people who rent a private yard...

[Jesstickle]

how did you find it? I'm sure I won't leave my yard but was thinking yesterday how nice it would be. Am utterly clueless about how people find yards to rent though.

Also, if anyone wants to list the pros and cons, that would be great

 

[clip_clop]

I found one yard for rent by going in the local tack shop and asking if anyone knew of somewhere for rent. My current yard was advertised in the local newspaper, I love the freedom of being able to come and go as I please, can be hard work in the winter though and sometimes wish I had a school to ride in but wouldn't go back on a livery yard again

 

[WoopsiiD]

Local tack shop/word of mouth.

Pro's
We have chickens, ducks, rabbits and pigs as well as horses and ponies!
Its my friends yard-I just go to enjoy it and Bubs rides friends pony-so its just the two of us and kids.
KIDS-the kids have so much freedom. The field is secure and has a small stream. This year they have grasshopper hunted, fished, gone on exporations.....and ridden!
No one steals your things!!!
Lots more pro's...

Cons
If its just you-do you have backup if you can't get there?
We have no electric or water so 6x30gallon barrels are bought up every day.
You have to be organised. If you run out of 16+ on a Sunday night then there is no one to borrow a scoop from.
Can be a quiet and long day if you have no one other than the chickens to talk to!

 

[PennyJ]

It's just down the road from my house and I had to wait a year to get it in my own right. Grave reservations about taking it on, I had been there before on so called "share" (I was actually paying 3/4 of the rent and doing pretty much everything) until I fell out with her and had to leave. My reservations were more to do with the state of the ground/grazing and how much work the place needed (you wouldn't believe the amount of scrap metal and rubbish we have found and disposed of since 1 May when we offically took it on). Basically I started my campaign to get my hands on the place before I even moved out of there! Very fair landlord, I had to wait until the other person gave in their notice, which is of course a very good thing now I am the tenant.

Anyway, I took it on and I think my saving grace has been bringing along a very dear friend and her pony who pay a share of the rent. It works for us, because her pony is such a good friend of ours, apart from being separated for 18months, they have shared for the past 5 years, and they were so happy to be reunited when we got them back together in February, there was no way I was going to be leaving her behind when we moved again. I didn't realise until she rejoined us that I had really missed her too. Her and me also have the same high standards, so we can happily be as OCD as we want without anyone else coming along and making a mess of it. (Kids have been trained too!) We've just got into the habit of sharing out the workload over the years without much discussion. Also the big benefit of our set up is you have that someone to do them for you on the odd occasions when you can't or don't want to. We trust each other absolutely when it comes to looking after each others horses, and actually there aren't a lot of people you can say that about.

No bitchiness, no wasting time having to talk to other liveries when you're in a mad rush and could do without it, no numpties about. We love it! Don't find it lonely at all, and it has been known for people to see our cars there and drop in for a chat which is really nice.

 

[Fii]

Cold calling
My "yard" is an old, small, ex farm yard, unfortunatly it is a couple of miles from our field so have to rent grazing there by the week, when we have anything down there.
We have water, but no electric, but really onley have the ponies there in the summer.

 

[Dolcé]

We were just sooo lucky! Our YO had decided to retire and arranged with the agent for us to take over the lease before we even knew anything about it. I used to work there, as an instructress for my YO in it's riding school days, and she wanted the place to go to someone who she knew would love it the way she did.

Pros
We have enough land to keep all our horses and make enough of our own hay to keep ours all winter and sell some on
I can put my hens and geese anywhere I want
We don't have to worry about other liveries making life difficult for us
I will really miss the regular chats with YO, we are friends so will keep in touch but it won't be the same

Cons
It is currently 6 miles from home
The buildings are run down, some derelict, but we will renovate those we can

 

[tinap]

Rent a 3acre field with 2 stables, tack room & barn - found out a man had the field behind his house so I knocked on his door & asked if I could rent it! He said yes & have now been there over 4yrs. Only access is through his garden, which he doesn't mind & he even supplies me with water & in the winter electricity too - all for the lovely sum of £10 a week. Being cheeky paid off

 

[tinap]

Oh forgot pros & cons!
Pros.... No-one to interfere
Things get done as I want them in my own time
Am never short of grazing
Cheap as chips
Can leave stuff around without fear of getting pinched
There is always someone on site to keep an eye on pony
Only 5 mins from home
Field never gets boggy

Cons....no-one for daughter to ride out with
Is in a busy village so not really any decent hacking
Can't split field off (& pony barges electric fencing!)
No arena so all work done on grass (only a pain if ground gets hard)
Pony turned out on his own (although has company over the fence)
It's not mine!!!

I love it on my yard but daughter also rides for owner of a local livery yard & she enjoys the company there so I'm actually considering going on livery. I've never done it as we've always rented our own land so I'm a bit wary!!!