Livery North London

[Peel]

Hello,

As a horse fanatic and owning a fabulous New Forest pony, I would love to bring my pony to the UK! I am originally from the Netherlands, but I will move to London (N15) in a week or 6.

It seems to be fairly easy to bring my pony over, but of course he needs a place to stay. As I am not too familiar with stabling a horse in the UK, I would need your help!

I am looking in the area of Greater London. I will be living in N15, anywhere that is accessible within 1 hour will do (by public transport), I also have a (motor)bike available.

DIY livery or grass livery will suffice. The closer it is to my house, the more I will be able to do myself of course. My budget is upto GBP 250 pcm. I would also be very happy to work at the yard for a discount (I have worked professionally with horses before; I have competed horses and I have experience with young horses and stallions). I am responsible, stick to my promisses and try to help anyone out whenever possible.

Please send me a message if you have a place available for my lovely pony, or that you know of somewhere I could try.
Any information on where to find a suitable yard would also be helpful, as this will be the first time I am taking my pony abroad.

Thanks in advance!

 

[indie999]

I am guessing you are going to be looking at Waltham Abbey(Essex/Herts north london end) Enfield area.

I would say Waltham Abbey/Chingford/ High Beech area....High Beech has stables. So would look around this area(nice wooded riding area in Epping Forest).

If no one comes back to you with livery in this area(there have been people on this forum from High Beech which would be quite near to you).

PM me & I can look on internet I know the area if no one gets back to you and I will get some phone numbers/details.

 

[unbalanced]

There are loads of yards in Enfield. If you look around Whitewebbs woods they have good hacking. I would google the area and make a day trip around visiting yards to talk to people (that's what I did as I am moving soon, it's a pain but you need to to get a sense of the yard). The biggest yard in the area is Trent Park but I think they only have working livery at about £100 a week so it probably won't suit you (just thought I'd save you the visit). I remember visiting friends at nice DIY yards when I was much younger though and lots of those must still be going.

If you want to search a bit further afield PM me for yards in Barnet/Mill Hill/Borehamwood but looking at the map Enfield is probably going to be better for you. Good luck with the move

 

[Peel]

Thanks for the replies, this really helps!

I have been out to London last weekend to arrange my accomodation, the horse is my next UK project I want to have a look at yards first before I move him there. He can stay in grass livery in the Netherlands if necessary, but I would prefer (of course) to take him with me.

From the map Waltham, Enfield or maybe even Loughton would be best (although the last one is within the M25, I don't know if that matters?). Anyone familiar with the public transport connections with London in that area?

For DIY livery, is it a must to go twice a day or are there also some 'in between' livery options? To give an example, I used to have my pony in the Netherlands on a yard where he was feeded and turned out in the mornings but all other chores I did myself or one of the other horse owners at the yard (turning in, mucking out, feeding in the evening, riding, grooming etc). Something like that would be ideal, as it is unlikely for me to have the opportunity to go twice a day (I would want to but that is unfortunately not realistic atm).

Is anyone familiar with such a type of livery? 24/7 grass livery would be perfect too, he is on that since September already and he is having a very good time.

Any other things I should keep in mind that are particular for the London area/UK?

 

[unbalanced]

To be honest you are unlikely to find year round grass livery within the M25 although it is not impossible. However, a lot of yards allow 24 hour turnout in the summer months - you will still have to pay for your box though. Put this on your list of questions to ask when you are visiting the yard.

Lots of yards offer assisted DIY where your pony can be fed and turned out for you in the mornings so you would go up in the evenings after work. At my yard feeding costs 50p a day and turnout costs £1 a day (£2 if you need them to change the stable rug to the turnout rug as well). However they won't bring in. Services available vary a lot from yard to yard - some are true DIY yards and offer nothing but you might be able to arrange something with other owners where you do one end of the day and they do the other, other yards you have to pay the yard for services and aren't allowed to get your fellow liveries to do it for you.

I would expect to pay between £100 - £180 for DIY livery in North London depending on facilities with services being extra. Some yards will throw breakfast in for free if you leave it outside so even if you have to pay for turnout you should come in within budget.

Public transport in London is really good but most yards are far enough out that they are pretty hard to get to on the tube - you would be looking at a tube, a bus and a walk. I think you said in your OP that you will have access to a motorbike which will make your life a lot easier especially in winter.

Normally you have to buy your hay and bedding from the yard or their preferred supplier unless you are at a really small or relaxed yard. Last winter hay around here was £6.50 for a small bale but hopefully it will be a lot cheaper this year - I have heard £5 but not sure yet if this is true. Again, depends on your yard. Yards with feed stores attached will expect you to buy hard feed from them, otherwise they won't care.

My yard doesn't have a booking system for the school, but a lot of places do, especially if they have a lot of people trying to ride at particular times of day.

Lots of places have opening hours, which came as a shock to me when I was shopping for a new yard. I often have to be at the yard really early or late so this would be a huge problem for me.

I would ask if you can have a copy of their rules and contract as well as finding out about facilities, hacking, etc. Good luck!

 

[indie999]

Hi

Have sent you a list of 3 yards at Lippitts Hill but I dont know the yards so if anyone can enlighten you here??V Nice riding area in Epping Forest. But you will probably get along the Chingford road on public transport but will have a long walk up a hill...so motorbike will probably be needed.This is probably going to be your first green area out of london (or North Enfield but traffic will be a nightmare for you even with public transport to get to Enfield even). To find a green riding area in London is nigh impossible. Good luck though.

I would start here though.

The underground train does go out to Theydon Bois and Epping but again you will need to get to the yards once in these areas.