Livery or Own Land - what would you do?

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Deano645

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Hi, I have a bit of a dilemma. We have my horse and my 7 year old daughters pony. At the moment we have them on DIY livery at a lovely yard with great hacking, menage and friends for my daughter to play with and it is very secure. It is about 4 miles away from our house so two 8 mile round trips a day. I have been offered about 2 acres in our village which is about 5 minutes walk from our house. No water or electric, fencing or stables. It is right in the centre of the village. My dilemma is stay at the livery or buy the land and get it all sorted with stables etc. What would you do? I like the company of the livery yard, but equally it would be nice to have my own place, and not have to get in the car all the time. TIA
 
Much as I couldn't abide being on a livery yard having had my horses at home all my life! I think you should stay put.

If you were living on site I would say move, but personally, I wouldn't keep my horses in a remote, albeit close, field.

Your livery yard sounds ace :)
 
For me personally I'd buy the land while it is on offer - but I'm in the part of the world where grazing land for sale is a rarity!
 
I would say to stay at the yard as it works well for your daughter having company. An eight mile round trip is nothing unless you are walking to the yard.

If you do go ahead and buy the land make sure that you will be able to get planning to put stables and infrastructure in.
 
Without seeing the land and weighing up it's potential it's hard to say.
Would you want a manege, if so pp is needed and factor in expense.
Pp is also needed for change of use and building stables.
Is the land in good order weed wise, drainage wise and up to supporting two all year round.
You will need storage for hay/ bedding etc and a very secure tack room.
I've kept horses with no electric/ water and whilst it is do- able it's an inconvenience, particularly in winter.
I would draw up a list-pros and cons - then have a good think about it but speak to council first to check if pp is likely to be an issue.
 
Deano645 said:
Hi, I have a bit of a dilemma. We have my horse and my 7 year old daughters pony. At the moment we have them on DIY livery at a lovely yard with great hacking, menage and friends for my daughter to play with and it is very secure. It is about 4 miles away from our house so two 8 mile round trips a day. I have been offered about 2 acres in our village which is about 5 minutes walk from our house. No water or electric, fencing or stables. It is right in the centre of the village. My dilemma is stay at the livery or buy the land and get it all sorted with stables etc. What would you do? I like the company of the livery yard, but equally it would be nice to have my own place, and not have to get in the car all the time. TIA
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Your yard sounds great, good facilities and it is much nicer for your daughter to have horsey friends on tap to help keep her interest up. How long does the drive take you? Is it a real bind? If money was no object I would buy the field so you could immediately have the use as and when, but also keeping you yard places, whilst seeing if the field was suitable for long term use and putting in water/electric/shelter. In a village you might also get issues say with residents feeding your equines, dogs in the field etc and are you sure you could get planning for stables? I do keep mine at home, on the farm. If making a choice - I would stick with the yard.
 
Getting electricity and water connected to the land is very expensive and the alternatives are quite annoyingly labour intensive (filling up water bowsers or keeping electricity batteries topped up), also land does take time to look after. Most people who buy land underestimate the cost/time it takes to look after.

Having said that, land does tend to be a good investment, so if it financially stacks up, you could consider buying it and rent it out until you are sure you are ready to move - it will probably give you a better return on your money than sitting in the bank!
 
depends on a lot of things! what everyone else has said plus

what about when you want to ride and your daughter doesn't, or the other way round. one horse is going to get left on its own! and trust me, that isn't fun, even the more independent of horses get upset when their mate leaves them! having two together and nothing else near by can make them more clingy than they are when theres other horses around. I know, i've been there! I ended up with a mini shetland as well!

have no electric is a pain, when the vet comes and you need hot water, you have to have cordless clippers and have to make sure they are charged fully before you clip!

where will you store everything?

what is the hacking like, if its right in the centre of the village?

how likely is it you will get planning permission for stables? or storage? will the neighbours appeal it?

where will you dump your muck?

how much does your daughter use the school? is there anywhere near by that you can hack to so she can continue using it?
 
Its horses for courses really. Only you can decide. I have mine at home with my 7yr old daughter. We have several each (and they still create if you take a special friend so I think 2 is fine and just make sure they learn to stay alone!). I don't have a school so go out and about a lot. I have a very nice trailer which means I can do that. If you will have transport then you can do what you like. If not, it would be a no from me.
 
Buy the land.
It's an excellent investment. Plus, no one can give you notice and kick you off, and as long as you obtain planning for anything you build on it, you can (within reason) enjoy your horses how you want to.
Electricity is not essential. Head torches in winter work well, and solar which you can install yourself fairly easily.
Water, however, is essential.
You can ask the water board for a quote to install, but it won't be cheap. Alternatively, if there is water at a field nearby, you can ask if the owner would willing to let you have a sub meter put on. You need to tie this up legally so they can't suddenly stop your supply.
Fencing obviously needs doing and you will need some kind of shelter, if for nothing else other than should something need to be kept in. Or, shut away if you take one out and leave the other if they won't stay on their own. Fencing isn't cheap to do it properly. I have horse netting as I prefer that to post and rail, which horses chew and lean on.
Insurance as well costs a few hundred pounds a year.
What surrounds the field? Is it totally isolated or would you get issues with neighbours kids going in and feeding the horses?
If all things stack up, go for it. I purchased mine about thirty years ago, and my only regret is that we have lost all the hacking we did have as the roads were too busy to get to the bridlepaths in more recent years and in the past couple, everywhere is being built on so we have housing estates rather than private farm land which we were able to use.
 
canteron said:
Getting electricity and water connected to the land is very expensive and the alternatives are quite annoyingly labour intensive (filling up water bowsers or keeping electricity batteries topped up), also land does take time to look after. Most people who buy land underestimate the cost/time it takes to look after.


Having said that, land does tend to be a good investment, so if it financially stacks up, you could consider buying it and rent it out until you are sure you are ready to move - it will probably give you a better return on your money than sitting in the bank!
Click to expand...

Solar will solve your energy need easy to do and very efficient .
Water collection from roofs will be worth doing then just bringing top up water is not too much of a hassle .
Although investment in connection to the mains would be a good thing to do.
 
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