Which Facilities to Choose?

A

atropa

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Sorry, it's yet another yard post but I am really stuck! I need to move my 3 horses due to moving home, have had my name on wait list for yard A for some time with no luck so found yard B which I thought would be suitable, at the same time as yard A unexpectedly opened up space for me.

Yard A
Small yard with just a few liveries plus YO's daughter's showjumpers.
20 min drive from home.
Assisted/part livery available if required.
Indoor school.
Outdoor school.
Year round daily turnout on 2 acres grass, same sex field with different owners, but must be brought in overnight year round.
Decent hacking but mostly all on quiet country lanes, some nearby offroad woods to hack.

Yard B
Larger working farm.
30 min drive from home, weather in this area known to be worse for snow/wind than Yard A.
Strictly DIY although farmer allows freelance grooms.
Outdoor school.
Year round daily turnout on 3 acres grass, solo field, 24/7 turnout allowed in summer.
Miles of off road hacking directly from doorstep.
 
Yard A. I don’t livery as I have horses at home, but I have friends keep horses (or kept horses) on working farms and have endless problems as many farmers have no idea how to run a yard and it all gets a bit lord of the flies amongst the liveries. Not saying all working farms are the same, just something I would be mindful of.
 
I'd want to know how many horses you'd be sharing the field at Yard A with, 2 acres isn't much.
You've already got 3 horses, so really even with bringing in at night you're going to struggle a bit with lack of grass/overgrazing/mud, especially depending on how it's managed.

A 3 acre field all to myself to do whatever with would be much more appealing, especially with 24/7 turnout in the summer, but it would depend also on how separate the yard/stables/field is from the working farm. I would also consider how easy/difficult it is to get cover if you're poorly or have an emergency.
 
Thank you all, some things I hadn't considered and some I had already worried about.
Tbh yards in the area are quite few/far between so 20 minutes is about the average commute to one for me, 30 minutes I do wonder if that is too far to go twice a day every day?

Yard A I believe it would be max of 4 in the field, I've always been told an acre per horse so I did worry about this.
Yard B is sheep and arable, good seperation between the yard and farm, and I believe there are 4 or 5 freelancers that cover the yard.
In terms of priorities I do a bit of everything, a bit of low level RC competition, but I do love to hack and go on fun rides etc...I thought Yard B would be good for fittening for this but worry about keeping them ticking over in winter :\
 
nagblagger said:
Def yard B for me,you can box to arena hire,4 horses, unknown owners on 2 acres, potentially no grass all year round so would need to supplement with extra hay. Is there a difference in rent?
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Yes, yard A is significantly more expensive - more than double the weekly livery price of yard B, although includes unlimited hay in that price.
I thought that might have been normal/expected due to the inclusion of an indoor school though - they seem very few and far between in this area!
 
Does the school at B have lights? Also you don’t need as much daylight for off road hacking.
I would have said that 30min twice a day would be the upper end of ok for me, can you speak to at least one of the freelancers before deciding?
Also what happens if you can’t get there given you mention snow risk?
 
ester said:
Does the school at B have lights? Also you don’t need as much daylight for off road hacking.
I would have said that 30min twice a day would be the upper end of ok for me, can you speak to at least one of the freelancers before deciding?
Also what happens if you can’t get there given you mention snow risk?
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Yes, the school is floodlit. I have been given a list of the freelancers they use, I think I could probably pay for turnout and muck out 3x/week in winter for the same base price as liverying at yard A.

I think if i really couldnt get to the yard due to snow or bad weather they would put hay and water in for me but it is a worry!
 
Yard B for me as well - especially when I read your update that Yard A is more than double the price of Yard B - and you have 3x horses. You can then use some of the "saved" money on getting a regular arrangement with one of the freelance grooms who already work at the yard - perhaps to do your mornings or afternoons, or weekends etc. You would hopefully still be saving money over Yard A. Good luck with your move.
 
Northern Hare said:
Yard B for me as well - especially when I read your update that Yard A is more than double the price of Yard B - and you have 3x horses. You can then use some of the "saved" money on getting a regular arrangement with one of the freelance grooms who already work at the yard - perhaps to do your mornings or afternoons, or weekends etc. You would hopefully still be saving money over Yard A. Good luck with your move.
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Yes in that case B
 
atropa said:
Yes, the school is floodlit. I have been given a list of the freelancers they use, I think I could probably pay for turnout and muck out 3x/week in winter for the same base price as liverying at yard A.

I think if i really couldnt get to the yard due to snow or bad weather they would put hay and water in for me but it is a worry!
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Rather than turnout and muck out x 3, would it not make more sense to ay for just turnout x 7? That way you only have to go once a day
 
I'm Dun said:
Rather than turnout and muck out x 3, would it not make more sense to ay for just turnout x 7? That way you only have to go once a day
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Yes this would be my preference ideally however I'm not sure it would be worth any of the freelancers time to come 7x a week just for turnout? Although I could be wrong! I've never had to use a freelance groom before, will send a few messages tonight to see if there is potential there.There's nobody currently working on the yard, I was just given a list of people who other liveries have used in the past for cover (assuming holiday cover etc).
 
atropa said:
Yes this would be my preference ideally however I'm not sure it would be worth any of the freelancers time to come 7x a week just for turnout? Although I could be wrong! I've never had to use a freelance groom before, will send a few messages tonight to see if there is potential there.There's nobody currently working on the yard, I was just given a list of people who other liveries have used in the past for cover (assuming holiday cover etc).
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ah yes that makes sense. I've been lucky to be on yards where the freelancers are based, or another livery would do it for pocket money.
 
atropa said:
Thank you all, some things I hadn't considered and some I had already worried about.
Tbh yards in the area are quite few/far between so 20 minutes is about the average commute to one for me, 30 minutes I do wonder if that is too far to go twice a day every day?

Yard A I believe it would be max of 4 in the field, I've always been told an acre per horse so I did worry about this.
Yard B is sheep and arable, good seperation between the yard and farm, and I believe there are 4 or 5 freelancers that cover the yard.
In terms of priorities I do a bit of everything, a bit of low level RC competition, but I do love to hack and go on fun rides etc...I thought Yard B would be good for fittening for this but worry about keeping them ticking over in winter :\
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That’s 2 hours driving possibly?
 
It would be Yard B for me. Not being able to have 24/7 turnout in the summer would be a deal breaker for me with yard A. Plus I’ve kept my horses on a dairy farm in the past and really enjoyed it.
 
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