Small set up .... Lessons / small livery

2012paddy2012

We thinking of moving from housing estate out country a bit.... Just looking at nice bungalow with 2 acres or so. Just chatting with missus she always round horses ( father was blacksmith) young lad has horse at livery at mo.... In this place there are buildings/ sheds here and there on good nick ... It sprang to mind that it wound actually be ideal for a few horses : arena : in the long term I'm just wondering is there a lot of red tape involved eg public liability insurances .,, planning required? Any bit s of advice appreciated .,. Small set up ... I'm thinking thks paddy

Ah_Yeah

Rule of thumb is an acre per horse so realistically you could have 2 or 3 maximum on that land - though personally I wouldn't have more than 2. You'd likely also need to be putting hay out there in winter and implement strip grazing so you could rest certain parts of the land. Does the 2 acres include the stables and arena too? If not then you're going to be really cutting it fine in terms of turnout that's not going to end up poached.

You'll need to register as an equine premises and have public liability insurance. If taking on liveries, you'll need to think about the costs involved in running the yard vs the return - though by the looks of it you may not be able to take many on.

may06

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

We thinking of moving from housing estate out country a bit.... Just looking at nice bungalow with 2 acres or so. Just chatting with missus she always round horses ( father was blacksmith) young lad has horse at livery at mo.... In this place there are buildings/ sheds here and there on good nick ... It sprang to mind that it wound actually be ideal for a few horses : arena : in the long term I'm just wondering is there a lot of red tape involved eg public liability insurances .,, planning required? Any bit s of advice appreciated .,. Small set up ... I'm thinking thks paddy

Are you planning on running a business from it (eg Livery) or just retaining it for personal use? Either way, 2 acres wouldn't be enough, esp if you're thinking along the lines of opening a livery yard and installing a sand arena.
Any such premises, be it your own farm/yard/business..you will require public liability. Sand arena - no planning required.

Raised Eyebrow

I agree with the other posters that it is tight for two private horses without additional liveries but also to add unless you had access to farmland, forest or a quiet hacking road you would get pretty bored if limited to an arena only

lyoness

What experience/qualifications do you have? You will have responsibility for other people's horses?

paddi22

you'd have to have a fair few stables to cover cost as a livery yard - you'd be paying rates, insurances, repairs - there'd be money left after. You'd need a lot more than 2 acres as well. 1 acre per horse minimum and even then you'd have no grass and be feeding hay constantly. Very hard to make money from a livery yard.