# DIY + groom or part livery??



## Mia123 (Aug 25, 2012)

I may be loaning/buying my own pony soon and wondering if it would be cheaper to keep the pony on part loan or to just get diy and hire a groom to feed, muck out and to turn in/out? also when i am away they could ride too. I'm just not sure which would be cheaper... I wanted to try my best to care for the pony myself but I just don't have the time to get up in morning, go at night to turn out etc... do you know what would be cheaper? any thoughts?? thanks


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## lucylastic (Apr 9, 2011)

I'm sorry if this sounds blunt, but if you don't have time to do the daily chores yourself, every single day, then your only option is to keep the pony at livery which can be very expensive.
Alternatively, if you are considering a part loan arrangement, you need to be very sure of the other person's commitment and reliability. 
This arrangement could work with the right person but could equally go horribly wrong with the wrong person.


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## Mia123 (Aug 25, 2012)

Hi, we can afford a part livery, I can ride, groom, turn in on when i can, clean tack, etc... but all i can't do is feed and turn in out early morning. Thats not a a full livery. Its a part livery and we can afford it we are just looking at other options. On the part loan note, we have been looking for 3 years to find a suitable pony for share or part loan and we have not found anything, so we looked into full loaning (move yards) early this year, and have found a lovely pony. I'm sorry but it's not a one option only type thing. There are so many different ways for people o care for your horse. Many people prefer private grooms as they grow with the horse and get to know it personally. but on the other hand i have found out that diy+and a groom is more expensive than part livery by research on other forums and there is no option that i will be renting a field and building my own stables to have the groom at, so I am going to look into a part livery. Thank you.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

I would personally prefer to take part-livery if you can't do it all, simply because there are likely to be several people that you can rely on. If you hire someone to fill-in for you, then there is a chance they may get taken ill/car breaks down, etc. and your pony doesn't get fed and turned out in the morning. At least with a livery yard with staff there are contingencies.

Once you have settled into the yard you may find another owner you get on with and trust and you can help each other out. That's what I did as a DIYer most of the time. We would "cover" for each other on a reciprocal basis. And, of course, it costs neither of you any money  If there were a problem you can both call on the livery yard for assistance as you are both known clients.


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## RachJeremy (Sep 14, 2012)

Just wondering... Why don't you find a pony for yourself to ride and do whatever, actually buy the horse/pony, then find a sharer... You won't need to pay groom fee and can organise what you do ect. For example, where i keep my horse (whom i share off a friend of mine) we only have two horses on the yard, it's DIY so when i'm there to look after my horse, i look after the other horse (which will also be an option for any DIY. I'm sure there'll be someone on the yard who'll happily look after your horse in return for you doing theirs!). 
The lady who keeps her horse there, has a sharer too, however this share is completely awful in my opinion. She asks £100 a month off the people who share, which is fair play. However she still ends up doing 6 days a week on the yard, which is why she wanted a sharer in the first place, since she's got a regular 5 day week job full time and part time 1 day week job in another place just to keep herself going financially. She does my horse when she's there, she covers Monday - Thursday mornings before she goes to work, then does Sunday afternoons. The sharers come down and do Saturday mornings. All be it badly done and leaving half the work and treat my horse like he's a thug. 
Me and the lady i share off have a much different agreement. She's not worried financially much like you are. So when she got given my horse from my ex boss (we were given a month to get him off the yard before he'd be shot) and i offered to help and she came up with the share, all she wanted was commitment, as she already knew i was in love with the horse and knew i knew his limitations and she was probably going to end up looking for a sharer anyway due to work and home life. So we came up with a plan where i covered three days i wasn't working and she done 4. And i haven't paid anything regularly. Obviously i just help out by buying random bags of feed or hay bales ect. When i can afford to (i wasn't well paid - hope to be paying for Boycie in the next few months when i've sorted money out and settled in my new job). Now i cover 4 'shifts'. The lady i share from does Sunday mornings, then Monday, Tuesday & Thursday afternoons. I cover Wednesday afternoons, Friday morning and afternoon, Saturday afternoon. 

So shares can really vary between people. You could find someone who could happily do the horse in the mornings every day, and have full day on one weekend. And then you do every afternoon and a full weekend day... Or something like that. It's all negotiable. 

Or like stated above somewhere, if you kept a horse on DIY, you could find someone who can help with your horse, so maybe they can turf your horse out in the morning, give feeds, maybe muck out? Or at least skip out the stable till you get there to actually muck out. 

There's loads out there who can help. You don't have to 'hire' anyone.


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