Why does no where do grass livery any more?

Echo Bravo said:
If you want just grass livery only,you must expect to pay on top if they have menage etc. And everyone needs a stable at sometime believe me.
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Yes, I am not looking for grass livery because it is cheaper, I am looking for it because that is what suits me and my horses. I am expecting to pay more for manège and an emergency stable.
 
Jeepers I am very lucky with the yard I have my mare at.. She is out on Grass ( not @ £30 a week or anything like it unfortunatly ) BUT yard are great, I just put in book when I want her in so if I am tight on time they have her in from field for me so I don't have to catch her! I have access to all the facilities the full liverys have, designated tack box, livery discounts on lessons etc....
Oh and there have been a couple of occasions in the past where I have needed her overnight & its never been an issue & never been charged extra.

BUT I may make the decision to bring her in for the winter & if I do she can still get minimum of 6hours turnout a day.
 
I had a huge problem finding a new yard, everywhere that did grass was only DIY and with work I can't do it... After2 months of looking just got a space at a yard now where I have to pay for a stable, though they will let my horse live out full time. I asked lots of yard owners why it's so hard to get grass livery (and assisted livery) and apparently all the flooding and snow in recent years just means it's way too much trouble for yards which is sad but understandable
 
As a YO I offer all year turnout; its a strictly DIY set-up and included in the price is a stable. Livery also has use of the yard, her own tackroom, storage space for hay etc & feed, plus is allowed to put up jumps and mark out her own dressage arena - though this isn't used in the winter months.

Usually from around the end of October, myself and livery bring our horses in. This is to protect the grass more than anything else; the livery contract states clearly that whilst it is hoped to be able to provide all-year-round turnout, sometimes due to weather conditions this may not always be possible and therefore horses will need to be brought in at night from November through to (end) February.

I think the main reason why people aren't offering just "grass livery" anymore is because its firstly uneconomic; and secondly there is a possible welfare issue in having horses standing up to their knees in mud during a wet winter - and the one thing that YO/landowners don't want is a visit from the RSPCA about the horses in "their" field being "neglected". Also with grass livery there is an issue of land management - its not good practice to keep horses turned out on the same pasture all year round without a break or the chance to maintain the grazing properly.

If a vet is ever required (and tell me a situation where this NEVER happens!!) - then its well-nigh impossible to deal with this on "grass livery" without access to any sort of shelter or stable - it means you're stuck in a miserable, dark, unlit, muddy field - witih a stressed, poorly, muddy and wet horse/pony; and very unfair indeed to expect a professional to do his/her job in these circumstances.
 
Where I am they offer grass livery over the summer (well mid May - end October) This still includes a stable to tack up in, tack room, all water is done for you & a brand new arena to use anytime too - £30 a week :D
 
My yard is the same, in at night and if the weather is poor they are not allowed out. Can't understand it personally, if u have acres if fields, what's the harm in a bit of mud? We have individual grazing as well, can't see my little mare churning the ground too much? ? All I want is the best for her. Willing to pay the going rate, just want grazing!!!
 
ive never quite understood the wear and tear angle that some YO come up with as a reason for not giving 24hr turnout. mine are out 24hr regardless of weather 100% of the time and i would never go to a yard that could not guarantee me turnout all the time. personally i'm not fussed about facilities having water and electric will do me not to fussed about a school though it is nice to have one.

My fields do get a bit poached during the winter but they are a lot better than the (much larger) fields that some of my fellow liveries who bring in at night are. All the horses who are turned out 24/7 are chilled out dont tend to hoon around the fields everyday unlike those that have been shut in a 12 by 12 box all night! plus my horses only come through the gateways a few times a week not twice a day as those who bring in at night do so my gateways are far better!
 
s4sugar said:
Sums it up nicely.
I recently had someone approach me for winter turnout for a yearling. I normally reject any request out of hand as the fields poach badly enough as it is but this would have been a good playmate for my youngster and it could share the huge bales of haylage with my two & I would feed, water and check it along with mine. I have storage, loo & kettle available.
£25 a week was "far too dear" -£25 a week is minimal for DIY and no feed supplied around here.
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I would say that is very reasonable because it was going to be checked and fed, what could be better, but you can't please everyone.
The standard charge, if you can find it, is £15.00-£20.00 per week, tends to be on a farm which is a bit isolated for normal liveries and would not always include feeding hay.
There is no grass livery round here, and not many have all year round turnout, everyone gets a stable allocated and that is it, which I don't mind as I like to potter about!
 
Tinap555 said:
Where I am they offer grass livery over the summer (well mid May - end October) This still includes a stable to tack up in, tack room, all water is done for you & a brand new arena to use anytime too - £30 a week :D
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This is similar to round here - grass livery £30 per week through the summer but poo picking is required. Once October comes round back, horses come in over night and back to DIY/part or full livery as each individual requires.

Alternatively, you can rent a two and half acre field with couple of stables for two horses for approx £200 a month but no facilities so you have to hack/transport to a local yard to hire their school etc....
 
Because land in the UK is at a premium. This means demand and costs are high.

I have a horse turned away on very good grazing and expected to pay accordingly, given the costs of maintenance, tax etc. Grass is, alas, not free!
 
Im on the don't do grasss livery camp due to the fact that the only grass liveries I have had were very infrequent in their visiting. Horses would sometimes not be seen by the owners for three days, I wasn't notified or asked to check them and I'm not going out my way for people like this. If your on DIY or grass you check them yourself at least once a day.
 
I'm soooo lucky & will never forget it. Pay grass livery for 24/7 ayto but have a stable, tack bay, toilet AND trailer parking!!! Only 4 of us there too. Bliss.
 
natalia said:
Im on the don't do grasss livery camp due to the fact that the only grass liveries I have had were very infrequent in their visiting. Horses would sometimes not be seen by the owners for three days, I wasn't notified or asked to check them and I'm not going out my way for people like this. If your on DIY or grass you check them yourself at least once a day.
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Exactly! I've been in this situation too; also someone turned out a pony with sweet itch and never checked that its rug was still intact and that it wasn't rubbing on the fencing or anything.

Also..... someone has said (can't remember who) that they virtually expect/demand grass turnout 365 days of the year; my reply to that is to say OK so try being a YO and manage wet mucky fields in the weather we've had for the last few years (and have at the moment). IF YO's allow the fields to get fouled up, then everyone grouses about the fact there's no grazing! If YO's tell everyone, sorry, but no turnout or limited turnout, then everyone grouses about that too!

My plan is to ask, politely, if horses can be brought in for the night-time only between the months of November thro' to (end of) February, or thereabouts, depending on what the weather's doing. This is what I do for my own two horses, and whilst it makes for extra work and expense, this way I AM able to almost guarantee turnout for 365 days of the year.

However, if I offered "grass livery" on its own, in less than a week the fields would be pulp and it would take till the spring to be able to get a tractor in there to do anything. Full stop. People need to realise this and be aware that YO's have a very difficult job in trying to please everyone.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Full stop. People need to realise this and be aware that YO's have a very difficult job in trying to please everyone.
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I don't think anyone on this thread has implied that YO's have an easy job!

We have all said that we understand WHY it isn't so readily available as DIY/Part/Full Livery, but just find it frustrating because of the lack of land and the cost involved in maintaining said land, that YO's would prefer to have horses coming in for a set amount of hours so they can have more horses on less land.

It makes perfect sense. But my horse prefers living out, and I prefer him living out and always will.
 
CobsGalore said:
I don't think anyone on this thread has implied that YO's have an easy job!

We have all said that we understand WHY it isn't so readily available as DIY/Part/Full Livery, but just find it frustrating because of the lack of land and the cost involved in maintaining said land, that YO's would prefer to have horses coming in for a set amount of hours so they can have more horses on less land.

It makes perfect sense. But my horse prefers living out, and I prefer him living out and always will.
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Hmm, depends on where you are in the country too mebbe? If near to a big town, then grazing land is going to come at a premium, whereas in a more rural area it might be easier? Although here where I am (East Devon) I don't know of anyone TBH who'd offer grazing livery as every available field is snapped up for farming and/or the dreaded "development". Also in low-lying areas it might be more difficult to find grass livery as land is much more likely to become damp and stay that way, whereas in upland areas, on chalk/limestone etc., the land will be that much drier.
 
Both my yards do grass livery. However it is in a big mixed herd with barbed wire fencing so not suitable for everyone. My gelding is fine but my mare couldn't do it. I pay £23 per week at the moment with great hacking and good school and facilities. I'm moving him though to where I keep my mare and that is £140 per calander month but you also get your own stable so can keep in as and when required. It's a smaller herd as well.
 
I think YO's need to remember we live in the UK, winters will be WET. That's a given. Horses should be outside, that's how they're made, not to be cooped up. Seems you cant have the perfect yard :(
 
kty82 said:
I think YO's need to remember we live in the UK, winters will be WET. That's a given. Horses should be outside, that's how they're made, not to be cooped up. Seems you cant have the perfect yard :(
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Where's that 'Like' button gone??

Also, I have always been a grass livery, and always checked on my horse at least once a day, usually twice :)
 
kty82 said:
I think YO's need to remember we live in the UK, winters will be WET. That's a given. Horses should be outside, that's how they're made, not to be cooped up. Seems you cant have the perfect yard :(
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So what are the YO ers to do if your land is clay as big areas of the UK are it simply will not stand up to heavy use in winter.
I own my yard and I would never do 24 hr turnout in winter the damage to the soil structure would be too great and it almost irrepareable if you allow too much poaching .
I friend near me did grass livery and stopped max they would pay was £15 and they expected her to be able to magic a stable at a moments notice if something went wrong but did not expect to pay for it.
The best place for grass livery is a farm with just a few informal liverys there's a farm near here doing that but it's a farm not set up for horses at all so it would not suit everyone.
 
I think the point is though, that if there was more land readily available and it wasn't so expensive to buy/rent, then YO's would have more land per horse, which would mean it didn't get ruined in the winter.

That's not the case though, and YO's need to pay their bills just as liveries do. No one is to blame, it's just frustrating! A sign of the current times.
 
At the present moment of time grazing land (well drained and fenced mature grass land is worth on average about £15,000 per acre. This means just to get a sensible return on it one would need an income of £1,500 per year (£30 per week). In adition to that there is the cost of poo picking, maintaining the fences, hedge cutting, water supply and water trough maintenance etc. In other words £40 per week per acre. In most cases if there is anything more than one horse per acre then the ground will be damaged. Hence why grass livery is difficult to find.
 
natalia said:
Im on the don't do grasss livery camp due to the fact that the only grass liveries I have had were very infrequent in their visiting. Horses would sometimes not be seen by the owners for three days, I wasn't notified or asked to check them and I'm not going out my way for people like this. If your on DIY or grass you check them yourself at least once a day.
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This is definately off putting for YO's!!

I see mine twice a day (unless im working and its once)! but there is someone who walks past their field twice a day too so if there was an issue im sure id get a call!

I couldnt imagine not checking on them daily!!... even if its just to go up for a pat and a cuddle - its seeing their daft little faces that make my day :)
 
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