taking a horse to uni, how easy is it?

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im planning on doing an equine business management degree (dependent on grades) obviously this will be easier to take a horse with. but how easy it is? and what are your experiences.?
 
Very and wouldnt be at uni without him! I have him stabled just down the road, it just means you have to get up earlier and if you go out the night before get someone else to turn out (places that offer assisted DIY when needed are great or go on part livery if you can afford it). It was the best thing i ever did, i was at uni without my horse for the first term so have experienced without and would never go back.
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thanks, is it expensive?
and do you take him home during holidays? how does he find that, and do you reserve a space at a livery at home to keep him at? do they charge alot for this?
 
Having said that i would consider going back for the first term without if you have that option so you can enjoy uni life until christmas worry free (and it will make you miss your horse and want him/her up there with you all the more!). Also you can make all your friends then. I also have a sharer which helps a lot and im not on a horsey course
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oh ok. its just ill have to have another horse as my pony will be too old to be going back and forward. Something to consider going without until then, but it will be fit and mum wont ride a new one if i get it cos she knows it will be mad!!

oh im sure ill soon get used to even earlier mornings and later nights doing the horses; im not really fussed about that... they are my life and i have no social life anyway and dont care about having a social life lol
 
Well it wasnt (£100 a month used to cover my stabling costs and all bedding and haylage/feed for the month at old yard - but moved for a better school). Now i am on part livery so yea it is rather, but well worth it! The livery on campus is £40 a week for one small bale of shavings and 2 small bales of haylage included just to give you a rough idea of the most expensive place (hence why i am not there!). If you make another horsey friend though its so much easier as you can share jobs etc and it takes the pressure off - its easy enough to find people like that!

Over holidays i leave him up here on full livery (which includes exercise for me) and he is fine. I took my last horse home over summer and he was as happy as larry! I didnt keep a space on my original livery yard but found a new one quite quickly to bring him home again. Both of the horses i have had at uni have been chilled though and settle easily so the moving around didnt affect them much. Hope that helps (new yard is £75 a week - everything done all week apart from weekends i have to muck out but that is it). To travel home cost a bit in fuel but we have a trailer and car so it wasnt too bad.
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Hahahaha you sound like me with the "no social life" haha - i have horsey friends thou (and do go out occasionally) so that is all that matters! Horses are my life too - i think you would be fine with a horse up at uni if you are dedicated enough
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I (fingers crossed) moving my girl up to uni on thurs
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I left her at home for the first term so I could settle in and enjoy at least one term of vague relaxation. It also gave me a chance to scope out the livery yards. The one thing I would say is that it's a lot easier if you have a car or they are really close-I'm silly and despite the fact that there's a yard 100m down the road from me I chose the yard 4miles away so I now have a nice 8mile round trip cycle ride up and down lots of hills (my uni is between wales and the peak district :S) But I'm sure it'll be worth it! I'll let you know! x
 
easy- as long as you can afford it! I loved it- glad I did it! Mine was a law degree- I did have to work though in order to afford to keep him at Uni with me.
 
thanks, mums desperate for our own house to keep the horses at... and we have a few friends that would want there horses at ours if we ever get our own house

i guess that means i need to have loads of jobs to pay for livery....
mum will always keep the pony and pay for her, so thats something i dont have to worry about....

we will see, im doing my AS's at the moment and just researching and cost working out lol

i have decided im going to be teetotal and not drink while im at uni, ill save a bomb then!!
 
Where are you hoping to go to study? You can study degree in Equine Business Management at equine colleges and could keep your horse with you there? Great for facilities.
 
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hopefully hartpury, this is my first choice at the moment..

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Cool. I had the option of going there. From what i've heard its better to keep your horse at one of the other livery yards near the college than their DIY option.
 
oh, well dad was willing to invest in a really good horse to see if i could get in to the elite training team thing...
 
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hopefully hartpury, this is my first choice at the moment..

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Cool. I had the option of going there. From what i've heard its better to keep your horse at one of the other livery yards near the college than their DIY option.

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I would agree with that. I kept my boy at the brewers yard 5 minutes walk from campus and it was really easy and i could also get to the college for competitions and training. Its also less restricting with the rules and times you have to have things done by ect
 
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oh, well dad was willing to invest in a really good horse to see if i could get in to the elite training team thing...

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Wow you lucky thing! I hear its tough to get into that team. Not sure if you'll need to have lots of previous experience. I vaguely remember reading you have to be competing at certain levels before applying. I would fail with my prelim/novice dressage level haha. But a really good horse helps you go a long way! Not that my Tia isnt a good horse... She has talent I just need to learn how to unlock. I do wish she were an easier ride.
 
thats the degree i did, but at warwickshire college. i kept my horse on campus for the first 2 years, then at local liveries for the second 2. basically there are pros and cons to both obviously
at college, particularly hartpury the facilities are AMAZING, and if you can get onto the elite training thingy then great, but i think thats quite hard!! not saying your good enough, just that i think its really competitive to get into. cons - little or no turnout, restricted on when you can use the schools, not laid back at all so really up on health and safety, expensive (livery was £200 + for me DIY inc hay and straw but it was horrible). but i loved it...moved in the end as horse got depressed over lack of turnout!
 
I had 2 horses at hartury while i was doing my BSc. It was alot of work and their are cheaper options but the academy training made it worth it.
 
i'm at uni at the moment and miss my horse but wouldnt bring her up here with me...
tbh the first term wont be that long so i would probably try it without the horse because it is a big change for u and while u say u hav no social life uni could be a great way to get one! once your settled then i'd consider bringing the horse up (also it'll give u time to get the finance side sorted so u no how much ur spendin)
good luck with your exams!!!
 
I moved my horse up after the first year. Wouldn't have it any other way now. It does mean working a bit harder to make sure you spend enough time with friends, horse and on uni work but its perfectly do-able! And my uni degree is a masters with 30 - 40hours of lectures a week.
Ellie
 
I'm at uni at the minute and havn't taken either of my horses with me. Mostly because of the problem of moving them around all the time, my other horse wouldn't mind but my main horse is stressy and I think moving him around all the time would upset him.

It works quite well for me because i'm only an hour away from home so drive back at weekends and on wednesdays to look after them and ride.

The problem i've found is you can end up paying for 2 stables in two places if your not careful! Also I wouldn't have been able to keep my horse at the livery yard on campus as i'm not doing an equine degree (they get priority obv and its always over subscribed). Although there is an unbelivable list of rules for that livery yard, as well as what your surpose to wear, even to muck out your expected to wear dark colour jodphurs and t-shirt with collar!
 
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oh, well dad was willing to invest in a really good horse to see if i could get in to the elite training team thing...

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Wow you lucky thing! I hear its tough to get into that team. Not sure if you'll need to have lots of previous experience. I vaguely remember reading you have to be competing at certain levels before applying.

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It is pretty tough and if you are going to buy a horse to take with i would suggest buy it in advance, the yard at hartpury doesnt suit every horse. its very busy and there is no turnout in the winter. As long as you have a good horse and it performs well on the day you have a good chance of getting in and its worth trying because everyone i knew on the acadamy (development squad) really benefitted from the training.
 
I had a horse at uni and loved it. Initially i kept him on site for the first two years but then got sick of all the rules and rubbish hacking so moved to a local livery yard for my final year and loved it there, also worked there part time and ended up being offered a full time job there when I graduated which was great!

I always kept mine on DIY so livery was no more expensive then it would be at home, in fact it was cheaper as in a cheaper part of the country. I did work a few days a week though to help pay for it. You get lots of free time at uni, though this is soon taken up once you start working and have a horse! The only thing I regret is not taking advantage of all the oppurtunities at the uni yard, they had regular competitions there which I normally had to miss as I was working
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And also ran lots of clinics with top trainers and riders, which i generally missed as i couldn't afford it! So make sure you have lots of money. If possible get an evening job so your weekends are free to compete and have fun with the horse.

I am very excited for you at the thought of getting a fantastic horse as it will come on brilliantly with all the facilites somewhere like Hartpury will have to offer.
 
well parents havent got a job at the moment, but when i suggested it dad considered getting another as the training will really help my foundations for a career

however i am going to need another horse to take me; if we cant get a really amazing one then im not too fussed, aslong as i get to take one with me... but ill have to leave my pony at home
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shall consider all points... thanks everyone :-)
 
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