Which yard? I can't work out the costs.

wellsat

wellsat

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I need to move yards for a better surface and have the option of two yards with a nice surface to move to. Both have nice stables, good hacking, nice individual turnout and nice atmosphere. Both a similar distance from home and work.

Option 1
£95 a month - nothing included
Hay £4 a bale from the farmer.
Straw would cost me at least £12 a week, possibly more as have a dirty beast.
G could technically stay out 24/7 at this yard but the reality is that no-one else currently does so he'd probably be in at night all year round.

Option 2 - £50 a week including unlimited nice hay and straw
My first reaction was that its a huge amount of money but I'm not sure if actually it would be a better deal.

What do you reckon?
 
wellsat said:
I need to move yards for a better surface and have the option of two yards with a nice surface to move to. Both have nice stables, good hacking, nice individual turnout and nice atmosphere. Both a similar distance from home and work.

Option 1
£95 a month - nothing included
Hay £4 a bale from the farmer.
Straw would cost me at least £12 a week, possibly more as have a dirty beast.
G could technically stay out 24/7 at this yard but the reality is that no-one else currently does so he'd probably be in at night all year round.

Option 2 - £50 a week including unlimited nice hay and straw
My first reaction was that its a huge amount of money but I'm not sure if actually it would be a better deal.

What do you reckon?
Click to expand...
You times weekly costs by 4.3 to get monthly costs (because some months are four week and some are five week).
Option 1 will cost you £95 a month plus 12x4.3=£51.60 for straw and say 3 bales of hay a week - £12 a week so another £51.60 for hay. So yard 1 is going to cost you about £198.20 a month but your hay and straw will be limited.
Option 2 will be £50 times 4.3 is £215 with unlimited hay and straw.
Your call.
 
Thanks, you're much better at that than me. G's 17.2 so he can eat up to 5 bales a week, presumably once I feed him that much the costs are about even?
 
I would go for yard 2 fixed costs,as much hay/bedding as you need.£200 month

Yard 1 £95 £48 straw hay 3 bales a week £ 48 total £191 but that could rise if you need more in bad weather or the farmer puts the price up.
 
Im paying £80 a week for stable, unlimited turnout, all feed hay and bedding, plus full livery Monday to Friday, ie he is turned out mucked out etc etc.

Personally I ve the fact everything is included. The price of hay can absolutely rocket, and you can be left with poor quality hay when you do get some. Horses also munch straw bedding, so you never know how much you will need. Plus what if he suddenly got injured and you found him having to be box rested for 6 weeks...again the amout of hay and bedding you would need would near enough double, whereas with the unlimited option you always know where you stand cost wise.

Only my opinion, I like to know exactly how much I'm paying each month :)
 
Thanks :) Now how to break it to OH when he returns from his business trip that moving to a new yard and doubling my livery bill is actually fantastic value when you look at it...
 
Yes, it might be cheaper, but then again, when they realise what a big beggar he is and how much he eats, they might charge you more at yard 2, as their "profit" is literally being eaten up by your boy!

A sort of "large horse" premium...
 
PennyJ said:
Yes, it might be cheaper, but then again, when they realise what a big beggar he is and how much he eats, they might charge you more at yard 2, as their "profit" is literally being eaten up by your boy!

A sort of "large horse" premium...
Click to expand...

That wouldn't be very fair to let me move in and then put the price up. I've told them how big he is!
 
yard 2 would be the cheaper option in the long run, especially if they are in at night all yr round.

i'm on a yard where hay/haylage/straw is included, i have a big beast. he's retired and i keep thinking i could move him somewhere cheaper but when i work out the cost of everything i actually save about £10pw leaving him where he is. he's also on assissted DIY so they turn out in the mornings.

does yard 2 have that option or is it completely DIY?
 
I'm sitting here on the verge of tears looking at those two options!
Option 1: works out roughly at the most 115euro a month
Option 2: 65 euro a week.

In Ireland you would be SERIOUSLY lucky to find anything for 140euro a week roughly 125 pounds. And for that price it would be on a yard with not so fantastic facilities ...

I seriously need to move country so I can afford a horse some day :(
 
I was the only DIY on an otherwise full livery yard and was paying £50 a week for facilities, hay and straw. Grass livery during the summer was around £40 a week which is of course a lot BUT that was on the basis that the horses were checked, the fields were poo picked, etc etc and most of the owners did not visit daily. It was my choice to go there twice a day even when on grass livery but if I was away for work or something then I had the comfort he was being checked.

It was quite a lot for DIY particularly 2 years ago and as horse was totally retired but the decent fields, good fences, etc made it worthwhile.
 
I think that before you make your final decision, you need to check out the 'unlimited' hay and straw. Is is truly unlimited or is a certain number of bales included in the price and anything after that charged extra for?
 
Fueledbyaisling - Not true at all. Most yards in Ireland charge approx 100-120euro/wk for full livery (part-livery by english standards). This is a little cheaper than the most full livery yards in the UK. DIY livery i becoming more popular here in Ireland now and the usual price is 50euro inclding hay and often morning turn out. Facilities tend to be bette in Ireland. From my experience (I have visited over 100 livery yards in the UK through work), arenas on the cheaper yards tend to be very small (no larger than 40x20m) and generally have poor surfaces. My local yard in ireland has a large indoor, a large outdoor, 80acr cross country course, SJI shows throgh the winter and RC all year round and nice large stables in an american barn. Owner will happily hold for farrier and vet FOC. All bedding, haylage, concentrates included. Full livery= 100euro/wk.
My local yard in the UK was DIY livery only. Horse walker (but you would be lucky to be able to use it once a week as their hunters had priority), cross country course (but rarely poss to use it as youngstock in the fields), 40x20m outdoor recently resufaced (but still unusable as now very deep), on road hacking only, hay and straw included (haylage extra). Year round turnout did not include wet days (and often a few days following the wetdays!), snowy weather, and there was one 3 acre field for the 10 liveries. It was up to liveries to rest the field and take care of pasture management - but when our horses were stabled 24/7 for 3 weeks last spring to give it a rest the owners put their youngstock out on it!! DIY inc hay/straw=£50/wk! This I would say was one of the better yards in the area.


OP - Id go for number 2 but as others have said, check that it really is ad lib hay!
 
Investing in rubber matting could reduce your bedding costs at yard 1 and maybe people only bring them due to lack of company and would welcome somebody else to leave theirs out with - at least during the summer, which could reduce your hay costs as well? I think I would do a bit more research before making a final decision.
 
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