Share your dreams...

[Keith_Beef]

Anything goes - be as wild as you want.

I think the other posters have put together a good list, but I've got a couple of ideas

I've been to a few yards that have a clubhouse/bar/restaurant. Often it is upstairs with very big windows looking down into the indoor school. When not being used as a bar/restaurant, these make good teaching areas.

On long rides, we stop off at yards so the horses spend the night either in a stable or a field. It would be nice to have a place to pitch a tent or even have some very basic accommodation for us riders at the yard, too. Sometimes we get lucky and our accommodation is within five minutes' walk of the yard, but sometimes it's a ten minute car drive away. On-site accommodation would also be useful if you want instructors to come to do classes over two or more days.

 

[tallyho!]

1. Access to off road mountain hacking.
2. All year round turn out (24/7) with barn and hard standing preferably with a variety of options small groups, tracks for fatties. Option for full/part 'grass' livery.
3. Space for friends with horses to visit on holiday.
4. Indoor and outdoor school
5. Outside professionals allowed
6. Near to the beach
7. Approachable knowledgeable YO/YM
8. Nice liveries who like hacking to the pub
9. Hacking distance from the pub

Oooh.. beach yes. Can I add this to my list too please?

 

[chaps89]

The other thing is, what people want and what people can afford are often quite different
Alot of the facilities listed above cost alot to install and to maintain.
That's why for me the basics are most important, anything above that if it happens to still be within my budget then great.
(Sorry OP, sure you know this anyway)

 

[conkers]

Big beds, Ad lib haylage, Plenty of Turnout on enough land for the number of horses. Sensible yard owner who is supportive and not condescending.
Good, quiet hacking.

Where I am, the above seems like a wild dream.

 

[HashRouge]

Whoever said electric gate - 100% agree!!!

Also toilet/ changing room/ shower room for owners would be awesome.

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

The other thing is, what people want and what people can afford are often quite different
Alot of the facilities listed above cost alot to install and to maintain.
That's why for me the basics are most important, anything above that if it happens to still be within my budget then great.
(Sorry OP, sure you know this anyway)

This most definitely if the basics aren’t there no matter how many luxuries there are it’s not worth anything to me.

Knowledgable YO who has good interpersonal skills and is flexible on care (Within reason) to suit horse and owner.
No favouritism or bullying tolerated.
All year turn-out at least daily on good spacious grazing/ground with night And 24hr in summer if possible.
Fabulous safe off road hacking.
Floodlit school with a good surface and sensible usage like not booked out in peak times.
Large airy stables
Everything safe and well-maintained.
Paddocks and areas for injured and recuperating horses and lami-prone.
Working clean toilet with hand-basin.
Secure tack room with plenty of storage.
Early to late opening times. E.g 5am to 10pm.

After the above satisfied. Heated rug room, heated tack room. Comfortable Tea-room.

Then indoor school, Gallops, XC course, hot wash/solarium. Cameras in stables so could check on my horse. Shower-room for owners. Cafe. Viewing gallery

I pretty much already have everything I’ve mentioned in the first two lists on a DIY set up except we don’t really have a YO managing the yard it’s pretty much left up to us.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Most of these wishes are on so many peoples list when they come to view yards. Unfortunately the livery wants all these amazing things but only wants to pay £30 per week for them. Everything people have listed is available on various yards but you don't get them if you aren't prepared to pay the hundreds of pounds each week for them.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

The full livery at the yard that I am on is about £1600 a month not including shoes, vets, competition fees or competition transport. It includes:

The choice of 2 yards, over 100 boxes, a variety of stables to suit each horse. Some outdoor, some in American barns. Most with openable windows. Some in quiet parts of the yard some in busy parts.
All bedded on shavings.
3 circular gallops (1 carpet, 1 sand, 1 woodchip), 2 woodchip straight gallops.
More logs, tyres, hurdles, fences etc than you can shake a stick at.
5x horsewalkers.
A water treadmill.
Solarium.
Theraplate.
Acres of land.
Home grown haylage.
Food 4x a day.
Any supplements required.
Hacking is ok and you can keep off of the busy roads.
3x 3.5t 2 stall boxes.
1x 6 stall HGV.
Your horse ridden 6 days a week.
An expert training and competition regime planned out for them.
Regular physio sessions.
Your horses every need pandered to.
Owners can pop in whenever they wish for bacon/sausage baps in the morning or Gin after 11am ?

The only requirements for your horse to be on this yard - it has to be a racehorse ?

I actually don't understand people's fascination with treadmills. I am not a fan. They aren't great for joints. Water ones are better but I still don't like them. I am not commenting on the Theraplate ...

 

[[131452]]

I wouldn't go back to full livery! You pay through the nose and they won't do the job properly.
No thanks!

 

[DiNozzo]

https://www.gscgrays.co.uk/property/flatts-lane-guisborough/

@Starzaan I saw this and thought of you! Don't know if it'll be any good, but I'm sure you said anywhere in the UK! ?

 

[Steerpike]

Not sure if this will work but I saw this yard on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/89284991432/posts/10157118157551433

 

[Starzaan]

I wouldn't go back to full livery! You pay through the nose and they won't do the job properly.
No thanks!

This makes me so sad. I have run full livery yards for many years and really pride myself on my ability to care for horses. Every horse is treated and loved as if it were my own. I have never had anyone leave, or even mention the care not being adequate. Yet I hear so many horror stories about people worrying about their horses.
I have been in that position too when one of mine was on full livery and it’s absolutely horrific not trusting the person you are paying to look after your horse.
It’s so sad that this appears to be so common.

 

[[131452]]

This makes me so sad. I have run full livery yards for many years and really pride myself on my ability to care for horses. Every horse is treated and loved as if it were my own. I have never had anyone leave, or even mention the care not being adequate. Yet I hear so many horror stories about people worrying about their horses.
I have been in that position too when one of mine was on full livery and it’s absolutely horrific not trusting the person you are paying to look after your horse.
It’s so sad that this appears to be so common.

I've paid full livery prices and even had to muck out because it wasn't done properly. I'm not going there again.

 

[Sleipnir]

A huge indoor with jumps.
A gallop/canter track and an XC course.
A heated tack-room, that is actually spacious.
A swimming track/pool for horses.
A heated area for drying rugs/pads etc + a heavy duty washing machine on site.
A driving school with some marathon obstacles.

 

[Starzaan]

Silly Servant, that’s hideous - how awful!!
I’m glad to say that I would NEVER allow standards that low!

 

[sherry90]

The yard I am on has some of the things already mentioned but to make it perfect:

All weather canter/XC track with optional fences.
Field shelters in fields (we have hedges but I’d love a shelter!)
Option to hire a 3.5 box if you don’t have transport yourself (we have box hire local but would be great to have one on the yard!)
Onsite clinics
Full set of SJ jumps (we have a few but not a course)

Things we have that I would miss if I had to move:
Heated rug rack
Heated tack room/toilet/tea room (a god send when you go to the loo mid winter!)
Electric gates
Hot wash box and solarium

You get a sense that I’m a bit wimpy with the cold. I’ve been on DIY and yards with only cold water, there is nothing wrong with it, but I would miss warm water if I had to move!

 

[Remi'sMum]

My otherwise pretty basic DIY livery yard has an electric gate, activated via your mobile. Just saying ? #smug

 

[saddlesore]

I love my yard and couldn’t afford my ‘dream’ yard but I’d want:

24/7/365 turnout
Indoor stabling
A well maintained indoor and outdoor school- the bigger the better!
A round pen
An oval horse Walker
A swimming pool
A gallops
Amazing off road hacking

A hot water wash bay and solarium
A secure, heated, tack room
Heated rug racks
XC and natural obstacles to ‘play’ with
A day room area for liveries that was warm in winter!
A warm room to get changed after work.

 

[little_critter]

Stables where the horse has its own little yard area so they can choose to be in or out.
Track system / starvation paddock (with elephant proof fencing) for fatties.
Good communication from YO.

 

[Cloball]

Oh I worked at a private yard that had heated rug rails, hot water and a solarium in the wash bay and heat lamps in each stable. No soggy rugs or waiting ages for horses to dry before putting stable rugs on and my hand were always warm. I did often worry about leaving them on and burning the place down though. Another yard had a lovely scenic canter/hacking track along a river and round the fields perfect for cooling off, you could even take a dip in the river on your way round. That was pretty idyllic. The hacking was fab too like going back in time, people used to stop for a chat and give you plums from the garden, lovely long sandy, hilly forest tracks with just the occasional wild boar or wolf ?

 

[poiuytrewq]

Must haves for full livery would be:
Decent turnout (preferably some all weather, and a varied terrain track system would be amazing), dry well lit stables, lorry parking, some type of school, good secure storage, and a capable, professional yard owner & staff.

Top picks in terms of extras would be:
Indoor arena
Tie up bay with infrared lights

This! So many yards don’t seem to cater for horses with weight management issues which is something very close to my heart right now!