‘I love being fully responsible for everything’
Scotland-based Liz Daniels recently started keeping her horse and daughter’s pony at home, after always being at livery yards.
“Having horses at home is something I dreamt of,” says Liz. “We now have year-round grazing and two stables. It is very special to walk out of your door straight to your horses — I feel incredibly lucky and still pinch myself.”
■✓ The pros
Liz says the benefit is not having to travel in order to visit her horses, which has the added bonus of being able to spend more time with them.
“It gives me more flexibility to meet the farrier or vet as I’m already on site, working from home, and my non-horsey son is no longer ‘dragged’ to the stables.” Liz adds that her costs are lower too. “There are still costs involved, of course, but these are for fixing things or making improvements,” she explains. “I also love being fully responsible for keeping everything clean and tidy.”
■✗ The downsides
Lack of facilities is one consequence of Liz’s new set up.
“I don’t have an arena, and it’s tricky having a competition horse at home with no arena when the weather turns,” she states. “Also, when I was on competition livery, the coaches were always on site and everyone had regular lessons, which is great for fitness and development. Now we need to box up to take the horses there and if you have a ‘problem’ you have to wait for your lesson.
“I’ve always been lucky that the yards I have been on have been incredibly supportive with lovely owners and liveries, and I do miss that team feel.”