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

[Spotherisk]

One way to do it, which was how it happened for me, is to look out for land that is local but not attached to a house, so that you can also choose the kind of house you live in. I've lived in my house, which I adore, for 15 years and would have struggled for a lot of reasons to move - even to another house with land, given what I could afford. But a small yard came up for sale in my village - I can walk it in 5 minutes, cycle or drive in 2. I don't feel quite as tied to the horses as I can't see them from the windows (though I would love that) - so I only go at most twice per day, and I don't rush over changing rugs etc every time the wind changes. We raised the money for the yard initially by putting a 'second charge' on the house, which is essentially a second mortgage, taking out some equity. Then when it was time to remortgage, got a bigger mortgage and paid off the charge. It means we own the yard outright but have a bigger mortgage on the house.

If I was doing it again, and wasn't attached particularly to the house I lived in, I would first look for land and then move house to be as close as possible.

We had this situation too, house in a village, and land was 1.1 miles away. It worked very well for many years.

 

[PurBee]

Playing devil’s advocate - the best of both worlds and cheaper would be to buy 20 acres agri land (not in area of wildlife protection/natural beauty due to planning restrictions) - 150-200k - then apply for an equestrian change of status on the land and planning for 10 stables, hay shed: 100k?
Open up a DIY livery yard, then apply for residential planning to plonk a home there (main reason - someone needs to be on site 24/7 for animal welfare/safety/health requirement reasons) cheapest would be a scandanavian style ‘log home’ - woodframe pre-designed ‘flat pack’ home 250k - that would be a large home in that style…imported price.

So for (very) roughly (depending on area) - you could have 20 acres, a home, horse folk on site to pay to look after yours so you can go away, for around 550-600k.

To buy that already built would in most (nice-ish)places now be over a million.

The downside to above plan would be the massive headache of undertaking the whole build…so you could employ someone to site foreman the job for another 50k or so…

Problem solved! ?

 

[ponynutz]

I love it but it is a ridiculous amount of work. That being said it's likely I will have the opportunity to afford it at some point in my life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

But some reasons not to:
- Holidays become non-existent especially around Christmas and bank holidays
- Everything breaks at the worst moment, never at a convenient time
- There's always something to be done and never enough time
- You get mad yard envy and miss your yard mates
- Energy and electric bills (especially at the moment) are impossible to lower
- They watch you make your morning tea when they want their breakfast
- Similarly they shout at you if you're not out of bed early enough
- If you don't have something you have to buy it

 

[Dynamo]

NEVER A DAY OFF. JUST NEVER.

Your paid help will let you down when you have to leave early for work. Your horses are stuck in. You can do nothing about it.

Your neighbour will light a huge fire of debris just the other side of the paddock hedge while you are at work. Your horses are out. They are lathered up and wired when you get home.

The land will flood/scorch and need topping, weeding, spraying, fertilising, you name it. All the equipment/people that do this will let you down and cost a fortune. You are always on the phone chasing these people and the people who mend stuff when you should be working.

A horse does about 18 poos per 24 hours. Every one of those needs to be shifted, whether from stable or field, BY YOU. Then when it's all in a huge pile, you need to get the pile shifted. The farmer will let you down. When he does come he'll drive the huge tractor up your gravel drive on the muddiest day of the whole year. He'll overfill the trailer so that the gravel drive gets a good fertilising as he drives out again.

Next-door's sheep will escape into your garden at frequent intervals and eat EVERYTHING. You end up hating sheep with a passion, but still masochistically beg to have them on your land to eat down the grass/weeds. Every time there's a sheep on the road anywhere in the wider vicinity someone calls you to tell you YOUR sheep are out again.

You invite the family to yours for Christmas day because you can't go anywhere. You do the stables early, prepare dinner, guests arrive, have drinks and canapes, just 'pop out to get the horses in' before sitting down to Christmas dinner, only to find that they have broken the fence into the hay field and are nowhere to be seen. It's getting dark and starting to snow.

You buy a Shetland to keep one company while you and your child/friend hack out. The Shetland shimmies under the fence and then auditions for the Shetland Grand National in the adjacent paddock until the other horse is totally strung out.

You put up some low height fencing to keep the Shetland in situ. The expensive, highly-prized competition horse gets its foot caught on the low fencing. The vet can only come at the time you are supposed to be in an important meeting. You pretend someone close has had an accident. (It's sort of true.)

Your partner starts to grumble about the fact that you're constantly strung out about something to do with the horses and can never go anywhere these days. S/he's sick of spending precious weekends dealing with blocked drains and please can you empty your socks before entering the house. Before you know where you are, all your conversation is reduced to a single topic: SH!T. Horse poo - mountains of; logistics and costs of removal; general smell and presence of same in unwanted places. Septic tank - emptying, cleaning, maintenance, and (god forbid) replacement. Drains - blocked/overflowing/cracked dependent on weather and amount of shavings and leaves getting in. Somehow, because you feel guilty, because the horses are yours, you end up taking responsibility for all things poo-related, even those little tabs you have to put down the loo for the septic tank. You imagined yourself the country equestrienne, but you're actually the keeper of the poo.

Seriously, it is very, very hard if you work full-time as well. And all of the above is true experience.

 

[JackFrost]

For the few hours a week I ride, I spend a few days a week looking after the land, fencing, repairs to buildings etc etc. It is expensive and hard work which seems never ending. The riding has to fit around everything else that needs doing. Going away is always tricky.
I also have use of a horse at a local livery yard, and when I'm there I can't believe how easy it is -with proper facilities and people around to help, even if it's just opening a gate or holding the horse, and if something needs fixing, it's not my problem.

 

[SantaVera]

you'll get up at 6am on a lovely autumn day and wonder down to the paddock with a cup of coffee and wearing your pjs. cuddle your horses and stroll back for beakfast whilst watching the mist swirl along the paths. of course no one would like to do this..........................

 

[Antw23uk]

I've just rented my yard out to a new neighbour moving in so i could go back to livery three minutes walk from home.

I found it very lonely and isolating and became lethargic and very meh! about having a horse at home when i spent all my spare time doing maintenance etc. Now i have five day full livery, i turn up, ride my horse, picking what facilities i'll use that day, then i leave and dont look back until the next day. Its pure luxury. I have a flatwork lesson at lunchtime and my horse will be in (turn out over night in summer) when i get there so i'll tack up, have a great lesson, untack and walk off knowing he'll be turned out for the night a bit later and i haven't had to go 'do' the horse first thing this morning and i dont have to go back later to 'do' the horse again ... luxury

 

[ycbm]

I've just rented my yard out to a new neighbour moving in so i could go back to livery three minutes walk from home.

I found it very lonely and isolating and became lethargic and very meh! about having a horse at home when i spent all my spare time doing maintenance etc. Now i have five day full livery, i turn up, ride my horse, picking what facilities i'll use that day, then i leave and dont look back until the next day. Its pure luxury

Like you. I'm riding a LOT more now my horse is in livery 5 minutes drive away. Strangely I have no problem getting there for 8 ish when at home I struggled to motivate myself to get outside by nine.

 

[Antw23uk]

Like you. I'm riding a LOT more now my horse is in livery 5 minutes drive away. Strangely I have no problem getting there for 8 ish when at home I struggled to motivate myself to get outside by nine.

Im on garden leave at the moment but yes, like you, Im riding all the time and loving it again

 

[maya2008]

For you, finding a reliable groom who will do all the chores AND finding someone to do all the land maintenance so you don’t have to. Having horses on your own, or even a rented yard is extremely time consuming - days spent doing fencing, weeding, dealing with storm damage, repairs to buildings, fencing, muck removal etc. So you’d be doubling you mortgage and then adding even more costs in terms of care.

Hope that helps…. ?

 

[paddy555]

I've just rented my yard out to a new neighbour moving in so i could go back to livery three minutes walk from home.

I found it very lonely and isolating and became lethargic and very meh! about having a horse at home when i spent all my spare time doing maintenance etc. Now i have five day full livery, i turn up, ride my horse, picking what facilities i'll use that day, then i leave and dont look back until the next day. Its pure luxury. I have a flatwork lesson at lunchtime and my horse will be in (turn out over night in summer) when i get there so i'll tack up, have a great lesson, untack and walk off knowing he'll be turned out for the night a bit later and i haven't had to go 'do' the horse first thing this morning and i dont have to go back later to 'do' the horse again ... luxury

mine are at home.
In what you describe it wouldn't seem like my horse. Turn up, ride, hand it back and go.
I would see more point in not having a horse but in booking rides on other horses when there would be the advantage of a variety of horses and riding styles.

My horses are more like my OH and my dog and cats. PITA, keep falling over them but we are a sort of family and they are always there. That probably sounds pathetic.

The maintenance is hard work but it does provide a nice place to live and I don't look at the maintenance as being for the horses but to create nice surroundings. We have worked hard during the past week and as a result have just about a full winter's supply of hardwood for 2 winters down the line when it has seasoned just from hedging and taking the odd tree down.

In the past I may not have got so excited about it but that will give us endless "free" heat and hot water for that winter. (less the cost of fuel for the saws which is minimal) That is starting to seem more worthwhile now with the electricity prices.

you'll get up at 6am on a lovely autumn day and wonder down to the paddock with a cup of coffee and wearing your pjs. cuddle your horses and stroll back for beakfast whilst watching the mist swirl along the paths. of course no one would like to do this..........................

this. In the evening when everything is done I sit on the door step with coffee, cleaning a bridle with the horses wandering around.

 

[PeterNatt]

I kept my horse at a Livery Yard in London for about 10 years and then decided it would be a brilliant idea to move to the North Hertfordshire countryside where I could keep him at home. The disadvantage is that if one goes away one needs to get someone reliable to look after them and the installation and maintenance costs of fencing, hedging, grass management etc. However it was the best decision of my life because I have total control of the management of my horse and I can see the horse from the bedroom window.

 

[ycbm]

Why do people keep putting positive counter arguments to others who are doing exactly what the OP asked for, over-egg the downsides? Nobody is criticising your own choices!

In what you describe it wouldn't seem like my horse. Turn up, ride, hand it back and go.

I really don't need to pick up his shit to feel that my horse is mine.

I would see more point in not having a horse but in booking rides on other horses when there would be the advantage of a variety of horses and riding styles.

There is nothing except time and money to stop anyone who keeps a horse at home or in livery from doing that. As a livery in a very large stables I have more chance of being offered extra rides for free on horses which I would like to try riding than I was alone at home with a few friends with horses.
.

 

[paddy555]

Why do people keep putting positive counter arguments to others who are doing exactly what the OP asked for, over-egg the downsides? Nobody is criticising your own choices!




I really don't need to pick up his shit to feel that my horse is mine.




There is nothing except time and money to stop anyone who keeps a horse at home or in livery from doing that. As a livery in a very large stables I have more chance of being offered extra rides for free on horses which I would like to try riding than I was alone at home with a few friends with horses.
.

because as with every thread and topic discussed the discussion moves on and other points are discussed. I am not arguing about OPs choices, entirely up to her what she wants to do. I was replying to post 67. Some people liked my post so presumably they may feel as I do and others like Antw's post and no doubt feel that way. On a discussion forum we are all entitled to our views. Not sure why you are trying to close down the advantages of keeping horses at home, just because you have now moved to a livery yard.

I don't feed picking up shit makes me feel he is mine. What makes me feel he is mine is that he and I are here together most of the time rather than just visiting him to ride each day. If you feel differently that is fine.

 

[Nudibranch]

Sorry...there aren't any in my opinion!

Yes there are arguments against but you can mitigate big time. Poo picking? Not for me. I have 3 x 3.5 acre fields which are rested and then rotated with goats and sheep to follow those. The poultry and the jackdaws spread the poo for me. Worm counts always zero/<50.

Stacking hay and straw is hard work but it's once a year and good exercise.

Fencing is expensive but you budget for it and we have saved a big chunk by using good quality permanent electric for divisions and re-fencing inside the old perimeter in parts.

Then there's the other stuff you don't expect. We have a small tractor arriving in October and I can't wait! Admittedly it's for the farm side of things rather than the horses specifically but it'll be a big help and a lot of fun to drive. Bonus!

I can do what I want, when I want. There's a very small area which used to be a 15x25 menage but I don't enjoy schooling so I don't bother maintaining it. I prefer hacking and beach rides so it suits.

I've been extremely lucky that in 40 years of having horses, only maybe 5 were on a yard. If I had to go back I'd seriously re think. But renting your own grazing would definitely be better than livery imo.

 

[paddy555]

Then there's the other stuff you don't expect. We have a small tractor arriving in October and I can't wait! Admittedly it's for the farm side of things rather than the horses specifically but it'll be a big help and a lot of fun to drive. Bonus!

.

absolutely. Love ours. Nothing like flying around the fields. However, you may feel the need for more. A small digger perhaps, they are terribly useful and even more fun than a tractor to drive.
Having horses at home gives you LOTS of opportunities for more toys to play with. They can always be justified.
Enjoy your tractor.

 

[Fieldlife]

Realistically I don’t know many people with horses at home that have ALL of the following:

• Sufficient acreage and well-draining land and enough turnout for at least 8 hours of turnout all year, on a field bigger than an acre (so not a pen / hard standing only), without field becoming boggy and bare)
• Access to a full size 20 x 60 arena for schooling
• Safe access without main roads / or death trap single track lanes, to get to good hacking, with good ground for fast work all year round
• Either don’t work full time themselves or have decent reliable help with land maintenance and poo picking etc. so there is still time to ride 5 times a week on top of chores

Most of the people I know keeping horses at home have either a lack of facilities, a lack of winter turnout, a lack of safe access to off road hacking (without boxing up), or barely ride as they are so busy doing chores / land management etc.

I love the idea of having my own place, but the odds of me affording something with all year good turnout, access to good facilities, and access to safe hacking are pretty low. Added to which my husband has said he would not help with land management and chores at all. So for me the equi central / paddock paradise / track livery set up I have now is much better.


So depends what your riding aims are, how good your local livery options are, and if you can still meet your riding aims whilst owning your own land and keeping horses at home. I doubt I could.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Playing devil’s advocate - the best of both worlds and cheaper would be to buy 20 acres agri land (not in area of wildlife protection/natural beauty due to planning restrictions) - 150-200k - then apply for an equestrian change of status on the land and planning for 10 stables, hay shed: 100k?
Open up a DIY livery yard, then apply for residential planning to plonk a home there (main reason - someone needs to be on site 24/7 for animal welfare/safety/health requirement reasons) cheapest would be a scandanavian style ‘log home’ - woodframe pre-designed ‘flat pack’ home 250k - that would be a large home in that style…imported price.

So for (very) roughly (depending on area) - you could have 20 acres, a home, horse folk on site to pay to look after yours so you can go away, for around 550-600k.

To buy that already built would in most (nice-ish)places now be over a million.

The downside to above plan would be the massive headache of undertaking the whole build…so you could employ someone to site foreman the job for another 50k or so…

Problem solved! ?

In England you will not get planning on greenbelt to supervise equines 24hrs, they are not classed as agricultural animals.

 

[Antw23uk]

mine are at home.
In what you describe it wouldn't seem like my horse. Turn up, ride, hand it back and go.
I would see more point in not having a horse but in booking rides on other horses when there would be the advantage of a variety of horses and riding styles.

My horses are more like my OH and my dog and cats. PITA, keep falling over them but we are a sort of family and they are always there. That probably sounds pathetic.

The maintenance is hard work but it does provide a nice place to live and I don't look at the maintenance as being for the horses but to create nice surroundings. We have worked hard during the past week and as a result have just about a full winter's supply of hardwood for 2 winters down the line when it has seasoned just from hedging and taking the odd tree down.

In the past I may not have got so excited about it but that will give us endless "free" heat and hot water for that winter. (less the cost of fuel for the saws which is minimal) That is starting to seem more worthwhile now with the electricity prices.



this. In the evening when everything is done I sit on the door step with coffee, cleaning a bridle with the horses wandering around.

I understood what you meant and agree when it comes to full livery where they literally do everything for you I'm not and could never afford to have my horse on that kind of full livery. He is very much mine and I spend enormous amounts of time with him just fussing and grooming and chatting, but I just don't muck out or bring in/ turn out Monday to Friday I think I spend more time with him now than when he was at home because i was either slogging my guts out trying to do it all and then being too knackered to ride or i would do the bare minimum and then come back up to the house because it was lonely and boring on my own.

Dont get me wrong Im a very unsociable person and am keeping myself to myself at the yard but just having people around and the facilities is really suiting us both

 

[JackFrost]

I understood what you meant and agree when it comes to full livery where they literally do everything for you I'm not and could never afford to have my horse on that kind of full livery. He is very much mine and I spend enormous amounts of time with him just fussing and grooming and chatting, but I just don't muck out or bring in/ turn out Monday to Friday I think I spend more time with him now than when he was at home because i was either slogging my guts out trying to do it all and then being too knackered to ride or i would do the bare minimum and then come back up to the house because it was lonely and boring on my own.

Dont get me wrong Im a very unsociable person and am keeping myself to myself at the yard but just having people around and the facilities is really suiting us both

Both your posts absolutely resonate with me when you talk about the loneliness and isolation of keeping horses on your own. I think that as well as the practical pressures, psychologically it can wear you down. I love the feeling of being on a yard where there are people around, even if I don't know them, but they are there sharing the same experience.

 

[PurBee]

In England you will not get planning on greenbelt to supervise equines 24hrs, they are not classed as agricultural animals.

Yeah its a sticky situation. Probably easier to grt a flock of sheep / sheds erected, etc - then add horses later ?

OR to achieve agri classification - have 2 acres spare to run a ‘market garden’, fertilised by horse manure from horses on site ?

 

[JoannaC]

Well most of the time i'm just too knackered to ride and I can't wait to be down to one horse and put her on livery or even to not have a horse at all.