Would you be interested in a livery yard with just off road riding?

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Bluecat

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We are hoping to start a livery yard. We will have lovely secure stables by our house. An indoor arena and jumping/schooling grass area to begin with but an outdoor arena also eventually. Xc jumps around the land which is about 100 acres. Liveries would be able to ride all round the land and paddle in the river at the bottom of the fields. The reason the riding would be mainly off road is because the farm is on a quiet lane but both ends of it join a main road which is crossable to another quiet lane (you can also access more of our land on this side of the road)but you would have to come back the same way you came rather than doing a loop as you couldnt ride along the main road on the way back if you tried to do a circuit.

Hope that makes sense! So basically im asking how much people would want road riding aswel as off road at a livery yard and if not having road riding would put you off. Thanks
 
It sounds fantastic but personally i would miss hacking on the road, my horse loves it, i used to be on a farm with about 100 acres too, i hardly used the fields apart from the gallops.
Love the indoor school though, a lot of people would sacrifice hacking for that i'm sure, especially in winter :)
 
Personally I wouldn't like it, wouldn't suit me as my horse mainly hacks nowadays and I would want more than 100 acres to ride around. It isn't really very much when you consider how long a hack might be (and I'm not one of those people who hacks for hours and hours every day). But, if I was someone who rarely hacked and who just used the facilities because, say, I competed seriously at DR, then it would be different.
 
I hate riding on the roads, currently on a 350 acre farm so lots off off road hacking. I'd see it as a plus point, not negative. Parents would be particularly interested I think, much safer for kids x
 
Thanks for your responses. We do have another 50 acres across the otherside of the main road and up the lane. Im wondering if we marketed it more of a competition yard and focused more on full livery whether that would help. If someone really enjoyed riding miles along the roads it may not suit.
 
I always like to include roadwork, I am at home atm with no road work and it makes fitenning horses really difficult I find. It does sound like however, you do have SOME roadwork available, in which case your livery sounds lovely.
 
Think would suit lots of people in certain circumstances eg horses not good to hack etc & of course some people just don't like hacking! Wouldn't put me off if everything else was perfect, but I was on a yard like this once & I did get a bit bored! My horse is a fab hack & goes anywhere & everywhere!
I do remember eventually getting bored with just doing the same hack round the nearby village or using the off road riding. I moved anyway because of numerous reasons that made me dislike yard. I am very spoilt now as have at least 10 decent hacks near me, they're varying distances & lots of tracks/bridle ways that all link up. You can ride them all both ways round for variety & if you want very long hacks(I don't) then there's numerous really long rides!
 
I think you will find that those of us who have HAD to hack on busy roads will see your yard as a godsend. You have a lot of facilities as well - have a look at Littleton manor in Reigate Surrey - they have a lot of facilities so would sound similiar to what you are looking at. Just might give you some ideas. I am not at that yard but its nearby so we often ship over to hire the XC or SJ course. Haven't made it to the gallops yet but a lot of the other liveries have.
 
Thanks Luci07 that yard looks fab and is useful for extra ideas.They dont mention having road hacking but do you know if they do have any?are they a popular livery?Thanks
 
OP's yard sounds absolutely idyllic; tho' personally I don't think it does a horse any harm to have to do roadwork occasionally, coz if they can handle the general hazards and hullaballoo you encounter out hacking, then anything else they might meet either in the ring or across country, will just be peanuts to them.

I can't remember who said this, it was someone "famous", might have been William FP??? Not sure, but whoever it was, was making the point that there's no quicker way to spook-proof a horse and get them going forward off the leg than hacking out. Simples!

OP's yard does sound fab though........
 
the hacking at my yard can all be done off road,

however there are roads (varying in "busy-ness") and also quiet lanes that we can ride on if we so wish, we can go for miles on "loop" rides too

my previous yard was 90% roadwork (had to go on at leasdt 1 fast road to get anywhere too) and although my horses are traffic proof i hated it!

Its nice to have the option of both and i like to use the roads to keep my horses "traffic proof" as well as vary the routes, help with fitness etc but if a yard was perfect for me and my horses i wouldnt let "minimal roads" put me off

sorry if that made no sense at all
 
I think it sounds great however, Id want some roads to hack on. The yard Im going to has some off road hacking but it also has roads to hack on.
 
Sounds fantastic :) Although you might have trouble with the entrance to and from the hacks in the winter if the ground gets too boggy. You could maybe look into getting planning permission to have some sort of track put in along the edge of the field or something to provide an option for when the ground is too wet.
 
Its sounds perfect for people who don't hack much. The negatives for hackers are; 100 acres isn't that much to ride, and road work is great for fittening and conditioning/self trimming unshod hooves.
For those who like to mostly ride in the school and XC course, and have the opportunity to ride in a safe environment, it sounds wonderful.
 
Thanks for all your replies. Yo can cross the main road to get to a quiet lane but it wouldnt be very exciting as you would have to come back the same way. you could ride down the busy road but not sure id want to risk it even with a traffic proof horse!!
 
Yes, yes, yes! My boy is perfect in traffic but I just hate it as they are getting faster and closer with no regard for man or beast!
 
I think you should go for it, there arent enough yards with off road riding as far as I am concerned. I wish more land owners would join TROT or open livery yards so you could pay to ride round fields and tracks all day if you want to!
I have ridden for 20+years and had a lovely sensible safe horse and despite this I got hit by a car we both went over the top and my horse lost his life.
I find it really hard to find suitable livery yards these days because I dont trust drivers anymore and dont want to risk the life of myself or my horse.
Good luck and hope you do it.
 
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