Leaving livery to go it alone- pros and cons for kids

[Canelloni]

Thinking of taking the plunge and going it alone with our own grazing, if we can find some. Worried about whether it is a good idea for my preteen daughter. Will it be lonely without yard pals? Lack of facilities, eg arena? Any positives?

 

[nagblagger]

Depends on my reason for wanting to going it alone. Livery politics, costs and stresses?
How often do you use the arena, electricity, stable for emergencies? Does your daughter ride out with others, have a horsey social life at the livery? How many horses have you got - you will need at least one other for company and what do you do with it when you go out?
So many questions.
Personally, i am an anti-sociable person and prefer the peace and no livery politics (only 1 other where i keep mine). Could you share grazing with a similar like minded person with a child?

 

[twiggy2]

In my experience yes it will be lonely and the facilities will be missed.

 

[splashgirl45]

For a young person it’s helpful to have people at the yard and very lonely if not on a yard.. I moved to rented grazing with friends when I was in my 30’s but I’m not sure I would have been happy with no one else there . Also your daughters horse will need at least one other for company as horses are herd animals. And who c would daughter ride with , but if a safety concern if she rides on her own

 

[ycbm]

Very lonely, I wouldn't want to make a child do that. A friend of mine did it and the child, older than yours, just never wanted to ride the pony then.
.

 

[Widgeon]

Thinking of taking the plunge and going it alone with our own grazing, if we can find some. Worried about whether it is a good idea for my preteen daughter. Will it be lonely without yard pals? Lack of facilities, eg arena? Any positives?

I probably wouldn't, as a pre-teen and teenager I loved the community at the yard. Doing all those boring jobs all by myself wouldn't have been nearly so desirable. And there would have been no rides to the pub for a naughty half of shandy or hanging around in the sun cleaning tack...etc....

If you can commit to lots of trailering to Pony Club etc then it might work, but that's a lot of extra work for you, and I suspect the day to day will be much easier on a yard.

 

[Nicnac]

Depends if you ride together? My daughter had ponies at home from the age of four and still rides 30 years later. As long as it's something you do together and child gets out to lots of PC things or has friends who come round with their ponies or vice versa it's not an issue. If it's a child on their own then I think it would be more of an issue.

 

[Equi]

Depends on a few things but the yard tends to instil the routine and excitement. It’s easy if they’re in their own field to just give a quick check and throw some food then leave, especially in bad weather when you can’t ride or groom. Eventually kid becomes bored and doesn’t want to go anymore and pony either is an expensive lawn mower or sold. It would be different however if you had your own yard with other horses and you both were very into it and had ambitions beyond having a plod about.

 

[spacefaer]

I had a pony at home as a child. Never occurred to me to be bored or lonely. I did Pony Club stuff in the summer, hacked my pony round surrounding villages, built myself jumps in the field. If school friends came over, I didn't encourage them to go up the fields as I didn't want them to ride!
Think I might have been anti social early in life

My parents weren't particularly knowledgeable or horsey but were supportive - my father towed me all over the place during my competitive teenage years

 

[Widgeon]

I had a pony at home as a child. Never occurred to me to be bored or lonely. I did Pony Club stuff in the summer, hacked my pony round surrounding villages, built myself jumps in the field. If school friends came over, I didn't encourage them to go up the fields as I didn't want them to ride!
Think I might have been anti social early in life

I'm not sure that would work now though - it's quite unusual for an area (and roads) to be safe enough for a child to go out riding by themselves. Also I don't think the OP is suggesting keeping them at home - it would be rented grazing so presumably her daughter would be unable to access the pony without a driver, so a lot of the freedom of having a pony actually at home wouldn't apply.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I grew up as a child on a yard only at weekends and after school. Id have given anything to have my own place. However, i think it gave me far more experience, getting flung on ponies straight off the meat lorry by the YO. Lots of free rides for help. Riding one pony and leading 4 each side up and down to the field lol.. I must have been mental As long as you have fun with her and it doesn't feel like a chore she will be absolutely fine

 

[SantaVera]

It can be very lonely

 

[Peglo]

I had mine at home as a teen but always had my cousin or friends to ride the other pony. Me and my cousin would muck out together in mornings and take in so it wasn’t lonely. I didn’t get to go to pony club or anything so it was good to have have friends about. It would’ve been a struggle by myself I think.

 

[spacefaer]

@Widgeon absolutely. But being on a yard, surrounded by other children would have been one of the 7 circles of hell for me as a child. I would rather not have ridden than endure that.

 

[honetpot]

I don't know about lonely, even when we were at basic DIY, there were no other children, and when we moved to somewhere with teens their age, well girls are a blooming nightmare, and we did our own thing, ear buds in all the time. You get the matchy brigade, the my ponies better, we are competing at, you need to do this or buy this. If you are certain of your views it's fine, if you are swayed by teenage whining, it will cause you a lot of ag. Oh and things get borrowed a lot, and lost in the rubbish they leave. I found two rugs at the bottom of the loose hay pile, which was over a foot deep. Keep everything you can in the boot of your car.
It depends on if you are they are there to ride/horse care or it's just a social hobby with riding. We mucked out, rode and kept out of other peoples way, so when the ponies were either at home, or on a rented field it never made any difference.

 

[Canelloni]

Lots of food for thought, and a few aspects that hadn’t occurred to me. Thanks everyone

 

[MurphysMinder]

We did a compromise, pony lived at home but during the school summer holidays she liveried at a local yard where my daughters friends were. It worked well, but it was 20 years ago so roads were quieter for my daughter to hack out (she was 14), nowadays I wouldn't want a child/young teen riding out on their own .

 

[SusieT]

Depends on your daughter and if youhave one? If you have 4 kids - it can be ideal as they love racing around on ponies together and if you do PC etc.
If you have one child - too lonely

 

[Bobthecob15]

I'll share my experience...I hope its useful!
I have an 8yr old with her pony and we are at a perfectly lovely livery yard...but we are the only liveries who ride there, all the others are either retired or injured (it's mainly a retirement yard), we rarely see anyone there bar the yard owner. Can't fault the care at all...but it's miserably lonely! For her and me. We get out and about as much as we can with pony club, meet friends with their horses occasionally etc but we've decided to move to a busier yard as her motivation and confidence has nose dived. Pony has been a bit fresh over winter. We've found a yard with other liveries who do ride, or at least go up and do their horses daily..so we will have more company for yard chat, hacking and occasional schooling together. Ideally we'd be at a yard with other kids but they just don't exist here. We also have the option of keeping our pony at home, we have a small paddock but no facilities. She needs the company of other horsey people, she adores her pony and riding but I can see how much happier she is when we are out with other riders, her enjoyment is much more and she loves the pony chat!
So my answer would be no, stay at livery if you can afford it. That's just our personal opinion!

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

With children I’d stay at livery yard unless the you and the children are desperately unhappy.