Why is grass livery so hard to find?

[Auslander]

I would not be paying this for grass livery, i live and keep my horses about 1 mile from the city considered most expensive after London and pay no where near that to keep my 3 currently.
I would be less inclined to look after the land at that price and i would expect the facilities to be fantastic or have a superb rep/selling point at 280.

I tink Hollie's setup is similar to mine, in that it is "full" grass livery, where the horses are looked after by the yard, so no need for owners to maintain fields, worry about buying feed/hay, change their own rugs etc. She charges similar to me (in winter at least), and I could fill my place twice over in the blink of an eye. As an owner, I wouldn't expect to pay that for DIY grass livery, but I'd happily pay it for the peace of mind of knowing that my horse is getting looked after.
It costs me around half that in feed/hay per horse, then I have the considerable cost of renting my place, and maintaining it on top, so I can't see how anyone can offer full grass livery much cheaper, unless they cut a lot of corners in terms of quality/quantity of feed/forage/land management.

 

[Crazydancer]

I would not be paying this for grass livery, i live and keep my horses about 1 mile from the city considered most expensive after London and pay no where near that to keep my 3 currently.
I would be less inclined to look after the land at that price and i would expect the facilities to be fantastic or have a superb rep/selling point at 280.

Full grass livery is very different to just renting a field - for what I will be paying I get a fabulous huge field, maintained by the owner, who uses sheep and harrowing to keep the grazing clean and tidy and at a reasonable length all year round. She brings them in once a day and feeds, picks feet, grooms, and for one livery, she exercises her horse. Rugs checked and changed if needed. Hay is supplied as part of the cost and put out when needed (and it's really good quality stuff) If the weather is bad they all have stables, again she takes care of all that, bedding supplied. No surfaced school, but there is a grass field with jumps, and hacking is amazing. Basically I know my horse has the best level of care and I don't have to turn up unless I want to ride - I will do more than that of course, but with the demands of my job it means never having to worry about my horse.

 

[Goldenstar]

Full grass livery is very different to just renting a field - for what I will be paying I get a fabulous huge field, maintained by the owner, who uses sheep and harrowing to keep the grazing clean and tidy and at a reasonable length all year round. She brings them in once a day and feeds, picks feet, grooms, and for one livery, she exercises her horse. Rugs checked and changed if needed. Hay is supplied as part of the cost and put out when needed (and it's really good quality stuff) If the weather is bad they all have stables, again she takes care of all that, bedding supplied. No surfaced school, but there is a grass field with jumps, and hacking is amazing. Basically I know my horse has the best level of care and I don't have to turn up unless I want to ride - I will do more than that of course, but with the demands of my job it means never having to worry about my horse.

That sounds like a great set up and I am really glad you appreciate your YOer has a good system in place and that you are prepared to pay for it .

 

[wingedhorse]

I know we have this problem people don't want to pay for grass livery round here well they don't want to pay real prices ! We charge £250 a month grass livery including twice daily feeding hay rug changes twice daily checks hundreds of acres including shelter and wood post and rail fencing
All any one does is moan it's expensive I think it's a great deal lol
To me it's horsey heaven we have 4 very happy herds

If you have good hacking, good lit full sized school, and are in essence providing complete care livery in a field, then this is good deal from my perspective. Providing horses are on well managed, well draining, land with shelter, and hay if needed.

My warmbloods probably cost me on stabled assisted DIY (turn out / bring in), £250 a month each in rent, food, hay, bedding, turnout / bring in.


Having had horses on DIY grass livery, the monthly time and costs of:

Poo picking
Ragworting
Fencing
Water trough maintenance
Putting out hay (and clearing up mess)
Dealing with hard core / gateway issues
Checking twice a day
Changing rugs / fly masks et
Feeding

Soon build up! I someone was doing all of the above, to a high standard, and providing a great environment with great care, then seems a reasonable charge to me.

 

[tabithakat64]

I think £250 is reasonable.

When I was looking I found grass livery but it was one acre for £25 per week, no shelter or water or facilities but good hacking. I opted not to take it as that little space is not enough. This seems commonplace or for yards to have a small 1/2 acre paddock per horse that can only be used in perfect weather.

I currently have my two plus another out on five acres split into two with natural shelter, we poo pick, ragwort, fill troughs ourselves but the farmer will occasionally help with fencing or topping weeds. I also have access to hard standing and a stable. No electric, no secure storage for tack, hacking involves road work and the fields are on a hillside.

But there is enough space for my two to live out year round supplemented with hay in the winter if I want and a job service if needed.

For that I pay an additional £156 a month more than I was paying at a yard where grazing wasn't managed (but was ragworted/harrowed etc) and we had off road hacking, secure storage, floodlit school etc.

It's much harder work especially in winter but my horses are happier.