Would you share a horse at a yard with no turnout (except in the school)?

[EchoInterrupted]

I wouldn't put my own horse on livery at a yard with no field turnout, but in London many livery yards are like this, or at least have very limited turnout. If there's a horse already at a yard with no turnout and the owner is looking for a sharer, would you consider sharing it (assuming you were looking for a share and there aren't many options around)? My gut instinct was "no" since I wouldn't want that for my own horse (if I had one), but I suppose that doesn't help the horse in question either. At least ridden and pampering time out of the box with a sharer is time out of the box? This is all hypothetical, there's not a specific person I'm in contact with - just weighing options as I reach out to livery yards to see if they need sharers and debating whether I should reach out to ones that don't have turnout or only do turnout in the school. I think maybe if they did turnout every night all night in the school with other horses, then I might consider it (as a sharer) because at least then there is some type of herd turnout?

Just curious on other people's thoughts on this. And I know some horses do OK boxed most of the day or sometimes there is no other option because livery options are so limited, I just personally would not want it for my own horse (don't mean to upset anyone who for reasons out of their control is in this type of situation with their horse, I know livery spaces in London are a pain).

Also let's please not get into the "people shouldn't have a horse if there's not turnout at the yard" discussion, that's not what this thread is about

 

[InklePickle]

Turn out is NOT the be all and end all of anything, many London yards do have turn out just not 24/7 which I don't think is best for a large amount of horses anyway. So yes I would share. However contacting yards isn't necessarily the best way to find a share. Which part of London are you looking in?

 

[FlyingCircus]

No because I like my limbs intact

 

[mariew]

Only if I knew that the horse got plenty of exercise, like ridden properly a couple of times per day. Back home in Sweden horses didn't often get good turnout but they did get worked every day generally for at least an hour with hacks thrown in.

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

You’d be doing the horse a favour by exercising and giving it attention so in the circumstances I probably would.

 

[EchoInterrupted]

Turn out is NOT the be all and end all of anything, many London yards do have turn out just not 24/7 which I don't think is best for a large amount of horses anyway. So yes I would share. However contacting yards isn't necessarily the best way to find a share. Which part of London are you looking in?

Limited turnout - say a couple hours a day - I think is totally normal for London and doable for many/most horses. It's the "don't even have a field to turn horses out" in yards that I was thinking of with this post. There aren't that many of them, but there are a couple within commuting distance of where I live.

I'm in East London, but am limited to commuting via tube and bicycle unfortunately because of lack of parking w/flat, so no car. Have been searching through Facebook groups as well, but FB groups tend to be geared more towards North London and Essex, at which point commuting without a car becomes either very long, or infeasible. I haven't been able to find a FB group dedicated to East London, so if you know of one please let me know Somewhat starting to regret renting a flat that doesn't have street parking rights, but there wasn't much of a way to avoid it this time around unfortunately...

 

[splashgirl45]

why not look at preloved, freeads etc to see if there are any shares advertised and then work out if you can get there in a reasonable time. maybe find a riding school you can get to and book to hack or have lessons and ask if they know of any shares. lea bridge riding school may be easily accessible from the central line i cant remember exactly where it is, high beech riding school does hacks in epping forest and is about 5 miles from chingford station so could be done if you took your bike..i think asking around in person is better than contacting yards, they wont want to get involved in giving you contacts for share horses. in answer to your question the lack of turnout is not really a reason for you not to share, in fact you would be doing the horse a favour by looking after it and getting it out of the stable for a while...

 

[InklePickle]

I'm on the edge of North London and all yards have turn out in fields

 

[Leandy]

Personally I would yes but I don't have an inherent problem with no turnout so long as otherwise the stable management and set up are good. You will have to decide whether you will enjoy riding a horse in this situation and get out of the share what you want to get out of it and that is very personal. And, if this is the only option for you to ride then you have to weigh that up against not doing it at all. I am wondering though, whether as a potential sharer you are overthinking this. IMHO you are very lucky to have the opportunity if someone wants you as a sharer for their horse. First see what is out there, and then consider whether any of those options are what you are looking for. Don't make it harder than you need to to find options and don't look a gift horse in the mouth. As it were!

 

[EchoInterrupted]

I'm on the edge of North London and all yards have turn out in fields

I know there is at least one in my area that has no fields, but I *think* all the others do, may just have limitations on hours and weather/winter. Heading further east out of London there are some yards with very good turnout though. I mean it's no surprise that the closer to central London, the less turnout

ETA: I should say my original post saying "in London many yards are like this" was inaccurate. I more meant I know that turnout in the slightly more central areas of London can be a struggle and can be quite limited, in some case there being little to no turnout. On the fringes you can get quite good turnout of course

 

[EchoInterrupted]

why not look at preloved, freeads etc to see if there are any shares advertised and then work out if you can get there in a reasonable time. maybe find a riding school you can get to and book to hack or have lessons and ask if they know of any shares. lea bridge riding school may be easily accessible from the central line i cant remember exactly where it is, high beech riding school does hacks in epping forest and is about 5 miles from chingford station so could be done if you took your bike..i think asking around in person is better than contacting yards, they wont want to get involved in giving you contacts for share horses. in answer to your question the lack of turnout is not really a reason for you not to share, in fact you would be doing the horse a favour by looking after it and getting it out of the stable for a while...

Already done all the above Have got a lesson booked in at a nearby riding school and have been scouring FB/preloved. In the past I have had some luck with sending an email to livery yard managers which they can then pass on to liveries at their discretion (so it's all in the liveries' hands whether they get in touch with me or not), but maybe that's not quite a normal thing to do, I'm not sure .

 

[Surbie]

I know there is at least one in my area that has no fields, but I *think* all the others do, may just have limitations on hours and weather/winter. Heading further east out of London there are some yards with very good turnout though. I mean it's no surprise that the closer to central London, the less turnout

ETA: I should say my original post saying "in London many yards are like this" was inaccurate. I more meant I know that turnout in the slightly more central areas of London can be a struggle and can be quite limited, in some case there being little to no turnout. On the fringes you can get quite good turnout of course

If they have no fields, they may have an arrangement with other yards who do. My yard takes horses from a London riding school for some downtime, so do a few other local livery yards. Horses come on rotation for several days off each week to chill in the fields and also for block holidays.

 

[EchoInterrupted]

If they have no fields, they may have an arrangement with other yards who do. My yard takes horses from a London riding school for some downtime, so do a few other local livery yards. Horses come on rotation for several days off each week to chill in the fields and also for block holidays.

Oooh, that's really lovely to hear

 

[Karran]

My Part Loan was originally on a yard with no turn out. That's how I got the ride as she needed time out the box and her owner couldn't/can't commit timewise and also has a long standing injury so physically unable to do every day.
The riding school in S E London I grew up using, had very little turn out, just an hour or so in the arena (nothing at weekends) but all the horses on a rotational basis went to a farm near Hastings for 6-8 weeks a year to do nothing but mooch in a field.

 

[Lipglosspukka]

Yes I would.

I wouldn't choose it for my own horse but would consider it for a share. A horse who gets no turnout needs as much time out of his box as he can get.

You would be a blessing.

 

[PeterNatt]

My horse was kept in London and ridden each and every day and sometimes several times a day. My horse was totally safe in all situations and was regularly ridden by himself through central London. If they are ridden enough and given ad lib soaked hay then a horse with the right temprement will happily cope with that situation. Despite my horse being mainly hacked on roads you could hack him on the tracks of Hyde Park, Hampstead Heath, Trent Park, Wimbledon Common, and Richmand Park and he would behave perfectly. I used to also take him on holidays and again he would always behave so it is realy down to the temprement of the horse and that you excercise them enough.

 

[Barlow]

I shared a horse that was based in Richmond Park with no turnout, it was what the horse was used to and as you say it is difficult to find horses within zone 6 that don’t have some sort of compromise. I was also a civilian exercise rider and ride the Household Division horses based in the Knightsbridge barracks - they had no turnout either

 

[splashgirl45]

just seen a facebook group called horses and ponies to loan or share uk, you would need to join as its a private group, worth a try

 

[ponynutz]

Turnout is turnout is turnout. If they're in the sand paddock and are ridden daily it's not an issue for me. I've done it before and I'd do it again if I had to. Ours are in the paddock all day in winter but even if it was just while mucking out... take your time so they get the maximum benefit haha! Unfortunately stabling in London isn't going to give you much turnout options I don't think

 

[coblets]

It’s the riding school-liveries that have the least turnout, like Trent. Most places I know do have some field turnout even if not 24/7.

Having shared a couple horses on very minimal turnout before, never again. Sure you’re helping them get out and about, but the more time you spend with them, the more you realise just how miserable they are.

Don’t know what part of London is easiest for you to access OP but Id recommend looking at share horses in the south, near Epsom, as there’s more turnout there and usually all year round. North London liveries will have turnout but it’s very muddy in the winter.

 

[splashgirl45]

i forgot trent park, they have a riding school and liveries and they are a 5 min walk from oakwood tube station, they have good facilities and have turnout...would be quite easy to get there i would think.

 

[lar]

I took on a part loan on a livery yard that had VERY limited winter turnout. I now have that horse on full loan (at a different yard I might add). He's an absolute sweetheart and I never would have got him if I hadn't taken the part loan at the other yard.

 

[J&S]

I used to ride an ex race horse in Richmond Park and she was fine to ride with what must have been pretty limited time in a field but i also had the ride on an old eventer on Wimbledon Common and he definitely needed more of a leg stretch to keep him sane, Staff and I got bucked off regularly!