livery in ireland

[marion]

Hi, i have just got divorced and thinking of moving to my mum in ireland.
She lives in county Limerick and visiting her loads i do not notice livery yards like the ones we get here. Is this the done thing over there.
I never see anyone hacking down the road like we do in uk, can domeone tell me what its like having a horse over there.

Thanks all.

[horsey123]

i went to ireland for 6 weeks to see family we saw a dealer yard were they were buying mares and the day they were baught covering them and the once they had there foal they were being coverd again the stables were like tiny concreat boxs with no windows

the only livery i found over there was a little yard were there was no IH NH wat so ever they were starting there horses at two and riding them away at 3 in sj

so i dident like what i saw so i stayed in england (it could be differnt but that what i saw)
sorry if i was not much help

[kya]

Horsey 123 I'm Irish and living in Ireland and that is not an accurate picture of our care for our horses here. I'm sorry if you saw the worst excesses. There are plenty of livery yards Marion, with the same level of care and facilities as in the UK. Natural horsemanship would be a little strange here, it's more BHS and racing orientated, but we have produced some of the best horses in the world, so it's not all bad eh? The Irish Horse Board is on the web and will have a list of approved equestrian centres.

The UK does not a monopoly on care and there is abuse on both sides of the water.

Try the Irish Association of Riding Establishments too. www.iare.ie I think.

I'm offended.

[marion]

Kanga,
where abouts in ireland are you?

[kya]

I live in West Waterford, very close to the Cork border, so Cork is my main shopping town outside of the local towns like Fermoy and Dungarvan Marion. I should add, that as we are a largely farming community outside of Dublin, keeping a horse at home is the norm' but livery is popular too. I haven't kept a horse at livery, but I've certainly ridden at them. Skevanish in Inishshannon, a great dressage yard with lovely facilities would be one, Hop Island in Cork another, and there are lots of small independant yards such as the Fermoy Equestrian Centre (cosy and popular with children) and Finisk Valley, another small yard close to me who organise joint ride outs for people like me with a horse at home and no company to ride with. If you wanted to try the ultimate experience here it appears to be at Castle Leslie (Kildare?) who have a wonderful new Equestrian Centre or Mount Juliet in Kilkenny who organise day and weekend breaks.

I'm sure there are plenty of woeful yards too!

[marion]

Kanga, sounds good. My parents are near Ballylanders, do you know it?

Whats your opinion on moving over.

I feel very lonely here and am thinking about taking a career break.

[kya]

There's still plenty of work here depending on what you do. I don't know Ballylanders at all, but I would suggest coming over for a period of time without committing yourself, as you need to ensure you are happy here. A country life here is quiet and much of our social life centres on the pub, which doesn't suit everyone. Settling in will involved making new friends etc., which is a challenge but if you have the support of your family, I see no reason why it shouldn't work out for you. I am wary of geographically relocating ones problems, so have a good think first.

[marion]

Your so right in what you say. My family have a big farm so I am used to the quiet and so many of my friends seem to have slipped by the wayside now I am single 9probably see me as a threat).
I just think that at least at quiet times I can pop over to mum etc.

[Ebyss]

I'm from Ireland too - Wicklow to be specific. Standards of care in livery yards in Ireland are equivalent to those in the UK - some yards are excellent, some good and some downright awful. You should be able to find some good places in Limerick, maybe go to Limerick University and see if any of the student boards have notices up - UL has an excellent course in Equine Science and there are hundreds of pupils for that course alone, so I would imagine there are a good few yards in the surrounding areas for people to keep their horses with them while in college.

One thing we don't have over here is bridleways - but there should be some Common Lands around somewhere that you can ride on.

[kya]

Plenty of government forestry too.. Coilte.

[el]

I do NH in Tipperay (beside Limerick) and I know of very good NH yards in Dublin & Tipp. There's an irish natural horsemanship website too.

[kya]

Thank you El.. at the forefront of the revolution hopefully!

[marion]

El,

I know Tip very well. When someone said there are no bridleways, where do you ride, are the cars ok on the road etc.
I am not the most confident person riding (probably all tied up with divorce), and am scared of completly losing it with the move.

[el]

Yep, no bridleways. Roads pretty dangerous too. If you're at livery, they usually have some land attached you can ride (or cross country course, hacking etc). A lot of folk still live in the country on farms so you can ride out on your farm. I guess you'll be doing the livery route, so once you check out what land comes with each yard, I'm sure you'll find somewhere nice

There's no revolution BTW, Ireland has never been short of incredible horse trainers & teachers, and I have to say I've met the most lovely & educated / talented / amazing horse people in my travels

[kya]

It depends on the area. I live in the wilds and have great one car farm roads which I have found safe enough if you don't mind ducking in a gateway and having a tractor pass by. On the whole drivers in my place seem very considerate. I do agree if you have access to farmland (not great headlands here) it makes all the difference. Hunting is still legal, so if you go out, be aware that's it's live quarry. There are plenty of fun rides in the Autumn when the hunt season is starting.