Every Sunday, Cheryl Johns – founder of LiveryList and the Yard Owner Hub- draws on her knowledge and experience of the industry to provide an insightful and thought provoking article around the topic of livery yard management.
This week…
Is DIY Really the Cheapest Option for Livery?
Off the back of Covid and the ongoing cost of living crisis, many horse owners are struggling with the cost of keeping their horses and considering downgrading their livery packages for something more affordable. Whilst previously there was a huge demand for serviced livery packages such as Part Livery and Full Livery, yard owners are now finding it harder to fill these vacancies and are instead finding a much higher demand for Grass Livery, DIY and Assisted DIY on the basis that they are of less cost to the horse owner. But are you truly better off financially by downgrading to a cheaper livery package?
Whilst for some their choice of livery package and inclusions is simply personal preference as to how they prefer to be involved in the day to day care of their horse, more owners are reducing their livery packages in an effort to reduce their livery costs. Although costs are increasing for livery, other daily costs associated with menial tasks such as visiting your horse everyday and making purchases for their provisions are going up too. So how can a horse owner best consider which is the best option for them in financial terms?
On the face of it, DIY is the cheapest. It’s the most basic type of livery where you in fact rent the stable and grazing and generally the horse owners are responsible for the full day-to-day care of the horse, and managing its needs in terms of exercise, routine care and provisions. On the flip side, serviced livery packages usually take care of a majority of this on behalf of the horse owner, allowing them to just attend the yard when they choose to see or exercise the horse.
However, when you actually sit down and work out the costs to the horse owner between the two options, things are not quite as they seem when you factor in the indirect costs. The below is based on examples only but should certainly give horse owners food for thought when considering a yard move, and to not only base their decision on the face value of a livery package.
The Travel Factor
If your horse is cared for by the yard on a Part or Full livery package, there is no need for you to visit the horse every day unless you choose to. However, if your horse is on DIY, you’ll need to be visiting the yard at least daily, and most likely twice a day for the majority of the year. This extra travel will use fuel, cause extra vehicle wear and tear (wipers, tyres etc) plus the mileage added to vehicle. On average travelling around 5000 extra miles per year.
The Time Factor
If you choose to have your horse on a serviced livery package, then the chances are that a majority of your time spent at the yard is for all the niceties of horse ownership such as riding, grooming and socialising. But if you are on DIY the care and management of the horse is solely down to you. The time to attend to your horse, purchase supplies and suchlike, plus the time spent travelling can work out to be around 40 hours per month- more than a full working week!
The Filth Factor
We all know having horses can be a dirty pastime! If your horse is on a serviced livery package, the chance is you’ll be able to avoid most of the dirty jobs. Being DIY means you’ll be at the forefront of these jobs come rain or shine! Changes of clothes, transporting feed and hay in your car, muddy jeans on the way to work, dirty boots and the extra washing needed can all add up and be a hassle.
The Provisions Factor
If your horse is on a serviced livery package, the likelihood is it will include forage, bedding and possibly even feed. It is very unlikely that DIY livery includes anything by other than renting a stand and grazing. Losing the ease of the yard providing these consumables for your horse means you’d need to source it (and likely collect it) yourself. Plus likely at a higher cost as not home produced or bought in bulk.
The Convenience Factor
What value can you put on having your horse in a yard that provides the care and routine for your equine? That covers the day-to-day care regardless of the weather or any other unforeseen changes? That covers when you’re running late, when you’re ill or when you’re on holiday? For many DIY horse owners, if this happens, they’ll likely need to swap favours with another livery, enlist a friend or relative to help care for the horse or employ a freelance groom to ensure their horse is cared for.
The Facility Factor
Most, but not all, DIY yards will have basic facilities as they offer a lower-value livery. They may have riding areas, be well-placed for good hacking routes, and simply maintain your stable and paddocks fit for use.
Serviced livery packages on the other hand, especially those offering full livery, training livery or designed for competitive riders, tend to have better facilities as they can afford to invest in their clients. Indoor arenas, arena mirrors and floodlights, horse walkers, solariums, hot horse washes and toilets are all more likely to be found compared to DIY yards.
Obviously, these are examples only based on potential situations but should certainly be food for thought. Using our few examples above, we’ve worked out that a DIY livery package could cost over £100 per month extra in indirect costs, not including the value of the time allocated to caring for your horse… that’s quite a leap and doesn’t factor in the other advantages of services livery packages or time-saving that it’s hard to put a monetary value on.
We have a more detailed article breaking down in more details and amounts how we have come to this cost difference
Is DIY Really the Cheapest Livery Option
Original content by LiveryList and the Yard Owner Hub
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