Moving to England from Canada - advice please

M

MainRing

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We will be moving from Canada to the greater London area. I will be bringing my horse with me. I need to find a boarding (livery) stable within a reasonable commute of Fulham. I would require outstanding care with daily turnout. We are showing hunter here in Canada. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Also If anyone has experience with Canada to UK moves I would love to hear.

Thank you
 
Why would anyone want to come to live in broken britain
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Sorry can't help, but my first thought too was 'why on Earth would you do it?!' Can I be cheeky and ask, if I were to move to Canada where would be the best horsey area with a decent climate?
 
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Sorry can't help, but my first thought too was 'why on Earth would you do it?!' Can I be cheeky and ask, if I were to move to Canada where would be the best horsey area with a decent climate?

[/ QUOTE ] Me too
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we are all fed up with our useless goverment, the EU that we foolisly signed up to in the 70s so they can make laws that adversly affect every aspect of our lives, buisness and agriculture and is costing us billions a year.. for neglible benifit unless you are a politician or a human rights lawyer... the weather ....
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but hey your very welcome to come and join us
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Did the England to Canada, Canada to England thing when I was younger, spent 5 years in Ontario, loved it! Another good site to use is the BHS, they have approved centres: www.bhs.org.uk, also if you have an address, www.upmystreet.co.uk is good, if you go into the "find my nearest" section under sports training I think it is there is a riding school/livery yards section. Bit of a pain finding somewhere near Fulham, think you might have to prepare yourself for a bit of a trek, mind you, I seem to remember it took me 1 and a half hours to get to my yard in Canada and we thought nothing of it!
 
Hi,

You need to speak to Tarrsteps, I'm sure she'll answer this when she sees it, but if not pm her.

I would be no help as I don't know the area at all, but wish you all the best for your move.
 
I am moving from Ontario because my significant other has been offered a very good job. I am a bit concerned to hear that some are not very happy in Britain. I was looking forward to moving to such a horsey country. Is it really that bad?

Thank you for the links I will continue my search for livery. Do most drive to the barn or take public transport?

I will try to contact Tarrsteps as well.
 
Hey MainRing

I love living in England, but then I'm in the rural part. I used to live in greater London but that was years ago. Do as others said and keep horses just outside - there will be better hacking and turnout etc. I would also be VERY surprised if you can get public transport to the yard. You certainly wouldn't be able to where I am, but I doubt that the PT would be more obliging in the capital!

Best of luck finding a nice yard - there will be some excellent ones out there for you x
 
Hi, I worked in Toronto for three years and loved it and bought a horse out there which I brought back with me. The process was relatively simple and my horse travelled really well and settled very quickly. Having left Canada in February with thick snow eveywhere he was quite pleased to see the grass when he arrived in England. This was ages ago though we moved back in 1996 and my old boy was 28 this year. I am currently at a yard in Fulmer which is near junction 6 of the M4 . You might have to come out that far from Fulham to get good turnout and hacking. I am happy to answer any questions if you want to pm me. Good luck with the move.
 
I lived near Chicago for a couple of years so familiar with Canadian winters
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. O H's employers sent us for a cultural counselling day before packing us off to that icy, flat (what is the use of snow without ski runs) place. OH now works for RBC and is aware of my climatic objections to Toronto!

Can I suggest you start off by finding a "Canadians in London" type of forum and Tarrsteps as they will be able to give you lots of info. I've skiied in BC many times, but realise that is not the same as living there.

I know it will make riding more difficult, but really, really suggest you try to live in the city rather than the country. we had to live in the burbs as we had 2 large dogs on tow, but ending up missing out on a lot of the best chicago has to offer.

we don't really have a show hunter (I'm assuming you mean hunter-jumpers) scene here. the nearest we have is equitation jumping - and that is very limited. nevertheless, there are a number of centres around London that offer very high standards of tuition in flat work and jumping. a car is going to be essential.

On a more practical level, most of the produce and brands you can buy in British supermarkets are similar to Canada - hey you can even buy Canadian cheddar here
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As you will be here on an expat package I'm guessing you will have private health insurance, so much of the media hysteria regarding the NHS is going to be irrelevant to you. To be honest, parts of Vancouver can probably match the worse of the Uk on the dysfunctional front.

Please feel very welcome to pm me if you have any ex-pat wife questions. sorry don't know too much about London livery yards.
 
Mainring, you may find that you actually KNOW Tarrsteps!
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Whereabouts in Ontario are you coming from?

Britain isn't so bad, very pretty, just a bit full in some places
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Put it this way, Toronto has a population of what? 3 million? London has upwards of 8 million (I stand to be corrected on that figure) the Province of Ontario alone is SEVEN times the area of England, it is a space thing, Ontario is pretty empty by comparison. Good point is that you don't have so far to travel to get anywhere.

As for transport, it may be more convenient to have your own vehicle, even if transit went to the yard you would be tied to time tables, and there is nothing worse than being wet (and you will be) and smelling of horse on a bus.
 
There are loads of yards in surrey which is really accessible from Fulham. There are a couple of riding schools in south london with livery but the turnout isn't so good.

The offroad hacking in surrey is amazing and there are lots of competition centres, some with livery yards attached, so you won't necessarily need transport for your horse.

Many of the yards in surrey can be reached by train or maybe 30 mins by car. Many will offer full livery as well. Google "livery yard surrey" and you should be able to find somewhere to begin and also look up travel times on www.multimap.com

There was a new yard opening near guildford that looked amazing - website is www.d-equestrian.co.uk. Don't know anything about the yard or owner but it looks absolutely amazing and the rates seem really reasonable for the services.

Other HHO members in surrey could probably help you out.

Good luck!
 
Just to say, don't listen to all the doom-mongerers and nay sayers. Most of Britain is lovely, though I'd say come up north and steer clear of the southeners
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No really, I am proud to be British, though I am not proud of everyone who is British. As you say it is very horsey and always lots to do, we are very spoilt
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I'm sure you'll love the move. I have family who have moved to England from Ireland, Canada, Iran, Kuwait and India, and they love Britain, but again, just not the people. So much history and heritage also.

If you are living in London, even with a horse, having your own transport is pointless, and a waste of time and money. You can get places through central london faster on the tube, without paying the sky high pollution fee.

I only know what my Canadian family say, but they generally don't say very much as they are always so excited to be looking at some old building or rock!

Good luck!
 
have to really disagree re car in London.

public transport is brilliant in central london, and if that is where you are planning to spend your time, a car would be pointless.

however, i do not know of any livery yards that are on bus routes, let alone the underground. it sounds like a complete headache especially if you are cold, of have just ridden on a hot sweaty day.
 
I am feeling guilty about being so negative now
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OK the worst parts of life in the UK are; the over-crowding, traffic, the crime, the Government and the weather. The plus points are that the rural areas of Britain are heavenly, so are the people, very multi -cultural, there's loads of horsey stuff close to wherever you live and the hunting is amazing. So I am sure it will be a great life experience, welcome.
 
Hey! Another expat Canadian here, though I live in Scotland. I love it over here! Very horsey, and shows etc. are so much closer together! I don't find the traffic etc. in England (I drive down quite often) etc. any worse than in other urban centres; I think you're just getting some fence-other side-grass greener going on!
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I think the closest to hunter-jumper over here would be working hunter classes in showing, or style jumping classes. I wasn't into that scene over there, so you'd need to ask someonewho really knows! On the plus side, there's many more places you can take your show hunter hunting over here!

As to boarding, the opportunities are more varied over here, with options available from full livery through part livery all the way to just renting a spot in a field.
 
I've never even been to Canada let alone moved from there, but just to say we have a lovely country, alot of equestrian centres and stunning countryside.

You might do well to speak to the BHS (British Horse Society) who may well know of a yard in the area, just specify that you want good grazing, because alot of 'city' yards have restricted grazing which means when it rains (sadly, alot) you'll end up stabling your horse alot of the time.
 
My ears were burning.
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PM sent. I've joked now I've done it I could do it a whole lot better so perhaps someone else will benefit from my experience!

It's pretty much moot whether someone should or should not move if it's going to happen anyway, so don't put the poor Canadian off.
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Canada is a fantastic country but I'm sure anyone moving from the UK there would have their own adjustments to make, too.
 
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