# Kingfisher equestrian



## komoqueen (21 April 2014)

Hi, has anyone ever kept there horses at Kingfisher Equestrian in Lovington.  If so what were the facilities like and is it still running now.  Thanks in advance.


----------



## be positive (21 April 2014)

I know people who have kept horses there, the facilities are good, indoor and outdoor 20x 60 arenas, regular dressage comps and clinics, it caters for dressage rather than anything else although they do have a full set of SJs, the turnout is very restricted, as far as I know none in the winter. 

It is up for sale so may not be the best time to move there.


----------



## komoqueen (22 April 2014)

Thank you for that would your friend consider ever going back if more grazing available. Were they full or part livery, do you know what they paid.  Do you think there is demand to fill a yard in that area if someone was to buy it. Didn't know it was for sale. Thanks for your advice


----------



## TheMule (23 April 2014)

It's a smart yard with good facilities, though some of them could do with upgrading to make it a top yard. It has 35 acres on mostly sloping land so there should be plenty of grazing. It always used to be full, though Naydon just up the road probably provide some competition


----------



## be positive (23 April 2014)

TheMule said:



			It's a smart yard with good facilities, though some of them could do with upgrading to make it a top yard. It has 35 acres on mostly sloping land so there should be plenty of grazing. It always used to be full, though Naydon just up the road probably provide some competition
		
Click to expand...


There is plenty of grazing, they just don't turnout the horses on it, which is why I said the grazing is restricted,  apart from a few youngsters which seem to live out.


----------



## Shazzababs (1 May 2014)

It is currently up for sale, so it may not offer anything for much longer.

Edited to say: Just realised someone had already said it was for sale.

The demand in this area seams to fluctuate, it took me over a year to fill my spare stable on my private yard (no calls, rather than people not liking it when they came!), but since then I could have filled it 6 or 7 times.

If you bought it with all of the sitting tenants would probably be viable, and I know of at least of local yard which has closed recently (not due to lack of custom) and that will have increased competition.  I think its the only yard in the area with an indoor, so that would be a draw, especially if the access to grazing was improved.

Also scope to expand its competition schedule if someone wanted, that market isn't over provided for locally compared to other areas, but you'd probably have to have a one way system for access as the road is pretty narrow.


----------



## komoqueen (1 May 2014)

Thank you for you assistance any local knowledge appreciated.  Seriously looking at Kingfisher and would want to continue to run it with a selection of liveries diy,part and full all with turnout and continue with events although there is a restriction by the council, I know the current owners favour dressage what else would locals like to ie le trec, driving, clinics. What is the local riding like as I like hacking.  Do you know what the local rates are for livery and what the going rate is for grooms and yard managers.  I am currently located in surrey and ofcourse it is much more expensive, so need to keep the figures the same so not to upset other yards.


----------



## be positive (1 May 2014)

You would have the only indoor in the area so it will attract liveries of all types, the hacking is not great as you are between 2 main roads but there is some off road which when I went out from nearby seemed nice enough and I only saw some of it, once you cross the roads you can go for hours with a mix of roads, pretty quiet and bridleways, plenty of hills if you venture further afield.

Regular jumping comps, with well built courses would be popular,  dressage or jumping evenings should attract people as we have to travel an hour to go jumping at the moment, although the lights in the school would require some upgrading to jump in the dark, they throw shadows which are not good for horses to really read the fences. 
A small xc course would be lovely, even just a few well built fences for schooling, we are very near Rosamund Green farm which has BE fences, something small for babies would be very welcome.
 The local RC is very active and use the facilities, they may be interested in doing more.
Rates for livery vary a lot, even within a small area as facilities are so different, DIY is anything from £20 per week very basic upwards, part from £75, full from £100 but with the indoor you could charge a premium, upsetting other yards should not be a problem, if you offer a service that pleases your clients you can charge what you want, I would be very happy if you put more on which in turn will make my clients happy as they will have less traveling to compete, it would not bother me what you charge for livery.

Looking forward to hearing more if you go ahead, good luck and hopefully welcome to the area.


----------



## TheMule (1 May 2014)

Consider a few other points- the indoor needs re-surfacing if you want to anything much more serious, it has a few boggy patches and is a plain sand surface which doesn't rider well. It is also a bit narrow for jumping courses higher than about 3ft. You'll want to extend the car parking if you want to have shows with larger entries
It's in a lovely location and is a popular venue with riding clubs, you could make it really special but it will need money spending on it


----------



## komoqueen (1 May 2014)

Hi thank you very much for all that information.  Thats really useful.  We thought afew BE jumps would be a good idea.  Prices are reasonably similar to up here.  Im surprised.  We have a long road ahead and will keep thinking of ideas to increase demand.  I know the mid somerset rc is very active and use the facilities and this will continue.  But only time will tell.


----------



## Shazzababs (2 May 2014)

I think the local Pony Club's would probably bite your hand off if you put in a small XC course.

I moved from near Camberley to this area about 10 years ago.  The main difference is the slower pace and the fact that the market isn't so saturated.  There is a higher proportion of people with their own land here than Surrey, so livery (especially of the full\part variety) tends to be a little thin on the ground for those that are looking.  The other difference is in the competition scene.  In Surrey I could have gone out every weekend with a choice of at least 2 or 3 venues, all less than 30min drive away.  In this area people tend to be willing to drive further (most of the Hunter Trials seam to need at least an hour's drive in one direction or the other), and there is probably only one event on each weekend, maybe 2 depending on which discipline you are looking for.

In answer to your question about TREC there a few events in this area, and TREC South West (http://www.trecsouthwest.co.uk/) would be the best people to talk too about Kingfisher being suitable for the orienteering phase, as they seam to run most, if not all of the existing ones.

Good luck with it all!


----------



## katymay (2 May 2014)

we desperately need someone to set up RDA around that area, currently do RDA in Yeovil but they only have a small outdoor school so often gets cancelled in bad weather, so that could be an extra string to the bow!


----------

