Question for people who keep their horses a distance from home/ have a long journey to their yard

[Bernster]

Flipping miles away! 35 mins during covid quietness but often 50 mins in normal traffic. Ridiculous. Moved earlier this year. I’m always quite a distance though as live in north London so that’s the compromise I make. Am on full livery and need to trust the yard ofc.

 

[atropa]

I once had mine 38 miles away from both home and work (which were in the same place), only worked out this way as I moved suddenly and didn't have time to find a yard. In winter rush hour it took me 1hr 30 to drive there. It was horrific and I only managed it as I paid for turnout in the mornings and had a very supportive partner who came and helped a lot.
I now live on site with my horses but the facilities are better so I haven't compromised.

 

[Cocorules]

I was 15 minutes away. Mostly I would do them on the way to and from work. I need a 4x4 to get to them. At one point though I was using a 4x4 to get to them and a cheaper car to go to and from work. That meant I was travelling about 2.5 hours a day including work.

Eventually moved and life is much better. Still have to travel to horses but also closer to work so travel time much reduced and work, life, horse balance much better and cheaper.

 

[Merry neddy man]

Eeek that's £70 a week on fuel and 14 hours less riding / caring time a week, make sue you thoughrowly check hacking availability and do the journey at the same time you would normally travel to and return from the yard, would your current vet and blacksmith travel to the yard, is there storage for your horse box/trailer, If you was I'll would the yo manager do everything or would family/friend have to do that journey every day? Lots of things to consider and think about.

 

[TheHairyOne]

Distance is not really something I look at. Around here its all about time.

My yard is just under 10 miles from home. Its 95% motorway and A roads so 12-15 mins time wise in good traffic catching the lights right!

Its 5.5 miles from work but if I leave work at 4.30 doing that in under 40 mins is a good journey. Cycling there from work would be faster but getting home would not!

My previous yard was about 30 mins regardless of the time of day and starting location normally.

For anyone my advice would be drive the route a few times at the time you would be on it before moving!

 

[ihatework]

20 mins max for me if I’m seeing them daily I’m afraid.

Although for non-ridden ones turned away I’d consider further for full grass livery that meant I only went up once or twice a week, if it were a choice of that or no suitable options locally.

 

[Boulty]

I am the master of having the horse miles away... I had the Welsh 40 odd miles / 1 hr away for the last 9 months of having him as he needed a track system. I saw him about 4 times a week & he was on full livery.

Then when I first got him the Fuzzball was 20 odd miles / 30 mins away (he ruined that by deciding electric tape can't contain him!). Saw him 5 or 6 times a week.

He's then spent lockdown 70 odd miles / 90 mins away. I didn't see him for 6 weeks then went every other week depending on work pattern then have been managing weekly for last 6 weeks or so. This place was always an emergency stopgap & never meant as a long term thing... Covid definitely complicated matters a bit!

Anyhow I'd say that in the medium term 1 hr away is doable if you don't plan on going every day, are on full livery & trust the yard. Long term I think it will eventually start to frustrate you, especially if you compete as it will turn everything into a logistical nightmare! But as a put me on for a few years whilst you wait for something better to come along closer to home it could work

As for my own situation... At one point I had a search radius of 30 miles in any direction from where I lived as long as the drive was less than an hour/ a wee bit further for perfection. I looked at a lot of places I'd normally have discounted & I think I messaged something approaching 100 places. I've found somewhere in walking distance in the end (& compromised on a few boxes I'd like to have ticked)... Just keeping my fingers crossed it all works out

 

[HelenBack]

Lots of replies since I last logged in and too many to reply to them all individually! It's all really helpful though and given me a lot to think about.

I'm jealous of those people who say they moved further away and now 20 minutes from the yard as for me this would still be very acceptable! Sadly for anything better than what I have now I will definitely have to go further though.

I'd go and look if you haven't already.
I've spoken to yard owners/managers where everything has sounded perfect and got there and looked around and known it wasn't right.
Equally, as much as I slate my current yard in my earlier post, when I spoke to the YO on the phone I nearly didn't bother going to look.
And actually, there is enough right about it for me to have moved there.
So until you go and look you never know.
I also had an amazing groom/YO manager, so I was able to completely relax knowing pony was well looked after when I wasn't there/if there was an emergency and I couldn't get there straight away I knew she'd be in good hands in between which is important if they're a bit further away. Again you might not know that till you go and look around.
Once you do the drive you'll have a better idea too.
Where I used to live there was a couple of yards nearby, but the roads they were on were hellish so it would have taken ages to get there. The yard I went to further away was ultimately easier to get to the to the route. So that might be another consideration.

I think everything you say here is correct and the most important thing is to just go and look. I will probably know almost straight away as you say and better that than constantly being curious and wondering. I did go to look at another yard a few weeks ago actually and although it wasn't that far away the end part of the journey was a real pain and I just knew it would get on my nerves after a while.

I am the master of having the horse miles away... I had the Welsh 40 odd miles / 1 hr away for the last 9 months of having him as he needed a track system. I saw him about 4 times a week & he was on full livery.

Then when I first got him the Fuzzball was 20 odd miles / 30 mins away (he ruined that by deciding electric tape can't contain him!). Saw him 5 or 6 times a week.

He's then spent lockdown 70 odd miles / 90 mins away. I didn't see him for 6 weeks then went every other week depending on work pattern then have been managing weekly for last 6 weeks or so. This place was always an emergency stopgap & never meant as a long term thing... Covid definitely complicated matters a bit!

Anyhow I'd say that in the medium term 1 hr away is doable if you don't plan on going every day, are on full livery & trust the yard. Long term I think it will eventually start to frustrate you, especially if you compete as it will turn everything into a logistical nightmare! But as a put me on for a few years whilst you wait for something better to come along closer to home it could work

As for my own situation... At one point I had a search radius of 30 miles in any direction from where I lived as long as the drive was less than an hour/ a wee bit further for perfection. I looked at a lot of places I'd normally have discounted & I think I messaged something approaching 100 places. I've found somewhere in walking distance in the end (& compromised on a few boxes I'd like to have ticked)... Just keeping my fingers crossed it all works out

Gosh, you really have had your share or horses a long way away haven't you? It's an interesting point about it being doable in the medium term as we're thinking of moving house in the next year or so and wherever we go I will make sure there are a selection of yards that are seemingly suitable before we move! So maybe as an option to bridge the gap it will be more acceptable.

So if I do for it then the main things are an acceptable journey in terms of both distance and what the actual drive will be like. I'm fully home based with work anyway so I guess that adds in a bit of extra flexibility in that I don't have that daily commute to think about. And then whether I can completely trust the yard owner given the extra distance and this will be the challenge for me I think. And most definitely the need for full livery so that my time is spent doing all the nice stuff and not just shovelling poo!