Please tell me all the reasons not to own an equestrian property and have my horses at home

[Shinx]

Just that, really!

I had my horses at home as a child and have always dreamt of having my own land as an adult. But my husband and I haven't been able to find anything in our price range that's remotely near the town where we live, and we don't like anything that is for sale, even if we moved further afield. Plus the increase in our mortgage would be more than double what we're paying now for our current mortgage plus having my two on full livery. (Which isn't in itself a problem, but obviously we can have an easier lifestyle if we stay put.)

So... basically I'm at the point where I want to hear everything that's terrible about owning and managing your own land. Please lay it on thick. ? I really need to make peace with the fact it might be a long, long while before my dream becomes a reality!

 

[blitznbobs]

Have a look at the price of wood and then work out what fences cost to repair

 

[PipsqueakXy22]

We thought about moving to our own land too but decided against it. The cost for one, also that you have to do all the work- maintenance, poo picking etc, all yourself. Plus I also would miss the friends I hack out with. We work full time so having the option to put them on full livery when we need to is so handy. But I think we are lucky to be on a fantastic yard, where pretty much every one gets on and the yard owner is lovely

 

[Shinx]

We thought about moving to our own land too but decided against it. The cost for one, also that you have to do all the work- maintenance, poo picking etc, all yourself. Plus I also would miss the friends I hack out with. We work full time so having the option to put them on full livery when we need to is so handy. But I think we are lucky to be on a fantastic yard, where pretty much every one gets on and the yard owner is lovely

I really love my yard too, the owner is fantastic and I treasure the friends I've made. Unfortunately it's very far from home and I admit I really love the rare day where I get the school to myself!

 

[Squeak]

I love having them at home, you can completely manage the horses how you want and as I wfh I can wonder out during the day to see them or look out the window.

I'd also had them at home as a child and dreamed of being able to have them at home again - reality is more than living up to the dream.

You and your OH have to both want it though, it's a lifestyle and takes work to maintain. My OH and I love pottering around maintaining the place but it wouldn't be for everyone and if we had to call workmen in instead it would get annoying and expensive.

 

[Red-1]

I have loved them at home for the past 23 years. Sometimes I think about selling though and doing livery. It is hard work and relentless. I am older now.

 

[Peglo]

I also love having mine at home. I love poop scooping and doing stables and being in control of how my horses live.

downsides. Not as sociable by yourself (I assume. Never been on a livery yard but miss my cousins company through the winter as the ponies are stabled separately and don’t see her compared to twice a day through the summer when they are out together 24/7.)
Doing all the work leaves less time to ride and play with the ponies. I can take around 2 hours of my day for feeding, fencing, cleaning buckets and poop scooping etc
Although it’s good having control of your horses lifestyle, it’s also all on you for weight control, making sure your there twice a day or else have someone to cover you, rug choices etc.

Really that’s the only downsides I can think off. But I couldn’t afford livery so I have to be happy with what I’ve got ?

 

[Ellibelli]

It's expensive, tying (as in it takes a heck of a lot of planning to go on holiday!), hard work and can be lonely at times. The positives do outweigh all of this though!

 

[Pippity]

My horse absolutely thrives on a busy yard with lots of horses around. She'd hate being in a herd of two. How would your two cope?

 

[Cortez]

My horse absolutely thrives on a busy yard with lots of horses around. She'd hate being in a herd of two. How would your two cope?

Really? How can you tell?

 

[Shinx]

You guys aren't really helping ?? but it's lovely to see so many of you enjoying your horses at home!

 

[Shinx]

My horse absolutely thrives on a busy yard with lots of horses around. She'd hate being in a herd of two. How would your two cope?

Mine are very settled where they are, but I don't think it's because it's busy but rather because they have a good routine. If they were at home (on my imaginary yard) they'd have more turnout, and I'd probably add another one or two to the herd.

 

[Pippity]

Really? How can you tell?

Because I've had her in both situations and I can tell which she preferred by looking at her behaviour? I'm not sure what answer you're expecting?

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

I had a TB mare who was grumpy and unhappy on a quiet yard. Moved her to a very busy yard and she was a different horse. She would have hated being kept at home with just the pony for company.

My biggest worry would be leaving them, not that we go away much, but how do you find a reliable groom or do you have to find a temporary yard? I know a member on here is looking to provide holiday livery, she has what looks like an amazing place.

 

[Nicnac]

If moving would double what you currently pay on your mortgage plus 2 on full livery, you'd be mad to do it. It's not cheap having them at home as all the maintenance is for you, plus the organisation of making sure you have hay, feed, bedding, etc. etc. and my water bill has just doubled due to the hot summer and hosing them daily. Either you do all the field maintenance yourself or you pay (through the nose) to have somebody else do it. Muck heap removal, paddock and arena maintenance, the list is endless.

It's a tie - you can't do anything without loads of organisation. Christmas Day with the family is cut short every year as it's time to come home and get the horses in. Your whole life revolves around them. Drink after work? Nope can't do that as have to go do the horses.

After 28 years of them at home would I have it any other way? No, of course not!

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I cannot think of anything to tell you tbh. We have had ours at home for the last 27 yrs and I wouldn't go back to livery if you paid me.

 

[tda]

Well the fencing... theres always always something to repair.
The equipment you need just to keep The place looking something like, and then somewhere to put it all
All Maintenance is down to you, and it's always too wet/too dry
But sorry, my herd live at home, couldn't afford livery for them all ?
You need to look in another county.........

 

[catembi]

I totally love having mine at home but then I am a miserable old bat & don't like other people I have had a house with land since I was 34 & before that they were on my grandfather's farm.

The upsides are being able to do what the hell I want, when I want. I can be tidy if I feel like it, or make a godawful mess & leave it til I feel like dealing. No-one to criticise my lot being barefoot. Very easy to pop out if there is something that needs doing or if someone is injured & needs keeping an eye on, then pop in again.

Downside is the constant maintenance! I am totally responsible for getting hay in, getting rid of poo, fencing, painting the stables, and I spend a lot of time spraying weeds, grading the school, getting things fixed that the horses have broken. I have to try to keep a temperamental quad running, which is more expensive than you'd think. Everything is down to me! But I love it & wouldn't change a thing. Except I would swap the heavy clay soil for sand or chalk!

ETA my first equestrian property was a run down end of terrace with 1.7 acres, so was just about affordable... We sorted it all out & could then sell & buy somewhere bigger. This place wasn't equestrian - just a detached house with a 4 acre wilderness garden. You have to be a bit imaginative sometimes.

 

[Goldenstar]

Nothing in my life has equalled the satisfaction of having my horses at home .
I can give you a long list of things that take time and cost money non of them matter when you watch horses eating your grass on your land .

 

[blitznbobs]

You always end up with more …

 

[Winters100]

I am torn about this. I have enough land for mine, and a barn which would easily convert to stables / hay storage, but it is the small things that put me off. At present they are on what I would term half livery, ie everything done, but they are not ridden for me. I don't have to think about always being there to give meals, or about how to get the muck heap taken away, and if I see a problem with the maintenance I just have to inform YO about it. I am not sure that I want to be 100% responsible for these things. I love the idea of waking up and seeing them peacefully grazing in the field, but I suspect it would be more a case of waking up worrying why the hay supplier was late, or what do do about a broken fence!

 

[Abacus]

Totally agree that once you have the land you tend to fill it...! The downsides are obvious - maintenance, insurance, there's always something urgent to do and a hundred things that aren't urgent right now. Finding suppliers for everything you can't do, from hay making to fertilising to fencing... etc. Cost wise I haven't compared livery yard life to having my own place but I am sure the latter is more expensive.

However... I wouldn't go back to a livery yard. I think it might be something to do with the kind of person you are. I'm an introvert, happy on my own with my horses, and with just the couple of friends that share my yard. I've been on nice yards where the socialising was positive but also on horrific ones where it wasn't. (Perhaps this is also true of horses - some seem to settle very well into a quiet yard and all of ours are very happy. I did have one that I believed was unhappy on a quiet yard and became massively spooky at the slightest thing. He was sold onto a huge local yard and apparently is very happy and relaxed now.)

I get enough socialising with the neighbours that come to use the school as it's the only one in the village, they are delightful and it's great to see them and their children enjoying their horses and having lessons and so on. It's as good as having friends on the yard, with no politics.

I also hated the 'borrowing' things, gossip and rules about a livery yard. Not that the rules weren't reasonable, but I like to be in charge (I am also a control freak). If I want my horses living out, fine. If I want a pony wandering around the yard, feral and grazing the verges, fine. If I want to leave the jumps I just used up in the arena for a few days, also fine.

My biggest downside is that I think I compete and go out less than I used to. This is partly because I was on a yard where someone would arrange to go out (arena hire, xc, etc) and we'd all choose if we wanted to go. Now it's just me as the others on my yard don't jump or event, so I am less organised about it. I probably compete less too, I have got a bit out of the habit. Really I'd like one good friend here, or locally, to do stuff with.

 

[HashRouge]

I would kill to have mine at home, but realistically there is no way I will be able to afford that in any future I can see. The only thing I would say is that if you can only afford two, you may have to contend with separation anxiety if you keep them at home. My two are besotted with each other but separating them is fractionally easier now my YO has taken on a few more retirement liveries. They still yell for each other, but we don't get the major anxiety symptoms (heart pounding, sweating, pacing).

 

[Shinx]

I am torn about this. I have enough land for mine, and a barn which would easily convert to stables / hay storage, but it is the small things that put me off. At present they are on what I would term half livery, ie everything done, but they are not ridden for me. I don't have to think about always being there to give meals, or about how to get the muck heap taken away, and if I see a problem with the maintenance I just have to inform YO about it. I am not sure that I want to be 100% responsible for these things. I love the idea of waking up and seeing them peacefully grazing in the field, but I suspect it would be more a case of waking up worrying why the hay supplier was late, or what do do about a broken fence!

This is what I'm trying to tell myself. My YO has a small livery yard, so maybe a couple more horses than I would ideally like to have (she exercises the horses if we can't get up there as well). It's a full time job. The difference would be I'd be doing that full time job on top of the one I have to do to pay for the place! We're in the SE so not cheap. Once the kids are out of school I suppose we'll have more options.

 

[cobden]

I had mine at home for 15 years and have to say I don’t really miss it. We bought the land, put stables, manège, mirrors etc in and it was lovely, but there were downsides. I found it quite lonely and missed the social side of riding out with friends - so I ended up competing less than I had before, which I always enjoyed. I couldn’t find anyone to keep their pony with mine on livery as most of the people who were interested were frankly a bit bonkers, and I wasn’t convinced they would meet my standards in terms of how I liked to keep it. Going away was a nightmare as I had to take them to a friends - and I had 3 ponies but a 2 horse box so every single break involved two trips each way in a horse box. My fields backed on to a local farmer and every summer his cows used to crash through my fencing to get through to the summer grazing I was keeping for winter. He usually repaired the fencing but it looked a real mess. One year he cut my field for hay but the lad driving the tractor took out my gatepost on the way out. One particular trauma involved going away on the day the Beast from the East hit - my horse sitter was driving down to stay at my house for a week. She got stuck on the motorway then eventually was turned back by the police at gone midnight. I was sat on the floor in the airport abroad calling and messaging people trying to desperately find someone to go round and rescue my ponies who were out in the field in a blizzard. A well-meaning neighbour went round, couldn’t find the lights and tried to feed them wood shavings instead of hay - never again.
We downsized two years ago and sold up - I now have a house that I love and the ponies are on a yard just over a mile away, with sole use of a track system I have put up in a field, next door to my coach and her Olympic sized arena and within hacking distance of my best friend.
I don’t regret it but sometimes the dream isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.

 

[Peglo]

It's a tie - you can't do anything without loads of organisation. Christmas Day with the family is cut short every year as it's time to come home and get the horses in. Your whole life revolves around them. Drink after work? Nope can't do that as have to go do the horses.

this is true but I must admit I usually enjoy having them as an excuse to leave things.??

 

[Shinx]

I had mine at home for 15 years and have to say I don’t really miss it. We bought the land, put stables, manège, mirrors etc in and it was lovely, but there were downsides. I found it quite lonely and missed the social side of riding out with friends - so I ended up competing less than I had before, which I always enjoyed. I couldn’t find anyone to keep their pony with mine on livery as most of the people who were interested were frankly a bit bonkers, and I wasn’t convinced they would meet my standards in terms of how I liked to keep it. Going away was a nightmare as I had to take them to a friends - and I had 3 ponies but a 2 horse box so every single break involved two trips each way in a horse box. My fields backed on to a local farmer and every summer his cows used to crash through my fencing to get through to the summer grazing I was keeping for winter. He usually repaired the fencing but it looked a real mess. One year he cut my field for hay but the lad driving the tractor took out my gatepost on the way out. One particular trauma involved going away on the day the Beast from the East hit - my horse sitter was driving down to stay at my house for a week. She got stuck on the motorway then eventually was turned back by the police at gone midnight. I was sat on the floor in the airport abroad calling and messaging people trying to desperately find someone to go round and rescue my ponies who were out in the field in a blizzard. A well-meaning neighbour went round, couldn’t find the lights and tried to feed them wood shavings instead of hay - never again.
We downsized two years ago and sold up - I now have a house that I love and the ponies are on a yard just over a mile away, with sole use of a track system I have put up in a field, next door to my coach and her Olympic sized arena and within hacking distance of my best friend.
I don’t regret it but sometimes the dream isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.

???

 

[Spotherisk]

Pros, I could finally have my horses living out 24/7, no more swollen puffy joints after standing in all night. Everything just so much more laid back, doesn’t matter if you check horses at 6am or 10am, or 11pm after the pub. Maintenance depends on the horses, if you have fence wreckers that’s rubbish, but mine weren’t and aren’t, we don’t poo pick, the small field (about an acre) gets poovered, large field (6 acres) is harrowed.

I’d honestly say my only negative has been lack of other people to ride and knock around with. I’ve never dine much schooling so haven’t missed a school, good hacking is more important to me.

 

[PurBee]

Why not look for a field near to your current house (presuming you love it), and have your horses very nearby? Applying for stables is usually easy if they ‘take downable’ i.e temporary buildings to house grazing animals.
If you want the whole gamut, your own school, stables land and house, my idea wont suit.
But it would suit some hacking/leisure horse-folk…and far cheaper than cost of house on that land to buy outright.

If you have no other passions in life, like regular holidays, other time-consuming hobbies, horses at home are fab. They have to be the dominant and sole passion for you to thrive in the lifestyle, due to the work involved…aside from enjoying the horses.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I've had 2 horses at home for 12 years and my friend that looks after them for me keeps her pony here as well, it works we help each other and she will live in if we go away.

I use the school next door so I have friends there that I can ride with if I want to, I love it and really wouldn't want to go back to livery I don't have loads of land but it's enough for me to manage.

I'm hoping to put in my own arena shortly so can't wait for that either.