Natural Barefoot yards

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edinburgh75

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Do you think there is a market for a full on natural livery yard with barefoot horses, natural supplement herbs with a track system like paddock paradise and it being in Scotland. We are wanting to convert our yard but worry that our "obsession" is going to alienate ourselves from the market. As much as we love the system and have our own horses this way, we do need to make a living sadly!
 
The main thing for me is facilities and location, no hacking for example would be a no no, and a reasonable size arena which does not flood is pretty much a standard requirement in Scotland.
If you offer assisted DIY as standard, ie the horses are put out every morning, in at nught in winter, making one visit per day standard, this makes your catchment area much bigger. Most people have their own ideas about feeding, and leave the feed out for breakfast.
You might have a problem insisting on barefoot, as someone may want one barefoot and another shod. Maybe you could ask that all horses are not shod behind.
If you are offerering only part livery or full livery, how you arrange the turnout is up to you, I was at a retirement yard where there was an area about the size of a football field which was purpose build with drainage and shelters for all winds, so the horse were all turned out summer and winter. To me, the gaurantee of all year round turnout is a huge advantage over anything else.
There might be a demand due to your facilities and ideas, but I would think that the cost of the arena and other costs would be more significant than the cost of managing the turnout. A lot depends on costs, and competition, I have been at several yards offering different degrees of support from none except access to haylage, to as much as you want, at a excessive cost [no one took the full livery option]. The best yard was too expensive for me, [£80.00 per week assisted all year round] but was also BHS Approved.
So to summarise, the main advantage to me would be that the owners were "horse aware" and I would be confident that my horse would be in good hands, so I think your
 
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My filly is on a barefoot yard at the moment.

The yo doesn't market it as such but only have bf liveries. It's very common where I am here in bath but there's no bf liveries as such. Where she is normally kept most are shod but doesn't affect me in any way.

Personally I do think there needs to be more natural yards with track systems rather than those godawful postage stamp segregates. Just depends how peoples mindsets are. You see, I would prefer my horse to be kept in a herd, either allowed a lot of land to roam or on a track. There are risks that come with that e.g. Scuffles and play etc but I'm happy with that. Some are less so.

However, what will happen is that you will attract the right kind of people if you advertise it as a natural yard. Just be honest.

My friend has clearly stipulated on her advert that as horses are kept on groups, strictly no shoes. Keeps the shod ones out :) she has no trouble and is full. Even has a waiting list!
 
edinburgh75 said:
Do you think there is a market for a full on natural livery yard with barefoot horses, natural supplement herbs with a track system like paddock paradise and it being in Scotland. We are wanting to convert our yard but worry that our "obsession" is going to alienate ourselves from the market. As much as we love the system and have our own horses this way, we do need to make a living sadly!
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how many liveries do you want/need? I would have thought there was, depending on where you are. And good work on having a working track system in Scotland in the winter!
 
All great points. Our own horses are BF out of choice but we have a livery with 3 shod so we don't discrimminate.
Our facilities are pretty good I think. Indoor school with lighting, track system which is a work in progress. Great hay and straw in site. Hacking is fab, don't have to touch a road and we are in the middle of a huge estate so really well kept and lots of things to see.
We live on site so getting the right people is key to us as we are only small and want to keep it really friendly and horsey (we can dream!)
We have years of experience and a great mix of horses but just don't want to become obsessive about barefoot. I just think a natural environment for the horses is key. All year out in a track system where they can seek out mineral areas, have different surfaces to walk on, feeding stations at intervals to encourage movement, natural shelter and hills to walk on and mixed herds so they socialise without these horrible square paddocks with electric fence so they can see but not interact.
 
I don't understand why you think you're being "obsessive"?

Sounds balanced and very attractive.
 
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