Moving to Cambridge from USA

[nianya]

And I have some questions. I should define first what I know from boarding back home. First, I'm not a competition rider, so I don't need a specific stable type I just need trails and an arena. Second, I have never kept my horses in stalls unless they were ill/injured. So I hope to find places where pasture (with a shelter) or at the very least daily turn-out is the norm.

I have tried doing online searches for boarding stables and I have come to the conclusion that what I am looking for is a "livery". Is this the right term? It appears to apply to places that train and compete too so I wasn't sure.

So I suppose my first question is, are there facilities that do pasture the horses daily or full-time? I've seen a few terms around that might help me work this out:

• "Living out" - does this mean on pasture 100% of the time?
• "Living in" - does this mean kept in a stall?
• "Skipping out" - I thought this meant mucking stalls, but then I saw it listed along with mucking so it means something else?

What other terms might I need to know about boarding? Is there a certification that I should look for? What should I watch out for too?

If you have any specific stables you might recommend within 10 miles of Cambridge please feel free to let me know. I won't be moving her until the end of the year, but I am already in Europe so I have some trips to visit areas around Cambridge planned. And of course being horse crazy, I'm far more worried about finding her a home than me

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Living out would mean turnout 24/7 365 days per year but would generally be called grass livery.
The owner will generally say "my horse lives out, he has a rug on in winter"
I would call a stall something where the horse is tied by a head collar in a row with partitions between horses which are kept in a line, very rare these days.
Most livery arrangements will provide a stable [a loose box] and a turnout area, often a field, in summer, and often in winter subject to weather.
Full livery will provide all day to day care and feeding and mucking out, exercise by arrangement.
Mucking out is when the bed is properly cleaned and tidied, it is generally done in the morning, new bedding added once or twice a week [if wood shavings]
The skipping out is lifting poo, and sometimes very dirty bedding, and removing it, on full livery the horse would be mucked out in the morning and skipped out at night, sometimes more often.
The BHS [British Horse Society] have a livery certification, which would indicate a good level of facilities and management. I think this would probably be best for you.
You need to make it clear that you need good hacking [ie trail riding], this is not always available everywhere.
A BHS Approved Riding Riding School, may also have livery, but it may not be Livery Approved if it does not meet BHS livery standards.. They are two seperate Certifications.

Tradtionally horses are fed good horse hay which may be meadow hay or seeds hay or rygrass hay, generally you would buy good horse hay in small bales or in large bales.
More often nowadays horses are fed haylage which would be in large bales.
Alfalfa [lucerne] hay is not fed to horses in this country though you can buy chopped chaff with alfalfa.
Chaff is made chopped hay or chopped oat straw [preferably], most is molassed to reduce dust and increase palatabliity.

 

[nianya]

Thanks Bonkers2, that helps a lot. Especially the feed terms. I've only ever fed grass hay, though there are different varieties, and would have had no clue that "lucerne" meant alfalfa or chaff was something to eat at all I knew there was going to be some terminology differences that will trip me up!

 

[honetpot]

Sent you a pm

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

You will have probably have difficulty finding somewhere which offers turnout all year round as in winter the fields "poach" ie get muddy, so the Yard Owner [YO] wants the horses inside at night to rest the fields.
Many horse owners are DIY [do it yourself], which means they visit twice a day to look after their horses, this is OK in summer if you live close to the yard, but "asssisted livery" is also offered at many yards where you can ask for extra help.
Hope this has not confused you even more
Chaff is fed damp in a feed bucket or in a manger [trough] with other feeds to bulk it out and stop horses eating too fast.

 

[nianya]

Does "DIY" mean the owner (me) comes out to feed/muck daily? I've never been able to live close enough for that and I rather doubt that's possible when I move to the UK either I used to live in the Pacific NW where it's just as wet in the winter as the UK. So at least I've got that down. Do livery's use "sacrifice" pastures in winter at all?

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

DIY means owners does everything but yard owner or manager will arrange removal of muck heap, and usually delivery of hay/haylage, possibly bedding. In winter the horses will be in at night so you have to visit twice per day.
So really you need full livery or part livery, where you take over some duties at the weekend.
Usually a field will be allocated for winter use, and there will be others for summer use.
It would be ideal if you can fnd someone with endurance horses who keeps them out 24/7 with shelter and fodder in winter, such places may exist but will be hard to find, there are at least two endurance websites and facebook groups as well, try them.

 

[Steorra]

I'm in Cambridge too. Arrived as a student 8 years ago and can't bring myself to leave! It's nice here - good choice .

The area to the north of Cambridge is mostly flat, wet fenland. Around the south and east sides of the city there are more hills and the land drains better, but it is still heavy clay that is most suited to arable farming. Unlimited turn-out is quite rare because land is expensive here and it takes a lot of land to keep a horse without everything turning to mud in winter. Some yards will have winter sacrifice paddocks, a few have sand turn-out areas, some will only let horses free in the arena for a bit while mucking out, or put them on a horse-walker.

Do you know whereabouts in Cambridge you'll be living and working? Getting across or around Cambridge in rush-hour can take quite some time. My 7 mile commute to work can easily take 45 minutes at rush hour - fortunately I have flexible working hours. You probably want work, stables and home to be on the same side of town if you can manage it.

It is possible to rent fields for horses to live out 24/7 but they usually come with no facilities. Some yards will rent you a stable and your own field to do with as you wish. Others provide a stable and managed grazing for individual or group turnout. There are lots of options so make sure you know what you are getting!

Also be aware that some yard owners are horsemen/women while others are farmers who have diversified into livery. Both types can make great YOs, but if you are used to having a knowledgeable and supportive person available to help with horsey issues then livery on a farm can come as a shock.

Hacking (trail) is very variable from yard to yard. If you are lucky you might find somewhere with off-road fields and tracks to ride on. More usual is a network of bridle-paths linked by roads. Some places have no access to off-road hacking and a few are on busy roads where you can't safely ride from the premises.

Livery types:

- renting a field is your most basic option. There may be no facilities at all, running water and electricity if you are lucky, and perhaps some form of shelter.

- DIY (do it yourself) livery is where you do all the work yourself but the yard and land is managed by the person in charge. The owner/ manager usually does paddock maintenance and muck-heap removal, may arrange hay and straw deliveries, and maintains the arena if there is one. The price of livery usually includes use of a stable, field, water and facilities only. Hay, feed, bedding, shoeing, dentist, and everything else you need are not included and need to be arranged.

- Assisted DIY/ assisted livery is where you can arrange and pay for additional services on top of standard DIY. Services range from morning turn-out only to something like part livery. Sometimes this is the yard owner/ manager, sometimes it is a freelance groom, sometimes it is even another livery doing the jobs.

- Part livery is traditionally everything except exercise, but the term has many interpretations, ranging from very basic care to full-on pampering. Things like grooming, picking out feet, washing legs, arranging farrier and dentist visits, and supplying feed, might or might not be included so you'll need to check. Some yards offer 5 day livery (so you are expected to DIY at the weekends).

- Full livery should include full care, including exercise when arranged. Some high-end full livery yards will do absolutely everything for you (ie, you will be presented with a groomed horse wearing his clean tack on arrival) but in many cases owners do some grooming, tack up themselves, and maybe clean their own tack and equipment.

This post comes with lots of warnings but in general Cambs is a good place to be a horse-owner. If you pick the right yard then hacking can be excellent, there are riding clubs, pleasure rides, hunter trials, (drag) hunting and competitions if you want them. Some of the villages near Cambridge are simply full of horses.

Best of luck with your move! Feel free to PM me nearer the time if there's anything I can do to help

 

[nianya]

Oh boy, now I'm scared. I fully expect it to be different but that's going to take some getting used to. But that's why I asked. Frankly I need trail access and I am not keen on spending a lot of time on the roads with her. If that means she lives further away then that's the way it is.

Chances are I'll be working south of Cambridge at the Genome Campus or in the center (though that's less likely). Where I live is still up for grabs. I thought I might work out where I keep her then pick somewhere for me to live halfway between I've rarely had my horses closer than a half hour drive from me anyhow.

I will certainly PM you. Thankfully I have some time to work it all out.

 

[Steorra]

The different terms for livery seem designed to baffle the uninitiated .

There are some areas of South Cambs where you can ride on tracks without using roads at all: the Wimpole Estate, the Roman Road (not actually a road) that runs from Horseheath to the Gog Magogs, and parts of the Icknield Way. The area around Abington is also very horse-friendly.

From the yard I’m on I can access a mixture of road and off-road hacking, with fields and tracks connected by short sections of quiet roads, which is more typical. An Ordnance Survey Explorer map of the area will show you bridle-ways and byways you can ride on.

I work a couple of miles away from Hinxton so know the area fairly well. If there's any local knowledge I can help with then let me know.

 

[CPayne]

For all year turnout you might be better to look North of Cambridge as the fen soil recovers extremely well and isn't clay, which most of the surrounding areas are. I haven't been there, but it might be worth contacting Frolic Farm at Lode as they should have good hacking and may do grass livery, they are right on the edge of the fens. There may also be something Waterbeach direction but again it is to the North. Abington and Balsham are to the East and lots of horses around there as Steorra says and great road links for getting there.
Good luck with your search and move.

 

[gocharliego]

I'm in South Cambridge, currently renting a field with shelter and as much turnout as we want, reasonably close to Addenbrookes hospital. We found our place, not from being publically advertised, but by joining the local bridleway group. So if you do come to S Cam I would suggest becoming a member, it has been really helpful in finding some local horsey people and discovering new hacking routes I previously knew nothing about.

Like Steorra, I'm reasonably local to Hinxton and would be happy to help you with any queries about yards or the local area feel free to PM

 

[nianya]

What is this bridleway group gocharliego? And is a bridleway basically a public trail system? Or is it like those tracks between farmers fields that have signs for walker access?

 

[gocharliego]

It's called Shelford and District Bridleways group. http://www.sdbg.co.uk/news.html - this is their website, it's a bit out of date but has some contact information and the links to routes.

Yes, bridleways are public. They allow horses and cyclists to use them and do sometimes go across fields but the walker signs are probably for footpaths, which we cannot ride on - pedestrian use only.

 

[Steorra]

http://www.sdbg.co.uk/news.html

Here's the link to the Shelford and District Bridleways group (might have to copy/paste). They're a group of volunteers who provide information about local bridleways and contact landowners to organise permissive access to off-road riding routes. There are a few groups like this so GoCharlieGo might have another one in mind.

Bridleways are public rights of way. They are paths that horse-riders, pedestrians and cyclists have a legal right to access, even though the land they cross is often private.

Footpaths are similar in that they are public rights of way, but they are for walkers only, not horses. Often they aren't suitable for riding anyway (too narrow, blocked by stiles etc).

Permissive routes/ permissive bridleways are paths where the landowner has agreed to allow access to riders even though there isn't a public right of way. Eg, a farm track or sometimes set-aside land at the edge of a field. This is usually organised by a bridleways group, a particular yard, or just friendly neighbours, and is only available to riders who have specifically applied for permission. There might be a small fee.

GoCharlieGo - hello! Super-curious now because I think I might know where you are...won't ask on the forum though

 

[Steorra]

Cross-post