Moving to the countryside- tips needed!

[Cherryblossom]

After a lifetime of wanting to move to the countryside, we’ve finally taken the plunge and next week we move to a small holding about 20mins from where we currently live. The house is *ahem* in need of renovation, but it’s a former livery yard and has 5 acres, 8 stables and a sand school. I can’t wait to fill it to the brim with horses, dogs and cats, but in the meantime what should I be doing to prepare for winter? There’s been nothing grazing the land over summer, so the grass is loooong - my father in law is a farmer and has arranged for someone to come and take a cut of haylage off it. The fences are all in good nick, but the gardens and outdoor spaces are massively overgrown. Should I strim back now and then wait to see what appears in spring? If your yard was going to sit empty for 6-9months, what would you be getting done now to avoid having to do around horses on down the line? Sowing? Weeding?

I feel like I know how to manage grazing from the horses’ point of view, but have never had to think long term about the land before!

 

[Antw23uk]

Have you signed on the dotted line yet? is there time to change your mind? No? Oh well, welcome to the life you've always wanted and welcome to the life of never ending DIY, never ending weeding, grass cutting, post and rail fixing, poo picking, painting, creocoting ....

I dont think anything really prepares you (other than being born to it) for living in the country with land and just how much work it is and how bleak the winters can be! Stock up on fire wood now, get a full tank of oil before the end of the month .. assuming you have a wood burner and oil tank ... if you dont then Pah! you are still in a town! (just teasing)

I always thought I would fill up on animals when we moved but I quickly realised that less is more. Don't rush into getting animals, once people know you have land you will get offered all the waifs and strays .. try to resist, they all cost money and time and you wont have that with everything else you have to do around the place so although my reply is a bit tongue in cheek that bit of advise you will be wise to take.

Oh good luck btw

 

[YorksG]

Don't make plans for the land just yet, other than working out, to the best of your knowledge, what you are going to do for the first season or two that you are there. You will need o find out which bits get wet, the prevailing winds and what sort of weather they bring at what time of year. That can take a couple of years. Agree with don't get any more animals yet, there will be more work than you ever expected!
Be pleasant, but not over friendly with the neighbours and DO NOT get sucked into "agreements" that people claim they had with the previous owners about access and using parts of the land, if it isn't written down, it doesn't happen .
If you are moving area, be prepared to use a vet, farrier etc once or twice and then change.
It is hard work, but nothing beats having your own place. The yard and land use will evolve over time, we've been here over twenty years and we still change things every now and again. Renovating the house will end up low on your priority list, be warned And remember that everything will cost twice as much as you expect

 

[MrsMozart]

Water - what do you need and where and how will you get it there (terrain, obstacles, pipes freezing).

Land - what's going to get as boggy as hell and what can you do now to make it easier on all.

Access - to house, land, outbuildings, and what will you need where.

Fencing - current condition and what will winter do to it, eg that lovely full and leafy hedge going sparse over the cold months.

Vegetation etc - anything poisonous that needs chopping back or fencing off.

Buildings - does anything important leak or flood.

House - where will mud covered clothes and footwear live and anywhere to hang to dry it out / stop mud being traipsed into the rest of the house.

Trades - who locally is recommended for what. Get their numbers!

Vet, etc - register soonest.

Budget - for tools you'd never heard of.

All the above aside, people do it and love it. I hope you love your new life.

 

[cobgoblin]

If you've got a septic tank.. Buy some drain rods!

 

[Goldenstar]

You will learn your land over the years .
Unless you have to I would not do any permanent fencing until you understand the winds the grass where the horses like to go.
I have a winter sacrifice paddock and four further paddocks and some small areas we call squares .
If you possibly can when you choose the sacrifice paddock put in a hard standing the closer to the yard the better .
It will cost more than you think and managing the grass well costs more in time and money than I ever imagined .
Sort your muck management system my choice would be a small midden and a trailer that you pay someone to remove empty and return .
You will need to sort someone rolling and feeding the fields as your dads a farmer this hopefully won’t be to hard , soil test now and see what you are going to need to do .
On your garden I would clear it over the autumn and winter things your not sure about can be trimmed back and although some of them may not flower the next year or two if you over trim something senestive they will recover .
Next spring hopefully you will get some nice surprises as daffs and things appear .
Ps when you think of getting a livery be sure to ask us lot before you decide just so can put you off .... no sorry I mean advise you .
Nothing beats your horses at home .

 

[Goldenstar]

If you've got a septic tank.. Buy some drain rods!

Good advice I like a bit of septic tank management .

 

[HeyMich]

Good luck, it sounds amazing! Brilliant that your in-laws can help - maybe ask them advice if they know the area and are well versed on land management? I guess immediate jobs would be fixing stable roofs, doors, fences etc, as these can be tricky with horses around. Everything else can wait till you find your feet.

We are seriously considering buying a similar property - but really dithering over costs. I wish we would just decide! I know it would be awesome, but also a real money/time/effort-pit!

 

[Suechoccy]

Congratulations! Move in and enjoy. Avoid making too many plans early on as you may well change them as you get to know the place through the seasons. Take time to see what bits of land flood, what bits are dry, what weeds come up where, how does rainwater drain off the land, etc. Avoid taking on lots of animals because caring for them will take up lots of time and money so be choosy about what size and variety your menagerie is, and remember it's okay to have empty stables and fields.
Make friends with local farmers and maintenance people. You will be booking them for a variety of jobs you've not yet thought about, and you may well end up with some of their sheep on your land to help maintain grass quality too.
The only plan I would say is worthwhile at the beginning is contacting your local Barn Owl Trust (they may well be able to provide you with a barn owl nest box which they will look after for you) and think about other nest boxes for birds and bats and wildlife areas too - autumn/winter is best time to do wildlife work as then it's ready for next season.
If you have hedges which need maintenance, they should be cut between 1 Oct-1 March so that's where your good relationship with a local farmer may come in. Also you may have ditches which need clearing or brambles overgrowing.
You might be thinking about laying hedges, in which case you could either take a hedge laying course or ask your local wildlife group if they'd like to lay your hedge for you. Laying it yourself is very satisfying winter work but be prepared for thorns and in this case, very definitely as another poster has said, be prepared to purchase tools you've never heard of!
If you need to put fencing posts or gateposts in, this type of work is easiest in soft weather as ground easier to work, but not if you're flooded.

 

[Cherryblossom]

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement...I’m so excited, but most of my friends think I’m mad!
We’re really lucky with the outdoor space- it’s well fenced into 4 fields and a woodland area with some grazing. 4 of the stables are less than 10 years old and the remainder had new roofs put on them about the same time. The survey showed a little bit of woodworm, by otherwise all seems well. The previous owner has done fenced off areas of hard standing outside the stables- 3 areas in total, one of which I think we’ll fenced properly to make a dog run from a stable. There’s grass growing up through the hard standing- do people use weed killer, or has anyone found a more natural way to keep control? There’s also a strange area that I’ve no idea what to do with. It’s circular, bigger than the average lunge ring, fence with 8ft fencing, sand track just inside the fence and then plastic piping fencing the middle bit off. I can’t decide whether to make it a proper lunge area, put hardstanding in it, or repurpose it for the dogs. I guess once my daughter is old enough to ride it might be nice to have a well fenced circular area to let her ride in?

My husband is getting a bit frustrated because he wants to discuss what to do with the avocado bathroom suite, and I want to discuss jumping tracks for my hypothetical future eventer! 😂

 

[pixie]

In terms of your stable yard. Give everything a really thorough cleaning (you can buy enormous tins of jeyes fluid!), as you don't know what was there before! Make sure the stable yard drains and guttering are clean and draining well. Make sure that water and electric are working. Fill holes and look for rat sign! Decide how you want to organise your storage/tack area and make sure you have shelving/hooks where you want them to be. Oil things that need oiling. Paint things that need painting. Make sure that everything that you bring in is cleaned before going in!

Establish a supplier of bedding/forage and buy some in!!!!!

 

[HeyMich]

There’s also a strange area that I’ve no idea what to do with. It’s circular, bigger than the average lunge ring, fence with 8ft fencing, sand track just inside the fence and then plastic piping fencing the middle bit off.

Sounds like it may have been a horse-walker??

 

[cavalo branco]

Great advice given already, I just wanted to say....enjoy every minute! We have had our own land, stables and school for 6 years now, yes, it's hard work and hubby has turned into a mechanic/engineer/farmer/ Mr Fixit...you will soon discover that paying other people drains your cash too quickly!
What I didn't expect is to love the seasons, the wildlife, the feeling of peace when looking out over YOUR land, it's magic...best of luck.

 

[pennyturner]

If you've got a septic tank.. Buy some drain rods!

Which you can also use to sweep the chimneys.

 

[EventingMum]

Sounds like it may have been a horse-walker??

Just what I was going to say!

 

[Clodagh]

T

My husband is getting a bit frustrated because he wants to discuss what to do with the avocado bathroom suite, and I want to discuss jumping tracks for my hypothetical future eventer! 😂

Retro is pretty right here, right now so keep the avocado bathroom suite. We all come into fashion every few decades (or so my OH tells me).
If you have a septic tank chuck a dead chicken in it, a much cheaper way of improving the health of your bacteria.

 

[Fiona]

Have you ordered some hay for the winter yet?

Some brilliant advice here already.....

Fiona

 

[Red-1]

Buy candles - our rural electric is a bit sporadic.

Alarm for the tack room / anywhere a quad or whatever is housed.

Padlock the gates.

Find who delivers the oil and empties the cess pit locally. One local firm to us had a strange co-incidental oil theft that seemed to follow them round - the other did not ;-) .


Drain rods. Cut wood. Make sure you can check the oil level and the oil tank is locked.


Shopping lists - the shop is likely a long drive away now, no nipping to the corner shop.


Outside lights, I have loads of lights fitted. They are not expensive to buy, need never be on, ut that one time your horse is ill or whatever I can light the place up like NASA!


Rat/mouse control. Local deliveries of bedding/feed. Local contact for hedge cutting, ditch digging etc. Decide how you are going to dispose of muck.


Decide how you are going to manage the land. We have been using a large lawn tractor, but are changing to a compact tractor soon. I would not do too much with the land until you know what you have.


In answer to your question, yes we spray weeds on the hardcore areas.


I have also fitted CCTV this year, it has been FAB to check on horse/husband when I am at work.


Good luck with internet connection/phone signal.

 

[cobgoblin]

It's very odd about avocado bathroom suites... Nobody has them, but they're in every house one buys!

 

[Red-1]

It's very odd about avocado bathroom suites... Nobody has them, but they're in every house one buys!

Yes, we had one here when we moved in

OP, also check the Sat Nav actually brings people to your house. Out of 4 places you come from, Sat Nav is incorrect for 2 of them.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

It’s circular, bigger than the average lunge ring, fence with 8ft fencing, sand track just inside the fence and then plastic piping fencing the middle bit off. I can’t decide whether to make it a proper lunge area, put hardstanding in it, or repurpose it for the dogs. I guess once my daughter is old enough to ride it might be nice to have a well fenced circular area to let her ride in?

had one of these at the racing yard I worked at. make it a proper lunge ring/turnout pen-very useful for lots of things. If you have hardstanding and different grazing I'd be thinking about a track system and equicentral set ups

congrats

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

If you've got a septic tank.. Buy some drain rods!

Yep!! Ditto this!!!

A loud "Amen" to everything everybody else has said basically.

The main rules of living in the country are basically that you have to get used to the fact that everything takes its time; like, down here in Devon we say "us'll do it dreckly", which means "it'll be done directly". And "directly" does NOT mean straight away, nope, it means that someone somewhere, if you're lucky, might get around to thinking about the job in anything from a month to a year - if you're lucky!

Second thing is that you don't have to worry about your own business; coz everyone else will mind it for you! If you've just moved, then you can be very sure that you are already the topic of conversation, and there will be all sorts of theories circulating about you!

Thirdly: for the first twenty, nay, thirty years of your countryside existence, you will be a "vurriner" as we say in Devon, i.e. a "foreigner" (not born and bred in the countryside). Sorry about that, but that's the way it is!!

Enjoy!

 

[DD]

Congratulations. Buy wellies then buy a spare pair. sit back relax don't stress. just enjoy.

 

[Cherryblossom]

This has been both educational and hilarious in equal measures! 😄 I was worrying about how you get to meet your neighbours when everyone lives down a lane, but it sounds like I might have the opposite problem! I’ve got the numbers of two different ‘Sam the tractor man’ types... so hopefully they can help with some of the stuff... and maybe one of them can tell me what exactly is in the big round bales that were left behind, and just how old they are!
I may have already inherited one waif and stray... the previous owner is emigrating, and asked if she could leave the yard cat, who, she assures me, is a great mouser. Unfortunately she’s now gone and her family have no idea what it’s called... the best guess from them is ‘Killer’!

 

[blitznbobs]

Don’t worry about meeting the neighbours, country folk are inherently nosey as a breed and usually helpful... as a teenager I crashed my car (no one else involved) 200 yards from home ... within the 5 minutes it took me to walk home my parents had had 3 phone calls to let them know and dad already had the tractor out too tqow me out of the ditch... it can be annoying and useful in equal measure! My only advice ... don’t make enemies, make friends, accept offers of kindness at face value and make a cake or two for the local village events... you never know when you’ll need that farmer with the massive John Deere to tow your little tractor out of whatever you’ve got it stuck in.

 

[Hack4fun]

My tip is very simple - enjoy it! Have fun. It is so much better. You may work harder, and there is a lot to learn, but it is great.

Some people have commented on septic tanks. The environmental rules are changing and biodiscs or other approved treatment methods can be required these days.

 

[southerncomfort]

Re: meeting the neighbours - ours all came round with chocolate and wine and introduced themselves. We live on a remote hill and we all have each others numbers in case of emergency. They are the nicest people I've ever met.

We have a little digital gadget that's plugged in near the front door and tells us how much oil is left in the tank. The previous owners installed it but it's invaluable in taking the guesswork out of when to order more oil.

Make sure you have proper metal feed bins to deter rats. Would also recommend a Jack Russell to despatch said rats and moles!

We quickly made friends with a farmer at the bottom of the hill who brings round bales up for us, removes muck heaps etc. and gives advice on maintaining the grazing (about to ask him what to do about the darn buttercups next year!).

We've lived here almost a year and I don't regret it at all. The only downside for me is that I've struggled to meet other horsey folk. I sometimes see people hack past my house but I'm too shy to run outside and talk to them!

 

[hollyandivy123]

Yep!! Ditto this!!!


Thirdly: for the first twenty, nay, thirty years of your countryside existence, you will be a "vurriner" as we say in Devon, i.e. a "foreigner" (not born and bred in the countryside). Sorry about that, but that's the way it is!!

Enjoy!

ever seen the seen from american werewolf in London and the slaughter lamb pub.............?

 

[pippixox]

We are possibly making an even scarier move next year- to the countryside, but in France!!!

I would definitely recommend security. Sounds negative, but you can’t trust people and the more remote the less people there are to see anything going on. My horses are currently on a farm on the edge of town and we have had a lot of vandalism and petty theft. Luckily there is more cctv and lighting now to put people off.

 

[laura_nash]

Re: meeting the neighbours - ours all came round with chocolate and wine and introduced themselves.

Same here, we don't drink wine so we were sneakily giving away bottles to visiting family for months

Second (or is it third now) the drain rods, a backed up septic tank was our first major emergency after moving in.

Make sure you have mud-free surfaces around house doors, tracks between the house and barns, between the house and any fuel store, house to where the cars are parked etc - we didn't get this done for our first winter and mud everywhere gets very depressing.