London and horses - does it work?

golddustsara

golddustsara

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I'm thinking of moving to London or outskirts for a year or so in a few months. My horse will come everywhere with me but I will only move if its sustainable to keep him in the lifestyle to which he is accustomed (which is living out most of the time bar prolonged wet weather or snow)

How do peeps cope in London with a horse? Do you have them on part livery? How do you find the expense? Yards I've seen on the net are £400 pm plus - blimey. What sort of salary is most viable to live and keep a horse - I have done figures and think at least 30k but nothing is more helpful than life experiences.
 
You will not find outdoor livery in/near London. The turnout will be limited if any at all. Most yards in/near London offer full livery only. I would also double the 400 pounds to get a more accurate livery cost in and around London. However, if you do not mind a 40 to 60 minute drive to get to your horse you can find alternative and more cost effective options.
 
London is a big place! Certainly if you are in the suburbs there are stables in most of the boroughs which can offer turnout. You will find everything from diy to competition livery. Have a look at the hoof website to get a 'flavour' of what is about www.hoof-in-town.com However if you move outside London to Herts, Bucks, Kent or Essex there are lots and lots of yards available.
 
I have a small diy/assisted yard in Surrey and live with OH in central LOndon (zone 2). We offer grass livery for £18.50 per week plus hay @ £3 per week. Someone feeds your horse daily for that too. It is possible to do it, you just have to be sensible, committed and look around! I potentially have one vacancy ATM.
 
I live in London and keep the horses within the M25 (tried keeping them further out but the travelling was unsustainable).

I work in central London, live about 7 miles further out, and keep the horses another 7 miles beyond that. I have them on part livery, as I wouldn't be able to get there reliably during the week to sort them -- the traffic can be horrendous in the mornings. Mine live in now, but they used to live out, and they still would, if my thin-skinned lad could have coped with it.

It's perfectly doable! And needn't cost the earth.
 
I live on the outskirts of north london and my yard offers grass livery and all year turnout if on DIY/Part/Full etc. Grass livery is about £25 a week I think and DIY is £40 a week and then part/full are a bit of a jump upwards price-wise.
 
Definitely doable - I live in West London and work as a riding instructor in and around London. Plenty of people keep their horses on low budget, quite a few on grass livery (have a look at Osterley area for example).
Sure, if you're thinking of very central London then yes, very expensive and no turn out/very little. However, many yards outside central area are perfectly accessible by public transport which 99% of the time is 99% faster than car journey.
Good luck :)
 
You could always live outside and commute in, although London is so big some parts classed as London are virtually in the countryside.

I commute in by train for work, and live in Kent, which is great for the horses, although the 45min train journey isn't great fun!
 
Theres a couple of places in London you could try one being Trent Park which is near Enfield (oakwood station - piccadilly line), mudchute which is out on the DLR, i'll have a think of a few others, but failing that, woking is relatively cheap from what I hear and is only 30 minutes by train out of Waterloo (zone 1)
 
Benji1 said:
mudchute which is out on the DLR
Click to expand...

Mudchute only do working livery, and I personally wouldn't keep my horse there. There's also Lee Valley, London Equestrian Centre, Docklands, Aldersbrook (i think) but like everyone has said there's pretty much no chance of the horse living out, and it costs an arm and a leg for full livery (I think Lee valley charge something like £600pm and that doesn't include things such as rug changing etc)

I do know alot of people (being from london myself anyway) that keep their horses in London, you just have to look, there are still a fair few small yards around. You have to take into account the commute, it might be cheaper to keep the horse outside london, but is the cost of driving/trains going to end up making it more expensive? There are quite a few in Bexley (which is technically kent but is still a london borough) and they get cheaper as you get to that area, and they're easily accessable.

Also the closer to central London the less chance of area for hacking so that's also to bare in mind.

:-) Good luck

xxxx
 
I think it very much depends on your job, hours you work and when you are travelling. I used to leave home at 8 for work. Home from work about 7. With traffic never got to yard earlier than 8 as although yard only 10 miles from home, traffic always horrendous. School often jam packed so couldn't ride until 9 or even 10. Home by midnight! For me that was no life. And the horse was on full livery so I had no yard chores!!!!!

I found it very hard to get proper winter turnout even outwith London in essex, kent, Bedfordshire etc. I tried them all. If you do use public transport to get to the yard, factor in the cost as its not cheap and also the total time door to door from work to yard. Its easy to say yes it 45 min from waterloo but you may take 45 min to GET to waterloo in rush hour even if you are working fairly central - then there are delays on the line, then you will need to walk etc on the other end. By car a 30 min drive at weekends turns into an hour and a half rush hour. You would be lucky to get door to door to most yards outside London with good grazing etc within an hour and a half if you work centrally and are travelling rush hour. The good yards with good grazing etc etc are popular and waiting lists may be years long!!!!! However, if you are travelling outwith rush hour, have a well located place of work and yard, and perhaps are not working 10- 12 hours a day and have a good dose of luck in finding a yard, then I am sure it is pretty manageable.

All depends on circumstances. I never enjoyed keeping a horse in London but there are lots of very nice peeps here on this board that can help and it all does depend on individual circumstances.
 
I know North London and South Herts and it can be done. At my last yard within london there were a variety of people some not in well paid jobs that managed.

There are a surprsing number of yards within London, there are a few around Mill Hill and also round Barnet, Stanmore and Enfield that offer a variety of options.
Go a bit further out towards Borehamwood and then on to Radlett, St Albans and you get a bit more for your money.

If you discount a few really posh ones then you are probably looking at about £140pcm for DIY and £400 plus for part livery.
It depends on what you want and how good facilities you want. With some turnout goes down to every other day in the winter. Then if you do get turnout in London, your hacking will almost certain involve roadwork and london buses.

If you want to keep to a budget then look at assisted DIY and check the prices of services as you will almost certainly need to use them. Travel times means you may stuggle to get up twice a day.

I keep my horse near Radlett and go up by train which only takes 20 mins however what I save on going outside London I spend on the train which costs £4.50 a pop. I work long hours and travel for work so need part livery.
 
Thanks for all the advice... should have put, it will most likely be to SW/West London as I need to be able to get back to W.Sussex/Hants borders to check on the family. Not for a few months and not definite, but is always good to put the feelers out and see what there is out there. Knowing me I'd sort the horse out before a flat for me!

I travel 30 mins to the yard now every evening so would rather travel longer to have all year T/O and hacking.
 
Perfectly doable, I did it for over 11 years. I lived in Fulham and kept my horses in Ockham (straight down the A3). I worked near Slough so did a lot of driving - not great planning having the 3 places I needed to be most days all miles apart. I am now in Dorking and there are a few liveries here who live up in Wimbledon. If you are going to live SW London, then look down the A3. Fulham to Ockham/Ripely would always take me 40 mins - very rarely changed unless there had been an accident. Putney Hill was only 25 minutes btw! PM me if you want yard recommendations/hacking updates! Fulham to Dorking is some 45 but you do need to go via Chessington.
 
Yes it is doable - I work in central London and have a pony on grass livery in herts however it does take me an hour and a half to get from work to the yard. Most people who work in central london will have a commute of at least 30 minutes so you have to take that into consideration.

I pay £130 for 24/7 all year turnout plus a stable however we have a waiting list and YO jokes that the people on the waiting list will be waiting a long time as everyone is so contented. I don't have a car so save money that way but it does mean I get home at about 8.30 or later most nights.

There are quite a few grass livery places in herts but I don't know about South London.
 
I know its not SW london, but the London Equestrian Centre in Mill Hill does all kinds of livery, easy to get to (northern line then a bus straight to the door), good turnout and hacking in the 50 acres or so of fields.
 
It is definately doable. I live in Ealing in West London and I work in Hammersmith. The horses are in Osterley Park which is about 20 mins on the tube from work.

The only problem is.....I find it is a bit all or nothing when it comes to keeping horses IN London. My place is £28 a month, however it is just grazing with no frills. I mean SERIOUSLY no frills - no hard standing, no leccy, no running water (except the troughs). The only other options seem to be the really expensive places, unless you are willing to commute out of London a bit for the horses.

However, it suits me and Zoom pony just fine and I enjoy going to the field on mornings like today!!!!
 
You can do it. I work in central London - Chancery Lane area, live in Wanstead - East London and keep my horses just outside Epping. It is the best of all worlds, I travel about 11 miles to work on my motorcycle and then from home it is 15 miles to the yard.

I do have the mornings done in the week and they are brought in for me in winter and given hay. I also have two full livery days in the weeks so I can work late one day to do all those IT jobs outside work hours and one day that I can relax or go out with my OH.

To do full DIY would be a struggle and actually cost more in petrol than I pay for the morning jobs.

My yard is £30 per horse a week and I spend about another £15 - £20 each horse on livery. That is not including any feed, bedding etc and all those other costs that creep in.
 
I keep my horse in Denham which is just off the A40. The A40 takes you straight into London and on a good day, you could get there in 40mins but during rush hour about 1hr 20mins. It is also walking distance to the underground with access to Piccadilly and Met lines. Our yard offers 24/7 turnout for £18 a week or stable livery for £24 per week. Hay/straw/shavings sold at yard for very reasonable price and YO delivers to your tack room so no heavy lifting involved! Prices include tackroom (if on stable livery) and use of school. We have lots of bridle paths and only one major road to cross and Denham Country Park is a 5 minute hack and the trail is a good 1hr 30mins.

We have a guy you feeds and turns out each day if required for £1 per day.
 
Yeah!!! I live in West London, and keep my horse just outside of london...30 min drive but its not too bad and its worth it! Great yard, he lives out, and I go to the yard 5/6 times a week, one of my friends feeds him on his day off..it was only really tricky when he had to live in during the blizzard! But it is totally possible..don't let people tell you it isn't, if you love your horse enough you can do anything!!! Good Luck!!!
 
If you want all year turn out you need to avoid clay based soils (Bedfordshire is definitely lots of clay) as they get muddy/deep/trashed with minimal rain so any sensible land owner will have to restrict winter turn out (and summer if the weather is unco-operative). Lighter, sandy based soils give a better chance of year round turn out.

IIRC a lot of London is also fairly clay based soil - so would pose turn out problems...
 
Not sure about central London, but If your OK with a 40 min journey on the Met line you'll be able to take your pick of many lovely livery yards in villages which are on the Met line, and which offer Grass livery and are reasonable prices. Good hacking too!
 
I'm another that works in London. Live and keep horse in Essex, half hour commute in - I know of a few places locally that offer grass livery, so if I wanted that option it's there.
I'm at a DIY but have full livery services Mon-Fri as I can't guarantee my hours, and I like socialising too much to commit to evening mucking out :D Will be doing four days a week myself in the summer but it's not worth it in winter.

I think it's doable and know a number of people working in the City who combine it with horses.
 
South West London is easily doable.

You have the outskirts of Surrey round here and a lot of yards in Chessington and Claygate, all with grazing, some who offer grass livery. BUT expect to pay £180 a month DIY (yard with good facilities) or about £450 part livery (thats basically full minus exercise) MOst yards round here are in at night in the winter and out 24/7 all summer.
 
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