Surely people out there need part livery...?

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ChestnutConvert

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This isn't an advert as no details etc but i was wondering if livery inquiries are quiet all over the country or just round here?
As above - surely people in Herts, Beds or Bucks need part livery?? I know it's changeover season time but seems more quiet than usual....
 
Cost is a quite a big factor and not everyone can afford part livery. Where I am it varies wildly from £225 a month, excluding bedding, feed and hay, to £450 a month including everything. This is only full livery five days a week and DIY at weekends.
 
Where abouts are you and how much do you charge? Might have a friend interested.....pm if you prefer.

It really depends what you are offering for peoples money in this climeit.
 
I think it's a bit of a funny market at the moment. My yard has had a waiting list nearly all year, then recently due to some unexpected losses they had two spaces available. Spaces have been advertised for well over a month with no interest at all until this week and now there's 4 people after two spaces :o very bizarre!

If the price is right, the yard is nice and the care is good you'll fill the spaces I'm sure :) just give it time and get word out there! :)
 
I'm in Hampshire and part livery is about £400+. I couldn't afford that as much as I'd like to so me and my mum take turns putting them out etc.
 
I understand that cost is a big factor at the mo i guess i'd have to think hard about having my girl if i didn't have the yard. is hard get livery to be 'cheap' we do our best to keep prices down but everything needs paying for and everything is the up.
 
I bit the bullet and went part livery last year, but unfortunately didn't have a contract. It was supposed to be a bale of shavings a week and ad lib hay or haylage. I made sure of the latter as our lad is 16.1 so eats more than a pony, but I couldn't afford the livery and buying extra haylage. By the time we moved in it was one net a day and one shavings a fortnight. We had to move after a while as it was working out as expensive as full livery as there was soon no grass and paddocks under water.

So I would not do that again. She had to leave herself soon after, couldn't pay the rent.
 
I used to have my mare on part or full livery. But I just do grass livery now. I was pushed into it for economic reasons, and now, I wonder why I didn't do this before. It suits me and the horse better.

I think there will be some people who like me can't afford part or full livery in these economic harsh times...
 
I think they do need part livery, but certainly in my case I need it to be flexible, as my needs (and my horse's) can differ from day to day. So, I have gone for a DIY with services option. I do need a lot of services, but like to pay for what I need and use, not for things I don't need. Maybe that's true of people where you are. I have a paddock and stable included. The rest is up to me to supply/do or pay for.
 
I would imagine its to do with ££.

Part livery would be good for me and my job but I can't afford it. The other thing putting me off is that the standards of care, tend to be below that which I provide myself.
 
It depends what you mean by part livery, it can be full livery 5 days a week, it can be everything but riding, it can be diy plus morning feed and turnout etc etc
 
I think it's economic. My BF has 3 spaces on her yard which is part or full livery only. It's fantastic and not OTT on pricing based in West Kent. She's struggling :(
 
We do our very best to cater for everyone's needs hence why livery can be specifically tailored within reason. All the horses are treated as i treat mine and are quite spoilt, not just an animal that's paying my bills!

I don't charge for a lot of things that other places do and everything is clear on the contract. I agree i think cost is stopping a lot of people and hopefully with offers etc that people will come. It's a horrible time at the mo with the recessions and will try to help where possible but have to keep myself afloat as well!! :o
 
I think a lot depends on how good your facilities are, in my experience part liveries are often people who would prefer to do their horses themselves but can't due to work or family commitments.

I have one on part livery at a friends yard and for me almost unlimited turnout with other horses is still at the top of my list of priorities, closely followed by a floodlit all weather ménage so I can ride after work and off road hacking.

I know someone advertising for part liveries locally who is struggling to fill spaces as her ménage has no floodlights.
 
My part livery is around £440 a month and I have a waiting list. I only want five liveries at any one time though and if I had the capacity for more,I would not have a waiting list. There are only a certain number of people in each area who need it, and so demand will depend on the number of competing yards there are in the area. My liveries have as much haylage as they need to maintain and not drop weight in the winter, and up to 3 bags of wood pellets a week, as well as hard feed according to their requirements.
 
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Ours only offer part livery or full -part is £65 per week which includes all hay, straw & feed. YO does everything Mon-Fri, liveries do everything Sat & Sun xx
 
tabithakat64 said:
I think a lot depends on how good your facilities are, in my experience part liveries are often people who would prefer to do their horses themselves but can't due to work or family commitments.

I have one on part livery at a friends yard and for me almost unlimited turnout with other horses is still at the top of my list of priorities, closely followed by a floodlit all weather ménage so I can ride after work and off road hacking.

I know someone advertising for part liveries locally who is struggling to fill spaces as her ménage has no floodlights.
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I agree with this. In May I closed down my old yard to move the business to the yard at home. The old yard was full - we had twenty two in - but it took about eighteen months to get to that stage. We had incredible grazing, lovely American barn stabling, a walker, loading ramp, and were looking at putting in both indoor and outdoor schools. That yard was practical, but by no means beautiful.

Since the move, we have just one box left. We only opened officially at the end of June! We are only taking full and part liveries - part livery to me is everything bar riding, all bedding, feed, ad lib hay/haylage, turn out, daily care etc., and I charge £475 a month for this. Full livery is the same, with the addition of six days of exercise a week, and plaiting up for hunting or competitions, this is £630pcm.

I think the difference is the yard. We still haven't finished rennovating, but it's absolutely stunning, set in the heart of a private Cotswold estate with access to 10,000 acres of off road hacking, we have a showjumping paddock and the brand new 60mx 40m outdoor school is nearly finished. People see more potential here, and like the idea of their horses being somewhere so incredibly beautiful.

Don't worry - I had a lot of sleepless nights at the last place while I had so many empty boxes, and then all of a sudden we filled up within a month.
 
Yes, I agree with Starzaan. I did have one year when I only had two liveries for the main part of it. It seems when I am full I get lots of enquiries, but when I have space I get none!
 
I am on part livery, I couldn't do without it as its the only way to balance horse, work and family for me. Mine is everything bar riding and tack cleaning, seven days a week, hay and bedding included but I provide my own feed. I perfer this as my natives live on fresh air so I am not paying the same as someone who has an animal that needs feeding three times a day. I pay 75 pounds a week.
 
For me part livery is everything but riding so the horse should be mucked out, turned out and brought it and groomed; all feed, hay/haylage and bedding included; farrier/vet visits. Basically part livery means you just have to go up when you want to ride.

The reason why I'm not on part livery is because the standard of care is a bit hit and miss! I've been on 4 yards that offer part livery now and some have been brilliant, others have been more concerned about how tidy the yard is than how well the horses are looked after (hour after hour of sweeping and tidying but horses left so muddy you couldn't possibly determine they hadn't injured themselves); or, even more concerning, horse's level of care determined by how well you got on with the yard manager and whether they liked you! :eek: I've also had YM's make decisions about feed without consulting me meaning my horse became lethargic and started to drop weight (he's a poor doer). Then there's the classic sit around on their arses drinking tea all day whilst their clients aren't there and then, as soon as someone appears, making out they've 'just sat down' and have been busy all day! I've worked on livery yards and know it's best to crack on while you can so that if anything untoward happens, you've covered all the essential jobs and aren't still mucking out at 9pm.

I'm not particularly precious over how my horse is kept (although there are a few essential ground rules).

So even though I can now afford it and it would make my life a hell of a lot easier, I won't entrust someone with my horse on part livery because of my experiences of them in the past.
 
Wagtail said:
Yes, I agree with Starzaan. I did have one year when I only had two liveries for the main part of it. It seems when I am full I get lots of enquiries, but when I have space I get none!
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Although i know this isn't good i'm glad to hear of something similar. One minute everyone is fine the next things happen, which can't be helped and you're left a bit sleepless.

My idea of part is exactly the same as mentioned, everything apart from riding/tack cleaning. They all get the same level of care and we try to get people that get on with each other etc.
They will come, just have to ride it out a bit longer.... :(
 
ChestnutConvert said:
Although i know this isn't good i'm glad to hear of something similar. One minute everyone is fine the next things happen, which can't be helped and you're left a bit sleepless.

:(
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I know exactly what you are going through. My turnover is very low, but one year I lost one person after another. I got one new livery in who bought a new horse, then teen daughter lost interest and they sold her and left after only six weeks. Then my first ever livery wanted to get a second horse but couldn't afford two on part livery and i don't offer DIY so she left to go to a yard that was DIY. Then two friends that had arrived together decided to leave because one of them was struggling with the 50 mile round trip. I lost 4 horses (80% of my customers) in the space of two months! Through no fault of my own, just circumstances. Then it took a whole year to fill the place again. Touch wood, now no one has left for two years, but it only takes a divorce, job move or redundancy, or even tragedy (say death of a horse) for someone to leave.
 
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I think there is but there are so many variables.

Even assuming the yard has what you need re turnout, facilities and location the fact you are on part livery makes it even more nerve racking to move as you are trusting someone to look after your horse.

I have to travel for work and am often away for a week at a time so it is very important that I can rely on things being done properly when I'm away. Alot of the things Hepesas said ring true but sometimes even if things aren't going right it can be a case of better the devil you know so it has to get really bad before you jump.

BTW would be interested to know where you are, always useful to know what else is around ;)
 
Wagtail said:
I know exactly what you are going through. My turnover is very low, but one year I lost one person after another. I got one new livery in who bought a new horse, then teen daughter lost interest and they sold her and left after only six weeks. Then my first ever livery wanted to get a second horse but couldn't afford two on part livery and i don't offer DIY so she left to go to a yard that was DIY. Then two friends that had arrived together decided to leave because one of them was struggling with the 50 mile round trip. I lost 4 horses (80% of my customers) in the space of two months! Through no fault of my own, just circumstances. Then it took a whole year to fill the place again. Touch wood, now no one has left for two years, but it only takes a divorce, job move or redundancy, or even tragedy (say death of a horse) for someone to leave.
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So basically don't give up! I know people will come eventually but it's just that in between time watching the pennies!
 
Nearly every yard I know has vacancies at the moment, as more and more people are looking for the cheapest option, which is DIY grass livery (rarely available with adequate grazing)

On a personal level I have never used part livery, I have been on yards where it has been offered and seen that in some cases the level of care and attention can be a bit hit and miss, and for that reason it would never be a choice for me (as much as I would love a day off doing mine occasionally)
 
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