mine on DIY when working full time hybrid, and now he is on part livery.

Honestly having him back on part has made such a difference to me, I get much more sleep, I don’t have to worry about arranging cover when I am ill (I’ve had a sinus infection recently so was in bed for a week) and his routine stays the same whatever happens at work. It’s given me some precious time back to myself.

Mine lives in overnight all year round because he is a high lami risk with Cushings and when he was on box rest with laminitis and I was working full time whilst living alone through winter, it was just such a slog and I barely had time for anything else. I do miss managing him so closely so make up for it by going to visit at least 3/4 times a week and keeping a close eye on feed, rugs etc. I’ve got ‘my’ chores that the yard don’t do, like grooming and taking him out for walks, and I manage all his medication and keep an eye on his weight.
 
I've been on most variations of full/part, assisted DIY or DIY.

I'm currently on DIY but would prefer to be on assisted DIY or part livery. But this yard suits us in all other respects so we make it work - it has flexible opening and turn out/bring in times. Pony is also happy to be out on his own which helps!

I try to do most of my jobs and riding before work (I try to ride 6 days a week) so in the evenings all I need to do is bring in, groom and finish off so I can still go the gym/date nights/see friends or just chilln the evenings. It works well until week's like this when it's too icy or frozen to ride first thing.

It is early starts and pretty tiring but it usually all works out.

I do WFH with flexibility to start early/late which does help in winter. WFH really helps me as I can be home ready to start work 20 minutes later if need be ... couldn't stroll into the office in riding tights still! I do still do hair/make up daily but it is different to being office presentable

No children but I do have a dog and share caring responsibilities for a family member, so do have extra ties.

It can feel pretty chaotic and a rush at times but I'm used to it now.
 
Not work but I used to be on DIY (and then have them at home) when I went to school. So about 8-5.30 a day.

One yard turned out for us in the morning so that was sorted. The other yard didn’t but it was walkable/cycleable from my house which made a HUGE difference, try not to go too far afield for DIY.

At the full DIY yard they were also kept in with arena turnout while you mucked out (temporary arrangement, I wouldn’t do this long term). I’d muck out, feed, water in the morning, change rug. I did it all in my school clothes with a huge coat, waterproof trousers, and wellies on. After school I mucked out again, rode, filled haynets for the entire next day, did feeds, groomed, and changed rugs again. It was hard work but 100% worth it imo.
 
I work full time with two horses (one retired) on DIY and a dog. My OH also works full time but over 4 days. When he's in work he leaves at 5.45am and gets home at 6.30pm so I do everything with the dog on those days. I have a sharer for the ridden horse but she helps out with the retired one too.

Since covid, I work mainly from home with a day or two in the office (depending on meetings). I work flexi time and do take advantage of that, working longer days when my sharer is doing the boys one end of the day / OH is home for the dog and shorter days when it's all me. I've also teamed up with a couple of people at the yard to have a rota for turnout and bringing in to make things a bit easier. I turn out Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and get in Monday, Tuesday, Friday. When I'm turning out, I'm up at about 6.30 and get to the yard (10-15 minute drive) for about 7. One of the girls is there earlier and she will have fed the ones who get fed. I turn out 3, 4 or 5 (depending on who else is on mornings) which takes about 10 minutes, then walk the puppy (there are several public footpaths that start just outside the yard) for about 1/2 an hour. He then stays in the car for 20 minutes while I do the stables, leaving everything ready for the night. I get home at about 8.15, jump in the shower have a bite to eat and start work at about 8.30.

If I'm not getting them in, I'll work through to about 5.30, take the dog out and then come back to make dinner. If I am getting them in, I'll finish at 4ish, do the horses and walk the dog and be home by about 5.30 unless I'm riding, in which case I'll adjust the times accordingly as the dog is still young and we haven't left him for more than about 90 mins yet so I walk him at 5 then go at about 5.30 so he's only on his own an hour (up to 90 mins if OH hits traffic) until OH gets home.

If I'm in the office, I'm still up at 6.30 but shower etc first, then drop the dog off to mum and dad (they love doing the walking so it's nice I don't have to worry about that bit) on the way to the yard. I do the horses then go straight to work (yard is further away from work but there's a dual carriageway near the yard that goes into the city centre that means it's not worth coming home) and vice versa if I'm getting the horses in and pick the dog up on the way home. If OH isn't working he'll do all the dog stuff or we'll walk him together. He won't do anything with the horses unless it's a real and total emergency. My first pony put him off when he embarrassed him taking him concrete skiing. Eb was messing me about (not unusual, I knew how to deal with him and was dealing with him fine) so OH (big burly prop forward) insisted on leading him, telling me he just needed someone with some strength to hold him. Eb just set his neck, flicked a shoulder to push OH off balance and towed him right across the yard. I'm sure Eb winked at me as he did it.

My sharer does both boys every other Saturday so that's my day to have a proper clean of the house, do a big shop etc.
 
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I work full time with various shift patterns, and have two children and two horses. OH does a highly important job in the public sector so again does shift work too. I'm on DIY but with assistance Monday-Friday. I am considering moving to another yard which is straight DIY only, although I am hoping that someone will offer some kind of extra services.

At the moment, the assistance has pros and cons. Pros being, I can get myself and children ready for school and work without worrying about going up to turn out, which again is a bonus on a wet and windy morning. Cons are I'm paying significantly steeper livery to cover this(well, more than I would at a straight diy yard), I also pass the yard every day so there's really no need for me to pay for the assistance. The yard has strict turnout times which is why they only offer the assisted livery, so this then has drawbacks as horses are only out for 4/5 hours then being brought back in. Which also, unless you've been up to muck out before they come back in, makes for some messy beds but equally, personally I think in my opinion, I'm paying a premium for this so why should I then go up twice per day! If I'm on a day shift I'll muck out after work which I can normally get done in around 2 hours max, by the time I add in new bedding, make haynets, change rugs, do feeds etc. Kids are either at home or at my parents. Or I'll pick them up and take with me. If I'm on a back/late shift then I go up either first thing if riding, or I'll do en route to work- this depends though as I don't like going in to work being overly smelling of horse! We do have showers at work if required though. I've always managed fine by keeping hair up and wearing overalls. Again, the bonus is I can nip back up at some point through my shift to nip dinner and nets in. If I was at DIY yard I'd have it all ready and friend or OH would bring them in to it- bonus of this is they would be in the field until that point, not standing in stables and needing skipped out again.

I have been on DIY before for years. Even when the children were babies/toddlers. I have no idea how I managed it if I'm honest. Perhaps I didn't have the tie of the 9am school start! Husband is helpful and will do a turn out/bring in if needed which is fab. I think I maybe only worked part time then too. I'd love to go back to this but I just have doubts that I'll be able to manage it all in the morning.
 
I work full time, and keep my horse DIY 23 minutes away (in perfect traffic). No yard services offered. I pay freelancers to feed and check him 6 days a week. He lives out and I have a slow feeder that doesnt run out of hay. I cover the other 7 mornings and one evening. I am lucky in that I have a flexible work start time, and can go to yard early and come back after rush hour to start later.

Part would be easier and cheaper, but I dont know of part within a viable distance from home where I can have him living out, have access to safe of road hacking, enough hay in the field and well draining field, and access to arenas, and trust them with his care in my absence.
 
I work full time, horses at home and no kids.

I’m out every morning by 6am, they live out but I poo pick by head torch and I do all my jobs in the morning, back inside 7.15am to have the fastest shower known to man and leave at 7.45am. I’m at my desk by 8.30am when in the office, although I do two days a week at home which allows me an extra 40 minutes in bed.

I’m generally home 5-5.30pm, the yard gets an evening check and I’m inside by 6-6.30pm. I tend not to go back out again unless they are in for any reason, in which case they get skipped out and night hay in at 9pm.

I manage to fit in the gym 2-3 evenings a week, I throw some food down me and have to be back out the house by 7.30pm, and once at the weekend.

My biggest restriction is lack of cover, my freelancer has other jobs so I tend to know what days I can and cannot get cover, which means I have to plan ahead and try and schedule any time away with work carefully. And when I’m ill there are no other liveries to pull in a favour from. I had a friend on the yard with me for a while but didn’t seek further company when she left. I quite like being anti-social without other people to have to make nice with when I’m busy.

But equally I love it, it’s my routine and luckily they’re used to lack of routine at weekends (I don’t go out of a morning until gone 8, and check afternoons anytime between 3 and 10) so it’s never the end of the world if plans change. The fact I am not tied to anyone else’s rules etc is the biggest bonus and for me year key pro outweighs the cons.
 
I work full time, could be home based but am office based as more convenient for yard. Full DIY. Generally at yard about 7, ride, muck out, turn out. Fortunately unless I have a meeting I can stay in my breeches and yard clothes all day at work (only one in office!). Then will take a late lunch to get back in or no lunch and go up about 4 ish - can still check emails/take calls. If have got in earlier, then go back up. Generally home about 7 ish. Years ago had two horses on DIY and a much less flexible job, and am not sure how I managed! Did have a friend on the yard who would get them as would have been very difficult otherwise. I don't though have children. Have also done full and part livery when studying for exams. I think assisted DIY is the best if you can find it.
 
I'm on DIY with services. I work from home a lot, which is 5 minutes from yard, turn out, do hay, water & muck out before work, start work at 0830.
My employers are great & I then have a long late lunch to fetch in & ride & then I work later in the evening. In return, if they need me to be flexible, I will be.
I do use services to have a couple of turn outs at the weekend.
 
I have 2 on DIY and work about 34 hours a week, always starting at 8am but depending on the day finish anywhere from 1pm - 6pm.
I get up at 5.30am, wash my face etc, work clothes on then hoodie and joggies on top!
At the yard for about 6:10am, feed the full barn (chuck feeds over the door) as I am first down! Summer is easier for me as we have turnout but in the winter it is limited, I get both my beds and water done, night nets filled, feeds made - some point during this I try to get them both turned out in the school to stretch their legs.
Straighten my hair at the yard and straight to work from the yard !
On the days I finish later, my dad very very kindly comes down in the morning and does all my jobs while I ride. It makes such a massive difference and saves me having to do it at night!
Then I repeat all my jobs at night during the winter as they have been in all day!

It can be a struggle, I cannot wait for summer!
 
My hours are probably more flexible than many on here, but they can be irregular and 37 hours per week, so for me grass livery with shelter works best, as I know they can at least pick at something if I'm later or take shelter if I've misjudged the weather. On my yard liveries help each other out, including turning out/bringing in for those with stables. Sounds like you'd benefit from assisted DIY or part if finances allow. When I started horse ownership I kept mine on part, but were happy for me to get stuck in if I wanted to, so it was best of both worlds and I was able to learn on the go without pressure.
 
I have mine on part livery, so everything is done, but the only exercise that is included is putting them to the walker. Certain items are extra, such as steaming hay, but they are very reasonable charges. I don't think it would work for me to have to do everything myself, because realistically I would then probably have many days of just doing jobs rather than riding. You also need to think about how robust your plans are, for example if you only just have time to do everything then what happens when you have some unexpected appointment, or when you or your child are sick. I really admire those who do everything themselves, especially those who work full time and have a family too, but for me that would be too much
 
I have mine on DIY but with am turnout as it’s miles from work. I work 8.30-3.30 M-S, they’re left in Sunday for me. I have done full DIY but nowadays age is catching up with me so assisted is perfect. If you’re going somewhere that’s DIY, I’d make sure there’s help around if you need it or change your mind. 😊
 
TheChestnutThing said:
I work full time and used to have my horse on DIY. I’ve moved onto full livery and honestly don’t know how I used to do it.

Save your sanity and have your horse on full livery.
Click to expand...
I have at times found full livery, when yard staff are often:

- de-motivated,
-badly managed or not managed,
- overworked,
- young and lacking resilience and experience
- on minimum wage,
- without a system of checks and controls to ensure things arent missed;

etc

to be more stressful about than ensuring all the basics are done than when I am doing them / directly overseeing them myself.
 
expanding_horizon said:
I have at times found full livery, when yard staff are often:

- de-motivated,
-badly managed or not managed,
- overworked,
- young and lacking resilience and experience
- on minimum wage,
- without a system of checks and controls to ensure things arent missed;

etc

to be more stressful about than ensuring all the basics are done than when I am doing them / directly overseeing them myself.
Click to expand...

This.

Don't get me wrong, good part livery is wonderful and I've loved it when it works well. But average or bad part livery I've personally found to be far more stressful than average DIY livery.
 
I'm retired now, but when I was working full time I was on full livery. My job meant that I was often unable to return home at regular hours and was occasionally out overnight and then into the following day. I had my horses on full livery and my dog had walkers mid day. If I needed to do an unexpected overnight, the dog walkers came and picked her up and kept her until I was back home. This cost me a fortune, but I didn't begrudge one penny of it, because she became one of their family as much as being one of mine.
 
TheChestnutThing said:
I work full time and used to have my horse on DIY. I’ve moved onto full livery and honestly don’t know how I used to do it.

Save your sanity and have your horse on full livery. You actually then have time to do things like a food shop or touch your husbands winky (still limit that time but you know…)
Click to expand...

Literally this!! 🙌

I was completely DIY for 12yrs when I worked flexi. Then tried mixture of full/part at various yards when I started working shifts . . . . . I was let down every time - from my boy being left out alone, not mucked out, ridden by YO's daughter without consent through to him having colic as a direct result of being flung out on rich grazing! 😔

So purely through lack of trust, the last few years I've been on a pretty much sole use yard, running myself into the ground - I do blocks of 12hr day & night shifts, along with ponies, it was killing me.

I knew something was going to have to give this winter or I'd have to seriously think about giving it all up. So in December I actually managed to find a yard with excellent standards of care who I trust. They're on full livery on my shift days then either just turned out or caught on my days off - I have time to ride!!

If you can find a good trustworthy yard it's worth it's weight in gold, just takes kissing a few (in my case a ton!) of bloody frogs!! 😂
 
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I rent a small private yard so I'm on my own with 2 horses and work full time (9-5 but a 50 min commute either end of the day). I've downsized from 3 which has made a huge difference but the biggest game changer has been leaving them out over winter. First time in my 12 years of owning horses and wish I'd done it sooner! I'm thankfully on well draining land so they've stood up well to all this rain and they have access to their stables. I get to them about 7.30 am, hay, feed, top up water and quickly poo pick. I get there again at about 6pm and do the same. Home is another 20 minutes so I'm usually back about 7/7.30pm. Then weekends are free for riding and competing.
My only wish at this time of year was that I had a floodlit arena - I hire an arena across the road but it's not lit so can't ride in the evenings until the clocks change.
I don't have children but my partner and I are starting to seriously think about starting a family, my only reservation being that I really don't know how I'd manage the horses too :confused:
 
I am actually thinking of giving up horses. I am on full livery with exercise and still struggling to manage it with working full time.

I was lucky with my previous horse that until he got really poorly that horse ownership had very limited impact on my work or family life even when he had some injuries it was straightforward.

The timing of when he got really ill was thankfully during the quiet time at work and not at a time that I needed to travel for business.

Everything is fine until you get a lame or sick horse or need to speak to professionals or organise appointments during the normal working day and that includes speaking to YO who may need you to do things or makes decisions.

I think how flexible your workplace is, can you take and make calls during the working day, how easy is it to get time off at short notice for an appointment? Employers by law have to allow parents to take emergency leave for a sick child. It is not the same for a horse or pet so you need sympathetic employers.

If you are going to be responsible for a horse I think that having enough time is important. You can been lucky and have a horse that rarely has something that requires a lot of time but you have to be prepared for other scenarios and how you can manage that.
 
I’m lucky enough now thanks to a fab divorce lawyer I don’t have to work full time now, but I did for years.
I worked 60 hours a week as a community carer with two agencies and private evening/night work. We had two horses on DIY with assistance with am t/o and b/I if needed. We also had a small flock of sheep kept elsewhere and I had two school children.
Yard t/o if I was working am, which was most days, then when I finished at 12, I’d drive to yard, muck out, haynets, feeds etc, drive home, bath, eat and back to work at 4-11. The children were old enough to cook, so they looked after themselves term time, (15 and 17). This was 3 days a week, the rest was 6am-2pm and weekends were evenings 4-11 and nights if needed. Literally never stopped, but I loved it. Housework was shared, school holidays were easier.
I’ve always worked full time until 👶 came along and never struggled with DIY before and after work. Long days but great fun. 😊
 
I’ve done all types of livery over the years.

I did find when I was on DIY I needed assistance either officially from the yard or through arrangements with other liveries as I work a lot of late finishes.

On Part or Full it potentially gives you the opportunity for days off from the pony / opens up the possibilities of further away yards if not needing to factor in time to do chores. Obviously you do need to trust the yard quite a lot if you’re not there every day!

On a “normal” yard I do prefer DIY with assistance as I can make sure everything is done to my standards and can easily adjust feed and hay intake as needed / can micromanage to my heart’s content!

Currently on a track system which do tend to work best as full livery and it is quite nice being able to just turn up & do stuff without worrying about jobs (although I’m a glutton for punishment and actually work 3 mornings a week there on top of my proper job to fund the lorry / competing)
 
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