Araboo27

Curious as to what the horse scene is like over in NZ? We'll probably be moving over in two years or so, haven't looked into it but I'm guessing it would be extortionate to bring my mare over with us

Hoping to buy a house with land and possibly run a livery yard Are livery yards as common in NZ as over here in the UK or do more people keep theirs at home?

Snap Shot

Hello, here's a link to a thread where someone was bringing their horse with them from Britain to NZ. It's not a detailed explanation but it seems they've done it.

You could contact them via the PM system on BE or if you click on their screen name to send a PM if you have any questions for them, there's also a way to send them an e-mail.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/new-z...ringing+horses

Another link:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/new-z...ringing+horses

Hazelnut has contributed to this thread, she is a regular poster who has been researching the cost and viability of relocating from Britain to NZ bringing horse/s with them too. Moonie2011 has also contributed to the thread, she has worked with horses in Britain and NZ.

Again, the link is not a detailed explanation of how to transport a horse from UK to NZ. Unless the horse is called Pegasus and really can fly. Probably with Peter Pan in the saddle.

This thread, as linked below, though unrelated to the subject matter, has contributions from a poster named Crumpy10. She lives on a lifestyle block in the Manawatu.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/new-z...light=crumpy10

BEVS

Hi and welcome to this little NZ forum.

We live at the top of the South Island in the Nelson and Tasman Bays area & are semi-rural surrounded by rural .

I don't know of a livery stable hereabouts. Most everyone keeps their horses on their own land or simply rent a cheap paddock from a neighbour.

There must be livery stables somewhere though, as NZ does have horse and harness racing.

BEVS

To add.
Here is a very old thread on this subject.

Horses and business

Justcol

Hi, I'm in Cambridge in the waikato. I know nothing about about horses but I can tell you there is a
huge horsey set in the town and also in all the other nearby towns I know of (Te awamutu, Matamata, Morrinsville)
Horse racing, studs, race tracks, riding schools, clubs, show jumping, horsey hospitals and health centres,
shops selling horsey gear, horse livery and saddleries.

Funny I dont see many stables, I think they keep em outside all year round down here.

Sorry I can only tell you what I see and cant be of more help.

blandford

HI, yes I brought a horse over from the UK but it is v expensive, £12K+!!!! The horsey scene here is v v different to the UK and many people just keep their horses on their own land or rent a paddock. Horses are stabled considerably less here too. PM me if you like with any questions

crumpy10

They don't stable horses here much, they all live outside with rugs on, or covers as they call them here.
The only stabled ones are the racing ones.
It's quite cheap to rent a paddock, most people look after their own horses, this was something I thought about doing but there isn't the call for it, unless you live in town.... Then it can get expensive to set up a yard.
Horses are expensive here unless you buy an ex racer then they are virtually free, thoroughbreds here are mostly nuts! Standard breds are bit better, but they are racers too, some can be great, but others never learn how to get out of a trot..... nearly always go on the forehand and are a pain cause they lean! Station breds are good strong solid horses, but a good one is expensive!
I was looking at a 7 year old hacking station bred gelding, who had done all the mountains and stock work etc but he was in Ca Gisbourne, and was 4 thousand dollars! Have a look on trade me, you may be surprised!
Good luck.

BEVS

crumpy10

crumpy10

No worries Beds! Anytime.

crumpy10

Meant Bevs! Stupid auto correct!

BEVS

I'm called all sorts of names these days. I'll live .

So Araboo27. If not a livery yard , what else takes the fancy .

Hazelnut

The caveat to all of this is that I'm still working on making the move to NZ, I'm not there yet. I had a quote for moving a horse last month and it was £13,250 per pony. That's a complete service that includes pick up from current stables in the UK, quarantine stabling and a whole mountain of paperwork, worming, blood tests, vet checks and actually flying them. I wouldn't recommend trying to do this yourself. We recently had quotes from shipping agents and have decided we'll probably go with the one who has experience of moving horse gear and gave us the name of someone they helped previously so we could chat. One thing I've done is invest in a good bareback pad that squishes up small and a synthetic bridle so I can take them in hand luggage. I then have something if the horses arrive before the household good container does. I have no idea how the timings will work but I am assured it all works out. Bear in mind the additional stress of the first few weeks where you might be in a motel room and frantically trying to find rented accommodation for you and somewhere for your horse to live.

When you move horses they go three to a crate, much like my Ifor Williams trailer but a box not a trailer shape. My vet has been on flights with horses. She says the care is excellent but there are risks and the journey is hard on them, it's effectively a 35-40hr continuous trailer ride. They can become anxious during take off and landings but the grooms are experienced with handling highly strung competition horses and, if the flight is smooth, it's no different for them than standing dozing in a stable. It is very unusual for anything horrible to happen these days. I'm working on having mine load into ever tighter spaces with ever louder noises and weird goings on happening around them and ever lazier handling. My aim is to have them at the point where I can walk them to the bottom of the ramp or step and they'll go in without a person leading them with a lot of scary sounds and sights happening around them.

One of the main attractions of NZ for me is the fact that stabling is seen as almost cruel. I coach riding and groundwork and I'm also a behaviourist and this is like a breath of fresh air to me. Some people do keep their horses in during the worst of the weather and flies (summer or winter) and I've spotted more European type stables in the Auckland area now but the vast majority of horses live out 24/7/365.
If you wants yards round auckland then type

(agistment OR livery) AND Auckland AND site:nz

into Google and it finds places for you. There's a lot of them.

I visited the Waikato Equestrian Centre near Hamilton on our trip and it's much like a large, good quality livery and competition yard in the UK except the horses get to live out. Most places seem to have something similar which is also used extensively by people who keep their horses at home and then trailer into venues to use the facilities.

It seems very rare for people who keep them at home to have an arena but that could be because the land is drier and used as a grass arena all year round. I don't know, hopefully an NZ resident can tell us. I suspect the cost of installation is prohibitive as it's far less common and I have no idea how you earthquake proof an arena base.

Hacking seems to be famine or feast. The Waikato region we stayed in round Cambridge is the NZ equivalent of Newmarket for the horse scene but the hacking seems dire, roads are fast and dangerous driving with regard to horses is rife. Most people trailer out to places to ride or try to reach private deals with land owners to be allowed to ride round their fields. Bridleways or rights of access don't exist.

If you live near some of the forest parks that's the feast bit. Many seem to have free or cheap permits and miles of off road riding that look sheer bliss. Property near these is obviously a lot more than property surrounded by highways. We visited someone near Nelson who kept her horses at home and she has direct access into hundreds of acres of forest from her back gate.

Trailers are called floats Hacking is usually called trekking.

I've seen a couple of livery yards that offer track keep as recommended by the barefoot people but they seem to have spaces more often than other yards. Most of the yards I spoke to that have decent facilities have waiting lists.

It took me a while to get my head round the idea that you might feed more hay in summer when the grass dries up and browns off than you do in winter when grass can be lush and plentiful. Rye grass is very common out there and fields are often lush and heavily fertilised. This can cause huge problems. I have cobs and am going to have to be very careful if I bring any over.

Most of the expats I spoke to still buy all their leather work from the UK as they say the quality of leather goods in NZ is so poor. Feed seems to be a similar price and you seem to be able to buy equivalents to almost everything I use in the UK. The rugs I use that fit my cobs aren't available in NZ and there doesn't seem to be an equivalent.

Vet care can be more basic than we're used to depending on where you are. In South Island and the more rural areas you could be 50 miles or more from an equine vet. Scans, stem cell work or surgery on tendons or colic for anything except competition horses worth mega bucks doesn't seem to be as common as here. I was told that cushings care is far less known over there as the expense of the drugs and the specialised care needs mean most people just put them down.

All of this is, of course, gross generalisations but I know two vets who worked out in NZ for a few years and came back as they said the accepted standards of care for injury or disease weren't what they felt comfortable working with. This put us off some areas but other areas are fine, you just need to do your research.

I know four horse owners who moved out there between four and ten years ago. Three took one to two horses each, one sold her horse as she was too old for the journey to be fair on her and bought new over there. Three love it and would never come back. One would come back for missing friends and family reasons but the better quality of horse life she has over in NZ I think is what keeps her there for now.

moonie2011

Hi, I am in wellington. As most people say stabling is very uncommon here. I work with a lot of animals/horse as an animal communicator in the lower north island. I have been to many 'wow' yards with all the facilities including 5* stables but the horses are grazed out all year round. There are pros and cons to this, I quite miss settling my horse in a warm stable at night, but only having to visit once a day is nice.
I feel grazing is expensive here compared to Devon, $60-$70 a week for grazing and an arena only. Riding can be hit and miss depending where you graze of course. Some clients have no hacking rides, others have miles of it over hills and farm land. Good luck x