What to do for the best?

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ColouredFan

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Ok A little background, we rent a little yard in total, 4 stables and about 4 acres. We have running water and lights but no surface. The field generally drains well and for about 30% of the winter months we can ride on it (when it’s not dark!). The owner died at the end of last year and his Daughter (who has her own horses) has taken over. We have been left to do what we want until now, however she has imposed some restrictions, she want the horses to come in earlier if its wet (we work til 5 so not an option) we explained this wasn’t possible. They can go put in the summer 24/7 but we have to poo pick EVERY DAY and clear the field, we poo pick anyway but some days it may be left until the following day (if we haven’t got time) when we catch up. We were paying £150 a month when we moved there 15 years ago, the father put it up to £200 a Month about 5 years ago and his daughter has now increased it to £300 per month which equates to approx £75 per horse per month.

So the decision is do we move? We have been looking for alternative yards, The first one I just didn’t like, the stables were small and they had to come in at 1pm every day which they would do for us but charge accordingly, this we don’t want as after mucking out 4 in the morning, we don’t want to come home and skip out 2 stables each and ride 3! The second yard could have been lovely, the stables were large and in a large indoor barn and we’d have our own 5 acre field to use as we wish, however the place really wasn’t looked after, nothing was put away, nothing was swept up, the tack room and hay barn leaked and the arena looked stoney. There were also no Jumps which would still mean boxing somewhere for jumping lessons. This yard was £106 per month per horse. But I have ruled it out.

Yesterday we went to look at a lovely yard but we could only afford to move two horses there, meaning the two in work moving and our retired horse and Nico (3 year old) staying put which would be a Pain as I wanted to break him in soon and do a bit of hacking with him, plus 30 min commute each way to new yard. I don’t think I would have time to be honest. we would also have the hassle of subletting the other two stables.

Tonight I am looking at a yard which is ten mins away has a 20x60 school and SJ on grass in the summer (inc derby course) we could afford to move three here and leave the retired horse at home (current yard can be seen from our house). Hacking at this yard is supposed to be good, hacking by us is all road work so I have to do fattening work on gallops which are 30 mins away and cost £10 a go!

So do we swallow the rent increase and continue as we are or do I keep looking until the perfect yard comes up? Is there such a thing? After 15 years on our own would we adjust well to sharing again! Also keping frankie quiet is a consideration although he is now turned out for 2 hours supervised and shut in a small paddock when unsupervised.

Opinions please!
 
£75 is pretty good though- ours is similar with the same sort of facilities and we thought it was so cheap!
 
I guess we are just used to it being alot cheaper! Also when you work out for approx £5 a week we could have a surface to use it doesnt seem so cheap, we have to hire a school at least once a week which is a ten min hack, thats fine in the summer but a pain boxing there in the winter, we have a jump lesson once a month and we (my sister and I) pay £24 to hire the arena with Show jumps (Leyland Court) 4 of us share a lesson so this is the only venue large enough and the arena is £12 per horse. Plus our hacking ( we hack at least 4 or 5 times a week) is rubbish so when I also have to box to do canter work and box and pay to do fast work it all adds up!
 
Oh. I'd look around a bit more then- the lace you're looking at today sounds v nice, and if the place you're at is close to home then it sounds feasible... Good luck- took us forever to find a new yard last time we moved!
 
i have recently moved mine to a yard with more facilities but a lot more £££.

best decision i have ever made!

if you can afford to i think i would move- not only due to increase at current place but i can see new owner being a pain in winter with wanting horses in etc and i think that would be the thing that would rile me more than the price increase.
 
tricky one as your current situation is so close and handy, mine is similar just a 1 min drive from home to yard and I think I would get very resentful of any extra journey, plus there's the traveling cost to factor in. I think the money that you spend on traveling to gallops/arenas etc would be a lot less than the more expensive yard, travel and livery fees.

Also even if you have access to all facilities coz you are bringing on comp horses you would probubly travel them away for lessons anyway so that they get out and about etc we have a 20x40 all weather floodlit but I still box to a bigger arena for my flatwork/jump lessons.

I think £75 sounds reasonable, but it's the other restrictions that sound like they might cause trouble. Is she going to be moving her horses to the yard too? I don't see why she would want to impose new rules if you have been there for so long and kept it all nice and in good order (which I'm sure you have as you are very neat!)

Having to deal with other people will also be a big thing I think not so much for you but you might find you are on the wrong end of the green eyed monster because your ponies are so well trained and you prize them so highly I can see the jealous bitchy yard attitude that can exist might be an issue, will that upset you? can you deal with it? do you even want to deal with it when you can avoid it and have your own space?...

To keep costs down can you not retire your old boy out as a companion bringing you down to 3?...

If I were you I think I would stay put, let's face it Frankie has done pretty darn well in your current set up, so if it aint broke..... :)
 
My mother's friend wants to rent their place out - it needs to be done up a bit before it's rentable (prob summer), but its for up to 3 horses max, enough grazing, school with light :) :) tack room, storage for hay and shavings. and it's just north of you about 5miles max BUT they just want one person to RENT whole place and i'm vetting folks :) :) interested, pm me
 
Thanks Chloe

We were planning on moving once the old girl has passed on to pastures new as we are fed up of not having a surface. I guess the rent increase and the restrictions have made us think about doing it sooner. PK the old girl has been there since we moved in (15 years ago) The person buying Dom said they may like her as a companion at some point and I said that I would consider them having her (they are close friends) on the condition she only gets turned out with Dom, the problem with her is that she occasionally looses her balance and I wouldn’t want horses to be bullying her (she is bottom of the order) if she was unsteady on her feet. Last time it happened Dom just stood over her and protected her until she got back up. I think we may have to make a decision about her future anyway if we have a hot summer as we don’t want her to suffer (she is asthmatic also!) She has been retired now for 4 years and is 23 so I don’t really feel it would be fair to move her to a place she doesn’t know and I don’t want her to be turned out with horses she doesn’t know.

The daughter couldn’t move in with us still there as we rent in total and occupy all 4 stables (at the moment Pk is in the pony shed as we have 5), she has her own land and stables near where she lives so I don’t think that will be a problem.

We have always kept the yard in good order, we creosote the stables every year, pay to have the field topped and the muck heap removed and never complain, hence why we feel a bit put out now I think!

Having not been in livery for nearly 16 years we may well have forgotten how bitchy yards can be, this concerns me as we are both friendly and see no reason for people to be jealous, as we are not jealous of others, just pleased that they are doing well, so I guess I don’t understand that mentality!

Thanks for the imput you have raised a few points I was already thinking, I just don’t know what to do for the best!!!??
 
kick_On said:
My mother's friend wants to rent their place out - it needs to be done up a bit before it's rentable (prob summer), but its for up to 3 horses max, enough grazing, school with light :) :) tack room, storage for hay and shavings. and it's just north of you about 5miles max BUT they just want one person to RENT whole place and i'm vetting folks :) :) interested, pm me
Click to expand...

Have PM'd you!
 
maybe the new landlord doesn't realise the efforts you go to to keep the place clean and in order. You could always just nicely bring up with her that you are a little concerned about the cost hike, and let her know what the costs are already that you incur having the fileds and stables maintained. It could be genuine ignorance that she has no idea of the extra upkeep so might be willing to compromise on rent or take on those costs hereself?... worth discussing with her I think...

Hope you find somewhere nice especially for your old lady :)
 
Thanks Chole, I am lothed to move her as she is so happy there, we shall see if we can find somewhere we can turnout just our horses I might take her with us, she only goes out with frankie as I dont want her getting caught up with the 3 youngsters playing, they get a bit rough sometimes!
 
If it's of use for comparison. I pay £400 pcm. I rent 20+ acres, 7/8 stables, tack room, lots of unused buildings for storage and a big barn to keep the lorry in.
My last yard was 6 stables 10 acres also £400 pcm.

I personally think you are paying plenty for what you have. I also think your new YO may find herself regretting being greedy.

Having said all that I really miss not having friendly, gossipy times at the yard and I REALLY miss an arena.

In your place I would move, but with Summer on the way there's no rush, so worth waiting for the right place.
 
When you put it like that it does seem like we are paying more than enough, I think thats what we have decided to do, look around and wait for the right place. I am sure its out there somewhere!
 
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