Starting your own equine business??

EllieAndCoffer

EllieAndCoffer

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Hi everyone

my names Ellie, im 13 and from scotland, and my horses are my life! When I'm older I want to start my own equestrian business, like a livery yard and take in horses and back/train them and sell them on, but my parents are not millionaires and we wouldnt be able to buy a big yard or build one with stables and riding arenas etc.. So this leaves me wondering, how easy is it to rent a yard? And how does renting a yard work? If you have any knowledge or experience please get back to me, as all I have ever dreamt of doing is turning my hobby into a business, I have been riding since I was 2 and have a lot of experience for my age.

Thanks, Ellie!
 
I suggest you try to get as much experience as possible, if possible get a part time job at a dealers or a competition yard, one which has plenty of horses.
It is much better to get a broad range of experience, riding schools, dealers yards, competition yards, racing yards, driving yards, there are so many options out there, it is too restricting to set your goals too early in life, as you may soon discover that the business side is not much fun, but the riding side is great for friendships, and more financially rewarding in some disciplines.
Age 13 is against you in some ways, but determination will help you to compensate, make sure you look after yourself and are always learning, too much mucking out will not progress your career, but it is part and parcel of the job.
 
hello ellie, horses are my life too! but i am a lot older than 13!

if i was you i would go to spain or portugal and learn to ride properly!
you can compare their riding with the others, german, dutch etc, on utube, i hope you can see the difference!

i would follow what i most felt i wanted to do, what i enjoyed most and was best at, so it feels like fun, then you will have passion and drive to carry it through.

i think you need some formal qualifications, these could be in the management of horses, how to look after them really well, and how to manage the yard including areas like making good hay, very important!!! and management of the grazing areas, and develop people skills, how to communicate well with your clients and deliver what they expect, after all they will be paying for it.


always put your horses welfare first, and know that you will never stop learning about horses, that the horse is never wrong, and honesty and dedication will always come out on top.
 
forgot to say, if renting look at all the details closely, get a solicitor to advise before signing anything, but most important is to figure out that you can cover the rent and all the costs of running the yard against what you will be taking in as income, and maybe you will need to start with a small profit and build up the business by reputation over a period of time, and it really makes the job 100 per cent easier to live on the yard.

there are lots of places to look for yards to rent, why not start with horse and hound mag? and start to get your eye in now as regards costs in different areas, compare things like how many boxes and what facilities are on a yard for the rent being asked. good luck
 
Ellie. Listen to the other posts. Certainly don't loose sight of your dream but live a life first before burdening yourself with debts and the stresses of running a business. Sites like workaway are fab for young people to go anywhere in the world and get experience. Now being classed as on oldey
 
I definatelly agree with going to work on a yard first, a dealers yard would be a good option, or you could always go to college and do an equine business management course.

I went to work with horses when I was 16 and was only paid £40 for a 6 day week, and that didn't include anything else, that yard is still only paying a tiny bit more than that to their working pupils today, 16yrs on!

I then went to work on another big livery/dressage yard when i was 20yrs old and it was the best job i ever had, I was paid £500 a month and that included living, and livery for my horse and every thing for him, and my exams. That is good pay even now, 8 years later!

I was very silly to leave and im now older and sat in an office, earning a lot more money but no way near as happy.

If you could do your BHS exams that will help you as you can freelance teach to earn more money.

I rent my own yard from my neighbour, you can start off renting something quite small and start off there, and just start by buying a couple of horses at a good price and break them in/ school them up before selling them, then buy more horses with part of the money you have made.

There isn't alot of money in the horse world, unless your a vet or top rider but it's a much better life in my opinion so make sure you stick to your plans after you leave school. :)
 
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