Do you think my plan might work? Or which plan would you go for?

[oldernowiser]

At the moment we have grand daughter's pony at full livery at a lovely small yard, and it's going really well, and the yard owner is so helpful, knowledgable and is basically my guru. She's also the best instructor ever and we all have lessons with her, so I definitely want to keep him there for the forseeable future.

The problem is that livery is £65 a week (plus all the usual extras) and she only takes 2 liveries so there is no space for more horses, and I couldn't afford it even if there was room. but I want a horse now, and will be getting one for grandson in about a year, at which point DH will also want one.

One option is that I get a horse to share with GD and replace pony sooner than planned, but then we couldn't ride together

Another option is to get horse that could do working livery as she has one due to retire, so I could keep one on the yard but wouldn't always have it to ride when I want

OR another option is that there is a really nice yard about 15 mins hack down the bridle path from current yard, which charges £16 a week for live out (includes haylage and all fields are checked daily and horses all get haylage topped up through the day) so it shouldn't be too onerous if I kmake sure I get a horse that's happy out all year.

So, the plan I'm thinking of is to keep pony at current yard, with all the support etc and lessons and all the rest, then get my own horse and keep it down the road and hack up to the yard to ride with GD, then as we get more confident and GS and DH want horses we have them at new yard, until GD has outgrown her pony (who doesn't live out in winter) then replace him with another who'll live out.

Sorry it's so long, any advice, or can anyone see any pitfalls in my cunning plan?

Sounds like a good plan to me. Just make sure you get a horse that is happy to hack alone. Believe me 15 mins on something that is spooking like mad will feel like a lifetime! Although I am a wuss. Sounds like a good deal as well.

That sounds sensible, as long as you are flexible about it, not set in stone iyswim?

If you are possibly going to have 4 horses at some point, have you thought about renting some land instead? In the future i mean? Although £16 a week is amazingly cheap....

We have 4 horses (well 1 horse, a connemara and 2 Sec A's!) and we find it cheapest to rent stables and paddocks.

We are charged 450 a quarter for 7.5 acres and 400 a quarter for 4 stables with tack room and storage.

Sounds like a lot but only works out at £2.32 per horse per day (plus everything else of course!)

Thanks all, glad you don't think it's a mad idea. I had thought about renting grazing but I want to be as near as possible to our current yard because the riding is amazing (through a huge country park)and land around there is expensive to rent and in short supply.

I really need livery as I commute from Leicestershire to London most days so I can't do morning feeding/checks so £16 per week per horse, with their basic care sorted is really tempting. (there is also an indoor and outdoor arena and jumping field and direct access to the bridle paths so no roads to ride on at all if we don't want to, and a horse friendly pub about half an hours hack away)

I'm also not that experienced/confident yet, so need other horsey people around to check things out with, and if we stay local to current yard I've still got my guru on hand for crises/asking stupid questions, and she'd be willing to come down to the new yard for lessons as it's so near.

Owls, good point about the horse having to be happy to hack alone. (I too am a wuss, and at the moment the prospect of hacking alone scares me quite a bit) I'm also a bit worried about whether the horses will get along for riding out if they don't get to know each other by living together. Any thoughts?

I'm not ready yet, I need to get more confident, especially before I take the children out by myself, but I think it might work (might be grim in the winter though with 2 yards to visit)

Don't think you'll have any problems with hacking them out together. I've always found that they're happy to have company - even when they're strangers to each other. (Disclaimer - as long as you're not on a stallion) They'll probably eye each other up and snort a bit at first but they'll be fine.

More importantly as I say, you need to find a horse you're happy to hack on it's own.

Can't believe what a good deal that yard is - £16 plus Haylage?! I keep mine at home and think they cost more than that!

I would be a bit wary of 16 quid a week - it really is very cheap indeed! Not sure it would cover most people's costs. And what if the weather is REALLY REALLY bad next winter - is there somewhere for the horse to come in if it has to? Or if it gets mud fever or something?

Apart from that, sounds like a brilliant idea.

Seeker, the stable issue is something I need to be a bit wary about. It's all fine while it's all fine but when it's not full livery is fantastic IFYSWIM

They have stables, but none available at the moment, but always a bit of movement so I think I might wait till one is available (an extra £5 a week for a stable if mucking out ourselves, except I don't have time in the mornings but could probably sort something if it wasn't all the time) It is a great yard, I know people who've been there for years and are very happy and it has a lovely atmosphere (owned by old hippies who love horses!)

I might start serious planning as soon as a stable comes up though!

It sounds good, if one of them absolutely had to have box rest you'd probably come to some arrangement?

To be honest the horse friendly pub does it for me!

Am dreaming about my horse now every night, as my lovely yard owner thinks the plan is good and we're going to hack down the bridle path to the other yard this afternoon so I can see if I'd cope with the right horse.

Am going to start looking soon.