Track livery cost

[AngelHerd]

So I'm in the process of looking for a field to rent to set up a track system for my 2 mares; I'd be looking at probably getting another horse livery to share and am wondering what sort of cost to charge them if I'm doing all land maintenance, poo picking, and including hay...

It's just an idea at the moment and I'm just wondering if it would work

Thanks for any advice!

 

[MissTyc]

There's one with me that's £400/month part livery - it has about 1km miles fully surfaced and the rest is grass track which means there are times of the year when it gets very boggy and other times of the year it has grass, so doesn't suit everyone, but they always have a waiting list and if I lived nearer and had a little more money I'd send my mare there for retirement.

I have a little track where I have my horses, but it's all grass (we're on chalk so it works OK) and I only use it October to April, roughly. Most people do it the other way round, with track int he summer and whole field in the winter, but I have another meadow for summer grazing with a herd so that's preferable for me., I don't have enough land for liveries, but imagine people would happily pay 200-300/month for what I have,.

 

[AngelHerd]

There's one with me that's £400/month part livery - it has about 1km miles fully surfaced and the rest is grass track which means there are times of the year when it gets very boggy and other times of the year it has grass, so doesn't suit everyone, but they always have a waiting list and if I lived nearer and had a little more money I'd send my mare there for retirement.

I have a little track where I have my horses, but it's all grass (we're on chalk so it works OK) and I only use it October to April, roughly. Most people do it the other way round, with track int he summer and whole field in the winter, but I have another meadow for summer grazing with a herd so that's preferable for me., I don't have enough land for liveries, but imagine people would happily pay 200-300/month for what I have,.

Thank you so much for your reply! That's really useful - I didn't put where I am which is Cornwall, I expect costs may be slightly less.

Sounds great what you have - I can't wait to have my own place so I can do what I like

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

There's a top-of-the-range "Barefoot rehab" track system place fairly near to me which (wait for it.........) charges £600 pcm. Or they did 18 months ago....... For that you throw your horse needing "barefoot transitioning and re-habbing" at them and they sort it all out for you and hand horsie back at the end of it all barefooted and rehabbed for you. They've got an extensive track system with various types of gravel down. It is a lovely place and the people that run it are very knowledgeable as well as being accredited Equine Podiatrists. if I had the money I'd have taken my mare there when we'd decided to take the shoes off. It IS a super place....

However for more ordinary mortals TBH as a YO myself my "grass liveries" pay £100 pcm. No frills, no services. Think you need to be VERY firm when deciding on what "services" you will offer - and stick to your guns as it is easy to end up doing more than is on the livery contract IME.

 

[I'm Dun]

There is a huge difference between a proper track livery and a DIY grass track. I've had the latter set up and would have expected liveries to pay just over the grass livery rate so probably £100 plus hay then whatever services I did.

 

[AngelHerd]

There's a top-of-the-range "Barefoot rehab" track system place fairly near to me which (wait for it.........) charges £600 pcm. Or they did 18 months ago....... For that you throw your horse needing "barefoot transitioning and re-habbing" at them and they sort it all out for you and hand horsie back at the end of it all barefooted and rehabbed for you. They've got an extensive track system with various types of gravel down. It is a lovely place and the people that run it are very knowledgeable as well as being accredited Equine Podiatrists. if I had the money I'd have taken my mare there when we'd decided to take the shoes off. It IS a super place....

However for more ordinary mortals TBH as a YO myself my "grass liveries" pay £100 pcm. No frills, no services. Think you need to be VERY firm when deciding on what "services" you will offer - and stick to your guns as it is easy to end up doing more than is on the livery contract IME.

thank you for your reply - yes I would be the latter for sure! and yes totally get the boundaries - it's all just spit-balling at the moment at possibilities

 

[ihatework]

For me track livery wouldn’t be a field with some makeshift track.

It would be a properly set up facility and that comes at cost that would be at least equivalent to a good quality stabled livery

 

[AngelHerd]

For me track livery wouldn’t be a field with some makeshift track.

It would be a properly set up facility and that comes at cost that would be at least equivalent to a good quality stabled livery

thank you- yes I understand that

 

[AngelHerd]

There is a huge difference between a proper track livery and a DIY grass track. I've had the latter set up and would have expected liveries to pay just over the grass livery rate so probably £100 plus hay then whatever services I did.

Thank you - yes this was around what I was thinking

 

[Soap On A Rope]

Sorry to sound dumb but what is a track system ?

 

[Squeak]

Don't forget to look at insurance and business rates etc if taking on a livery as well as checking with landlord if you're renting. Unfortunately they can eat into any profits very quickly and it might not be worth it for one livery. I don't know much about it though so others may be able to advise better.

 

[HashRouge]

I am in Sussex, which is expensive, so if you're doing all the care and providing hay, and you have a nice set up, you could certainly charge at least £200 pcm. I suspect Cornwall will be a bit cheaper, but it will very much depend on how good your set up is and how it holds up in wet, muddy winters. Don't under charge though! Proper track livery systems with full livery command a much higher price. There is an equicentral livery yard local to me which is £360 a month for full livery, which I think is a pretty good deal tbh.

 

[Soap On A Rope]

Sorry to sound dumb but what is a track system ?

Anyone ??

 

[GSD Woman]

Soap On A Rope, here is a link to a website I found https://www.all-natural-horse-care.com/paddock-paradise.html. It sounds good but then it also looks like there is a huge waste of usable land.

 

[barefootbeginner]

Anyone ??

Without researching proper definitions of it, to my knowledge, it’s setting paddocks up to minimise grass intake (replacing to whatever extent needed with hay) and maximise movement - to take horse lifestyles closer to the 25+ miles a day they travel in the wild. In lots of cases, this literally means setting up a track (maybe a few metres wide but would depend on herd size and dynamics perhaps) around your paddock/paddocks for them to travel around. There are mega sets ups with a variety of surfaces covering the whole track - so no mud in winter - but others have them as full grass. The benefit of them is that the extra movement often improves horse health significantly as all their systems are designed to do far more moving than they typically do in our modern horsekeeping. People use them in so many different ways - so some horses will still have “normal” field turnout in winter (for ground or grass reasons) or overnight when grass sugars are lower, my point being there are lots of ways to incorporate a track system into management rather than one set system. I hope that helps a bit!

 

[Soap On A Rope]

Without researching proper definitions of it, to my knowledge, it’s setting paddocks up to minimise grass intake (replacing to whatever extent needed with hay) and maximise movement - to take horse lifestyles closer to the 25+ miles a day they travel in the wild. In lots of cases, this literally means setting up a track (maybe a few metres wide but would depend on herd size and dynamics perhaps) around your paddock/paddocks for them to travel around. There are mega sets ups with a variety of surfaces covering the whole track - so no mud in winter - but others have them as full grass. The benefit of them is that the extra movement often improves horse health significantly as all their systems are designed to do far more moving than they typically do in our modern horsekeeping. People use them in so many different ways - so some horses will still have “normal” field turnout in winter (for ground or grass reasons) or overnight when grass sugars are lower, my point being there are lots of ways to incorporate a track system into management rather than one set system. I hope that helps a bit!

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply , I really appreciate it !

 

[Soap On A Rope]

Soap On A Rope, here is a link to a website I found https://www.all-natural-horse-care.com/paddock-paradise.html. It sounds good but then it also looks like there is a huge waste of usable land.

Thank you !