North London Assisted DIY

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Wonderlander

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Hello All,

Im looking for assisted DIY in and around North London. I live in Tuffnell Park and work in the square mile (Old Street Station) and drive. Im hoping to find a yard i can turn out/muck out in the AM leave my car there and then commute to work. Ive contacted all the yards I've found online but hoping someone might know yard without a huge online presence? So far im aware of:

London Equestrian Centre (only full livery)
Moat End Farm (only full livery)
Bury Farm - Full
Frith Manor
Burton Hole
Vicarage Farm
Stanmore riding school
Trent Park (only full livery)

If anyone has experiences on any of the above please do share. I have a 17hh (princess type) warmblood gelding.
 
There's a couple round Barnet too, Hilltop? not sure the type of livery they do.

I moved my horse into Herts from North London because of limitations in hacking and turnout. So a couple of options for commuting if you want to look a bit further out. Some of the the trainlines would be as quick as the Northern line coming from the Mill Hill branch that some of the listed above would use. Realistically you would have to park at the station but that applies to some of the yards you've mentioned as they are too far to walk and have sometimes very infrequent buses.

Crews Hill Station - Woodhurst and Kings Oak latter used to be riding school, livery only now but not sure if it does DIY. Woodhurst does DIY and has the option for services. There's also Guy Lodge, not sure if they do DIY and others that I don't know the name of.
Cuffley - Northaw, Wood Green Farm in Goffs Oak, New Park Farm in Newgatestreet
Bayford - Bayford Hall Farm, Dan Sherrif's place actually offers DIY, Home farm.
These last 3 stations are on a line that goes direct to Old Street

Radlett - lots of yards round there Model, Blackbirds, Hill Farm, Little Munden however the last 2 only do full livery. There are some smaller ones.

If you're on Facebook ask on Hertfordshire Horse Riders and North London Horse Riders.
 
If you are looking for a direct route into Old Street, then either the Northern Line goes straight in from the Mill Hill East Area, or you can get the train from the Enfield/Crews Hill Area.

From my experience:
Frith Manor - walk/bus ride from Mill Hill East Station, very limited off road hacking, they have two outdoor schools, and the surfaces are not fantastic in the winter. There is a riding school, however it is very small, you may just have to occasionally vacate the front school.

Burton Hole - very reasonably priced, not entirely sure about facilities

Vicarage Farm - lovely yard, great gallops track and hacking into Trent Park woods, however you would have to drive to the nearest station

Woodhurst - great facilities, small hacking track on the yard, and access to off road hacking after a short walk on the road. Small set of cross country jumps onsite. Relatively (walkable) near to Crews Hill Station. There is one huge school, often with show jumps set up, and another smaller school. The only issue I ever had is the noise from the M25 can sometimes be really loud!

Trent Park (only full livery) - I learnt to ride at Trent Park, and it is fantastic, however it is a riding school. The turnout is limited, and although there are a lot of schools (3x outdoor and 2x indoor), you will have to work around the lessons.

Hope this helps!
 
OP I live in north London and honestly with the traffic on weekdays there just wouldn't be a point to doing what you plan. You'd be better off paying for services to your horse is fed, turned out and brought back in, then you can drive out after work.

I'm not familiar with all the yards on your list but there are two named that I am familiar with; Woodhurst is lovely, has all the facilities you'd need but it's not particularly commutable to the local station, unless you fancy walking in the dark along an isolated country road with no pavement in parts for a good 15/20 mins! There's another on your list that I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.
 
Vicarage Farm and Woodhurst both have poor reputations locally and having bee at both I reccomend neither. Guy Lodge is close to Woodhurst and does assisted DIY. Slopers pond farm does assisted DIY and is close to Vicarage farm, cockfosters station on the Piccadilly line is 5 minutes by bus from there too and bus stops right outside.
 
criso said:
There's a couple round Barnet too, Hilltop? not sure the type of livery they do.

I moved my horse into Herts from North London because of limitations in hacking and turnout. So a couple of options for commuting if you want to look a bit further out. Some of the the trainlines would be as quick as the Northern line coming from the Mill Hill branch that some of the listed above would use. Realistically you would have to park at the station but that applies to some of the yards you've mentioned as they are too far to walk and have sometimes very infrequent buses.

Crews Hill Station - Woodhurst and Kings Oak latter used to be riding school, livery only now but not sure if it does DIY. Woodhurst does DIY and has the option for services. There's also Guy Lodge, not sure if they do DIY and others t
hat I don't know the name of.
Cuffley - Northaw, Wood Green Farm in Goffs Oak, New Park Farm in Newgatestreet
Bayford - Bayford Hall Farm, Dan Sherrif's place actually offers DIY, Home farm.
These last 3 stations are on a line that goes direct to Old Street

Radlett - lots of yards round there Model, Blackbirds, Hill Farm, Little Munden however the last 2 only do full livery. There are some smaller ones.

If you're on Facebook ask on Hertfordshire Horse Riders and North London Horse Riders.
Click to expand...

New park farm no longer exists as it's all Northaw. Woodgreen Farm is 100% DIY but a girl there offers services. Guy Lodge does DIY with services
 
Pudding&Pie said:
Vicarage Farm and Woodhurst both have poor reputations locally and having bee at both I reccomend neither. Guy Lodge is close to Woodhurst and does assisted DIY. Slopers pond farm does assisted DIY and is close to Vicarage farm, cockfosters station on the Piccadilly line is 5 minutes by bus from there too and bus stops right outside.
Click to expand...

What was wrong with Woodhurst? Ive always had good experiences there, aside from one occasion where the owners had stopped managing it themselves, but since they’ve taken it back I’ve heard good things again.

Guy Lodge does livery too.
 
Pudding&Pie said:
New park farm no longer exists as it's all Northaw. Woodgreen Farm is 100% DIY but a girl there offers services. Guy Lodge does DIY with services
Click to expand...
Different yard, the one I'm thinking of is in Newgate street nowhere near Northaw.

I have friends who've been very happy at Woodhurst however agree about the walk to the station. I've done lots of yards by public transport and am very used to walking down country roads in the dark but walking to the station having dropped off my friend's horsebox was horrific

Edited to correct location of new park farm
 
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criso said:
Different yard, the one I'm thinking of is in Newgate street nowhere near Northaw.

I have friends who've been very happy at Woodhurst however agree about the walk to the station. I've done lots of yards by public transport and am very used to walking down country roads in the dark but walking to the station having dropped off my friend's horsebox was horrific

Edited to correct location of new park farm
Click to expand...

I've been at New Park Farm in Newgate St. Lovely yard, great hacking and turnout, though I can't remember if the arena had lights? It would be quite a drive from Tufnell Park though, it used to take me an hour from Muswell Hill in the evenings. Not sure if it's near a train station?
 
FinkleyAlex said:
I've been at New Park Farm in Newgate St. Lovely yard, great hacking and turnout, though I can't remember if the arena had lights? It would be quite a drive from Tufnell Park though, it used to take me an hour from Muswell Hill in the evenings. Not sure if it's near a train station?
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You'd be driving to Cuffley but if you were at Woodhurst, I'd prefer to drive to Crews Hill rather than walk that road and you'd get more and faster trains at Cuffley as they don't all stop at Crews Hill. They go straight to Old Street for the OPs work. For Tufnell Park, West Herts round Radlett is best but not so good for a train to work as the Thames link doesn't go direct.

My personal opinion is the yards round Mill Hill is too big a compromise for hacking and turnout. The spur of the northern line that goes there takes so long that I found it quicker to get to herts. The people I knew at Frith, would leave their car at Mill Hill Station. A friend at Mote end got charged a parking fee to leave her car there and the 107 bus to the station was nicknamed the one o seldom.
 
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Hi Everyone,

Thank you all for your help. I've chosen an old dairy farm in Totteridge for the time being. The school is small but they have acres of private hacking and massive stables!

I would still be keen to hear about the little hidden private yard. I looked at one in Arkley and it was absolutely stunning but did not offer services.
 
Pleased to hear that you have found somewhere nice to keep your horse. I used to keep my horse almost next door and used to hack all over the place to Arrendene Open Space, Hampstead Heath, South Mimms Woods, Bricket Woods and even Hyde Park! As regards other yards there is another private yard just down the road from you on the right hand side as you go down the steep hill and also one directly opposite. If you need any more help then contact me by E-mail on peter.natt@btinternet.com as I know the area better than the back of my hand!
 
criso said:
There's a couple round Barnet too, Hilltop? not sure the type of livery they do.

I moved my horse into Herts from North London because of limitations in hacking and turnout. So a couple of options for commuting if you want to look a bit further out. Some of the the trainlines would be as quick as the Northern line coming from the Mill Hill branch that some of the listed above would use. Realistically you would have to park at the station but that applies to some of the yards you've mentioned as they are too far to walk and have sometimes very infrequent buses.

Crews Hill Station - Woodhurst and Kings Oak latter used to be riding school, livery only now but not sure if it does DIY. Woodhurst does DIY and has the option for services. There's also Guy Lodge, not sure if they do DIY and others that I don't know the name of.
Cuffley - Northaw, Wood Green Farm in Goffs Oak, New Park Farm in Newgatestreet
Bayford - Bayford Hall Farm, Dan Sherrif's place actually offers DIY, Home farm.
These last 3 stations are on a line that goes direct to Old Street

Radlett - lots of yards round there Model, Blackbirds, Hill Farm, Little Munden however the last 2 only do full livery. There are some smaller ones.

If you're on Facebook ask on Hertfordshire Horse Riders and North London Horse Riders.
Click to expand...
I don't think I would want to walk from the station at any of these yards daily in the dark!
 
Wonderlander said:
Hi Everyone,

Thank you all for your help. I've chosen an old dairy farm in Totteridge for the time being. The school is small but they have acres of private hacking and massive stables!

I would still be keen to hear about the little hidden private yard. I looked at one in Arkley and it was absolutely stunning but did not offer services.
Click to expand...

Hi, just nosey to find out where you ended up? I have my horse at Mote End but would like to buy another as she has lots of medical issues and can't work for some of the year, sadly I can't keep two at Mote End without a lottery win so I'm looking for somewhere close by and cheaper! I like Hilltop but they don't turn out in winter, and I would feel a little mean as my Mote End horse is out for hours all year round.

Peter has very kindly sent me a list of yards that I'm going to try and check out in the local area.
 
Hello,

I ended up at Burtonhole. An old dairy farm in Totterridge. Cheap, cheerful and very DIY! When i was looking i really liked the look of Grove Farm and Edgewarbury. Both of these have winter turnout, services and are fairly priced.


I also looked around Hertfordshire, if you interested to know more stables around the St. Albans/Hemel way i can send you a list too. Ill be moving to Bury Farm, near Hitchin and the end of winter.
 
Ah yes, I used to have a share horse there. Thanks for your reply. Lovely for hacking, as you say! I loved Edgwarebury but they sadly aren't keen on my horse, I was honest with them that sometimes she's a bit temperamental and they are looking to have straightforward horses there. But for the second horse, if and when I get one, it's a lovely place. I'm not sure how it would go logistics-wise with having two at different yards so the closer together they are, the better!
 
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