People with their own land / smallholding

[Baileysno1]

James is planning to leave for oz in a few weeks and I will follow about a month after that (again), our goal together is to get a rural property with a bit of land. We recently viewed an auction propert locally which dissapointingly turned out to be uninhabitable and would need at pot of gold to sort out. Anyhow nearby another bungalow has come up with 2/1/2 acres is very much inhabitable and also has 5 almost new loose boxes, it could be within our budget if we initially cut back, on unecessary things like eating, ect!

So advice needed from anyone who has gone from being a DIY livery to having thier own little place, is the grass greener, is it worth sacrificing the facillities for your own place, have you ever regretted it? Is it realistic to keep 2 horse on 2.5 acres (stabled at night)

We're going for a look tomorrow, we'd get allot more for our money in oz but home is home so we're being open minded.

 

[YorkshireLass]

It depends on the horses... and the land.

If it is good, well drained land in one or the more clement parts of the UK you could keep 2 horses on 2.5 acres,stabled at night, no problem.

I am in the Yorkshire Dales/Durham/Cumbria border and if you tried to do that where I am you would be feeding your horse hay in the field 6 months of the year!

It is better to have your own place on some levels. No one else to put up with, you choose how your horses are managed etc. On the down side you have to maintain the place and it works out more expensive, even if you own the land outright... if you think of the money tied up in the place. If you banked the money you could keep a number of horses at a very nice livery only spending the interest!

 

[YorksG]

Agree with Yorkshirelass, re maintenance etc. 2!/2 aacres can work fine, yes you must supplement. Another downside is that you can't rely on other liveries YO etc if you are late home, want to go away etc. My sister and I share our place and manage to work it between us, plus we are fortunate and have excellent neighbours with horses.

 

[Tierra]

Depends a lot on the land. I currently have three (one horse, two donkeys) on 3.5 acres. However we were amazingly lucky and the land is very very good with incredible drainage and in an area with the richest soil in denmark.

Facilities - its a huge culture shock for me tbh. Ive gone from 2 indoors, 3 outsdoors and a horse walker to well... stables and fields.

We're planning on putting an arena down this autumn and for the time being, mine is out of work. Hes getting fat and chilling in the field and i highly doubt i'll touch him until i have an arena :|

We're lucky in that our new house is immaculate, but the outbuildings need a lot of work. The current stables are decent, but we're intending on moving the whole block to another outbuilding and pulling the stables down.

Sourcing haylage and straw has been fun initially, although we're starting to get some contacts so its getting easier

We left the UK to afford our own yard also

 

[kerilli]

well, having been a livery for years, and then had my own place my last 3 homes, i'd never go back. when i moved last time i contemplated buying a normal house and having the horses at livery, but the thought of the travelling backwards and forwards (fine unless one is ill, then a nightmare), the potential bitchiness etc (and some yards are terrible for this), not being able to turn my horses out when i want to etc etc... no way would i go back to it.
it's hard work having your own place, but the freedom's impossible to put a price on.
2 horses on 2 1/2 acres is fine, you might need to feed hay/haylage most of the year round though. the quality of the local hacking is very important, or was to me.
very best of luck!

 

[Tierra]

To echo Kerilli. We've only been in here like 3 weeks and im already in love with having them at home.

The getting up early to muck out was a bit strange at first but being able to set their routine exactly as i want it is amazing.

I think rather than looking at the places as they are, try and consider their potential. Is there a place for an arena if you want one? Or would you lose too much grazing? Similarly is there a place for a walker should you want one? Is there good storage to allow you to buy food / bedding in bulk and keep it. Has someone put decent thought into the muck heap.

Looking ahead is the key thing and trying to judge the potential of a place. We took measurements for an arena so we knew we had room without losing too much grazing. We already have an area of hard standing which will eventually become the walker. The fields are split into winter and summer already which is great. A bad side to where we bougth is that the muck heap has been stupidly situated and getting anyone in to move it would be a major hassle.

You can do work over many years as long as the potential is there and its livable in the now.

 

[SirenaXVI]

Downsides - can be lonely at first, and it is harder work, there are always fences to be fixed, fields to be harrowed/topped etc etc. You can also collect far too many horses

Upsides - I decide when and where my horses go out, no yard bitchiness to put up with, can ride in the school whenever I want to and can do the horses in my PJs if I feel like it (and have

)

Would I go back to a yard? Never in a million years

 

[Donkeymad]

I have to agree with kerilli, we would never go back to livery. We have had our land for seven years now and it does take time and money to maintain well, but the fact that you are in sole charge and have no nasty people to deal with (isn't there one on nearly every yard??) is so worth it.

 

[LizGooch1]

I've got two on about 2 1/2 acres and its clay! I have to manage this very well and unfortutely there are days when teh ground is too wet to go out so they stay on the yard. I have been on DIY and I do miss two things, having a school to exercise in (i dont have one) and also when you need reassurance having someone there to offer advice or ride your horse. However the pros far outweigh the cons.
The only thing i would say is your time to carefully manage the fields so you have some grass etc. I have resolved myself to the fact i am going to use far more hay than i originally thought due to slow growing grass etc etc but i factor that in. Have just purchased roller, remember to factor things like this in too!!

 

[Fransurrey]

[ QUOTE ]
if we initially cut back, on unecessary things like eating, ect! ...

is the grass greener, is it worth sacrificing the facillities for your own place, have you ever regretted it? Is it realistic to keep 2 horse on 2.5 acres (stabled at night)


[/ QUOTE ]

Had to laugh at the first phrase, tee hee hee!

As far as grass being greener? Yes, in every sense of the word! I recently was on a yard after about 6yrs on my own turf (rented). They were as nice as they possibly could be, but neither me nor the ponies would settle. I lasted 3 months and in that time I dreamed of my own place constantly! I've managed to sort my own place again and I feel so much more relaxed again. Mind you, I'm the uber paranoid type, so it could just be me. Some people crave the social side of yards (and I thought I did, too!), but ohhh to be able to visit your animals whenever you like, feel able to sit in the field and lie flat out in the sun to the sound of munching ponies, watching the pheasants scrapping, the birdies doing norty things, managing the land as I see fit (I leave nettles and gorse for example, as the ponies love them). I can't see me ever being on a yard again unless it's VERY special!