Keeping a horse at home - things to think about

You'd be wise to check-out whether the building and/or surrounding areas are Protected status and/or listed, ditto any trees in the area (oak trees sometimes are, they were where we used to live).

Also, if you're considering converting buildings etc, try and find out what the attitude of the local council might be.

Also consider "change of use" re. land being used for equestrian as opposed to agricultural usage.
 
shadeofshyness said:
LHIS, does this mean you're leaving the lovely background noise of idiots on the bypass? :D I have nothing to add but you must let us know where you end up and post photos!
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Oh yes! Have you seen they've doubled the size of the Handforth Dean retail park? It opened this weekend and I had the pleasure of sitting in the A34 traffic, moving about 1 mile in 25 minutes thanks to it. Oh course if you want to be near the shops and commutable to Manchester and London in under 2 hours on the train then it's perfect, and probably explains why people want to live in Wilmslow.
 
Dragging up a threat from last week, but we went to see the property yesterday so I thought I'd report back.
The vendors advised beforehand that it can be a little tricky to find, we managed it but it became clear why I couldn't find it on Google Maps! The property is a former farm, it has several buildings, 3 of which have been turned into houses, the rest remains as a farm from what I could see. Access is off the road through the village, through the farm gates and then the road split, we headed downhill a little, the road became hardcore, and then arrived at the property. As mentioned before, it's one of 3 houses. They sit on the side of a hill (beautiful views) and the one we were looking at was at the top, so we overlooked the other houses but no one overlooks that house.
The house itself is lovely, bar a lick of paint in some now-childrens bedrooms it doesn't need anything doing it to, you could move in straight away. Size-wise it's a tiny bit bigger than what we have now, but there's not much in it. It was detached, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a separate utility room (hallelujah) and boot room. It had a large open plan kitchen and dining room, a snug and then a new extension which is currently a large playroom. It had reasonably low ceilings, but no beams so OH didn't crack his head on anything.
The house has mains electricity, but it is off the grid for gas. They have oil central heating and have the tank topped up every 3 months, we asked them what this costs and worked it out to be similar to what we pay now, perhaps a little more. They are on a water meter for the house (but only the house ;) ). The gas cooker runs on calor gas bottles. They're also unsurprisingly not on mains sewage, so have a septic tank (which lives in the neighbouring properties garden!).
Now to the interesting bit.. outside. It has a garden which is separate from the house, you go back up the private drive and through a little gate, it's 2-tier landscaped, and they're leaving the hot tub, much to OH's delight. The garden backs onto the stable block and looks onto the neighbours arena and into the distance. Access to the property is good. The property down the hill had 5 horses, a large barn, a 7.5t horse box, all which they said they had no problem negotiating the lane down to the property. The house had a private drive and electric gates. I asked if in snow it is an issue, they said they share salting and clearing duties between them and the neighbours and they've never been snowed in. We are planning on buying a 4x4 to tow a trailer with, so we'd have a vehicle capable of negotiating the lane if it did snow. Vendors also mentioned that neighbours were planning on concreting the track down the properties as he has an interest in classic cars and needs a good road to drive them down, and they'd pay for it all if they did it.
Current owners have converted the garages into stables, there is a large stable, a medium sized stable, and a small stable, with corresponding door heights to match. They have ample under-cover storage for straw, hay, etc and a large separate tack room. the stable block has electricity and water. The house has a 1.6 acre paddock, it is on the side of a hill but it is not steep. They currently don't use it for their horses as were planning on buying some sheep. Their horses are in a field at the end of the drive - the land belongs to the neighbour and they rent a 3 acre field for a reasonable amount - and suggested we would be able to continue to do so if we wished. I asked what they do for holiday cover for their horses, they said the neighbours with the 5 of their own look after theirs when they are away, and vice versa. I'd be happy with that and would look to continue that arrangement.
Hacking in the area is good - the vendors said there is a bridleway a just off the road at the top of the track which leads down to the house, and there are lots of good rides within 10 mins drive that they box up to go to.
There was also an arena, and this is the only down side as I am currently spoilt by having use of a large arena. It's 12m x 25m, so narrower than I am used to, however not a deal breaker. It was brand new, surface was a rubber/sand mix, there was a hard frost on Friday night and it wasn't frozen. The vendor is in the process of putting up lights for it.
Re. hay, straw and haylage supply - they buy from the farm at the top, I had a look at it and it looked and smelt lovely. The farmer at the top also takes the muck heap away.
It was clearly a very horsey area, so I wouldn't be isolated from a horsey community and potential horsey friends. The views were lovely, and it had a nice feel about it. OH was also very pleased to have full mobile signal and fast broadband speeds.

So, what do we think? I think you can probably tell from my report that I am rather taken with the property, but would love to know what others think based on the information above. Have I got my rose-tinted specs on, or not?
 
Maybe a little bit rosy. Oil works out a great deal more expensive than gas for heating, we're paying a lot more to heat a smaller property. The other concern is that 1.6 acres quite small, I find it hard to manage with 3 acres and spend a lot on hay. I know you can rent another 3 but that could change if the owners move house etc.

I can't work out how the land could not be on a meter when the house is? It must have its own separate meter?

The house sounds really nice but it's easier to change a house than it is to magic up some extra land. It also sounds like you have to box up for a good hack?

And to all of you wishing you could have yours at home, it's like most things in life, comes with a downside! The happiest horse time I had was on a yard. I expect being a billionaire also has a downside but I've not been able to find that out!

Goodness I'm negative today, sorry.
 
On thing not mentioned in lots of good advice - is that if the stables are not in the 'curtilage' of your home - which it doesn't sound like they are if you have to go back out onto the lane to get to them - then you will have to pay business rates on your stable - even if you are 100% a private owner with no commercial interest in horses at all.
The BHS is running a campaign at the moment because the latest budget proposes putting business rates up massively on stable - they are worried it will put livery yards out of business but it's big deal if you're a private home owner.
Councils are looking to make money to cover the gap left by central government and they will reassess rates due on a change of ownership of a property - so even if the current owners don't pay business rates - that's no protection for you.
make sure you get a good proper equestrian solicitor to look into curtilage (it's a hard thing to define!) and be prepared for how much the bill could be - stables are OK compared to an arena which is many K per year !
 
Sounds lovely except for the land. What happens if the neighbour you rent the field from gets more horses and needs it himself? Or if you fall out with them. Could the vendor be being economical with the truth and the reason they are leaving is because they are losing the 3 acre field.
 
Thanks all - I will explore the points raised. Re. the stables, they are on the property, about 15 meters walk from the front door. The arena is behind the drive to the house. I'll do some investigating re. the neighbours and the rent of the field. I'd want some sort of agreement in place with them anyway.
 
LHIS said:
Thanks all - I will explore the points raised. Re. the stables, they are on the property, about 15 meters walk from the front door. The arena is behind the drive to the house. I'll do some investigating re. the neighbours and the rent of the field. I'd want some sort of agreement in place with them anyway.
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Get your solicitors to triple check curtilage - it's a very odd concept and not related to deeds or title or anything else. Something you'd think is in your garden may not be in your curtilage! and it's expensive if you find yourself paying business rates!
 
Sounds great, I moved out of Manchester to Malpas area. I don't have half that and I'm happy and have never regretted it. Hacking is great. My house has septic tank and oil heating. I adapted to this well and haven't had any issues. I also have a water meter and any water for the horses is metred. I've had 4 horses/ponies, a hot tub that gets emptied etc and never paid more than £20 a month. I don't have electric or water to my field. I've set up the bedazzled lights to a leisure battery and bought an IBC water tank on a trailer. I fill it at the house every 2-3 weeks and take it to the field (about 20 metres or so) I do knock In fence posts in and rig up electric fencing etc as well.
The only thing you need to be happy with is the acres that come with the house. At any point renting the second field could end. As long as you can put in the extra work involved in managing on less land then it sounds good. Do have a really good look round. The house next to me has just sold for £475k with 3 acres, manège, stables. Good sized 4 bed with modern bathrooms kitchen etc. I paid less for mine but it needs new bathrooms and I had no stables etc and have had to do this myself. So be sure this is the one :)
 
LovesCobs said:
Sounds great, I moved out of Manchester to Malpas area. I don't have half that and I'm happy and have never regretted it. Hacking is great. My house has septic tank and oil heating. I adapted to this well and haven't had any issues. I also have a water meter and any water for the horses is metred. I've had 4 horses/ponies, a hot tub that gets emptied etc and never paid more than £20 a month. I don't have electric or water to my field. I've set up the bedazzled lights to a leisure battery and bought an IBC water tank on a trailer. I fill it at the house every 2-3 weeks and take it to the field (about 20 metres or so) I do knock In fence posts in and rig up electric fencing etc as well.
The only thing you need to be happy with is the acres that come with the house. At any point renting the second field could end. As long as you can put in the extra work involved in managing on less land then it sounds good. Do have a really good look round. The house next to me has just sold for £475k with 3 acres, manège, stables. Good sized 4 bed with modern bathrooms kitchen etc. I paid less for mine but it needs new bathrooms and I had no stables etc and have had to do this myself. So be sure this is the one :)
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Ah very similar to what we're possibly going to do! I have seen some lovely properties out your way but too far for us for work so we need to look south Cheshire\Staffs border. The house we are looking at sounds very similar to the one just sold near you, except a tiny bit cheaper.
It won't be a decision made lightly, and we'll have a second viewing soon.
 
Out in the country most people have oil for heating and septic tanks for drainage.

It sounds very nice, but don't take as FACT anything that the vendor says. Check it out. Particularly things like "arrangements" with other people.
 
LHIS said:
Ah very similar to what we're possibly going to do! I have seen some lovely properties out your way but too far for us for work so we need to look south Cheshire\Staffs border. The house we are looking at sounds very similar to the one just sold near you, except a tiny bit cheaper.
It won't be a decision made lightly, and we'll have a second viewing soon.
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What sort of commute time are you looking for? And which route? I'm about an hour out to get to south Manchester but more if I go peak times (1.5hrs if I leave and hit the M56 7.30/8am) but I can leave 9am and miss most of it.
I cancelled out going more north west or anywhere that involved the M6 or the M62! (So not Nantwich or Crewe)
I found the A49 a nice route in as well which might be near you (I passed some of the Kelsall turn offs)
 
OH doesn't want anything more than 45 mins. He works in Wythenshawe. I work in Macc so where we are now is perfect for us both but we just can't afford that type of property here. I'd rather not go west because it then adds time into my journey which is 30 mins because of the traffic in the area.
 
Orangehorse said:
It sounds very nice, but don't take as FACT anything that the vendor says. Check it out. Particularly things like "arrangements" with other people.
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Totally agree. We once got to the point of surveying an equestrian property which mentioned in the particulars that several acres was available from the neighbouring farm. When I phoned to check how much this would cost the farmer knew absolutely NOTHING about it and hated the current owners with a passion! Needless to say we didn't buy it!

Weird they top the tank up every three months. Why would you do that when it's cheaper to buy 1000 litres at a time. Probably the gauge on the tank doesn't work.
 
My non horsey non DIY competent OH and I took the plunge in January 2016 despite us both working fulltime. We bought our own place with a septic tank, oil heating, wooden stables, 9 acres of land and an outdoor school. I had one horse already but got another on loan as a companion. I had always kept my horses in full livery so this was a huge step into the unknown! This is what I found:

1. Make sure the stables have a roof which doesn't leak. Our stables have an onduline roof which is just utter pants and despite several attempts at patching it up it still leaks! Think it has to be replaced sadly £££££ (ouch). In the meantime the horses wear turnouts for bedtime... Not great.
2. Get cats. The mice are terrible. I got a couple of feral cats from the local cat protection folk.
3. Find a good fencer and keep him on speed dial.
4. If the muck heap is too far away from the stables like ours (god only knows why) get a cheap trailer that will attach to a quad (yes get a quad too!). Make sure it tips.
5. Get good with electric fencing. We found out pretty quickly that the two horses liked to rip the rugs off each other. We also found out the grass was 'too good' being an ex dairy farm. So they now have separate fields and small ones at that!
6. Get to grips with field pipes, stopcocks and troughs. These are all just articles of the devil.
7. Get sheep in spring/summer from a local friendly farmer. When the grass starts growing its a nightmare when you only have two fat horses in restricted grazing!
8. Fix field drains. We have a field lovingly known as The Swamp. Says it all.
9. Get a third horse or find a neighbour who will lend you a horse/pony/donkey/goat. Our two horses bonded and they are now an absolute nightmare to school separately or take to shows.
10. Forget about holidays, being sick or having a lie in. Get used to very early starts 7 days a week. (always nice to be greeted every morning by two very happy horses and little whinnies of 'feed me' mind you).
11. Don't get a woodchip school. Mine is full of deep compost and virtually useless. Now having to spend £££££ on a rubber/sand surface so I can actually ride my beasties!
12. Don't get too upset by the fact you can seldom ride your horses. I found the lack of time/energy/opportunity to actually get on one of the horses and ride quite horrendous at first. Still find it disappointing.
13. Good outdoor lights. Essential for dark evenings / schooling in winter! Same goes for reflective strips on turnout rugs - makes it a lot easier to spot the neddies in a very dark field.
14. Did I mention a quad?! Get one with a tow bar and winch. I had to use the quad to winch the car and trailer out of The Swamp one day. Thank god we had one otherwise the car/trailer would still be there.
15. Storage - due to lack of storage we bought a shipping container in which we now keep our hay. Absolute godsend.
16. Bedding. Install the best rubber mats you can buy then buy the most absorbent bedding you can find by the pallet load. I use flax. Keeps the mucking out quick and simple and trust me the more time you can save the better.
17. Field harrow and arena leveller. Essential bits of equipment. Along with a roller.
18. Weed management. Our fields were essentially docks, thistles, nettles and masses of rushes. Luckily no ragwort. However it took months of sustained back breaking work to get on top of the weeds and we have it all to look forward to next year. Remember: MCPA is your friend. (ahem... make sure you're qualified to use it first mind you... ).
19. Teach your horses to catch easily and lead calmly/quietly. So the OH can help you out on occasion!!!
20. Hardstandings. Build some. We have clay soil - nightmare. You need a mini digger, dumper truck and a local quarry.
21. Finally. Enjoy the sunrises, sunsets, stars and peace. Being in the countryside is magic - especially if like me you've lived in cities/housing estates all your life! Its also amazing how much you bond with your horses when you're with them 24/7. Makes the unrelenting hard slog worth it.

Good luck x
 
TotalMadgeness said:
My non horsey non DIY competent OH and I took the plunge in January 2016 despite us both working fulltime. We bought our own place with a septic tank, oil heating, wooden stables, 9 acres of land and an outdoor school. I had one horse already but got another on loan as a companion. I had always kept my horses in full livery so this was a huge step into the unknown! This is what I found:

1. Make sure the stables have a roof which doesn't leak. Our stables have an onduline roof which is just utter pants and despite several attempts at patching it up it still leaks! Think it has to be replaced sadly £££££ (ouch). In the meantime the horses wear turnouts for bedtime... Not great.
2. Get cats. The mice are terrible. I got a couple of feral cats from the local cat protection folk.
3. Find a good fencer and keep him on speed dial.
4. If the muck heap is too far away from the stables like ours (god only knows why) get a cheap trailer that will attach to a quad (yes get a quad too!). Make sure it tips.
5. Get good with electric fencing. We found out pretty quickly that the two horses liked to rip the rugs off each other. We also found out the grass was 'too good' being an ex dairy farm. So they now have separate fields and small ones at that!
6. Get to grips with field pipes, stopcocks and troughs. These are all just articles of the devil.
7. Get sheep in spring/summer from a local friendly farmer. When the grass starts growing its a nightmare when you only have two fat horses in restricted grazing!
8. Fix field drains. We have a field lovingly known as The Swamp. Says it all.
9. Get a third horse or find a neighbour who will lend you a horse/pony/donkey/goat. Our two horses bonded and they are now an absolute nightmare to school separately or take to shows.
10. Forget about holidays, being sick or having a lie in. Get used to very early starts 7 days a week. (always nice to be greeted every morning by two very happy horses and little whinnies of 'feed me' mind you).
11. Don't get a woodchip school. Mine is full of deep compost and virtually useless. Now having to spend £££££ on a rubber/sand surface so I can actually ride my beasties!
12. Don't get too upset by the fact you can seldom ride your horses. I found the lack of time/energy/opportunity to actually get on one of the horses and ride quite horrendous at first. Still find it disappointing.
13. Good outdoor lights. Essential for dark evenings / schooling in winter! Same goes for reflective strips on turnout rugs - makes it a lot easier to spot the neddies in a very dark field.
14. Did I mention a quad?! Get one with a tow bar and winch. I had to use the quad to winch the car and trailer out of The Swamp one day. Thank god we had one otherwise the car/trailer would still be there.
15. Storage - due to lack of storage we bought a shipping container in which we now keep our hay. Absolute godsend.
16. Bedding. Install the best rubber mats you can buy then buy the most absorbent bedding you can find by the pallet load. I use flax. Keeps the mucking out quick and simple and trust me the more time you can save the better.
17. Field harrow and arena leveller. Essential bits of equipment. Along with a roller.
18. Weed management. Our fields were essentially docks, thistles, nettles and masses of rushes. Luckily no ragwort. However it took months of sustained back breaking work to get on top of the weeds and we have it all to look forward to next year. Remember: MCPA is your friend. (ahem... make sure you're qualified to use it first mind you... ).
19. Teach your horses to catch easily and lead calmly/quietly. So the OH can help you out on occasion!!!
20. Hardstandings. Build some. We have clay soil - nightmare. You need a mini digger, dumper truck and a local quarry.
21. Finally. Enjoy the sunrises, sunsets, stars and peace. Being in the countryside is magic - especially if like me you've lived in cities/housing estates all your life! Its also amazing how much you bond with your horses when you're with them 24/7. Makes the unrelenting hard slog worth it.

Good luck x
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Thank you for your honest (if a bit honest!) advice, my OH is also non DIY competent and non horsey! All points duly noted, OH would be delighted with a quad bike. One horse to ride is plenty enough for me, so I'd be looking for a non-ridden companion. Ideally I don't want 3, I think OH wouldn't be happy with me, but completely understand the issues with separating bonded pairs. I don't know how I'd manage this particular issue, I need to give it some more thought and research. My lad currently is part of a herd of 5, I won't keep him alone so he needs another, but how I go about this I don't know yet - my inexperience shows when it comes to issues like this.
I noticed the neighbour had at least 5 horses, perhaps there's an opportunity there. I don't have a solution for this particular issue yet.
I suppose what would be helpful is having how expensive 2 or 3 horses (ponies in reality) would be, in comparison to 1. Obviously there's things they will share, but there's things they won't.
 
Companions - Get something that is good to catch and doesn't kick or jump out. I find the different needs, e.g. needing to be kept on different grazing, easy with electric fencing. Also get something that doesn't need riding, so it relieves the pressure of feeling that you should be doing something with it.

My horse has never, ever been nappy. He is quite happy to go out on a ride or on the trailer and I just leave the companion shut up in the stable until I get back. Obviously if I am going out for a long time I get OH to chuck it a bit more hay. If I have been away I have got someone to turn it out when we are out of sight and it has to live out until I get back. However, should the companion go out of sight, my horse goes into meltdown mode.
 
With the not keeping your horse alone/bonded pairs issue I wonder maybe you could offer DIY livery? I decided not to do that mainly because I found the ideal companion before I moved plus it turns out I have very helpful neighbours with 'spare' ponies. However it may help you and your circumstances. From my (very limited) experience looking after two on a monthly basis is roughly equivalent cost wise to keeping one horse at full livery excluding vets bills/rugs/insurance etc. The manual effort is (obviously) doubled if you have two but there are loads of things you can do to speed things up. I prepare all the haynets and feeds in advance at the weekend (for example). I deliberately got a companion which was barefoot to save shoeing costs and who could eat the same feed as my own horse (i.e. fat cob!). The companion also has similar grazing needs to my horse - not too much grass so they each have the same routine i.e. restricted grazing / haynets with small holes / soaked hay. Both horses very each to catch and handle. The other time saving tip - train the OH to muck out telling him its great exercise and will keep him slim/healthy - worked a treat on mine who now gets out of bed at 5:30 to help! Have to say OH loves his quad... Its the only reason he enjoys levelling the arena and harrowing the fields so much lol... Best result is despite OH being non horsey he is totally in love with both horses now he's had them at home for 9 months :-)
 
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Or someone suggested to me that I had a paying "retirement livery." I hadn't thought of that I admit, but my stables aren't really up to scratch for a paying livery. My companions have had first class care all the time that I have had them.
 
The stables and land are both within the boundaries of the area designated to the house. The stables themselves are the converted garage, the land that belongs to the house is directly beside it like a big garden.
 
LHIS said:
The stables and land are both within the boundaries of the area designated to the house. The stables themselves are the converted garage, the land that belongs to the house is directly beside it like a big garden.
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That is not necessarily the same as being in curtilage in the eyes of a local authority valuer. Look up curtilage on the government's planning website. If the land is not contiguous with the land the house is on you may be liable for business rates.
 
TotalMadgeness said:
My non horsey non DIY competent OH and I took the plunge in January 2016 despite us both working fulltime. We bought our own place with a septic tank, oil heating, wooden stables, 9 acres of land and an outdoor school. I had one horse already but got another on loan as a companion. I had always kept my horses in full livery so this was a huge step into the unknown! This is what I found:

1. Make sure the stables have a roof which doesn't leak. Our stables have an onduline roof which is just utter pants and despite several attempts at patching it up it still leaks! Think it has to be replaced sadly £££££ (ouch). In the meantime the horses wear turnouts for bedtime... Not great.
2. Get cats. The mice are terrible. I got a couple of feral cats from the local cat protection folk.
3. Find a good fencer and keep him on speed dial.
4. If the muck heap is too far away from the stables like ours (god only knows why) get a cheap trailer that will attach to a quad (yes get a quad too!). Make sure it tips.
5. Get good with electric fencing. We found out pretty quickly that the two horses liked to rip the rugs off each other. We also found out the grass was 'too good' being an ex dairy farm. So they now have separate fields and small ones at that!
6. Get to grips with field pipes, stopcocks and troughs. These are all just articles of the devil.
7. Get sheep in spring/summer from a local friendly farmer. When the grass starts growing its a nightmare when you only have two fat horses in restricted grazing!
8. Fix field drains. We have a field lovingly known as The Swamp. Says it all.
9. Get a third horse or find a neighbour who will lend you a horse/pony/donkey/goat. Our two horses bonded and they are now an absolute nightmare to school separately or take to shows.
10. Forget about holidays, being sick or having a lie in. Get used to very early starts 7 days a week. (always nice to be greeted every morning by two very happy horses and little whinnies of 'feed me' mind you).
11. Don't get a woodchip school. Mine is full of deep compost and virtually useless. Now having to spend £££££ on a rubber/sand surface so I can actually ride my beasties!
12. Don't get too upset by the fact you can seldom ride your horses. I found the lack of time/energy/opportunity to actually get on one of the horses and ride quite horrendous at first. Still find it disappointing.
13. Good outdoor lights. Essential for dark evenings / schooling in winter! Same goes for reflective strips on turnout rugs - makes it a lot easier to spot the neddies in a very dark field.
14. Did I mention a quad?! Get one with a tow bar and winch. I had to use the quad to winch the car and trailer out of The Swamp one day. Thank god we had one otherwise the car/trailer would still be there.
15. Storage - due to lack of storage we bought a shipping container in which we now keep our hay. Absolute godsend.
16. Bedding. Install the best rubber mats you can buy then buy the most absorbent bedding you can find by the pallet load. I use flax. Keeps the mucking out quick and simple and trust me the more time you can save the better.
17. Field harrow and arena leveller. Essential bits of equipment. Along with a roller.
18. Weed management. Our fields were essentially docks, thistles, nettles and masses of rushes. Luckily no ragwort. However it took months of sustained back breaking work to get on top of the weeds and we have it all to look forward to next year. Remember: MCPA is your friend. (ahem... make sure you're qualified to use it first mind you... ).
19. Teach your horses to catch easily and lead calmly/quietly. So the OH can help you out on occasion!!!
20. Hardstandings. Build some. We have clay soil - nightmare. You need a mini digger, dumper truck and a local quarry.
21. Finally. Enjoy the sunrises, sunsets, stars and peace. Being in the countryside is magic - especially if like me you've lived in cities/housing estates all your life! Its also amazing how much you bond with your horses when you're with them 24/7. Makes the unrelenting hard slog worth it.

Good luck x
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Ditto
 
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