Livery costs

[JBM]

Hi! I’ve had a thread or two here about costing livery but just had a question as I was considering offering full livery instead of diy and hiring a yard manager so someone would be monitoring the property
So my questions are
What would you pay for diy?
What would you pay for full?
What would you expect in part livery?
Would only be including bedding and hay/haylage if on fully or part so I know how much everyone is using
On full or part would include 2 bales of shavings a week for example
Facilities would be
24/7 summer turnout
All weather turnout pens attached to the each stable 10x15 (plans seem to be more of a 10x24)
Stables are 12x12 with water drinkers
American style barn 12 stables available
Indoor wash bay
Tack room and feed room
30x40 arena
Hay barn is separate but close

 

[JBM]

There’s a stables 10 minutes from where mine would be
It’s not American style but has a indoor arena and 2 outdoor no winter turnout
They cost
DIY €50 per week
PART €80 per week
FULL €100 per week
Includes HAYLAGE no bedding

 

[Barton Bounty]

I would say £35 per week diy £65 part livery -one bale a week and £90 full livery..
part could include your bedding and hay and turnout or turn in?
full would include it all.

youd need to sort out how much hay people are to have, for example 30kg a day etc.
Some people like to feed unlimited so they are likely to need more that others.

 

[Dexter]

with no school it will be much less. People will pay for facilities because most people wanting full or part work so need them.

 

[Lady Tinseltime]

I would say £35 per week diy £65 part livery -one bale a week and £90 full livery..
part could include your bedding and hay and turnout or turn in?
full would include it all.

youd need to sort out how much hay people are to have, for example 30kg a day etc.
Some people like to feed unlimited so they are likely to need more that others.

30kg a day??? Is that for a heffalump?

 

[Barton Bounty]

30kg a day??? Is that for a heffalump?

? it was just a guide some ponies eat 10 a day , my horse would easily eat 30 kg a day that only 3 large haynets of mine, he gets that at night so not including the daytime ?

 

[Floofball]

Going rate for DIY around me is £35 pw
Part livery £70-85, horse done (fed, hayed, muck out, turn out bring in) five days a week. Bedding and hay included - varying facilities.
Full livery, everything 7 days a week except exercise £95 - £150 depending on available facilities - extra charges for exercise. Some include feed as well, others you provide your own.

 

[teapot]

I've seen assisted DIY at £350 a month, and full at £1000+ a month in and around Sussex and Surrey


Worth considering what the demand for full livery would be at the moment, with people cutting expenses as best they can! Let alone the cost of paying someone.

 

[mariew]

Part (so feed, hay and general care including being to here for farrier and vets etc). Used to pay 140 PW and south east seem to be 500-650 ish per month. I'd also suggest putting meters on any arena lights and if you are on metered water be strict about how much people use. And ensure lights don't get left on all night.

DIY, unless you are somewhere very attractive, 30-40 PW but you would need to provide more storage for people. Everyone has their own wheelbarrow, feed bins, rug storage etc.

I think you should really cost things up v if it is worth it. I suspect the only way to do it is part / full livery but if you employ someone you probably need to do pension contributions etc.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Btw OP is in Donegal.

 

[JBM]

with no school it will be much less. People will pay for facilities because most people wanting full or part work so need them.

30x40 arena?

 

[Cherryblossom]

Can you step in if yard manager is sick/on holiday/quits? I would be tempted to see if someone will rent the whole yard from you and they can run it as a livery then. You’ll get a bit less money, and lots less responsibility!

 

[Lady Jane]

? it was just a guide some ponies eat 10 a day , my horse would easily eat 30 kg a day that only 3 large haynets of mine, he gets that at night so not including the daytime ?

Do you mean 30lbs of hay a day? I haven't got haynets that would take 10kg which is 22 lbs. 30kg is almost 2 bales of hay a day - depending on bales sizes

 

[JBM]

Can you step in if yard manager is sick/on holiday/quits? I would be tempted to see if someone will rent the whole yard from you and they can run it as a livery then. You’ll get a bit less money, and lots less responsibility!

I’d be able to step in from summer on! Just have to finish my college courses but can start building in January

 

[Barton Bounty]

Do you mean 30lbs of hay a day? I haven't got haynets that would take 10kg which is 22 lbs. 30kg is almost 2 bales of hay a day - depending on bales sizes

I will measure one later, ? my horse would eat two small bales of hay easily in a night, his haynets go right over me. For one horse I use one round bale every 3 1/2 weeks

 

[little_critter]

At my last yard 1 bale of shavings per week was included in the price, if you needed another you paid for it. I felt this worked well because in summer they only needed 1 bale per week, I wouldn’t have wanted to be paying for 2 but using 1 (if 2 per week were included in the cost)

I echo the comment about seeing if there is demand, I wonder if people are looking at their livery and looking to save money by moving from full to part, or from part to diy.

 

[Birker2020]

I pay £7.21 a day in the Summer as I turnout myself and staff bring in in the morning. One turn out or bring in is free per day on our yard. Trailer is 60p a day, lorry around 80p I think.

Round hay is £35.00 a bale, shavings were £8.22 for 22KG but struggling to get from usual supplier, one shavings a week and one pellet at £6.00 a fortnight. Feed approx £25.00 per month - just nuts and Healthy Hooves, bags of speedi beet at £1.00 (make about six days of feeds).

At the moment he is out at day in at night so I've got together with another livery on the yard whose paddock is next door so get her horse in at the same time as mine, so it saves us both a bit of money which I shall put towards another horse. I'm lucky that I get to the yard by 3.50pm every day after work. I muck out then get them both in.

Weekend bring in rugs/feet is £4.50 and £3.50 without rug/feet, again I tend to do Saturday and Sundays with another liveries horse and mine and friends horse are in by 6am in the Summer.

 

[ycbm]

I'm happy to tell you but I doubt it will bear any relationship to what you can charge in Donegal ?
.

 

[JBM]

I’ve posted on a Donegal forum too but just wanted a general idea as the prices are so vast here
One place does €50 for fully livery about an hour away
One does €70 a week for full 30 minutes away but it’s also a riding school so select riding times
DIY place 30 away does for €30 a week great facilities but no winter turnout
Honestly does confuse me a bit how they keep their prices down so much
Euro would be a less than Sterling still but not sure on the conversion rate

 

[Morgan123]

If you look on ******* there are free templates and info about how to cost this - lots of livery managers seem to get into this trap of "what can I charge" rather than working out what it will cost them and then going form there - and as a result many yards run at a loss or just scrape by. You'll get loads of help and support on LL. Good luck!

 

[Lady Jane]

I will measure one later, ? my horse would eat two small bales of hay easily in a night, his haynets go right over me. For one horse I use one round bale every 3 1/2 weeks

My 15.1 would eat 2 bales a day if I let him! There is no off button.......

 

[ihatework]

I will measure one later, ? my horse would eat two small bales of hay easily in a night, his haynets go right over me. For one horse I use one round bale every 3 1/2 weeks

I hazard a guess you have your weighing/sums wrong.
I’ve never had to feed 30kg hay / day to any horse. Even if they would physically stuff themselves with 30kg it must be our job to stop that!

 

[Gloi]

Our yard is 400 - 500/month part livery, feeding , hay, bedding, turnout , mucking out , no grooming or riding included though that could be paid for extra. Has indoor outdoor schools plus walker. Yard makes own big bale hay/haylage and beds on sawdust got in bulk. North England.
Experienced yard managers and other staff are thin on the ground here.

 

[SilverLinings]

I hazard a guess you have your weighing/sums wrong.
I’ve never had to feed 30kg hay / day to any horse. Even if they would physically stuff themselves with 30kg it must be our job to stop that!

Going on the standard guideline that horses need to eat 2.5% of their bodyweight per day (if not on a diet), 30kgs would be an appropriate amount of food for a horse weighing 1.2 tons (1,200kgs)! I have owned a horse that might have tried to eat that if allowed, but I think he would have exploded as a result

 

[JBM]

Seems to be a close call but diy is winning

 

[Dexter]

You need to work out if you will recoup the cost of building all this. a 30x40 arena, stables with turnout pens etc you are looking at tens of thousands, and theres very little money in horses. Once you factor in the building costs, the running costs, staffing costs and then a profit on top you will probably find you'd be running at a loss. If you've got a spare 100k theres better ways to invest it than horses.

I'd want someone very experienced to run the sums for me.

 

[Tiddlypom]

OP, is any of this proposed livery yard and arena built yet? How much is it all going to cost and what return will you need on it to make a profit?

You are well meaning but your posts on this forum show that you lack experience with horses, so you would have to factor in staff wages as well to run the yard.

Work out what you will beed to recoup per month to make a worthwhile profit, and then work out how much each stable needs to bring in. You may well find a significant and possibly unbridgeable gap between what you need to charge and what your local market will bear.

 

[dorsetladette]

I will measure one later, ? my horse would eat two small bales of hay easily in a night, his haynets go right over me. For one horse I use one round bale every 3 1/2 weeks

We calculate 1 round bale per horse per month. Our farmer estimates we get 10-12 conventional bales in each round bale. We feed ad lib from a purpose built hay feeder with a bale net in the field. Last year a bale lasted 2 14.2hh adult ponies and a 12hh yearling roughly 10 days (give or take). So I don't think your usage is far off the mark but maybe the calculations could be slightly off.

 

[Barton Bounty]

We calculate 1 round bale per horse per month. Our farmer estimates we get 10-12 conventional bales in each round bale. We feed ad lib from a purpose built hay feeder with a bale net in the field. Last year a bale lasted 2 14.2hh adult ponies and a 12hh yearling roughly 10 days (give or take). So I don't think your usage is far off the mark but maybe the calculations could be slightly off.

Yeah roughly the same , depends on how many pyjama days he has

 

[Barton Bounty]

Well my ulcer horse gets unlimited hay and he is not fat! He is a thoroughbred and I will continue to do what I have done successfully for 8 years . Its 9,5 kg each haynet holds.

anyway thats not the thread is it!
digressing from @Katie&Judy thread ?