Those of u that keep horses in little more than a field...

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Welshie Squisher

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How do you cope?

I am on a proper livery yard, with a floodlit school, a barn, running water, electric etc.
But I am moving back to London soon and I have found grass livery (which was a huge struggle), but it's little more than a field.

Ok so tack stays in my garage and I'll have to take it with me.
Will only be able to ride on a weekend in the winter.

At the moment, I'm even wondering where I'll tie my horse up :D

I'm gonna have to adjust, stabled livery in London is so expensive.
I'm lucky and grateful I've found an affordable way to keep our horses, but :( no electric or water :(
 
You will need to sort the water out - I rented fields with stables but didn't have water to the fields just in the yard. That was the biggest problem and headache. I bought some containers on ebay that used to be food additive containers (they had lemon flavouring in so smelt nice). It is a real drag though lugging water. You could try getting a bowser or large plastic container on a trailer. Is there any way you can get water?
 
Tip: Get about 3 or 4 electric fencing posts, tie them together and then loop some baling twine through one of them - voila! Tie up post ;)
 
I don't have electric or water

I have battery operated lights though. We collect rainwater but most of the water is driven on to the field in jerry cans on the car (on a sledge in snow)

We do have stables though

Can you put up a shed to keep hay etc under cover? That would be a great bonus

A fence post hammered in to the ground makes a suitable tie place

We have a small fenced corral (which could be created from posts and tape I guess) so there is a semi enclosed space which is useful
 
mine live out all year (without rugs :O ) in the tuscan mountains about a min walk from my house..
they get brought in..tied up outside the house :P

254939_2154568144054_5101288_n.jpg


garage in now my tack room and down the road there is an arena i can use :) so all good :)
 
Thanks for the replies.

There is auto water troughs in the fields for water so thats not a worry.

There just isn't anything beyond the fields, no hard standing, no barn, no tap etc.

I guess I'l find out how others manage when I get there. Being 500 miles away, I couldn't view first.
 
I keep my three horses (17.2hh Warmblood, 13.2hh Dartmoor and 13hh Eriskay) in a three acre field with 2 stables. Unlimited water is included in the livery but that's it.

The landowner is brilliant and leaves me to my own devices but he checks my horses for me when he walks his 3 rotties and is pretty flexible on how I do things.

He's let me build a tack room and hay barn lean to on the back of the stables so I have somewhere dry to store everything, I have screwed tie rings into the side of the stables, and I'm putting in a lighting system to run off a 112 v leisure battery next month.

The landowner has also built me a corral for the ponies. As I've got 2 stables and three horses, the ponies share a box (which is fine as they've lived together for years and scream the place down if they are separated - tried it once, never again!). There was some hard standing outside the stables, so landowner has put some fence posts around it and taped it all off (it's incorporated into the field tape system) so ponies get some extra space when they are stables, but Mouse gets more fresh air to help his COPD.

I absolutely love keeping my horses there. I'm actually spending much more time with them and it is possible to keep them at grass livery as long as you have a supportive landowner.

Good luck x
 
If you have a auto trough its perfectly possible to take a tap off it.
Im not sure how but my o/h has done it for me- He fixed a stake of wood into the ground and i now have a nice shiny tap on it!
Im not sure about the leccy post tie up point! mine for sure would just take it with him ;-)
I tie to the gate (string obviously) or as someone else said maybe a proper fencing stake in the ground properly with a tie ring.
I saw one "invention" the other day a metal stall type thing with space for 3 horses- the guy making it said a lady in your position had asked for it so she can put her horse into the stall to tie up for feeding, grooming etc giving somewhere also to put her tack down etc. It was very clever- I imagine similar could be made out of wood if you want to go that far?!
Get a very basic little field shelter?
 
Car battery for a light. At least you have water, so that makes life easier. We put down grass mats to try to keep an area clear of mud poaching. You could always sacrifice a small area of grass, electric tape it and lay down stable rubber mats so you have somewhere enclosed and not muddy to tack up and groom. My ponies learned to be tacked up stood loose in the field. All do-able, so don't worry!
 
I would look at getting some of those grass mats - put them down before winter in one area that you will use to tie up to form a solid mud free surface (grass grows through but they can be picked up when you move) - maybe tape it off so that the nags cant get onto it when you arent there - then get a post banger and a couple of solid large fence posts to put in (be easier if you can get man with tractor bucket to do it) you will need to put them in very deep but if in properly you can put ring on post and tie up to that - all this can be removed pretty easily if you leave and wont need planning. Alternatively just use an existing gatepost to put a ring onto and use twine and quick release strap to tie up to.

i was in a field for a few years with just water troughs and nothing else excpet natural shelter - make sure your tie up is near the gate so you can chuck saddle etc on gate in easy reach to put on. Its easier than you think and very quick to tack up and get out - no leading anywheer - brush mud off, tack up and off you go. I used to ride on bridleways in the dark but my mare was very very quiet and it was only 20 mins totally on track.

good pair of rubber gloves may be in order as you could be picking out very muddy feet with nowhere to was hands after !!
 
Welshie Squisher said:
At the moment, I'm even wondering where I'll tie my horse up
Click to expand...

Cant really comment on the water and electric - we went a year when my parents first bought me a pony when I was a kid, with just a field. The first thing they did though was put in a water trough. It was a bit of a struggle having no shelter - like I remember struggling to change rugs in peeing rain for example with no shelter! However, for the farrier and things or when we really did need some shelter then luckily our house is right opposite so we would just tie them up in the garage which had light etc.! We soon got stables built though I must admit...! For tieing up during this time, we simply had 2 strainer posts either side with a thick wooden pole on top with baler twine tied round it - made for a good tie post and I could tie a couple up to it no bother.
 
Where I used to live - the field opposite had horses in and there was nothing but a water trough to start with.

The field renter got permission from the land owner to put a small garden shed up and they dried wet rugs in it and kept grooming kit, boots etc... in it.

They also were allowed to put a tie ring on one of the wooden fence posts.

They also electric fenced off a small 'yard' by the gate (the shed and tie ring were inside it) and because the horses were normally kept out of it, it stayed pretty mud free.
 
I have a field.... and a green box...


i LOVE it................never would i have them stabled again!

Only troulble i have is no-where to tie them easily (unless i walk down to the yard but tbh id rather not as its a lot of hassle with my youngster)


It can be as easy or hard as you want it to be!!!..... I have two massive buckets i fill weekly and then 2 smaller ones i use to water the rest of the field :)
 
Horse lives out 24/7 in a field with natural shelter and natural spring. We don't have running water, electricity or storage.

I manage well. I choose this arrangement over a livery yard as it's better for the horse's mental health, and anything that's better for his mental health is better for mine :p

I ride all winter (I work from 12 noon onwards so can always ride in the morning). If very heavy rain is expected, horse wears a rainsheet so not too wet to tack up, otherwise he is mostly unrugged (not clipped).

Anything I need comes to the field in the car with me, and that includes tack, feed buckets, cleaning/grooming kit, medical kit. In the dark, we have head torches and a wind up lantern.

I don't tie up, there's no need? If I want to tack up, horse stands at gate while I do so, and the rest of the herd just go about their business. Tying up is something I associate with being on a yard, because there are other (non grazing) horses around and feed rooms full of feed :D

The one thing I could do with is some hardstanding and a bit of shelter for e.g. bodyworker/vet/dentist/saddle fitter visits.

We do tape gate access off in winter to prevent poaching at entrance to field, but since the horses don't spend any time hanging around the gate waiting to get brought "in", it isn't a huge issue. Good welllies and waterproofs are a must, though ;)
 
would it be possible to put up a shelter such as a pole barn, 4 poles in the ground and some sheeting as a roof, at least it is some shelter out of the rain for both the horses and you when you are there, it would not be very expensive and easily taken down, then you could attach a clip to the pole for tie up and also put a couple of concrete slabs down with grass rubber mats over the top just to make it a bit harder, all can be picked up and moved should the need be.
 
Don't mess around with a car battery for lights, buy a cheap generator. You can pick up a .7kw for very little money & that is plenty for running 9 x 60w bulbs. 12v lighting is dingy & you have to keep charging up the battery.
 
I moved into just a "field", I had a 12ftx12ft wooden sectional stable built then had a 8ftx12ft from the same company pinned onto it when I had saved up again. We hardcored the front about 6ft out, and then slammed in posts around it and fenced it off with a gate either side leading into separate paddocks (fatbuster paddock and winter rested paddock. I did have a tap which was about 80 meters away from where water would be convenient, so we got some heavy duty thick hose pipe and have end right where the troughs are. Lighting is from a lorry battery rigged it up to shed stable and one outside the stable facing outside, tbh they are very bright it really does depend of what lamps you buy, mine are the sort that are for security companies. If you are allowed to do these types of things to your field, a bit of hard work and cash and within a few months it can be great.
I love my little set up , good luck :)
 
Toby_Zaphod said:
Don't mess around with a car battery for lights, buy a cheap generator. You can pick up a .7kw for very little money & that is plenty for running 9 x 60w bulbs. 12v lighting is dingy & you have to keep charging up the battery.
Click to expand...

And you have to keep replacing the generator when it's nicked! I may come across as cynical but this happened to me twice before I got my electricity sorted.
 
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