# Livery or Horse what do you find first?



## EA73 (30 June 2014)

Which way does everyone tend to get their horse?  Do you find livery and then maybe have to pay for it empty till you find your horse or do you find your horse and then hope you find livery quick!

I think livery first but just wanted people's advice/experience/opinions.

Thank you


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## Elsiecat (30 June 2014)

I don't know but I've often pondered the same thing..


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## JennBags (30 June 2014)

I was very lucky with my first horse as the yard I wanted to be on had a space come up just as I decided to buy a horse.  I ended up buying the first horse I saw, so didn't have to pay the holding fee for long.

With my second, my YO knew I was looking for another and if she didn't get a space cone up, she was prepared to chuck one of hers out in the field so I could have a box.  However again it all worked out well as a space came free just as I bought him.  When he had to be PTS I carried on paying for my box until I found another horse as I didn't want to lose my stable.


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## EA73 (30 June 2014)

Thanks for your reply Jennbags you do seem to have been very lucky in getting both at the same time.  We would hate to buy a horse and no where for it to live of to pick a hard just because it has spaces but then don't want to be paying for livery we are not using!  Very difficult.


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## gina2201 (1 July 2014)

Livery in my mind. You need to know if there are any spaces at the yards near you, what facilities they have particularly if you are looking for assisted/full. Also sellers often ask about your arrangements for keeping their horse should you decide to buy so it always sounds more organised if you have planned ahead. 

Livery yards will allow you to hold a stable/space perhaps with a deposit until you find the right horse

Good luck


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## caileag (4 July 2014)

When I bought mine last year I purposefully made the whole process a lot easier by buying local and asking the seller up front if he could stay on the yard. Meant I didn't have the double whammy of new (first) horse and new yard. If I were you I'd get my name down/ approach some yards first, you might even find something up for sale that way.


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## ThreeTB's (4 July 2014)

I once rang a yard enquiring about livery as I was about to start looking for a horse - the owner said she wouldn't discuss it with me then, but to ring back once I'd found one! A bit late if you ask me as I could have ended up with a horse in the back garden  

When I did eventually buy, I had the livery space first, but having reserved it while I looked, I bought a horse off the YO, so that was easy!

As we now have 3, any future purchases will probably just replace one of them, so will have a place to live, but if I was starting out again I would definitely want to find a place for my future purchase to live before I bought him


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## SamiiBellex (13 July 2014)

We looked for livery first and luckily our yard owner offered to help us find a horse - and we found a horse within the next month... Pure luck! We had to pay a deposit but she said that we didn't have to pay the livery for that month because there were people still in the stables at that point  would always say livery first because some people want there horses gone ASAP and will not sell to you unless you can take the horse almost straight away and it can sometimes take month to find somewhere xxx


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## Red-1 (13 July 2014)

I keep at home now, but before that I would secure stabling first. I think I paid £10 a week to reserve a stable where I wanted to be, but she only charged me once she had to turn someone else down, so it was a fair deal really.


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