We might be moving...

Mr Ed

Active Member
Mar 1, 2009
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Blimey, it's making me feel so nervous (the older I get the more I think.. just too much :furious:)

When we first got Ed we were at a lovely DIY yards, 24/7 at grass with smart paddock/field-shelter and an on-site RI and bark-chip school. All good fun. However, in Winter (for six months :eek:) the place turned into a bog.. school unusable, absolutely no hard-standing and lots of traffic (yard has 25+ horses), it resulted in tacking up in 12" deep bog and not being able to even push a wheelbarrow... here;s the tack-up and storage area:frown:
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I mainly hacked with my friends at a yard next door, and in September a place came up... very smart yard, lots of stables, storage, electricity, water etc..... It was hardly a move for Ed as he already new the horses and we always hacked to the yard to meet riding friends.. he settled immediately. Here's some pics

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Biggest disadvantage with the yard, is there's no school. The only place you can ride when the ground is fine is a small paddock which is rather rutted, but fine for walk/trotting and x-poles etc. However, sometimes the horses are grazing there, so you need to move them out first :stomp:. The lack of school is not a major issue for me, as I take Ed for a lesson each fortnight and then tend to hack, but it's a huge problem for my duaghter (13) as she can only ride, if we trailer him to lessons, shows or clnics etc. Also, there's nobody for her to ride with or have fun with.

Biggest issue for me in moving, is that I lose my closest riding friend and hacking buddy. But, she is pretty much my only riding friend, as the other horses at my yard are now all non-ridden. And, whilst I depend on my friend (as I don't hack alone), she is a very confident and busy horse owner, so has other things to do apart from ride with me :poop::biggrin:

So, daughter and I have been on a yard investigation w/end. We have narrowed it down to two. We have the 'possible' offer of a space at a small yard 4 miles away. Totally DIY, 11 horses in total, but 7 in regular work. Tend to be all very good riders, but appreciate we are first-time owners etc. There's no YO/YM so seems all quite relaxed. Has an large all-weather menage. Lots of grazing. Horses are stabled in winter overnight, for around 4 months. We already know several people there and there's a girl the same age as my daughter (and there's people the same age as me too :redface::wink:) There's potentially some reasons why we might not be able to move there (trailer parking issue and loan pony has moved in).

But, I've this morning asked if we can have a space, so now waiting to hear. If it's a no-go we have a 2nd option, also 4 miles away, total DIY, yard of 20 horses, sand-school. Nice paddocks and optional stabling... on farm hacking around four fields and a wood...

Thought I'd share my monday morning news. Will keep you posted :smile:
 
Gosh, don't envy people the tacking up in bog part! I remember that only too well from my days before we got our hard-standing! It used to be a case of tack up as fast as you can and hope that your riding boots don't get pulled off in the goo!
Good luck with your yard hunting - that second pic looks like a nice place with the flags in front - but no school? There is always a draw back isn't there?
 
Hi Trewers, yes the yard we're at now is extremely smart and very convenient. But there's no on-site riding and now younger people, so my daughter can never just tack-up and ride.... she doesn't enjoy it at all. So, i feel for her to improve her riding and get the most out of Ed we need to be on a more 'sociable' yard with a menage..
 
Ooo hope all works out for you.

Just a word of warning though, my little yard hard no yard manager and the YOs are elderly and didn't get involved. Had a massive issue with a previous livery, I'm talking beyond belief.

Sometime its better that have somewhere where there are rules and you know where you stand rather than no rules and yard politics dictating things.
 
Ooo hope all works out for you.

Just a word of warning though, my little yard hard no yard manager and the YOs are elderly and didn't get involved. Had a massive issue with a previous livery, I'm talking beyond belief.

Sometime its better that have somewhere where there are rules and you know where you stand rather than no rules and yard politics dictating things.

Yeah, I know where you're coming from JC... I've tried to do a little behind the scenes research and I've yet to find any conflicts/issue, so hoping it's all reasonalby sensible. The grazing and stabling is split up, so it will be very much Eleanor and I with another Mum/Daughter... grazing and stabling as a three... guess, we'll just have to see how it works out
 
oo how exciting. Hehe secretly I thought you might be moving when you looked into it a little bit more. If your already trailering to a school and using one regularly then it makes more sense to move to a place that already has one, it'll save so much time. And with any luck your daughter might have a new friend to ride with and you'll make some more buddies or find other hacking companions too :)

If you go for option 2, you might find that your hacking alone confidence might soar as you won't have any road work. Either way though at least you'll be away from the other yard nutter. My yard doesn't have a YM but there is someone who likes to boss others around, I just ignore her :D
 
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Thanks all.

We have our place sorted... going to the little yard, that has another girl same age as my daughter. Her Mum is lovely too...

Feel a bit nervous, but the school on sunny evenings after school will be fab... there's several riders on the yard (aged 14-20) who like to school together and practice jumping. Mini Mr E will love it and I'm happy to watch, set-up jumps, drink and eat cake....:giggle:
 
New yard sounds very nice and it will be lovely for your daughter to have a school to ride in and others to hack out with too - no more trailering for you either which is a bonus!
 
Looks looks like Sun 13th. We can move stuff over (hay & straw!!) on Sat, then he has a PC Ralley Sun morning, so will drive him to his new home straight after that

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