Yards

[Tempi]

Just interested to see how far people drive/would be willing to drive to a yard with really good facilities (ie indoor school/outdoor schools etc). I might have to move yards and im looking at options as i dont want to be stuck if the time comes.

I might add that there is nothing wrong with my current yard and im really happy there now. However there is a chance il have to move.

I currently drive 10mins to my yard. As i work full time distance is a bit of a problem for me, however if i was somewhere where i could get someone to turn out in the mornings for me i could change my hours at work so i start an hour earlier and therefore finish hour earlier.

Views please

 

[Judie]

I travel 25mins from home at weekends and 45 mins from work week days! But I get turn out and bring in so no early mornings!

 

[Tempi]

do you find it hard driving such a distance? Is your horse further away due to being at somewhere with better facilities or is it just the nearest yard to you?

(sorry for all the questions, trying to weigh up my options!)

 

[ihatework]

For me distance is a major factor as both mine are on DIY, I reckon 15 mins tops. If they were on part livery or the mornings were done for me then I reckon 20-30 mins might be okay for me. I would probably look for somewhere on my route to work so that I could carry on straight from yard.

 

[Judie]

No much closer yards but not the facilities or the set up to suit me. I love DIY but don't want the early mornings anymore (it's my age!) so the drive is worth it for the help and the facilities.

You just get use to it and you stop worrying about it..

 

[Tempi]

Thats the thing with me, i like having mine on DIY but id love to go somewhere with an indoor school. A lot of the time in the evenings at the moment we have to que to use our one school. We are only allowed 4 in at a time for safety/insurance reasons and everyone wants to use the school in the winter as they cant hack out in the evenings. As im normally first down i can always get on with Archie but the other night i had to wait 25mins before i could get on with Bloss. if i was somewhere with multiple arenas it would be a lot easier!!

however it might not even come down to me moving like i said, but im worrying already in case it does and i suddenly have to leave with nowhere to go!

 

[miller]

Used to travel 20 mins, then we moved house and up until the stables/school was built was driving 45 mins but it was on the way to work.

TBH if it was the right yard 30 mins would be my tops (doing morning and night) but it is far easier when they are outside the back door!

 

[acolvine]

Hello,

Im moving to a new yard next month. Decided I can’t hack the Scottish wet and windy winters so going somewhere with an indoor school. They do assisted livery and full so no more mornings!!!!
I like being DIY but during the winter having two horses (one currently on box rest) makes for hard work when you are going up twice a day….
It will mean a 25min drive from home and 35 from work but it will only be once a day and if I need a night off then I can opt for assisted livery.

I think for DIY then 15mins would be a max if you are having to do mornings and evenings.
At the end of the day we pay a lot to keep our horses so if an extra 10min drive means getting more enjoyment and benefits then I would go (well I am in a couple of weeks!).

x

 

[UKa]

From someone who has done it all: started off with having horse 1hr away minimum by train and bus (this was when I was in London so yard had to be further away from where I lived) – she was on 5-day livery then though, then moved house and moved to yard where horse was about 20mins driving distance away but on 5-day livery – recently moved 5mins drive away from home and onto DIY and would not miss it for the world …BUT that said, if hypothetically I needed to move further again to ensure my horse is happy I would go probably as far as 20-25mins drive away and get at least some jobs done on weekdays.

 

[Rambo]

Our yard is 20 minutes or so from our house, but only 5 minutes from the station, so I go there straight from work during the week. In my particular circumstances, facilities are EVRYTHING. No indoor school would mean no riding for me for about 8 months of then year

 

[Tempi]

ive currently just got a floodlite outdoor which is fine as thats all i need somewhere else, however if i had the choice id love to go somewhere with an indoor.

 

[Flossie06]

Not sure if it would be too far for you but I think in another post you mentioned you're based in Wiltshire? If so maybe Downlands at Tytherington would be one to think about? http://www.downlands-equestrian.co.uk/

 

[Tempi]

Downlands isnt my sort of thing, ive been there xcountry schooling. xcountry jumps are mega, but the rest isnt for me! Its about an hour from me too, but thank you for looking

x

 

[luane1]

We drive 30 mins to our current yard. The reason is the facilities and the experience of the YO. There are 30 horses there 12 being his and the rest a mix of full livery which i have my 3 on and DIY he has indoor school, outdoor, good hacking around, summer turnout but daily turn out on the sand to shower their heads. YO gives show jumping lessons and he has people coming to the yard for them as well as us. It is total peace of mind if you are ill or cant get up the horses will be done and everything is to a very high standard.

 

[not_with_it]

I am about 5 mins away from my yard. I consider myself really lucky as I get to use the school whenever I like as I am the only livery.
I think I would probably travel up to 15 mins if I was on DIY. I like the fact that the yard is so close to me and I dont have to think about travel times, I wouldnt like my horse to be too far away incase of an emergency.

 

[nomini]

I am about 10 mins from my yard. Used to travel up to about half hour (depended on amount of traffic). Would love to have an indoor school but not really feasible at the moment. We have an outdoor floodlit school which is usually empty during the day which suits me fine as I can ride at lunchtime when I get home from college. However, it does get busy in the evenings especially when all the kids turn up, last night I got told told by one particular kid that she was using the school for jumping and no one else could come in to which i said, well where else am I meant to ride and that shut her up pretty quick!!

 

[Sags_Deer]

im a 2 min drive from my parents house where i keep my neddies, moved back nearer 3 yrs ago cos i got fed up going to and fro with a 15 min drive. but i do diy which is nice, sometimes i do wonder what it would be like to be in a yard with lots of other people tho. im lucky as things work out doing the horses with my mum and sis helping out. as long none of us clash with holidays works out okay.
but i think you need to go with your gut feeling and if you think you can trust someone else to help with your neddies then go for it especially if you work f/t. im lucky as i generally plan my work round doing the neddies.

 

[spaniel]

I do 20 mins each way morning and evening. Ive just got used to doing it I suppose but it would be lovely to be closer.

 

[Tempi]

hmmm thanx for everyones replies. Like i said its not definate about going and wont be for a while if anything does happen however i was just interested to hear other peoples views

 

[Chex]

I suppose it depends on priorities. DIY is a must for me, way too over protective! So need to be close to the yard for popping up at odd times when I've forgotten to do something etc. Also I don't use facilities like the arena etc, so those aren't important to me.

I would travel further if I got a new horse that I wanted to compete (so needed facilities), that I wasn't so protective of that I'd be fine with other people looking after them, probably up to 20 mins away.

 

[JoBo]

I keep my horses at my Mum’s but that is still a half hour drive for me! Still costs me less then livery though.

So I would say, half an hour!

 

[Theresa_F]

I travel 15 miles - about 30 - 45 minutes. Means that I can spend over a hour travelling before I get even to do anything.

I only go up once a day, and two days a week they are on full livery. I have them turned out and brought in - more livery costs but not that bad when you consider the price of petrol and my limited free time.

I could have them closer, but really like where I am.

 

[siennamiller]

mine are 1 minute away and I count myself really lucky. I would like better facilities but one thing to bear in mind, when I was at a diffrent yard which was about 15/20 mins away and my horse wasn't very well I had to travel up and down several times to check on her and it was such a pain! Depends tho, would there be a YO on site?

 

[Iestyn]

Our yard is 10 minutes away and on my way to work. We moved about 4 weeks ago as the other yard, even though fab, was adding an extra 15-20 miles a day to my 40 mile round trip commute to and from work. New yard is much smaller and as we are hoping for a new (second) horse in a year or so a stable may not come up and may have to move back to the old yard. We'll see what happens! Quite pleased we moved as it has saved about 30minutes of driving for me!

 

[Lill]

It takes me anything from 10mins to 45mins to get to my yard which is 10miles away all depending on traffic. But i would not want to travel any further than this really. But i don't pay any livery... so can't complain really!!

 

[Enfys]

I have a boarder here who drives 45 minutes each way two or three times a week. The horse is 26 so the occasional toddle around the exercise track is all he needs, the track is about the only facility I have right now although there will be a sand school going in next year. I dare say she could have found livery closer but not many yards are willing to take on a goat as well.

 

[cosmo_sam]

I travel 20- 40 mins each way depending on traffic.

I've only been here since May, but it's the best decision I could have made. The yard is in wonderful horsey country with amazing bridleways etc, and we have lovely facilities (indoor/outdoor and year round turnout) at a very cheap rate (£17 pw). The people are lovely too.

Where I live is less of a horsey area, and so the good yards charge the earth and the people seem to be much nastier in my experience!!

I only go once a day though, as my friend turns out for me in the morning

 

[teapot]

Someone I know that is about 20mins from me drives to Oldencraig to ride her horse