Livery Vs Keeping Horses at Home

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Deano645

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Hi, we are in position that in the not too distant future we maybe able to purchase a house with land so we can have our four legged friends at home (my daughter is 9 and in pony club and I ride too). What we like about livery is the company of friends & the convenience of having no maintenance etc, they are on assisted DIY so turnout in the mornings. But then it would be so nice to have them at home which I have always dreamed of but then it would be just us and all the work that goes with looking after the land etc. I just wondered what people's opinions are? Is having them at home all that it is cracked up to be? We are quite torn on what to do for the best. Our current house is in a lovely village location where the children can see their friends easily, and in all likely hood if we buy an equestrian property we would be out of the village. :confused::confused::confused:
 
I absolutely loved having them at home, it was so lovely to be able to pop out whenever I wanted to see them without having to get in the car etc. But the horses are my whole life so the maintenance etc wasn't too much of a burden. It can be quite isolating if you are used to having horsey company, I wasn't quite prepared for how much I would miss even just the solidarity of having someone to moan with when the weather was bad etc, or to help when you had a problem with your horse and just need an extra pair of hands.

Would you have all the facilities you need at this potential new house? and is there someone available freelance to step in if needed for holiday cover etc?

As you have your daughter to consider, you might find that the time saved not driving to the yard is spent ferrying her around to see friends ;)
But I did absolutely love it, and definitely aspire to be in that position again.
 
At home I miss the company (even though was me and mum), an arena, and being able to choose somewhere that had excellent hacking.

I love the fact that I have complete control over their management, which was essentially why after 8 years at home, 3 years on DIY the horse went back home again.

In hindsight we should have purchased kit to do the paddock maintenance when we first moved but we didn't and it's too late to bother now. Various people have done it over the years from man with quad, now the local farmer pops down once a year to harrow. Hay making has always been the trickiest to organise (about 3 acres worth of hay). Our post and rail is now 15 years old and we are mostly just trying to get it to hang in there and just replacing the most rotten posts.

How old are the children, cycling age?
 
I have found it easier to have mine at home, total flexibility. Mine live out (horse and kids ponies), and we box up to lessons, PC etc.
I found with working FT, 3 kids and travelling back and forth to do a horse on DIY livery too much. We are all much more relaxed at home!
 
I wouldn't go back to livery now! But sister and I share the horses and the work, we have horsey neighbours and a local farmer to ask for help with maintenance when necessary.
As above it much more relaxing to have them at home, no rushing about to get them done, I put hay out in the field in my dressing-gown before I had my shower prior to going to work yesterday. We have total control over what we do and when we do it. The horses are on a track system atm and are much better for it but many YOs don't like the idea.
 
I moved my boy just under a year ago and it’s been a revelation! I have so much more time 😂 I’m not short of company though as I have a livery whose a good friend and we’re only a mile from the former livery yard on the bridleway so we see lots of our friends, meet up to go hacking etc. I do miss having a floodlit arena in the winter months though...
 
My parents bought their own place last year so while not at my home it's not livery and as close as I'm ever going to get!

My dad is a farmer's son, electrician to trade and can make/fix just about anything ever invented. He's very practical and I've never seen him happier than when he's tootling about in his wee tractor or out clearing the field drains with his rods (and then proudly carting about the bucket of gunk that he managed to clear out of them!). Without him the whole operation would be goosed!

My olds also bought a wee tractor, trailer for dung (and have an agreement with a neighbouring farmer that it can be emptied in one of his fields. If he had to collect it then he would charge, last yard I was on were charged £20 every time the muck trailer was collected and emptied and that was just to the farm across the road! It was a yard with 20 horses so needed doing every 5-7 days), grass harrows and now a roller. It was a big initial outlay, even although it's all second hand, but it's also expensive paying adhoc for other people to do these jobs.

The olds are building a house at their place, currently residing in a static, and this is their priority which means an arena is a year away. I find that frustrating and do miss facilities.

I did briefly move back on livery last December so that I could have facilities over the winter but as has always been my experience what I was sold wasn't what I got when I arrived there so I quickly scuttled back to the old's place.

I know a few people who have only owned horses on livery and aren't "country"/practical sorts and they have really struggled with keeping the horses at home. They've been so used to someone else checking water, fixing fences, grass management etc, etc and have had no clue about any of these things. I regularly drive by the place of one of these people and they have zero grass and small fields are full of dung and weeds. I think they've just totally underestimated the work required.

Having said all that I've pretty much only had bad experiences on yards. Not so much stuff affecting my horses, although there has been a fair bit of that, but mainly the abuse and neglect of other horses on the yards. I usually always had a yard friend and I sort of miss that relationship, probably a reason why I post more on here rather than talk things out with real people ha ha, but I'm really happy bumbling about by myself and having lots of peaceful "(over) thinking time" when mucking out and poo picking.

Going by your post and that you appear to have a yard you enjoy, people you like, assistance available, no responsibilities (maintenance) and I'm presuming your daughter also enjoys the yard I'd say to stick with that option. Would your daughter enjoy riding as much if she was always on her own or only ever with you? Would you be as motivated to do as much when you don't have to make a special journey away from home to see the horses?
 
I keep two ponies on my own privately rented set up behind my house. These are ridden by a friend's nine year old daughter.

For me maintenance can be a pain but I've learned to be a bit handy. I'd love a neat and tidy set up but it never seems to be that way!

I love the freedom of doing what I want when I want particularly in regards to turnout.

The downside is that the child misses the social side of things, we have little hacking and no arena.
I've done my best but buying and making jumps and also run a horsebox so we can do are arena hires and lessons but I do think especially over winter it seems like everyone else is progressing so much faster
 
I love it but I'm not a people person lol.
However do not underestimate how long you will spend doing maintenance/chores, things like fencing, paddock maintenance are very time consuming. But I don't mind and keeps me out of trouble but can be tiring at times.

My biggest thing would be your daughter - are there other children at the yard that she gets along with/rides with? I think it would be a shame for her to lose that as I'm sure we all have fond memories of messing around with friends and ponies at the yard.

It is lovely being to keep your horses as you like as yard have their restrictions but of course have their reasons.
 
I love keeping mine at home. I have have stables and a school, husband has just bought some lights that can be used to light the school if I feel the need to ride in the dark. Husband and neighbouring farmer do maintenance (that I can’t do or don’t have time to do) and farmer makes my haylage. I find it hard to get motivated to ride when the weather is horrible and it would be easier if I had someone there to ride with, but there are other people in the area who I can meet up with for a hack when I do want company.
 
I love it but I am not going to lie-maintenance is hard, especially if you cant pay for it and a good portion of my annual leave is spent doing it in the summer. I sometimes have to force myself to ride-I always enjoy it when I do but its easy to fall in the trap of doing other stuff. I dont have facilities and so I dont ride alot in the winter as my 'arena' is my front garden and its too wet in the winter.still, its worth it to manage them how I see fit and I do have some super grazing and hacking on hand.

Also, having friends who live/d more in the sticks as their kids grew up and did other activities-they spent alot of time driving them about.
 
I love them at home it was my dream and I have been able to live it .
But I will be honest about the work and the cost of upkeep , even the most expensive livery is a bargain .
I am about to spend a couple of hours topping I will be topping every day until I go away next week , I have just spend 750 on electric fencing supplies and MrGS has spend days replacing all the electric fencing on the timber fences ,I spent 4600 on timber fences last year ( the third time for some of them since we arrived ) there are three lots of gate posts waiting to be replaced and a field shelter roof it never stops .
But.... last evening I turned them out they had been sleeping in their stables all day I put three out in one of the summer paddocks it’s surrounded by our woods( an other time hungry endeavour) the trees are all beautiful and green the wildflowers are blooming through the grass I walked with them as they grazed I could hear them eating and breathing they are content happy confident horses ,I counted the different wild flowers watched the birds looked at views down to the sea it was perfect .
It’s worth all the work and cost .
You have to put riding first because you can make upkeep fill the day and never find time , work the horse then do stuff needs to be the plan .
 
If you think it's a cheaper option - it absolutely is not. Lots of good examples for maintenance but I'd add holiday / sickness cover which is £30-40 a day (it really adds to a 2 week family holiday!)

If you think it will save you time - it won't - to keep them 'just right' as you like them takes ages - when the option is there to just pop out and change a rug or just get them out of the flies for a couple of hours or ………. you will!

It can be really lonely - I am really lucky that I now have like mined neighbours but last place was really bad. Without people to ride with it's really easy to prioritise the 1 million maintenance jobs over actually getting on.

I would never go back to livery but the benefit is control and how well I can suit my individual horses needs - no other benefit.
 
I love having them at home but seriously miss the company. I have recently been paying a freelance (very short term!) to hack out with me and it’s really high lighted how nice having riding company is. That said I used to wish to just be able to go hack by myself when I was at a livery yard without someone tagging along 😂
Swings and roundabouts!
 
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I'm lucky in that my two live at home here on-site, and we have room for one DIY livery which helps pay for the blighters!

There's nothing quite like going out on a crisp autumn morning and seeing two heads with dragons-breath all around them like a haze, looking over the gate at you. Or going out on a gorgeous summer's evening and thinking OK so let's go out for a hack. Or if you don't feel like riding, you can give them a bit of TLC and do a bit of groundwork etc., all without having the faff of having to travel to a yard.

OK so those are the plus points!

The things you will have to think about if you have your own place are things like field maintenance: if you're moving into a new area you need to speedily make friends with a local farmer or contractor who is reliable and can do all the work you need like harrowing & rolling, hedges cut if you need to (if you have hedges bordering the public highway it is a legal requirement for the landowner to flail them - and it ain't cheap!); plus stuff like fencing, gates, drainage work, stable upkeep, etc etc. The list goes on!!

The other thing you will need to consider is whether you have a livery or not: presuming you have the space. My livery is perfect, we've only the room for the one DIY and she's an absolute peach and we get on fine. You have to be VERY choosy! Luckily we only ever had one bad'un and fortunately she stayed less than a month. But this is the decision you face when you have a livery and live on-site too! Be fussy is my advice. Oh and you will also have to think about insurance: public & employer's liability insurance is what you need, and that doesn't come cheap either!

But at the end of the day, for me, the pro's deffo outweigh the con's. I'd never ever want to go back to the situation where you've found the perfect place and there's lots of lovely riding on the doorstep, and then the YO sells up and "forgets" to tell everyone till the very last minute, with the resultant stampede of anywhere else locally. At least with your own place you can be the master of your own destiny. And sooohh precious to have those lovely moments with your Neds at home with you. Nothing but nothing beats it!
 
I've done both and having them at home is hard work. My daughter's ride, so I had company but still missed the variety of horses on a livery yard and being able to share vet visits or ask a visiting farrier to pop a shoe back on.
Currently have the best of both worĺds. Mine are on livery at the yard next door and I can see the horses from the garden. The services they provide for DIY clients, such as yard and field maintenance, a newly surfaced school etc, is pretty good for £30 a week.
 
Swings and roundabouts! I have kept horses at home for 20 years now, tbh it is a great set with pretty mch everytng you might want apart from an indoor school. when my daughter was at home we hacked together and went to competitions together, generally with me as groom and general bottle washer. I've only had my own horses here for the past 10 years and I would be quite lonely if I didn't work quite hard to ensure I see other people to hack out with, I also spend a lot of money on lessons but that's my choice. It is not a cheaper option but it is lovely to be able to go out into the field and change rugs etc so easily and also to check on the horses in my PJs. My daughter was nearly10 when we moved here, did masses of pc stuff and also did a lot of higher level competing so was quite happy to hack with me but she also did loads of other stuff too so i don't think she missed company of her own age. when my MIL, who now lives with us, goes we intedn to sell up and buy somewhere smaller without land and stabling. OH finds the upkeep here, even with us paying for a lot of what is needed, increasingly irkesome. Rose will go into a good competition yard on full livery and I doubt it will cost me more than living here does. Icertainly do not regret our choice, it's been and still is, wonderful but older age is creeping up on us!
 
If you have enough acreage, a few basic bits of equipment and a friendly farmer (also good to know a decent local fencer and general handyman!) then it's really not that hard or time consuming. I have 4 on 8.5 acres, my own harrows and roller which I tow with my little 4x4, a useful area of hard standing and everything is very straightforward.
I keep a spare horse so friends can ride out with me, which gives me company when I want it.
 
I have waited all my life to have my ponies at home and it is everything I had hoped it would be. I have no problem being there on my own, or riding out on my own, I have mostly done this anyway even when in a livery situation. If your daughter has horsey friends make sure they can come to stay and bring their pony/s, we used to do this when my own daughter was young, they loved to go out together and feel really independent. We could do this at one house by using a bit of spare land at the back and the front garden, although it was only for a few days they did enjoy it.
 
I don't spend anything like what I used to spend on one full livery on the cost of maintenance for the place and keep of one horse. Second horse and pony cost feed bills only. I electric fence, don't use post and rail which looks lovely but rots and breaks, my land is much better for the horses for never being topped or fertilsed, my OH does repairs to stuff like stable doors and gates. Putting in an arena costs a fortune, but some people don't want one and others buy a place that already has one.

I love the control and I couldn't put up with the stuff that goes on in livery yards that we read about on the forum.

Holiday cover is a complete pain because we are so isolated. It is difficult to get trustworthy sporadic cover if you can't offer a regular amount of work.


BUT ..... I think a child of 9 might need other kids and ponies to be with, and f you move her away from her friends in the village you could spend a lot of time running a taxi service as she gets older.

..
 
day to day, if you are DIY at the moment, it is easier to not have the travel.
I have something in the middle- sometimes feels like the worst situation, sometimes the best! As I rent land and have to sort all maintenance myself. but there are a few other people in neighbouring fields, 2 of whom I have become very close to over the years, so we can help each other out. we pay a contractor for some field stuff, but friends OH has just got a quad, harrow and few more bits to have fun with!

7 years ago I was at a lovely livery yard, it was social but not overly busy, always a cup of tea. A few people would moan about each other, but not much, and the YM was fabulous, still in touch (I moved 60 miles) but I would be scared of other livery yards! I am not massively social, but I can see what people mean about it being lonely, sometimes it nice to have a hacking buddy. plus I don't have a school, which sucks in the winter, but I mostly hack anyway

If you have transport I think it is a good idea. As can always box to join daughters friends at the weekend and school holidays. my friend used to sometimes do after school pony club with her daughter 30 mins away.
 
TheMule said:
If you have enough acreage, a few basic bits of equipment and a friendly farmer (also good to know a decent local fencer and general handyman!) then it's really not that hard or time consuming. I have 4 on 8.5 acres, my own harrows and roller which I tow with my little 4x4, a useful area of hard standing and everything is very straightforward.
I keep a spare horse so friends can ride out with me, which gives me company when I want it.
Click to expand...

Our main issue is that we seem to have gone through rather a lot of friendly farmers who have well stopped farming.

We did eventually buy a roller then the 4x4 blew up when the horse was broke anyway so trailer sold and 4x4 replaced with a fiesta so it sits there doing nothing.
 
Hi everyone, this is all really useful to know and lots to think about. The house that maybe an option for us is opposite the livery yard we are at now which has a menage which we could use. It is also just 2 miles from our current house, kids won't have to move schools or anything and we know plenty of people to help us with things like cutting hay, harrowing etc. And being opposite the current livery yard it would mean we could still hack out with friends. My daughter is 9 and she does a lot of PC and competing so we do see other people out and about. I may not come off, but I want to know all the facts first as it will be a big expense moving home. We live in a lovely place and love our house!
 
I forgot to mention muck heap removal. It's a pain and can be costly. Hopefully the livery yard would let you pay a small amount to dump it there, in which case I would buy a tipper trailer to muck out into. Or muck out into Aldi's 55p carrier bags, which are easy to empty. I use them to muck out into and then tip down a bank at the end of my arena and reuse.
 
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