Yards - Facilities?

milesjess

milesjess

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I'm curious what facilities most peoples yard have? What services they offer? How much they charge and what attracted you to them?

I'm on a full DIY yard, but the YO has no involvement. Getting frustrated with what I pay and the yard is untidy and unkept. Even the muck heap is piling up! The good thing is the turnout is unlimited all year round and we are left to it.

Debating moving to a part livery nearby, with cleaner and modern facilities inc a solarium and all year turnout. Obviously more money but also nicer yard and bit more reliability if I'm stuck at work.
 
I'm on part livery at my yard, not by choice, but it's all the offer and it's close to home so very convenient. If you are debating moving to part livery just make sure you're okay with giving up that "control" that you have over how big the bed is, how its made and how much hay your horse gets- I thought i'd be alright with it but am really struggling with not being in control on what time he goes in or out! (he doesn't get turned out until about 10 mon-fri, which I think is too late as he comes in at about 3:30pm so is a long time in his square box!

The facilities are good, 6 stables with lighting, okay grazing, secure tack room and nice tea room, fantastic hacking and great size school with lights but I don't ride in the dark as the school is a long walk down a dark muddy track to get to!

My YO is really friendly and helpful, knows what shes doing but is very strict in that her part livery is only mon-fri, if you ever need your horse being done at the weekend you have to organise this yourself and have a friend do it- which is fair enough but it doesn't suit me very well as I'm always busiest at the weekends, yet mon-fri i've got all the time in the world to muck out after work!

I pay £360pcm (includes hay/straw/feed- but i buy my own balancer) I was attracted to this yard because it is close to home and doesn't flood.
 
I'm on a large livery yard with 2 indoor schools (one 20x40 and the other 25x60), 2 outdoor schools, hacking is ok but not brilliant. Group or individual turnout. Grazing isnt that great as too many horses on it but its the facilities which you pay for really. Yard has affiliated/unaffil dressage, unaffil sj and showing shows throughout the year so is good for people with no transport as they dont have to go anywhere to compete.

DIY is about £60ish a week and that includes bedding, hay/haylage, feed put in the morning and turnout in the morning. its an extra £7 a day if you put your horse on full which includes, full muckout, feeds made up, bring in and rug changes. Extra services for DIYs such as bring in is usually about £2.

I do 3 or 4 weekdays on full and the rest DIY. I love the facilities and enjoy the social side of my yard. its not for everyone though as very busy, usually at least one indoor is booked for private lessons in the evenings and at weekends there is often a show on. Recently there has been quite a few children as new liveries so can get noisy. But if i didnt have indoor school then my horse would probably have the winter off as the weather isnt great up here! So pros and cons to every yard really.
 
I Pay £40 per week for DIY. It includes stable, grazing(very good) and hay and straw. facilities wise.... there is lots of off road hacking, a very small indoor school, a large field that you can ride in outdoors and free use of a lovely large outdoor school a five minute ride away which is owned by the same people. I am the only livery at that particular farm so it can be very quiet if the owner who keeps her horses there is not around but I am getting used to that now and the peace and quiet is quite nice!
 
£107 per calendar month. Complete DIY. This included an indoor and outdoor school, huge field with XC jumps and gallop strip, jumping paddock and hacking to the local forest. Also hackable to a local comp centre/riding club. There was a horse walker but it was sold shortly after I arrived as no one used it! Big airy stables and plenty of space. Haylage (grown in YO fields) and shavings on site. Huge turnout fields that had excellent drainage, worming regime, small tack rooms per blocks of stables. A lovely accommodating YO too. Oh and services if you required them. Really lovely yard.
 
I've just moved onto a new yard since my boy came back from being backed. I'm herefordshire/gloucestershire borders. I pay £110 a month. There is a 20x40 floodlit arena with fantastic surface. Large 14x12 indoor box where all horses can see each other and a locked tack room with internal individual lockers too. Turn out is in individual paddocks but unlimited although liveries are sensible and when weather is shocking will keep in for the odd day here and there. We do have to poo pick our own paddocks. Hacking is superb- there are tracks round the edge of all the fields with optional jumps. Hay is £25 a round bale which seems to last me ages!
 
I keep Lola at my SIL-to-be's yard, and work there in the mornings in return for part-livery, feed, hay and bedding costs.

We have 6 loose boxes, 2 tack rooms, feed room, hay and straw storage, all weather school with show jumps, cross country field, quiet hacking and inclined fields for galloping. I'm currently the only livery (though all the stables are full with YO's horses, plus 2 in for schooling), but there's also 2 toilet blocks, a shower and a large cabin with full kitchen, dining and sofas for livery use.

It's a lovely set up, and I'm very happy with our arrangement.
 
I'm on DIY, lovely friendly yard, large indoor stables, all year turnout in same sex herds, good grazing and hacking. Plenty of storage and a lockable tack room.

No facilities - electricity is on a gennie, spring water, no loo BUT the friendly laid back nature of the yard more than makes up for this, and we are all happy hackers. YM will bring in/ turn out for £1, chuck hay over or top up water if you are running late, Dolly is very happy and settled, and I love it!

£20 p/w
 
I was on a yard with a small school, horse walker and woodbark pens for winter turnout.

I recently moved to a yard further away with turn out available as much as possible ( can turn out in school when not in the fields) a full set of showjumps in a 60x80 floodlit school with a full set of showjumps and brilliant hacking. On paper the first yard was best as it was closer and easier but the move has made such a difference to my horses training i feel i'll start getting the best from them next spring which i never had the space too on the old yard :)
 
I Pay £30 a week for a yard with limited turn out (half days) but a bark paddock to use for extra turn out, a school with 'okay' surface (i hate schooling so i dont mind!) and a lovely stable in an airy building. Personally I chose the yard as it's a hunt yard and means I can get to and from meets easily
 
The yard I'm on has four arenas (and indoor and outdoor 45x25 warm-up and and an indoor and outdoor 80x45 main - all with waxed surfaces) with a full set of show jumps and working hunter fences. There's also a walker, lunge pen, three wash bays with hot water and solariums, separate rug rooms/feed rooms/tack rooms for DIY/Full livery, rug driers, a large lorry park and the option of individual turnout (half days).
It's a large yard (approx 130 horses) but that doesn't really bother me. I ride in the mornings when it's quiet and often have the big arena to myself. The YM lives on site and there's also a night guard who knows what to do if someone colics or gets cast.

Mine are on 'gold' (schooling) livery at £140/week but the yard also offers working livery, DIY and 'silver' (full). It's expensive but it's nice to know they'll be looked after and worked if I can't make it up for whatever reason.
 
£28 PW (£117 per month) complete DIY includes:

all year turnout, separate summer and winter paddocks.
Great size stables all with lighting
Secure tack room/tea room
Big barn for storage
Another barn for trailer storage
Brilliant off road hacking
Lovely floodlit menage
Dressage shows regularly- we get 1/2 price entry as liveries.
Clinics regularly
several toilets
 
I've just gone from grass livery/DIY to part due to one horses illness and the fact that with 3 horses in work I needed help. So far so good. Poorly horse is no longer poorly and the routine suits my older lad who likes to come in and eat his hay in peace.

They are done 5 days a week so all I need to go is go up and ride/lunge. On the 2 days 'off' we muck out but they are still brought in/turned out etc.
Rugs changed,
Well built yard, big stables.
Ample bedding and adlib hay.
Feed of our choosing.
We have a large floodlit school with an excellent surface.
AYTO in well fenced, well maintained fields. Currently in overnight but spring to autumn they are reversed and they go out overnight.
Hot wash box.
Heated tea room with a beer and wine fridge!
Heated toilet/shower room
Secure tack room with CCTV
Trailer storage.

£450 per month per horse. Costing me a small fortune but horses and us are very, very happy and I'm very glad we moved.
 
criso said:
What is your priority. You may find on a smarter yard that turnout is limited both in terms of amount and how long you are allowed to turn out. Very very difficult to find both.
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i agree, i have no real facilities as such, but i know my horse is better off than he would be with limited turnout . Toilets for me would be nice but the horse isn t to bothered about that, im only there an hour a day or maybe a couple if im riding,i need to be sure he is happy the other 23 hours a day. On a soppy note the guy who owns the place is just a total diamond so its win win for me!
 
I pay £25 a week in summer and £30 in winter (we have optional winter turnout which we pay £5 a week extra for). For that we get a stable, use of the school, jumps etc (but not floodlights), summer turnout and use of the all weather turnout area in winter. The facilities are okay, but have definitely gone downhill over the years - The school is not maintained at all, I don't ever use the turnout area as it is horrific, I pay for field turnout instead but even then I only get half days and the fields, fencing, gates etc leave a lot to be desired and I have very little storage space. The main saving grace of the yard is that is just around the corner from where I live.

I'm in the process of trying to find somewhere to move to, but finding a decent yard that offers DIY and is within reasonable driving distance is proving impossible. I would have no problem finding somewhere if I could either afford full livery for two or didn't want any facilities, but there doesn't seem to be anything in between!
 
I'm on a small yard, purely DIY and we basically run the yard ourselves. YO only gets involved if something breaks or the midden needs taken away!

We don't have a huge amount of grazing but they can go out every day, there's an arena and access to decent hacking, and it's only 10 mins from the house.
 
Assisted DIY on a lovely yard of 20. Indoor stables. 20 x 40 floodlit outdoor and slightly smaller indoor. £115 pcm for livery with services charged as extra. Hay, bedding etc bought in bulk so we get discounts. Grazing ok - 24/7 in summer if wanted. In by 5 over winter but fields never closed. Clay soil so gateways do get pretty horrendous. Field hay bought off field in summer and all liveries have to buy so all fields get hayed as required. I love it here.
 
On DIY we all have a feeding rota for morning feeds so just one person doing all 11 each morning nets feeds and water. If you don't want to be part of the rota it £5 a week which goes into a kitty :)

I'm £30 a week. 12x12 stables outdoor school but no turnout in winter and limited in the summer too sadly my boy is a fatty prone to lami so this doesn't bother me too much but it would be nice to have a little more turnout! Lovely yard always tidy muck heap emptied regularly yard owner very involved and has strict rules about the yard being tidy, we have a wee tearoom and toilet full CCTV all round the yard.
Buy our own hay and bedding but to be honest couldn't be happier at the yard at the minute :) Neither could my boy! X
 
Haven't read through all the replies but:

I am on diy at £30 a week inc haylage. I have a stable in a lovely block but horse lives out as do most of the others in large herd in large field.i can use my stable however much I want but choose not to.

Hacking is only on the farm but yard has a huge lorry that we load up on for trips to the beach/woods etc or recently hunting.

Yard has a big and small indoor school and an outdoor with regular unaffiliated comps. Its great and I love it!

ETA they get adlib haylage in field which yo puts out with the tractor!
 
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Very lucky to be on Full Livery facilities include indoor & outdoor school, horse walker, american barn stabling, toilets, small group turnout and a the best part is an absolutely brilliant Yard Owner.
 
On DIY livery, large stables, very good grazing. 30x60 outdoor floodlit arena (not a brilliant surface as freezes easily) amazing hacking with 22 square miles of forestry. YO feeds and turns out mon-fri. And theres always someone to ask to bring them in if your stuck. Been there on and off (when ive had horses) for over 20 years. Its in the middle of being done up so the internal stables have all been reboarded amd painted. External cladding redone and lights. The tack room and kitchen are next. We pay £20 a week with 7.50 for shavings as and when we use them and our hay is delivered at 4.50 a rectangle bale.... Now if i can just convince YO to put a roof on the school it would be perfect lol
 
PaulnasherryRocky said:
I'm on part livery at my yard, not by choice, but it's all the offer and it's close to home so very convenient. If you are debating moving to part livery just make sure you're okay with giving up that "control" that you have over how big the bed is, how its made and how much hay your horse gets
.
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Not always the case with Part livery - we have bespoke beds each livery has it done the way they want it - some corner, some half beds if you want to keep it thick you just pay extra bedding if your horse is mucky and starts going down in quantity.
As for hay its set in the contract the amount and we are alowed to buy extra if needed.
 
I pay a higher premium for my part livery as wanted the facilities to train at so mine is at a competition training centre, albeit in a small satellite yard. It's quite close to home, YO is thorough and what I want for my horse is done. Luckily she is quite pragmatic as I own one of those horses who seek to try their luck a lot and his needs are quite heavily catered to!
 
I'm on part livery. It is about £450 a month. It includes use of lovely big indoor and outdoor schools, haylage, one bale of shavings per week, basic feed, and all the jobs done.

My horse has lived on competition livery yards a lot, so is comfortable with other people looking after him. The yard does a good job. Occasionally I need to ask them to not do something (like feed his hay on the floor because he just drags it into his bed), but the staff are very nice. The YM is a bit of a pain - I think the job is a convenient way for him to have his horse on free livery and when work and his horse compete for priority he goes with what suits him best.

But on the whole, for me the pros outweigh the cons. For example, the weather outside is horrendous today and I am in bed with a cold. It is lovely to know that my boy is safe, warm, rugged and out, and his stable is mucked out, water bucket clean, hay net full and I can just pop up tonight and give him a fuss.
 
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