Livery yards near London, recommendations appreciated.

F

fallingstar

Active Member
Joined
23 February 2010
Messages
40
Visit site
Hi all
I am relocating to London next month and dearly want to take my pony with me. He is on full livery at a yard in County Durham at the moment so he's going to be travelling quite a way!

I will be living in Camden which is about as central as you can get! I'm looking for a yard outside Centre that I can get to on tube as I don't drive. It needs to have turn out as I don't want him anywhere that doesn't offer it.

I'm willing to consider a working livery as I appreciate costs down there are much higher!

Any recommendations very gratefully received!
 
Surrey can be a hell of a commute from Camden, mind, especially if you're trying to get down on public transport after work.

Run a search for 'livery yards london' - topic comes up every so often :) Not sure about some of the alternatives or how big you're looking to go, but Trent Park (www.trentpark.com) is near the top of the Piccadilly line, has hacking, TO and decent facilities for full or working livery, but is quite large and busy.
 
Mike007 said:
I would suggest that the Surrey area is probably your best bet . Certainly the best hacking.
Click to expand...

Well I am very much a happy hacker and would love somewhere with good hacking. I think Surrey may be too far out though sadly. I don't drive so somewhere that is going to be a massive slog to get there and back from just won't be practical!

Thank you for posting though, it's much appreciated.
 
fallingstar said:
Well I am very much a happy hacker and would love somewhere with good hacking. I think Surrey may be too far out though sadly. I don't drive so somewhere that is going to be a massive slog to get there and back from just won't be practical!

Thank you for posting though, it's much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Have a look at epsom or chessington. they are as close to london as you could get but still be in the countryside.Both on good rail lines.
 
MissChaos said:
Surrey can be a hell of a commute from Camden, mind, especially if you're trying to get down on public transport after work.

Run a search for 'livery yards london' - topic comes up every so often :) Not sure about some of the alternatives or how big you're looking to go, but Trent Park (www.trentpark.com) is near the top of the Piccadilly line, has hacking, TO and decent facilities for full or working livery, but is quite large and busy.
Click to expand...

Thank you Miss Chaos, just had a look at Trent Park, the working livery is in my budget but wow it is huge isin't it?
I've popped a search into google and I'm going to have a look at the websites that come up and give them a ring (people are very coy about mentioning prices on their sites I notice, ha).

But if anyone had anywhere they have heard good things about I would really like to know. I am totally neurotic when it comes to my boy, he has a few (managable with proper care) health problems. I would never sleep again if he went somewhere and they didn't look after him properly!
 
No probs :) PM me if you want any more details. Obv having a late-night moment - do pop a search for that term on the forum here, too, there's a bit more info around re. others from when this has come up previously. Sorting things out for London can look a bit daunting but it is doable!
 
I live in London with a horse, but am South London which makes it easier. Trent Park is the obvious one as you can get there on the Tube. There are also yards around Richmond Park, but no one has turn out that close to London. You might want to look at yards you could get to by overground train in Herts. In London you have to expect to commute to your horse.

If you think your horse can cope with no turn out - and a lot of them do alright without it if they get sufficient daily exercise, then you have more options. Wimbledon Village Stables is an option; they take your horse away for a turn out holiday once a year or so. Also Kingston Stables, similar. Richmond Park hacking is great, as is Wimbledon Common. I believe there are facilities around Epping Forest, but that is East. You should base your decision on ease of travel, as you will find that is the biggest hurdle.
Good luck!
 
I'm on a DIY yard but people do offer services in Herts 5 minutes from a station on the met line. Its very near west london and a lady who is on the yard also lives in Camden - PM me if DIY would interest you!
 
Trent Park does have good off road hacking and good facilities, not sure if I would cope with being at such a big riding school though. I haven't been there since I was about ten so I can't tell you much more than that though. I might go for a lesson as my instructor says I need to ride different horses so if I do I'll post what the atmosphere is like.

LEC and Frith Manor could also be options. They are right next door to each other near Mill Hill East tube. You can walk it in about 10 minutes or if you're feeling lazy in the winter hop on the bus.
LEC is a riding school so I'm sure they have working livery (they used to when I was there six years ago) as well as the usual DIY, part, full options. Big indoor, big outdoor and small outdoor and small cross country course. When I was there they had 24 hour turnout for most of the year if your horse could go out with the school ponies but they stayed in for about two months in winter. Could have changed now bearing in mind that was six years ago and YM has changed. YO is the same family and they're very nice and helpful.
Frith Manor is just a livery yard but there are lots of sharers I think from my friend who is there now. They do DIY and part (not full which to me means exercise as well). They have two outdoor schools and an ok small indoor. Turnout is 24 hours in summer and daily in winter.
Hacking is the same for both yards. There's a bridlepath running down the back of them and a couple of hacks you can go on. It's not the best but there are places you can go to for a gallop as long as your horse is good in traffic to get there (needs to be bus proof).
Good luck and I hope that helps.
 
fallingstar said:
Hi all
I am relocating to London next month and dearly want to take my pony with me. He is on full livery at a yard in County Durham at the moment so he's going to be travelling quite a way!

I will be living in Camden which is about as central as you can get! I'm looking for a yard outside Centre that I can get to on tube as I don't drive. It needs to have turn out as I don't want him anywhere that doesn't offer it.

I'm willing to consider a working livery as I appreciate costs down there are much higher!

Any recommendations very gratefully received!
Click to expand...

I think you're going to find your quite limited by not having a car. London Equestrian Centre and Frith Manor may be your best bets as they are on the northern line so easy to get to from Camden. There may be some small DIY yards around High Barnet so a visit to College Farm tack shop in Finchley might be a good idea. Expect most places to charge around £100-110 per week for full livery and for that have turn out to be very limited between Oct-Mar. Hacking is also very limited, I used to ride in and around Rickmansworth, traffic even on residential roads used to scare me witless compared to riding in Gloucestershire. My advice if you really want your horse with you and reasonable hacking is to look at living up near Snowsadudes area, Sarrat, Chorleywood etc.
 
Thank you for all your replies everyone

I have had a look at trent park, LEC and Frith Manor and they all look like good options so I am going to get in touch for futher details. Thank you Unbalanced and Miss Chaos for suggesting them.

Snowsadude- Thank you for your kind offer but DIY would be no good for me at this time I'm afraid.

Jaquelin- Yes it is important I can get to it easily so that will be a big consideration. I don't think my boy could handle no turn out however so I think something might have to give somewhere.

Wow it's very daunting isin't it? Part of me isin't sure if it would be kinder to leave him where he is and just let him retire. He's 22 now so no spring chicken! But then again I wouldn't get to see him much which would be awful.

Will let you all know how I get on.
 
Ditto what Mike007 says - I live in Central London (about 7mins away from you!) & Epsom-Chessington is a 35min train journey from Victoria. The hacking & turnout is fabulous.
 
LEC was a nice yard when i was at it, hacking was not great and it can be difficult to get into the school at peak times eg weekends and weekday evenings when they have lots of lessons. However I would say the although the roads were busy the drivers were careful unlike where I am now where there are some very aggressive drivers who do not like horses.

Did not suit my pony but he is quirky so not the fault of the yard. I am now at grass livery in chorleywood and can walk from the station but I think it would be far for you from camden. Do you need to live in Camden could you live in another area of London?

Frith manor does not have every day turnout in the winter it is alternative days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top