Live in groom/room to rent/free livery in exchange for room ETC

greenlivery

greenlivery

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I will try and keep this short and simple to make things easier!

To set the scene.....
My partner and I run a small friendly yard with a maximum of 8 horses, we like our horses to be very well looked after and our facilities kept smart, but we are relaxed, down to earth and not super fancy when it comes to the horses. None are top comp horses but we like to treat them like they are!

Anyway... We live onsite, in a very old 4 bedroom house with two living rooms and large kitchen etc, so plenty of room for the two of us.
At the moment we rent a room to my brother. He previously worked for us on the yard in exchange for free rent of a bedroom, its a large attic room at the top of the house, and obviously had use of the rest of the house and parking, and got to ride our horses etc etc.
He then decided he wanted to get a full time training position in a different career so started paying rent but still helped out with the horses when we needed a day off so rent was under £400 a month, he has now decided to move out due to work commitments so we don't have the pleasure of someone onsite who can help out.
We are thinking about looking for a live in groom, or perhaps offering someone a room rent free or low rent plus livery space for some help on the yard/ in the house etc, or something similar.
I expect this would only appeal to someone younger/teenage who is looking to move out of home, or perhaps someone who wants to spend the summer saving some money and working with horses.
What do you think? Any ideas?
 
Like you say, i'm sure this would definately appeal to lots of young people! The only thing to think about is if one part of it went wrong (i.e. not looking after the horses the way you wanted, or not looking after the room the way you wanted) how you would deal with that. Probably need some sort of contract in place unfortunately!
 
If you were expecting someone to work in house or yard 7 days week 9-5 in exchange for room/livery think you won't get anyone plus it would need to equal minimum wage per hr.If you are offering free room and livery in return for say hour or 2 in mornings or evening you may get someone if it fits in with other job/commitments
 
Oh yes, it would be about two hours a week outside with the horses, plus exercise if they wanted to ride, and the occasional weekend sole charge.
 
I think you would just have to be very careful to lay it all out and agree beforehand what both parties are expecting from each other? Otherwise you may find you've given a free room to someone who literally does the bare minimum and you feel you've been ripped off or vice versa where they feel you're taking advantage. I know it's difficult to arrange when you may/may not need someone to work but I think ad hoc basis wouldn't work so well.

Other then that I see no reason why it couldn't work out well for both of you. I spent last summer with a family working on their farm and lived in their home and had a great time.
 
How about this situation;

Free rent/bills in exchange for feeding, turnout and mucking out in the mornings - 7 stables, easy horses.
Bedroom is in the attic so has a bit more privacy, its reasonably large with a nice view of the paddocks. We have two bathrooms but only one which is for showers/baths etc. We have two living rooms so lots of privacy plus your own seperate room with a spare fridge and freezer in.
Free to use the house as you like within reason, friends are more than welcome but no large groups/loud parties, no drugs or excessive drinnking! - Now I sound like a mum!!!
We both work hard outside every day so spend our evenings relaxing in our bedroom, watching tv and cooking, so someone who is reasonably social and relaxed, someone confident to say if they are unhappy in any way.
Riding would be available as all our horses need exercise, but obviously the riding would have to be a good standard.
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This is why I need ideas! Would two hours week days only require pay ontop of free rent and bills? When I was younger I would have done this for free and then worked a normal job so I could save.
Would love to hear from some other live in grooms and what they do and get in return?
Or perhaps I should look at renting the room to someone at a very discounted rate for help with the horses, or renting it alongside livery.
 
I spose it would depend on what sort of jobs they could get in the area?

If I was young, then I would go for it...Rye is nice but it would depend on the financial side too....
 
I guess it would work well for a young person who likes horses and wants to ride/work with horses. Someone who can drive although we have local bus stops just round the corner, and someone who has a day job as it would be an easy way to save over the summer.
 
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I guess it would work well for a young person who likes horses and wants to ride/work with horses. Someone who can drive although we have local bus stops just round the corner, and someone who has a day job as it would be an easy way to save over the summer.

[/ QUOTE ]That is narrowing it down somewhat.....unless they can use a push bike to go and work at the local pub or something?
 
It does sound like a nice offer. I am a bit tempted! Could work well for someone as all their living costs would be paid so any extra they earn would be bonus on top of this. They would need to get a part time job to do during daytime I'd imagine so they can earn some money but it does sound nice. I have lived in at two yards but always in old, cold, breaking apart caravans so having a nice house to live in would be lovely. I ended up being really taken advantage of and made to work 7 days a week, eventually I got too fed up/exhausted from it all. So yours sounds like a much better deal. Maybe advertise it on Yard and Groom or in H&H, I'm sure you'd get replies.
 
Did you have any kind of contract or agreement? What did you like/dislike about living in? Did you feel like you had enough privacy? Sorry for all the questions!
 
I am a groom, and would do a live in position (before OH came along...)
I would want pay as well as accomodation to be honest. Not alot though. Also I think I would be bored only working 2 hours a day!
 
How are they going to pay for food, petrol, nights out, clothes, toothpaste, shampoo, and other misc?
They'd need another job to support themselves.
 
I think the idea is you get cheap rent in return for a couple of hours work, and have a "real" job as well.
I think it's a good idea if you have a careful think about what you need. If the person who moves in is going to maintain another job, then maybe 2 hours a day weekdays would be difficult to manage?
 
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i think it's a fab idea, presuming you find a lovely person.

as a teen, i would have bitten your hand off for that offer. mind you, as a teen i would also have filled your sinks with puke, and stolen your car...
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lol - and I'd have had sex with someone in your bed, when you were out
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I think the idea would be to do the yard work early in the morning before 'normal' working hours, so they could keep a job and save some money.
 
[ QUOTE ]
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i think it's a fab idea, presuming you find a lovely person.

as a teen, i would have bitten your hand off for that offer. mind you, as a teen i would also have filled your sinks with puke, and stolen your car...
blush.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

lol - and I'd have had sex with someone in your bed, when you were out
shocked.gif
grin.gif
.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'd have done it whilst you were downstairs trying to work out who'd replaced your vodka with water...
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i think it's a fab idea, presuming you find a lovely person.

as a teen, i would have bitten your hand off for that offer. mind you, as a teen i would also have filled your sinks with puke, and stolen your car...
blush.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

lol - and I'd have had sex with someone in your bed, when you were out
shocked.gif
grin.gif
.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'd have done it whilst you were downstairs trying to work out who'd replaced your vodka with water...

[/ QUOTE ]

raofl - or while you were downstairs cleaning my pus off the bathroom mirror!
 
Are you near a university - it might be ideal for an older student such as a PhD student.

They would be saving money with the rent and also if they enjoyed riding but could not afford to keep a horse but were riding at a RS then they would save money on having lessons.
 
Thats a great idea, I'm close to Hastings/Rye/Tenterden, I'm not sure if any univeristys are that local, but will investigate as thats a really good idea.
 
I think you'd definitely find people interested, just have to be careful about who you accept!!

In regards to your questions about living in - I really enjoyed it. Originally thought I would struggle to adapt to living in someone else's house and working with them too. They made me feel a part of the family though and I was very comfortable there, however I was 22 so I think they just sort of treated me as an extra child. I was happy with that, but someone older probably wouldn't have been! I always felt I had enough privacy, the kids used to come and chat to me in the evenings and occasionally I'd get roped into helping out with stuff but didn't bother me too much! As it was only for the summer I just got stuck in, but if long term it probably would have peed me off a little that I was constantly being asked to do stuff outside of agreed hours!
 
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