What do you look for in a livery yard?

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jenz87

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Hey :)
I just go to thinking, what do you all look for when you are looking for a livery yard? My YO was talking today and i just wondered what are the most important factors for you when you are looking.

She was thinking of making a new advert or updating her website, and i was wondering what would be the most eye catching / saught after ideas. What would you want to see on the website, that would make you think that you would ring up and enquire :)

Everyone is different, and what appeals to me and my YO doesnt always appeal to the rest of the General Public!!

Interesting ideas welcome:)

Im not looking to advertise on here, i just thought your all such a great community to brainstorm with :) and as i said its great if we can appeal to all sorts of people not just like minded like me :P

THANK YOU :)
 
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Good turnout, Professional Staff, Decent Hacking (ideally at least some off road) I am spoilt with an indoor and outdoor school. Also in my case I require a fairly large stable because my horse is pretty large.

OH and I would never move to a yard that didn't have people living on site.
 
Professional service with a YO who doesn't use the Yard to gossip and stays discreet, dustfree, big stable, clean, if diy a heated rug room, lunge pen, large school with a decent surface, no clay soil, storage areas equally shared and boundaried between all liveries, hay supplier, toilet/kitchen
 
Individual year round turnout (24/7 if required) with the ability to strip graze if you prefer.
Reasnoble size stable that is weather tight.
If hay/bedding is provided then I would expect it to be good quality.
Friendly YO/YM and any staff.
Clear rules and expectations on each side with a contract, polite clear communication.
Maintenence of facilities/grazing, kept in a safe and tidy order buy owner as well as liveries.
Off road hacking.
School at least 20x40.
Secure and dry tack room.
If you choose your price and people then move to you at that price, don't act like you are doing everyone the biggest favour in the world!! If you can't make a living wage from DIY (and who can really given the large amount of work involved?) then address your business plan, don't get ratty with your liveries!
No rules re using yards farrier/instructor etc.


I appreciate it is quite a list, but I am prepared to pay for it, and I keep the yard immaculate and am respectful of others property and horses, I am also friendly and pay bang on time - not too much to ask for surely?!
 
I think it depends on the cost as to what facilities are to be expected but in general
Turnout, all year round or at least when weather permits in winter.
Decent stable
Decent floodlit school
Secure Tackroom, preferably individual or sharing with a couple of others as sadly someone always seems to want to 'borrow' stuff and not return it.
Off road riding close by without crossing a dual carriageway or worse.
 
Thanks everyone, very interesting so far!!

Forgot to say this is for a yard that does not do DIY, solely, part, full and training liveries.

I think all of your requests so far are very reasonable, but what would you want to see on the website that would make you want to ring up and visit :)


Thanks you are all stars, muffins for you all :)
 
Good year-round turnout with enough acreage
Big airy stables with nice beds
Outdoor or indoor floodlit with good surface
XC Course and fields to ride in
Good hacking close by
Tack storage area thats secure
Toilet/kitchen
Friendly atmosphere
Generous hay for horse during day
Clinics with good instructors
Good YO who has horses best interest at heart

I moved yards a while ago and i was super picky! Luckily i found a cracking yard, much smaller and more chilled than where i was, but the yo is amazing and is more into horses than just treating it like a business.

I like that the yard has extras i can pay for (i have a broken arm and she rides my horse for a small fee), but isn't obsessed with charging you for everything (my last yard was 6.50 per turnout etc)
 
http://www.daresburyequestriancentre.co.uk/livery.html

http://www.newhousefarmlivery.com/

http://www.arleymossequestrian.co.uk/index.html

I don't know if this will help but here are the websites for three of the livery yards in my area that do full livery for about £100 a week . The 1st one is a much smaller yard than the second 2 and to be honest although the facilaties are much of the same except no indoor I would go for that one (plus it's closer for me)

If I was doing full livery I would want to see that the staff are trained well/ knowledgable and paid accordingly
 
T-Bag said:
Rates
Full livery is available at £100 per week, or can be paid by standing order at £400 per calendar month.

She needs to get a new accountant, at £100 pw the calendar month bill should be £433.33
Click to expand...

Yeah I know - I imagine she is prob doing it at a discount to encourage folk to pay b SO
 
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Ladylina83 said:
Yeah I know - I imagine she is prob doing it at a discount to encourage folk to pay b SO
Click to expand...

The most I've known for companies (and this is big companies) is like £5 to do SO, it must be a mistake on her side

BTW Arley isn't known for it's good service and the last I heard Eve had left there as well
 
The staff and the general appearance/quality of the yard but most importantly the facilities. I don't like hacking so that doesn't bother me. Turnout is important but my mare is currently stabled at a yard where they have hardly been out at all- she seems really happy though and after being turned out virtually 24/7 on fab grass and seeing how rude she became turnout has now taken a back seat when considering livery. I think there will always be a compromise and for me it is currently turnout :)
 
T-Bag said:
The most I've known for companies (and this is big companies) is like £5 to do SO, it must be a mistake on her side

BTW Arley isn't known for it's good service and the last I heard Eve had left there as well
Click to expand...

I'm not really bothered about either of the above, I keep my 2 on a potato farm for £16 a week and it has everything I need - OP wanted help with website info for marketing her yard

Jenz87 I have been to both yards and I imagine your feeling is quite right !
 
I've kept my horse at home my entire life but will be moving to London soon and am considering taking the plunge and bringing the horse with me!

So as someone who has no experience of livery yards whatsoever, but has been trawling countless websites looking at what's available, the ones that have so far caught my eye:

- All year round group turnout, 24-7 in summer, with well-maintained fields
- Floodlit arena, 20x40 minimum, bigger is better
- Sociable looking yard with outdoor stables where the horses can all see each other
- Easily accessible by public transport and (for me) no more than 30-40 mins by train from central London
- Good off-road hacking
- Allows you to use your own feed!!
- On-site tack and rug storage
- Part livery or bring in/turnout/muck out/feed 5 times a week min for no more than £550 a month

I don't care about horsewalkers and fancy drying-off equipment (don't even know what it's called!!) the most important thing is a friendly atmosphere where my horse will looked after according to his needs, which involve lots of time playing in a field and lots of interaction with other people/horses!!

(incidentally if anyone knows of yards like the above... don't know where exactly in London I'll be living yet but trying to get a mental list of where to visit when I do know...)

Oh and websites that tell you if they have spaces available (and are kept up to date!) are great, as are ones that clearly belong to a sociable yard, e.g. details about events/competitions, lift sharing, nights out etc
 
I'm lucky that I have mine at home, but if at a livery yard....

I would have to have -
Knowledgeable, friendly, trustworthy staff.
Good security.
Decent sized stables.
All year turnout option of some sort (even if a few hours a day)
Well fenced fields - doesn't have to be post and rail, but well maintained..
Menage.
Ample parking - so you can easily turn trailers round.
Some storage, although I'd keep most at home.
Access to good hacking.
Not too big a yard.
Good quality hay and feed.

I would love to have the following, but it wouldn't be a deal breaker-
Indoor school.
Washing off area.
Trainers on site.
Competitions nearby.
Private tackrooms.


I would be put off by-
Scruffy looking, un maintained place.
Badly fenced fields.
Huge yards, especially where schools hard to reserve.
Being on a main road, with only hacking "around the farm".
No turnout in winter.

A brochure that would attract me would have-
Pictures of well swept, tidy yards.
Show the size of the yard.
Show pictures of the facilities.
Show pictures of the fields.
Show the area it is in (map/pictures)
Say a little about the YO/YM - experience/qualifications etc...

ps. Price would be a factor too, and should be in the brochure...
 
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Prices! :D So many websites don't have prices so you never know if it's out of your price range until you've rung up!

Lots of photos showing, good fencing, the school, jumps, stables.

Contact form.
 
bedding- full bed, type of daily muck out, number of times skipped out per day, type of shavings used

late night checks-what time, are they re hayed?

rug changing- will she add another rug in evening if cold?

menage- how often graded, surface type, if stays good in summer and drains in winter, freezes?if hired out and if so how communicated to liveries?any booking system for use for lessons? if 1 manege is used for lunging other for riding only?

forage- hay or haylage- how much, when given, if can be fed from floor/haybar?

feeding- how many times a day, on what?any restrictions of brand?

washing down of legs after being in field- if turnout boots can be put on and off?

storage of tack and rugs etc, how secure

security of yard at night

time they get turned out in mornings and brought in winter/summer

option to do night turnout in summer..?

paddock rotation and harrowing etc to smooth after winter, what they use for fertiliser

if any restriction of bringing in outside trainers or riders or times to come to yard. or having to use specific farriers etc.

how gallops are maintained- do they freeze?

if field can be sectioned off in summer to restrict grass

lorry parking

how often groomed if in price?

who handles the horses and is on yard?

safe fences
 
I saw you said part of full livery so all year round turnout (not just stuck on the walker twice a day in winter!), proffesional staff not just a bunch of lazy/green students, someone living onsite, a good surface on the school, decent haylage/hay/shavings/straw provided, late night (as in after 4pm - not just being abandoned as staff finish for the day) checks done. Experienced people working and handling your horse.

Added extras would obviously be things like a washbox, solarium if more expensive, heated rug and tack rooms, a tea room, a decent toilet.... erm...
 
Hmm, you can never really appeal to everyone and everyone is after different things really, but for me the big things are fencing and facilities. The turnout should be adequate for what you offer (if it's only a few hours turnout in the winter that's fine if you make it clear, the worst thing is places who say 24hour all year round and go back on the deal) and post and rail fencing. I won't pay to keep mine anywhere I can't get 24 hour access - you pay enough to own horses, I'm damned if I won't go and see mine at 11pm / 5am if I so desire. I am attracted to flexible places who don't dictate (e.g.) herd turnout / individual turnout etc. I don't like yards which are run as dictatorships and you have no say in how your horse is kept.

In terms of PR, perhaps on a website you could get a few (happy!) liveries to write up a para or two about how much they like the yard and why, and you could post that with a photo of them and their horse enjoying the yard? If I was happy on a yard, I would gladly do something like that. (I wouldn't do it for my current yard as there aren't enough expletives in the dictionary to describe that place... I'm too fussy!)
 
forgot to say, im not advertising, so pm me if you want to see the website or know specific details, but so far all your answers are of great help, keep them coming!!

Thanks :)
 
Yard I am on doesn't have a website found it through a friend but I would not even ring up about a yard if the pictures on the website showed poor/overgrazed fields or poor fencing, anything poorly maintained (doesn't mean to say it has to be purpose built or even smart but just maintained and tidy), and where the website does not have the proprietor's name on it (and yes there are some of those).

My own personal big thing is individual or paired turnout as a must and all the usuals you would expect.
 
Crumbs, you guys don't want for much!! It must be nice to gave such a fantastic choice of yards, where I live there is very little choice let alone all the extras which are been asked for in fact Idon' knowof anything within a 20 mile radius which offers all of whatis asked for !:eek:
 
Must haves:

*24/7 all year around grazing and turn out - although happy to supplement with haylage/hay in the winter.
*secure fencing
*natural shelter
*good hacking
*holistic approach - not necessarily NH style, but laid back, friendly and not a competition set up or approach.
*horses & liveries a priority

Ideals:

*water and electric
*hard standing areas - i.e for tying up and grooming etc
*field shelters
*sand school
*secure storage areas - e.g. tackroom, feedroom
*somewhere to make a cup of tea/coffee, have a sit down and toilet facilties.

i'll have a think and see if i can add think of some more!
 
Definitely:
*all year turnout,
*good mostly off road hacking and
*friendly knowledgable yard owner who I can trust.
*Flexibility is key as I am away a lot, and like to do more if I'm off work and at weekends. "Flexible services" works for me

There are other "nice to have"s but these are the essentials.
 
I wanted:
-secure turnout
-knowledgeable staff
-indoor school
-decent hacking
-specialist trainers on site
-ability to come and go as I please as I work shifts

I found it, but its not cheap. Saying that, someone did manage to put jerrys brushing boots on the wrong legs :rolleyes: Can't have it all i guess :p
 
I can't believe people want so much!!
I'm happy with a decent floodlit school with a good surface, flat turnout fields with herds separated into mares and geldings, good haylage and friendly liveries. And my only other thing would be not going to a yard which is too big......my current yard has everything I want.
 
I'd want to see photos of the facilities. Photos of:

the yard
stables
view inside a stable
tack room
indoor/outdoor + any jumps or other equipment you might have
the fields
what the shelters look like
what any other buildings look like - washroom, washstall, etc.
lesson horses, if there are any (plus short bios)


You could also have a list of services you offers, prices, and yard reviews by current boarders.
 
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