People who own a yard!!!

[Olive1618]

My big dream is to own my own yard. How did you afford this? How long did it take you and how did you do it (buy land and build or buy the big thing) Is the livery business well paid? And is it worth it having all those people on you yard who can be bitchy etc?

 

[ohmissbrittany]

How did you afford this? How long did it take you and how did you do it (buy land and build or buy the big thing)

It's cheaper to buy land and then build, generally, because buying all the buildings and equipment plus the "business package" (ie, it's there and people know about the facility)... but swings and roundabouts because planning and building correctly takes a lot of money and time up front- it realistically could be up to a year before you had enough of a facility to start taking on liveries.

Most of the ones I know either built a facility on land owned by the family, or with one of them her dad actually bought the property and she pays the mortgage through him. Most of them were able to stop leasing property and "upgrade" later in life. If you have a business plan and a credit rating you can get loans but it's tough and competitive and again- if you're young you won't have a credit rating or a bean to your name.

Is the livery business well paid?

lol no. my YO makes £500/mo. You need a working knowledge of livery services, local pricing, costs of doing business. I often recommend any aspiring equine professional to get a degree/qualification/training in marketing/business/accounting because it helps a lot when you need to make strategic decisions about running your business. She works 10 hour days, 6 days a week- and it was seven days until this year which is the first time she could afford to hire someone to give her a day off. And it's cold, hard work mucking stables, filling haynets, bringing horses in/out, holding for vet/farrier, making sure the pipes don't freeze or that dickhead gelding didn't break the water trough again, fixing where the feed delivery guy punched a hole in the side of the building or where the new gelding yanked the tie ring out of the wall.

It also depends on what you want out of your clientele. Do you want high end catering style with all the bells and whistles? Mostly DIY liveries where the barn is just a central location? I know of some that were actually relieved when they ended up with a yard full of people who no longer rode much because they could stop maintaining the school/footing. But folks who compete, who work traditional day jobs will want an arena with lights and good footing, they'll mostly be there after work and you'll be alone all day. There is so much variation, the best way is to decide on a direction/culture and cater your facility and services to it.

And is it worth it having all those people on you yard who can be bitchy etc?

Like any customer service business, there will be people who are good and people who are awful. The first couple of years would be the hardest, because £ is £ and some really awful people have big checkbooks. But once you've built a reputation up and the business is thriving, you can afford to throw out troublemakers and enforce rules about behavior towards other people, equipment and animals.

 

[EventingMum]

Our land was bought with an inheritance and the yard gradually built over the years. It's very much a lifestyle business and it's the fact Mr EM has his own business that allows us to have it as it doesn't provide enough to be our sole income. Having liveries can be challenging, you need clear contracts and rules and have to be prepared to stand your ground. On the whole, our liveries have been fine and many have become good friends. It has allowed us to keep our own horses but probably investing the money would provide more of an income if I'm honest.

 

[ihatework]

Forget it!

Anyone who is making a reasonable living profit off a livery yard will only be doing so because it’s family land. Even then they won’t be realising as much income as they would be if the land was put to different use.

If you are doing it from scratch, then if you take into account what it costs to purchase and/or build then you will be in debt forever more!

Most people I know who do / have done livery will have rented facilities.
Done well then yes you can be in profit. But you would likely be ether off financially with a bog standard NMW job.

For example - I know a 28 box yard with accommodation geared towards a higher calibre livery. The rent was £5000 pcm. With a potential income in the £14000pcm bracket @ £130pw part livery you might think you would be laughing. The reality was that after all consumables, staff, rates etc it was just about paying the YM basic living costs - for their 10hr working days

 

[Ambers Echo]

You need to be willing to throw out trouble-makers from day 1! Otherwise you'll be stuck with them forever. A YO who won;t address nightmare liveries end up with only nightmare liveries because sane, normal people leave!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

My big dream is to own my own yard. How did you afford this? How long did it take you and how did you do it (buy land and build or buy the big thing) Is the livery business well paid? And is it worth it having all those people on you yard who can be bitchy etc?

Well hubby bought my yard for me and I run it, yes you get your fair share of biotchy, back stabbers, non payers, trouble makers, (horse and human) For every trouble livery there are many lovely ones, you just have to set the rules to start with, and be a bit flexible at first.

My issue is people lie as to why they left their last yard and only find out afterwards:

They got booted out
Horse is a problem with others
They don't pay
Bounce cheques on purpose
Have unruly children
etc.

 

[Cortez]

Running a livery yard, even if you own it, is pure slavery. I have no idea why anyone would willingly submit themselves to doing it, it certainly isn't for the money.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Running a livery yard, even if you own it, is pure slavery. I have no idea why anyone would willingly submit themselves to doing it, it certainly isn't for the money.

Maybe we just love being outside working with horses full stop, and owning a piece of British soil, and lets face it with the way things are going land is shrinking with all these ruddy new affordable houses being squashed in.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I live on-site and have room for just the one DIY livery.

Because of the livery aspect, I have to make sure I'm insured up to the hilt, which obviously cuts deeply into one's profit margin, but it has to be done!

Then there's land/field maintenance, hedge trimming which is a legal requirement, etc etc.

There is a local sheep farmer who puts their sheep in the field (and who pays to do so), which not only benefits the pasture but also brings in a bit of money too.

I've been offering DIY livery for 27 years now, and in that time have only ever had one really bad/rotten livery; it has been FUN! and I've met so many lovely horses and owners. My current livery is fantastic, and I've really enjoyed seeing her and her little family progress through their ponies and do well! It has been a real joy, and I've loved every minute of it.

Nope you won't make a fortune, but you'll have a whole lot of fun and make lifelong horsey friends.

 

[MagicMelon]

Do you want to specifically own a livery yard, or just have your horses on your own yard? Ive got the latter, never kept horses on livery thankfully. I sometimes think Id like the idea of running a livery yard but then I think of all the hassle it would entail...! I just dont see how financially its massively viable. In my area, I could get livery for £25 a week so £100 a month. £100 a month (x however many) isnt really worth it when you have to consider how much you'd have to spend on the extra stabling / land / facilities to keep liveries happy over and above what you'd have bought for your own horses, then you've got all the maintenence to cover (fencing / ground care etc.) and bills (electricity etc). I could see it'd be fun if you ended up with good fun liveries who you could mess about with, but from a financial point of view I dont see how it'd be worth it.