Why is it so hard to find a livery yard.....

M

Morrigan_Lady

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www.teamterrellshowjumping.co.uk
....Ive been on the look out now for ages and just cant find anywhere suitable.

All the yard owners Ive spoken to so far are SO set in their ways and everything has to be done their way and on their schedule!!!

All Im looking for is a nice friendly yard with, menage, trailer parking, individual turn out, half decent hacking and can offer assistance when needed and that isnt a million pounds a month. Id also like my horses to stick to their routine, that works for me and them!!!
Is that really too much to ask for?????
 
I feel your pain, the yard Im on atm is not suitable at all due to having a riding school on it so limited access to menage, limited T/O(I have 2 youngsters) and very strict time rules(have to be off by 7pm) none of which is very good if your working but can I find another yard......No! Getting very frustrated by it. What area are you in?
 
Are you looking for part/full livery. I do have to say if you are and you cant spend £££'s a month then you will struggle to find a yard that will adjust its routine just to suit one Liverys horses. I worked part time on a yard whilst up at uni that only offers part/full livery and with just 2 or 3 members of staff on the wages we are on and the timescale we have to look after 30+ horses and ponies we cant adjust our routine really to suit the liverys. Everything was done at the same time for every horse on the yard, with the obvious exeptions if you were going to a show etc! This yard was resonably priced (£75 for 5 day part which is full without exercise, £90 for 7 day and £110 for full - all prices inc food, beeding etc) so doesnt offer a bespoke livery package.

But if you have the money to spend where you can afford a yard which provides you with individual grooms, who will change their routine for your horse as dont have many to do,I know a couple in Buckinghamshire (depending on where you are in Bucks) that might suit! :)
 
How do you expect a yard to even cover it's costs if it doesn't charge? and how do you expect a bespoke service if you don't want to pay for it?

please give details on what the yard is doing wrong and how much they are charging?
 
4faults said:
I feel your pain, the yard Im on atm is not suitable at all due to having a riding school on it so limited access to menage, limited T/O(I have 2 youngsters) and very strict time rules(have to be off by 7pm) none of which is very good if your working but can I find another yard......No! Getting very frustrated by it. What area are you in?
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Were these rules set and explained before you moved on, or brought in afterwards?
 
I can offer all the above but I think my yard might be too far away from you....... I'm near Sharnbrook (Beds); have two livery spaces.

Individual turnout (or max 2 together)
11 x 13 stables
60 x 30 menage
Miles of off-road hacking

DIY £100 per calendar month, Assisted available (price tailored to requirements)
 
RioSG said:
I can offer all the above but I think my yard might be too far away from you....... I'm near Sharnbrook (Beds); have two livery spaces.

Individual turnout (or max 2 together)
11 x 13 stables
60 x 30 menage
Miles of off-road hacking

DIY £100 per calendar month, Assisted available (price tailored to requirements)
Click to expand...

Any chance you can up sticks and move to Northumberland;)
 
I don't think you necessarily need to find your own place, it's just about finding the right place...

I am happy for owners to have their own routine for the care of their horse, as long as they are clean, tidy and respectful of the other liveries. I wouldn't admit a livery who I didn't believe was capable of looking after their own horse(s) to an acceptable standard.

But then mine is a yard of only 6 stables; it would be impossible to be so relaxed when you start catering for 10, 20, 30 liveries. Having worked on a yard of 50 liveries/riding school horses, it would be chaos if everyone wanted things done their own way! You have to set some boundaries in place (metaphorically as well as literally!!)

Anyway, as much as you are finding it hard to find a yard, I can't find liveries for mine! I guess it's all location, location, location...
 
Im not contradicting myself at all.

I love the yard Im at at the moment and so do my horses. They are happy with their routine and I wouldnt want to change that.

The few other yards Ive spoken to dont like individual turn out and insist the horses are all turned out together, they want ALL the horses turned out and brought in at the same time.
Open and closing times etc.

Since posting this, I have now managed to sort something out.
 
The yard im at is simply convenient, otherwise i would have moved. I live next door to a livery yard, which offers DIY livery at a decent price.
However, it has the basics. A menage, which in wet, windy weather is rendered useless, as it was knocked together so badly it holds water better than a swimming pool, also its surounded by trees, which creak non-stop in wind, they have been tied back with rope to stop them falling in the arena.not good. The lighting is poor, very poor, you always have to ride in the suns light-which is almost impossible as of lessons and other liverys taking up time!
It has a small XC field, which is great, although it has been sectioned off into fields, and the horses in these fields arnt so great, everytime you want to use the XC paddock you have to watch out for attacking ponies!
The yard manager, is a lovely friendly woman, however the 'health and safety' manager is a dragon. She seriously dislikes me and my sister and any other DIY members, and continually picks on them causing un-called for fights and arguements.
The stables must have been knocked together within a few minutes flat, as my tin-roofed stable lets all water in (polyfiller was the yards chosen water stopper!) and in the heat, the stables are unusable.
Puddles are filled within five minutes flat of a rain storm. The own vicious geese which attack if you get to close (usually about 10 feet away), the hay and straw is very dusty, and the haylege is reserved for cattle only.
you have to walk half-a-mile to get your pony in. The yard is full of pot-holes and cracks-not very suitable for horses.

On the plus side, the yard manager is a lovely lady, the grass is good quality thanks to the cattle and fertaliser. The showjumping paddock is slightly poor, but with great jumping facilities. When the weather is good, the arena is perfect.


Sorry for my rant, but nothings perfect, inless your willing to pay the price.
 
I can see it from both sides in that there has to be rules on all yards but also the welfare of the horses must be top priority and so often profit comes first. The problem I have found with most yards is that they have far too many horses for the amount of grazing/facilities so struggle in winter for turnout and of course the overcrowding causes arguments with the humans as well! It is so difficult to find nice yards with experienced, considerate yard owners at a reasonable cost that offer assistance when needed and that you dont have to travel miles to get too - do these yards actually exist!!:(
 
I hear you! We never seemed to be able to 'tick all the boxes' when we were looking at yards, and always had to compromise. As long as the horses needs were catered for, ie all year turn out, no barbed wire, decent surface to exercise on etc we were more or less happy, but had to put up with lots of things we didn't much like. And then we found our current yard! 5 mins away,got everything we need,lovely people, smashing YO, and we didn't even know it was there! Unbelievable really, but keep searching and hopefully you will find something.
 
fluffalina said:
I hear you! We never seemed to be able to 'tick all the boxes' when we were looking at yards, and always had to compromise. As long as the horses needs were catered for, ie all year turn out, no barbed wire, decent surface to exercise on etc we were more or less happy, but had to put up with lots of things we didn't much like. And then we found our current yard! 5 mins away,got everything we need,lovely people, smashing YO, and we didn't even know it was there! Unbelievable really, but keep searching and hopefully you will find something.
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Why compromise!!

Just go out and find your own yard, they are cheap as chips to run and you makes massive amounts of money don't you know!!
 
T-Bag said:
Why compromise!!

Just go out and find your own yard, they are cheap as chips to run and you makes massive amounts of money don't you know!!
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:D :D :D There is no such thing as the perfect yard, even if you find your own. There are always compromises to be made, it just depends on how much. I love my yard and my ponies are very happy there but there are a couple of things I would LOVE to change if I could. It would be the same wherever I went.
 
That isnt too much to ask, but the individual turnout may be the main thing you have trouble with.

We spend so much time with our horses, the yard has to be comfortable and nice to be at, like our second home.
 
It is really difficult. When I was down in Berks, I must have been round all the yards as nothing ever good enough. I even went to one with horse and they hadn't bedded stable well enough and no security/locked gates and no one there so I didn't even unload (and it was a really famous trainer's yard). I think part of the problem was my attitude tbh but having them at home with own turnout/manage etc is pure bliss even if it is in Aberdeenshire and frozen at the mo.
 
T-Bag said:
Why compromise!!

Just go out and find your own yard, they are cheap as chips to run and you makes massive amounts of money don't you know!!
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Tell me about it, I've done (long overdue) price review over the weekend and discovered that my prices actually didn't cover my cost :eek: I'm still a bit shaken by the experience...
 
martlin said:
Tell me about it, I've done (long overdue) price review over the weekend and discovered that my prices actually didn't cover my cost :eek: I'm still a bit shaken by the experience...
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Nope I'm not covering either and I'm not cheap, but I have a great place in a great spot and that is why I have to pay more.

If I dared I would put up livery £10 a week, surely we are the business where it's expected not to even break even unless we are at 100% full
 
Oh honestly I feel like livery yards are the bane of my existence.
I just want a yard with all yr t/o (24/7 in summer) a decent arena not ridiculously expensive or miles away from home. It is proving impossible.
Either have t/o no decent facilities or facilities no turnout or too far away.
 
T-Bag said:
Nope I'm not covering either and I'm not cheap, but I have a great place in a great spot and that is why I have to pay more.

If I dared I would put up livery £10 a week, surely we are the business where it's expected not to even break even unless we are at 100% full
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Whilst I understand where you are coming from, you cannot expect your liveries to know about your profit margin!

Sorry but if you are only just breaking even or in poor Martlins case, not covering costs, you need to put your prices up to adjust. Everything has gone up in cost so although it is hard most liveries should be aware of this.

Finding livery is hard but having been on one where the y/m thought she was doing everyone a favour by being there because she didn't make much profit, we were reminded of this daily, wasn't fun. Rules got changed without warning to suit her and sadly things were not done with the horses best intrests at heart.

I would gladly pay extra for a good yard with lovely y/m.

I now have my horses in my own yard and LOVE it! :D
 
:)
My case was just simply setting prices a while ago at a comfortable margin and never looking at them again - suffice to say, livery charges are going up from 1st Feb. I'm not trying to cover mortgage repayments, capital returns etc, because I would price myself out of the market. It's not THAT important, what is important is not actually PAYING to have customers IYSWIM, so not being worse off than if the stables were empty:)
 
One of the reasons for not being able to find cheap, give you all you want yards was amply demonstrated on here last week. People suing for falling over, people complaining about facilities, people complaining about cost. So many people seem to think that YO along with vets etc should give their services for free, or at least cost, because the horse owner believes they are somehow owed that.
If you want to do it your way, buy your own place, make the sacrifices that calls for and if you need someone to help out, find them and pay them. Simples :)
 
Muchadoaboutnothing said:
Whilst I understand where you are coming from, you cannot expect your liveries to know about your profit margin!
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your right, I shouldn't and a few years ago I was was of those moaning liveries!

Everybody seems to all have the same price, I think we all force a too low of price on ourselves, for me I know some people can't believe what they get from me at the price while others can't believe it's so high and as I've said, in truth it's not high enough.

it's the moaning that a good yard not down the road is what is winding me up, as if livery yard were so cheap to run and buy there should be one on every corner.
 
T-Bag said:
your right, I shouldn't and a few years ago I was was of those moaning liveries!

Everybody seems to all have the same price, I think we all force a too low of price on ourselves, for me I know some people can't believe what they get from me at the price while others can't believe it's so high and as I've said, in truth it's not high enough.

it's the moaning that a good yard not down the road is what is winding me up, as if livery yard were so cheap to run and buy there should be one on every corner.
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Totally agree. I just think it about people being realistic. A yard with everything is goning to have larger overheads. People need to be able to make a living!

The point I was making about my old y/m was that we were paying a fair wack for livery yet she wasn't making as much as she wanted so used to tell us this everyday :rolleyes: It got to the point where the full liveries were billed extra to cover muck heap removal as she hadn't budgeted for the cost and then charged extra one month so the electric bill could be paid. Then they had to pay up front for their hay to be bought in due to cash flow problems. Not what was agreed in the contract and you didn't have a clue what your bill was going to be each month!

I now have my own place and did a yearly budget upfront so I knew what I was getting myself into including a huge reserve to allow for extras, fencing repairs being the biggest pain in my butt :D
 
RioSG said:
I can offer all the above but I think my yard might be too far away from you....... I'm near Sharnbrook (Beds); have two livery spaces.

Individual turnout (or max 2 together)
11 x 13 stables
60 x 30 menage
Miles of off-road hacking

DIY £100 per calendar month, Assisted available (price tailored to requirements)
Click to expand...

That sounds like heaven, wish you were closer.

The only reason I'm at my livery yard is because its just over the road. Its a run down farm, my stable leaks, the lighting is terrible, the fencing is awful so I've put my own around the inside. The YO does nothing and there is no help available if you need your horse looking after.
 
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