Thinking of starting a Freelance equestrian and canine service business

[holly.91]

turning to my trusty H&H forum after lots of sensible advice in the past ...
I am sick of my city job, and thinking of setting up my own equine & canine service business Where i will offer holiday cover / yard jobs / riding and dog walking, perhaps grooming in the future

I am in a very horsey area and I have had NOTHING BUT ISSUES with inadequate care on full livery in the past, and a lot of freelancers are young people who do it for about £10 a day and personally i wouldn't touch with a barge pole (no offence intended) so is there a market for a high-end freelance groom who does things to the highest of standards?? what would you expect to charge in the east mids for this??

Personally id like to do holiday cover and higher end yards worth driving for rather than driving 10 miles to muck out a few horses so id be very selective!

lifetime (20+ years) experience with horses and riding. no BHS qualifications but i wouldn't be teaching so understand they are not necessary, although i know some would prefer. would have all adequate insurance in place as well as DBS.

TIA!

 

[Parrotperson]

That’s a difficult one. You’d need insurance do factor that in

£10 to £15 per hour? Plus travelling? Just a guess though. Freelance grooming however high the standard isn’t that highly paid tbh.

 

[Equi]

It depends if you need the income to survive. It doesn’t tend to pay the bills.

 

[Ceifer]

If you’re lucky and in a horsey area you might pick up work quickly.
If luck isn’t on your side you may have a slow start. Do you have funds to support yourself if this is the case?

Good freelancers round here are in demand and always busy. Most charge £15.00 an hour.

You have to be good at juggling clients. A common problem is that most people want your services at the same time.

 

[Peglo]

Would you consider housesitting too?
I have cats, hens and horses so having someone to do all of them would be really handy for me. Not that your in my area but that would be something I would find handy.

 

[94lunagem]

I'm East Midlands, if you get this going definitely let me know where abouts you are! It's difficult to find good cover, mine are at home and I will admit I'm fussy about who comes and goes.

I would distinguish between riding and yard jobs, and would expect to pay more for someone coming in to ride than say poo picking and welfare checks. £20 per visit for yard jobs, even if it only takes half an hour, is reasonable in my book. I never need mine ridden, so don't have an estimate for this, nor housesitting.

I would want to see an insurance certificate, renewed annually.

Think about coverage throughout your day - I've found it difficult in the past to get temporary cover first thing, because good freelancers already have a full book of regular clients and turn out/bring in are peak times.

 

[honetpot]

I would try house sitting, my freelance help who is very experienced is never really treated like the proffessional she is and people would rather pay a teenager peanuts than pay her to do a proper job.
Someone I knew was doing house/animal sitting and checking on grandma for £1000 a week and that was five years ago. It less disruptive for gran and cheaper. I also have a friend who house sits with dogs for a friend, and she gets foriegn holiday out of it.

 

[Jambarissa]

£15 an hour is standard for horses round here. I think there are markets for good quality reliable people in most areas but it'll be patchy.

The problem is that most people will want you morning or evening or both, no one will want you in the middle of the day. So realistically you'll do something like 6-10am and 4-6pm, probably 2 yards max.

Dogs might be a better option, or the midday filler.

I know someone that does holiday care for dogs in her own home with the emphasis on treating them as her own. That seems to be very good money but you do need a license I think.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

A friend’s daughter rides for £20 an hour. Just fittening rides. Not schooling. No qualifications but events to novice and fearless. Generally hacks spooky horses and is totally full. Clearly a big market for riders who will get on anything. If that’s not appealing, my dog sitter charges £25 a day for dogs in her own home. She has a farm and can take 8. Ie £200 a day. Daisy adores it there. Also full weekends and holidays. But I’m sure there are slow times for her. Both are insured. People who clip round here charge £60 for a full clip. If they are efficient they can do a few in a day. Good luck.

 

[Orangehorse]

I had a very good freelance. The fact that she has retired now is a factor in my decision not to buy another horse.

When she was younger she used to help break and school and rode out for a local racehorse trainer and took horses out hacking too. A big part of her work was clipping. She would also plait and prepare horses for competitions, i.e. the local dressage lady.

I didn't think she charged enough and if she did a few days for me I would add extra, I think she only charged £8.00-£10.00. She stopped riding as she got older but had a lot of holiday cover to do, all year round, care of an elderly horse she would visit twice a day every day and lots of clipping in the hunting season. I couldn't think she was old enough to retire and asked if she had a private pension, but she said she never earned enough to have one and she was getting the State pension only.

On the other hand I know someone who pays £40.00 to hack out her second horse, but she is a dressage trainer. I do often see wanted adverts for free lance people, but they are rather mean in that they only want to pay morning and evening - what are people supposed to do in the middle of the day?

You probably could fill your day with other things, dog walking or horse training, but it would involve a lot of driving around.

If you really want to do it, why not give it 12 months and see how you get on.?

 

[Cadbury]

I have done this in the past and it can be problematic.
The main issue is that everyone needs you first thing and end of the afternoon ish which really limits how much you can do. You also end up spending a disproportionate amount of time driving around which is time you aren’t paid for. I also found that what a lot of people said was an hour’s work was in reality impossible to do in an hour!
I couldn’t make it work - I was just rushing around from one thing to the next, spending a small fortune on petrol! I then got a morning job employed at a yard which was set hours 5 days a week, although I kept a couple of reliable customers and still do a bit for them on the way home from my regular job.
Sorry to point out the negatives, this was my experience but I think it depends on a bit of luck, for example if you came across someone who needs you for 3 or 4 hours on a regular basis you’d be a lot better off than doing lots of 1 hour stints at different yards - (which was mostly what I ended up doing).
It probably varies enormously depending on where you are based, demand and so on so I’m not saying it wouldn’t work for you - it comes down to how much you need to earn really!

 

[Winters100]

To me it depends upon what your income requirements / expectations are. If you are younger and needing to establish yourself / save for the future then it could be problematic, but if you are older and looking at it as a lifestyle option then it could be ok. The income will probably be patchy, so if you will have a mortgage to pay then it needs careful consideration.

I have a friend who has done something similar with dog services. She offers grooming, walking and boarding. The boarding is what pays best, but since they offer 'home style', dogs living as members of the family, they are limited as to how many they can take. She is also overbooked for some seasons and empty for others.

You could also think about other services, we used to pay quite a lot for someone to pop in to my Mother, do a bit of shopping, make a meal and have a chat, before she got to the stage of needing actual care.

One think that I would consider is what would happen if I was sick and unable to work. If the income is needed to survive then this is an issue.

Whatever you decide good luck with it!