How far would you travel for a good yard?

[lauren123]

Sadly the YOs arent renewing the lease on the yard. So my lovely YM and close friend has has to find somewhere else... in 12 weeks... for her 5 stallions, 1 mare and 1 up for sale gelding. Aswell as me and sox and another livery.
Well having searched pretty much everywhere we was on Plan B which was a DIY yard by YM still does them and we pay. There was a possible yard with 2 stables at a stud about 35/40 minutes away. However she wouldnt take the boys.
However!!!! We have found a yard with 18 boxes, a decent horse walker, secure fields, Good hacking and school with lights. We can loose school which is something we are never allowed to do at current yard. The current horse walker i wouldnt put sox on it. The YM doesnt have to pay for the muck to be taken away. The YO will harrow the school and the beach is a 15 mins Drive away.

My question is. If a yard was perfect and you knew youre horse would want for nothing would you be willing to Drive the distance?

 

[Doodle92]

Depends on how often you would want to be at the yard for me. Being on diy I am there twice a day, sometimes 3 times and when he was ill it was 4 times. So I wouldn’t be wanting a yard 35/40 mins away. But once a day might be doable. Yo does jobs for a fee but when Ill (and most of the time normally) I wanted to do it myself.

 

[Kite_Rider]

Since I moved home in January I’ve had no choice but to drive 30/35 min to the yard, there are loads of yards where I live now but as most of them are within the ‘national forest’ with fantastic hacking they all have waiting lists a mile long and no one seems to be moving!
That said the yard we’re on now is owned by my friend so life is easy for us both, Belle loves it there, I love it there and I’ve kind of got used to the ‘commute’ now, but I don’t work so no time constraints for me which makes a massive difference.

 

[Jessey]

I used to be stabled a good 45 minutes from home and it was manageable only because I didn’t have to be there twice daily, in summer my friends checked on my boy the days I wasn’t riding and in winter they turned out in the mornings for me. I wouldn’t do it unless on full livery now tbh, just in case of injury and needing to be there 3x a day.

 

[carthorse]

You like and trust your YM so I would at least try it - if it doesn't work you can always move. You could have him closer but end up travelling more and compromising his welfare because you don't trust them to do him properly, and then you're also back to struggling in bad weather, trying to fit everything in around work, and worrying if you're on holiday or ill.

 

[Trewsers]

Yes I'd try it too if you like your yard manager - I used to do three quarters of an hour each way to the yard, but I knew it wasn't forever as we were moving them home eventually. However, it was worth it for the good facilities and knowing I could pay to have them sorted if need be. If you know the yard manager will do Sox for you when you need them to, and it's worry free for you, then I'd go with it.

 

[domane]

I actually moved Gracie at the beginning of last month (yes.... again....please don't berate me ) I have gone further than I want, 17 miles, which takes me an average of 25 minutes to drive. However, the YO is very happy to do services which are cheap too, so I only go once a day on average.

It's the perfect yard for Gracie and there just isn't anything as suitable closer to home, so the distance is the compromise for me.