Retirement Livery Questions?

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Hi everyone,

I have a barn with stables which I currently just have my own in, I have 2 free stables and my dad would like me to take in liverys,

I had DIY liveries in but to be honest I found this quite stressful and would not consider going down that road again.

What I have considered is taking two horses on for retirement livery ie,
I feed , muck out turnout etc for retired horses whose owners dont wnat to part with them.
I would supply feed, haylage etc .

What do you lot think about this and if you would think this is viable how much would you pay?

Thanks in advance for you help!

Nat
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It's a nice thought & I would think there would be a market for this however the price should be the same as full livery I would imagine. The only thing that is different between what you are offering & normal full livery is that you will do it for older horses. The same amount of time will be spent mucking out, rugging up & turning out. They eat the same amount of feed albeit different feed & Hay/Haylage would again be about the same.
Check the prices for full livery at stables in your area & set your prices accordingly. Good Luck
 
We have a horse retired down in Walaes on a small stud. She has been there for about 7 years now. We pay £50 per week all year round - and she is stabled at night, rugged when necessary, and fed whatever is required. I think the only way this really works when you have people living a long way away - like us - is when you know the person looking after your horse, and trust them totally to do the right thing for it. Whenever we visit, we can see how happy the mare is and how caring the yard is. I think if you were thinking of doing this, you would need to be able to supply really good references so people would trust you to look after their horses without needing to see them every week/month. Good luck!
 
I think that it's a lovely idea - and suppose the cost would be the same as any other bog standard full livery.

The only thing that would concern me was having owners who would appreciate that time does run out and when that day comes they will be willing to have the horse pts. I can't imagine anything worse than having to look at something day in day out knowing that it should be put down - but the owners won't allow it.
 
thanks everyone for your advice.

I have one girl already trusting me with her mare who is in foal and her yearling, she lives in Kildaire about 4 hours drive from me people know the way I treat my own so I guess the word of mouth thing is very true as it has already worked for me
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Amymay very good point I would also need to realise that I cannot get emotionally attached to these horses as they would be getting on in age.

Nat
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[ QUOTE ]
I would also need to realise that I cannot get emotionally attached to these horses as they would be getting on in age

[/ QUOTE ]
tbh I don't think you can avoid doing that - and you wouldn't be the caring person you are if you didn't.
 
its a hard one but last year I took on a donkey who is 40 plus years old.
I keep telling myself if this is his last winter atleast I ahve made the last year of his life enjoyable However I cant really see me thinking that when the time comes to make a decision.

One thing I do know is that I always put the animals first in everything, even if it means heart ache for us.

Nat
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Having had, and still have a couple of retirement horses staying here, I would say that you will get an enormous amount of joy from having them. Old horses are wonderful and give so much in return.

If the owners live a distance away and will not be visiting the horse frequently the you need to come up with a price which is completely inclusive of everything - wormer, farrier and vaccination costs.

Old horses don't eat as much as young ones and often need a special diet particularly if their teeth aren't quite what they used to be, so you need to factor this into your costings.

You will always get emotionally attached to old horses - the trick is loving them but noticing any slight changes in their demeanor and knowing when enough is enough. Hard yes, but kindness really.

They will need a little more attention than their younger counterparts - or at least I find mine enjoy human companionship.

Going back to pricing - you are better to give a monthly figure regardless of the season. This makes it easier for people to budget.

Good luck with your new venture and enjoy it.
 
I have a small yard on which I keep old retired or broken down horses. I wouldnt have in work horses for double the livery fee. I charge a basic livery fee of 330 euros (?) and then bill for vacs, teeth, vet , blacksmith, rug cleaning etc. All of mine are stabled with daily turnout, rugging up, each has hay four times a day in the summer and six times a day in the winter and is fed individually. I dont charge for turning out or holding for vet or blacksmith and if medication or clipping needs done then thats free too. My fields are harrowed and fertilised at my cost and poo picking is done every four to five days. My owners are a good bunch and will come maybe once a month loaded with apples, otherwise they let me get on with it. I adore my oldies and am always heartbroken when they cross the cloudy bridge. At least I know theyve had a good ending after years of hard work. Go for it, its satisfying. Mairi.
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