Valley Farm Natural Livery

09/01/2024

Fence moving day! The recent dry weather and strong winds has meant the winter field has dried out beautifully.
The horses spent a couple of hours in the grass then chose to bring themselves up to the barn for a snooze

28/11/2023

I love what my friends over at Home Farm Holistic Livery offer. If you're on my waiting list and are within reach of Mottram, Tameside I'd recommend you check them out.

Happy horses today in the morning sun. The rest of the herd is munching in the field.
We have one space available for a barefoot horse or pony under 16h.

22/11/2023

New grass day

12/11/2023

Absolutely this, we're not a first come first served yard either as it's important that all the horses get on with each other as well as all the humans.

You know you've got it right when you turn up to the yard on a Saturday morning to find the majority of your liveries cars parked in the car park, enjoying their horses on this beautiful day, and there's not one of them you don't look forward to seeing!

This farm is not just my workplace, it's my family home, my dream, my hobby place, the place my heart horse lives, the place I had my first dance on my wedding day, where we host Christmas and family and friends parties and celebrations, and the host of so many more memories to come.

It's so important to me that I pick the right humans to share this space with, which is why when we have livery spaces it is never first come first served. The right horses and humans are paramount to anything and I want to protect the peaceful, friendly atmosphere I have and keep it that way.

I've got it so wrong in the past. And never again.

A word of advice to livery owners, if you show somebody around and your gut says no, for whatever reason or no reason at all, listen to it. And if you have someone on your yard that fills you with dread when their car pulls up, it's time to say goodbye. I had a livery who bullied and manipulated me so badly in the past that I almost closed. Thank God I didn't.

Happy Saturday everyone 🌞

11/11/2023

Lovely to see the ponies out enjoying the grass, with a beautiful sky overhead

29/10/2023

*Waiting list update*
I've been getting in touch with people on the waiting list to check who's still interested. I know I've missed a couple of people so if that's you, or you think you'd like to be added to the waiting list please get in touch

Thanks, Emma

25/10/2023

This has been a long, hard process and it's not finished yet but it's nice to see the horses using the fleece track laid for them so they can access the fields with less mud

26/05/2023

I'm really pleased to see that the horses chose to come up to the yard several times today, spending a couple of hours resting each time. They'd just been given access to a new field of long grass which makes it even more pleasing that they brought themselves off it. Lots of exercise too moving back and forth too.

03/05/2023

This is an absolute fantastic yard in Mottram, on the other side of Tameside from us. I really recommend them

22/04/2023

It felt like a very rare moment yesterday to have such a dry yard. Here's to the rest of spring and summer, and more dry days!

13/02/2023

We spent the weekend planting hedges. Looking forward to the shelter and foraging it will provide for the horses

24/01/2023

We're hosting a volunteer day at Valley Farm to plant 175m of donated hedging plants.

Refreshments and lunch will be served, just send me a message if you might come so I know how much food to prepare.

Valley Farm OWL is an outdoor wellbeing and learning centre on the edge of Daisy Nook Country Park. We support people's health and wellbeing through a range of animal- and nature-based activities and therapeutic activities

Hedge Planting Day
Saturday 11th February

We've been donated hedging whips from the Woodland Trust and now need help getting them planted. They're arriving on Thursday 9th and need to get planted asap.

Join us for as long or short a time as you like on Saturday. Hot drinks will be available whenever you want a break and we will also serve a soup lunch between 12 and 1.

Bring a spade if you have one and wear clothes that you don't mind getting a bit muddy.

18/01/2023

Having fun in the sun today

05/12/2022

Really excited about this arrival from Solway Recycling Ltd This will keep our hay dry and hopefully reduce wastage as there should be less falling on the floor to get trodden on.

I'm impressed with the quality of the build, it seems very sturdy but with flexibility so it seems like it will withstand any shoving or kicks from the horses

24/08/2022

Ponies went onto a new field today, looks like they're enjoying it. I'm just hoping the grass grows back fast enough in the field they just left.

07/07/2022

We've got a good mix of plants growing, now to identify what they are!

29/05/2022

We've got one place left on our equicentral-style livery.

Space is available for one pony, or small horse (up to about 15.2hh).

£365pcm for our all-inclusive package.

Please see our pinned post and services section for more information.

25/05/2022

*Arena hire*
Starting from £10/hour
We are now hiring out our outdoor arena. Please see our services section for more details.

14/05/2022

The horses are so relaxed here, I frequently see all of them lying down at once

19/04/2022

We welcomed Frankie to the herd yesterday. There was a bit of running around but this morning Frankie was relaxed enough to lie down, so hopefully that means they've mostly sorted themselves out now.
It was interesting to see that while Lily was the first one to chase Frankie off, she seemed to then feel she'd made her point and didn't get involved much after that. The two geldings on the other hand, were more inclined to keep asserting themselves. It was still all fairly civilised though.

06/04/2022

Our track and communal barn system has been open since 1 April and the horses are loving it. It didn't take them long at all to find their way along the track to the hay and barn, and they love foraging en-route.

21/03/2022

A warm welcome to Lily who arrived on Saturday and is already settling in well 😊

02/03/2022

Introducing Sam, who joined us on Monday. He's settled in really well with no dramas, every time I go out to check they're all happily grazing.

26/02/2022

Much nicer weather for doing yard jobs than the last two weekends! Fencing going up round the yard and barn today 🙂

22/02/2022

Finally, some sunshine

09/02/2022

We've got a pile of fencing ready to go in for the track, and a new gate. We're grateful to Chelford Farm Supplies for their advice and a very prompt delivery - ordered on a Sunday night and with us on Tuesday morning

09/02/2022

We're working hard at getting the track and barn set up. In the meantime, we have two ponies with us at grass livery. Minstrel and Bailey have been enjoying the sunshine today.

23/01/2022

We are a small, friendly yard focused on providing a high-welfare environment with 24/7 access to a communal barn and yard. A short track runs to the fields which are open as often as possible, and we keep our stocking rate low to minimise overgrazing.

We are best suited to horse owners who want a relaxed, low-key approach to horse management and don't want to use a stable regularly overnight.

Key points
⭐️ Meadow hay and water provided in the barn and yard
⭐️ Bedding provided in the barn
⭐️ All poo-picking done, so no need for any stable chores
⭐️ Maximum of six horses in the herd
⭐️ Individual stables available for convalescence, or tacking up, grooming, vet visits etc
⭐️ Large individual and lockable storage spaces
⭐️ Large outdoor arena
⭐️ Good hacking
⭐️ Owners live on-site
⭐️ £405 pcm

Restrictions:
⭐️ Maximum height 15.2hh
⭐️ Barefoot or front shoes only
⭐️ We are sorry that we are unable to provide soaked hay or restricted grazing, so we are unlikely to be suitable for laminitics or horses that need weight control.

23/01/2022