Please can you give your views on whether this sole use arrangement I am in is a good deal?

[KellyanneConway]

£190.00 p/mth for stable, own tack room, yard and 5 acres shared with 2 other horses (have lease with mother and she has teen daughter). 24/7 turn out and all day in winter. Hay, shavings, fly spray etc we split down the middle. Rota for mucking out & poo picking with 2 others means my turn 2 / 3 days a week + some holiday cover and I get holiday cover back at no extra charge. Apart from that diy so all other jobs, grooming etc I do for my own horse. Not great hacking but some once you’ve crossed over a busy main road, no arena, can ride in field. Very close to my house. Relaxed atmosphere, no bullying or drama.

£2 k approx up front for refurb of basic/ no frills yard & stables & sort pasture (previously neglected). North west industrial area.

Trying to work out if I will make my money back on what seems like a good arrangement or will there likely be constant expense with maintenance etc? I’m shit at DIY .

I can't work out what the two scenarios are- is the first scenario where you are and the second one is you planning to set up on your own for just you and your horse?

It all sounded great until you got to the £2k upfront costs part, depending on what part of the country you're in it could be a few years before you recoup that, what kind of tenancy are you on, it's usually not a good idea to invest significant money in property or land that doesn't belong to you as the landlord could well decide to kick you off and charge someone else £££ more once you've kindly sorted the pasture, fences, stables out for them. Or of course you could have a fall-out with others on the yard or a change of life circumstance and end up having to move and not see your £2k back.

Also, when you say you hate DIY, what do you mean? Hate being on DIY livery or hate having to do yard maintenance, either way it doesn't sound like this is for you in that case as with a sole use arrangement, particularly with a negligent/absent landlord there's always some job that needs doing, you maybe need part livery or 5 day livery or similar and not have to worry about fellow liveries covering or field maintenance?

They are all features of my current scenario

Sorry not DIY livery I mean maintenance stuff like painting and repairs . I’ve done 2 doer uppers in my time and struggled.

And tenancy is first three years secured then rolling.Landlord a local established business who doesn’t use the land.

Have you managed your own land before OP?
Its really not that easy.
Not great hacking and no arena would also be a dealbreaker for me. Essentially you won’t be able to ride in winter

The first option as you won't get won't get holiday cover or others 'keeping an eye ' with the second.

No, never neither has the other person although we have hired someone experienced to get us started.

I should also add for context that that other adult is v experienced, far more than me - had horses most of her life and I get value from that as she is generous with her advice and also provides a lot of equipment that she already had e.g. lunging stuff, buckets, barrows, first aid kit and has installed hot shower at her own expense

I see. Well I suppose to some extent whether it's a 'good deal' or not depends on what the cost of good DIY/grass livery with equivalent facilities is elsewhere in your area, around our way £250 pcm would be about average so your £190 plus the £2k upfront cost spread over the 3 years would be about there, this is an expensive part of the country though so maybe around your way you can find cheaper or better facilities e.g. an arena for the same money. It's not all just about the money though, supportive and helpful fellow liveries are worth their weight in gold (I pay well above the odds for a yard that isn't ideal in some ways e.g. access to off-road hacking but worth staying for the people, so helpful and does save money to have someone that will cover your holidays or bring in/turn out for you a few days a week in exchange for services in kind).

Land maintenance is a hassle though, I'd budget for spending a bit more on it every year, even with the best will in the world there's some jobs you can't do without the right tools and materials (e.g. fencing repair, rolling and reseeding) so you probably will need to buy in some professional help from time to time. But putting the regular effort in to keeping the grazing well maintained e.g. poo picking, weeding, keeping the troughs clean, maintaining a inner electric fencing barrier to stop them leaning on or chewing the 'main' fence and strip grazing or regularly rotating your grazing to prevent over-use will all help immensely.

Really helpful stuff, thank you

5 acres for 3 horses , out 24/7 for part of the tear will take quite a lot of maintenance ,particularly as some of it has to act as a riding field . Personally the no arena and poor hacking would be enough to put me off as you aren’t going to be able to do much in a field arena all winter without trashing the ground and it will be too hard in the summer .