Question for you...who dont use full livery.

FayeObs

FayeObs

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Jul 20, 2008
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If you are going on holiday, what do you do with your horse?

Im thinking of setting up a horse sitting business around my area.

I have over 15 years of experience & used to compete. Ive had a 4 year break to concentrate on renovating my house. I just wanted to ask a few questions to see what people generally think?? So thanks for replying in advance xx

Would you feel comfortable having someone looking after your horse without qualifications? Or would it be better to have a horse management qualification of some sort?

What would you be prepared to pay? Looking at what other people who are doing this charge, the average cost is £20 one off fee per horse.. Holiday stable livery could be £15 p/day including, muck out, turn out, rug changes, feeding, feet picking, changing water. Field Livery, £8 per day, including, fly spray reapplied (if needed) rug change, check over twice a day, feed. ..And addtional tasks eg, farrier/vet. for a little extra. ...

Ridding if needed, (but when i had my horses, i was a little funny about people riding her as she was in one word.. crazy!!, so would expects to be a little sensitive to others riding their horses) All i do know is that when i had mine i found it hard to go on holiday and get back from work in time in winter to get my horse out of the field before dark.


Obviously people who pay for full/part time livery wouldnt need this service as they already have someone to look after it whilst on holiday

But what about people who have their horses at their house, want to go on holiday or need to work away or simply wants to have a break from doing chores everyday. Would you pay for this service???

Im also thinking about combining dog walking/sitting etc included.However, just wanted to know your thoughts as your the ones in the know!!

thanks for reading xxxxx xxxxx
 
I get a friend to look after mine but if i were you, just remember to consider insurance etc.
 
Ive looked at insurance from BHS and i'd get that!

would you consider it as a resort though should your mate not be able to look after your horses, or do you think its not really something people would use?
 
FayeObs said:
Ive looked at insurance from BHS and i'd get that!

would you consider it as a resort though should your mate not be able to look after your horses, or do you think its not really something people would use?
Click to expand...


I Would, i have a friend who normally does mine and yard offer services now so i wouldnt need it, but in the past, thats kind of what I did as a freelance groom!
 
I would be interested in that sort of thing, I dont mind about qualifications for someone to look after my horses I would just want reliability. Which at the moment i just dont have so i tend not to go away- I think its a great idea
 
I'm lucky because my sister/friend will do my horse (very handy a recently broke both legs in anRTA!!) but if I didn't have them and/or the yard I was on didn't offer any extra services (which it does) I'd think about paying someone.

However, I'd want to meet them at least once before they came to the yard & I'd want to see how they were with my horse & get references - is that a little over the top? I wouldn't have anyone else ride him, if I was only away for a week then I'd let him have a break

Hope this helps!
 
i dont think thats over the top at all !! Im thinking of doing like a free consultation at their yard first, so they can meet me to "assess" me as such... ??

I just remember how over protective i was! I got paranoid when people were feeding them carrots in the field lol

thanks for all the replies so far ! Its good to hear peoples opinions & views.
 
we all share, when my friend goes on holiday she does mine, when she goes away I look after hers. Mwahaha. who gets the best deal, she has 1 hourse 24/7 turn out just needs feeding & I have a box rest missy who box walks and makes a sh*t hole who needs feed & drugs and another 24/7 turn out mwahahah !:p
 
I do a bit of that where I am, but all my clients know me and my horse so they already have trust in me. I usually charge £5 per horse per visit to their yard a day, so single horse going up in morning to turn out muck out then bring in is £10 per day.
 
I do horse sitting and I charge £10 per hour or a minimum of £10 per day, for example if a grass kept pony needs checked twice a day. The problem I find is it is not a full time job and there are very few really local people who need the service, therefore travelling needs to be taken into consideration. I have BHS qualifications and an equine degree but most of my customers are more interested in reliability, trustworthiness and experience
 
brilliant! thanks for all the experience/advice! its good to know..

maybe its something i can do part time... in amongst dog walking!

need to get out of the office cause mannnn its driving me maddd!! and doing a job that is my hobbie/interest would be a dream!
 
I think if you could get a good client base built, you could probably make a decent profit.
However as many have said, quite a few DIY yards will offer extra services if it is just for a week or two whilst an owner is away on holiday.
 
i keep my horses at home and i know someone who "horse sits" for us when we go away. they also do a few lessons, compete and have a DIY livery. so they only do that part time. they either take them to their place or looks after them at home(we also ask the neighbors to keep an eye out for our horses.;))
 
If I go away, I tend to ask for extra services from YO for my 3, full livery is an extra £4/day per horse on top of usual diy cost. At my last yard I was stuck as we were on our own and if I'd had to leave them I would have booked them into an excellent local competion yard for schooling livery of £140 a week. That way, I'd have peace of mind and horses would have had a working holiday too.
The service you're offering could be really handy for some owners, qualifications wouldn't be an issue for me particularly,I'd need a lot of reassurance though to leave them with someone I didn't know.
 
My best friend has just set up her own horse and dog sitting business in my area, she has got some sort of animal health or something degree, she has her own horse and dog stud (how she find times for all of this i'll never know, she must be wonder woman!) and she is having to beat people away with a stick!!

When i spoke to her the other day she had something like 6 horses and 9 dogs that day :eek: Crazy woman, but she loves it!
 
personally i wouldnt trust my horse with any one with a qualification - purely those who iv come into contact with degrees in horse management havent got a clue from their hind to their elbow
( please before i get battered im not shunning the qualifications .... just those few people who i have personally met have been as helpful as a chocolate fire gurd * please dont kill me*)

id feel much happier knowing my horse was in the hands of some one with 15 yrs pratical experience rather then some 1 with maybe 4 yr degree and limited pratical experience. that means some one who knows the job will be reliable and be there to keep a proper eye on them...

maybe im too old skool im not sure. but i have the problem u describe i keep my horse on a farm, i have no one to look after him if im on work trips etc
im very lucky iv made friends with lovely people just up the road who have stables on the front of their house and have had horses before i was born (eep yrs and yrs lol) so my boy is on holidays there if i have to go away - normally at my farm im the one who looks after every one elses horses as im pretty boring and dont go away much. but like u, i have about 20 yrs of experience and every one dumps their horses on me coz they know im there 2/4 times a day with out fail and i;ll make sure they are all groomed and looked after.

i think it be worth you wild if u get the insurance tbh i reckon theres a lot of money to be made ;) specially if u target very busy business people they are normally willing to pay up for people to look after their horses while on business let me know how u get on
 
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