Well potential new yard visits done (I think, although there is a plan C lurking still) and atm we can't decide between 2 so I shall throw it out there with a lovely pros and cons list!!
Yard A (11 miles away)
£70 per week full livery (£303 pcm) (riding not included, but feed and all else is)
£5 if you want your horse on the horse walker
Stables in barns
98 acres of grazing to suit both neds (sparse and lush)
Outdoor arena (protected by high wall from elements) and fully lit
Also have 2 flat paddocks to use as outdoor jumping/schooling
Lots of hacking
Parking for trailer inc
YO lives on site
Pros:
I know Red will settle there
We know the YO's and they are lovely
Great facilities
No mucking out to do
Has a very proffesional calm feel to the place
Cons:
Price in summer (currently pay £27 pw for summer livery)
Would mean staying put till Early September then moving
Distance/location bit awkward as I sort of drive past to go home then have to go back on myself
Yard B (8.5 miles away)
£65pcm DIY, £50 per month in winter for haylage (£65 for summer, £115 for winter), £20 for feed pcm (Red) and shavings on top
It's assisted so services available
YO lives on site
Great hacking
Well managed grazing
Smaller yard (approx 12-15 horses max) on a farm
Outdoor stables in a courtyard
Basic arena (slight slope) in a field but lit
Paddock for jumping in (mind the donkey!)
Parking for trailer £10pcm
Pros:
Closer in terms of location
Quiet yard
YO also an instructor (have had lessons with her before)
Price
Could move now
Cons:
More basic in terms of look/facilites
Gets pricey when you add in extras
The other option lurking which we haven't been to see yet is between the 2 yards kind of.... £50 pw for part livery (mucking out but no riding mon to fri), indoor arena, outdoor jumping paddock, indoor monarch stables, but 15 miles away.
Shame there's no water on site, you could have made some grass livery money from others!!!! And yes, I can confirm the nightmare of no water on site, did it for 3 years....
I like A, other than the extra charge for the horse walker - I think that's a bit steep (unless it means them putting the horse on, being responsible whilst on, and returning to stable, including a wash down and check over).
I think you need to knock up a wee spreadsheet that includes fuel and time. Leave an end column or two for how the horses are likely to settle and which you and OH would be comfortable at.
So long as they swoosh some water over if the horse has got sweaty, then I guess that's okay. Do they charge for the walker if you do it?
The yard 15 miles away you'd only be at once a day in the winter, whereas the DIY at 7 miles away you'd be at twice a day in winter (or paying someone else to do them either end of the day).
Also need to add in if on the way to/from work, and whatever else you have to do/wherever else you have to be on a regular basis.
We stabled at a yard 25 miles away once. Part-livery. Didn't like it. Too far to go twice a day, which was sort of okay as they did turn out or bring in, so we worked it so the horses' stables were ready for them, but I felt out of control (control freak? Who? Moi?! Yup). The furthest we tend to go now is the current one at about seven/eight miles. Currently only once a day. Will be a bit of a drag in the winter at twice a day (all country lanes, though can add a mile on and take the dual carriageway). Will be better with D1 has passed her driving test, but there's still the fuel to be considered, plus she'll probably be at Uni, so it's back on us again. Ho hum. Well, actually on D as I'm never around enough. However (and sorry, this is getting long winded!), I can do GM on the way home/to work as it's not too drastically far away from the M1, which I tend to use no matter where my contract (work) is based. Plus we can ask someone there to do her if we need to (obviously that will come at a price - she's easy to keep on the rubber mats and everything is in easy reach, so shouldn't take someone more than half an hour to muck out and bring in and change rugs). Sorry for woffling on, it's just all the things we had to take into account when we've had the horses some distance away/tried to make sure there was someone doing the right thing at the right time of day!
I quite like yard 2, as I prefer smaller yards. But I do like the idea of better arenas & horse walker.
I have to say that the 6 years or so I had access to a horse walker I never had to wash a horse off after use of it. I'd be a bit "eeek" if a horse of mine came off a walker sweaty!
Can't use walker unless they put them on/off, but I'd only use it in winter to keep them ticking once a week if I couldn't get up and they hadn't had any exercise or weren't likely to.
Main advantage of Yard A is that I won't have to go everyday at all if I want a day off as all we'd need to do is ride and I can loosen the control freak in me as it's Red's rehab yard so know they are good with him
Yard B is closer and cheaper but would need to go at least once a day, I could always pay to have them brought in/turned out so only once a day for mucking out - it isn't on the way to or from work as it's further out from home in a diff direction.
Only consideration is the dog, as if he is at home for the day I'd need to feed him/collect him to come with me if OH isn't at home or I can take him to work so then it's no drama.
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