travelling and distance to your horses

[Fionamarie]

Hi. I am looking at moving my horses and have found a lovely yard but it is 12 miles away and 20 min drive. Is this normal or acceptable?

 

[DW Team]

I used to drive 18 miles each way twice a day. We moved house to be near the yard. I found I was driving about 2 hours a day and the roads are small and twisty. I clocked a lot of miles in the 3 years I did it. Wear and tear on the car, my time in the car, the lost time with the family and the horses. It was always a rush. Quality of life and the family horse balance is much better for all of us. Now we are only 2 miles away. For us this works much better.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

My first yard was 12 miles and 20 minutes away - it s not too bad - other people travel much further to have their horses on the right yard - at the end of the day its what suits you and your horses.

 

[FellOutOfFavour]

My horse is on a yard half an hours drive from home. It is not ideal but there are few decent yards in this area and I'd rather keep him further from home at a yard with people I can trust than any of the options nearer to home where I would have to compromise on things like turnout, hay rations and cleanliness of stables. It helps that I only need to go to the yard once a day and that I can pop in on my way home from work.

 

[Pippity]

My share's about half an hour away from me by car. If I had her more than twice a week, I'd be wishing I could move her closer, even though the yard she's on is lovely.

 

[sh90]

At the moment I am 10mins away but once I move to my new house with my partner (hopefully october time) it is 20.8miles and 40mins- however I love the yard and he is very happy so will not be moving him!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Our horses moved to a friend's farm for 3 months before we moved here (they're at home now). The farm was 12 miles and 20 minutes away, not on any-one's route to work. We had to compromise and only visit once a day, fortunately the horses were living out and friend checked them in the morning. I wouldn't want to do it long-term. In fact it felt so much better when the school holiday started and I could go up and ride most days, as well as going back in the evening to feed and check them all.

 

[Antw23uk]

Im 8 miles roughly from my yard and door to door it takes about 15 minutes. I love my yard 99% of the time and although I could move closer to home as there are two potentially suitable yards between home and my yard it would be a compromise on hacking which we both love and also I trust the yard owners/ head groom and their very valuable knowledge and experience.

I've just accepted a job locally as well which is between yard and home (five minutes from home, ten minutes to yard) so have well and truly landed on my feet

 

[LFD]

I'm a 30 min drive from my yard which I do before and after work each day. It just becomes part of what you do tbh. I would love to be closer to the yard but there isn't one unfortunately!

 

[Dizzle]

20 mins is doable, I used to do that twice a day, that was back in the days when I had a small economical car, now it's cheaper to go for full livery.

ETA: Also expecting first child and OH doesn't want to have to be clambering about in the mud delivering hay so we have 'compromised'

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Yes, I've had mine at yards that were anything between 10 and 50 miles away. My priority is always getting the best yard as it's the horse's home. Sometimes it's a compromise, but if a nearer yard isn't acceptable, then I choose to travel. The wrong yard can be such a miserable and stressful experience, that it can take away the benefits of all the time and money you spend on them.

The downside of living too far away, is that it means its difficult to extra visits when ideally you need to come in between normal trips. If ours have to come in at 3pm in winter, it's a long night from 4.30pm to 6.30am.
I've just bought a house mainly because it's next door to my wonderful yard and I can pop in to do late night checks.

 

[AmieeT]

Mine is about 25mins away- but on a good morning (about 5.30-6ish) I can get there in 10 mins!

Used to take me nearly an hour, with 2/3 bus journeys to get there- even longer to get back on an eve as it was 1 bus per hour and I missed it on several occasions. Needless to say, I was very happy to pass my driving test!

Ax

 

[soft touch]

My ideal is between home and work, but near enough to home to make it comfortable for travel on days when not working. This has been a bonus on many occasions when horses have needed extra attention due to illness/ foaling etc.

 

[springtime1331]

I've moved my horse to a lovely yard 8 miles away. It's great and the horse is very happy there but I do find the journey and time a bit much.

 

[shadeofshyness]

Mine is 5 1/2 miles away, takes just under 20 mins to drive there from home. I get the train to/from work so it's not part of my commute, I have to go home and change first. There aren't many yards closer so I count myself lucky to have found this one as it's so convenient! Depends where you live I suppose, if you live in a horsey/country area 20 mins might seem a lot. In urban places it is very close!

 

[applecart14]

My old yard where I was at for almost ten years was 25 mins away and 9 miles, this new one is 30 mins and 13 miles. Most of the new yards journey is country so is faster than the other yards drive so although further seems a little better.

Its by where my bf lives so not too bad as I can call in at any time and break up the day a little. Good when been at a show, arrive back at yard say three o'clock but don't turn out to five or six at night. Can nip to his have a cuppa, sleep or watch telly