We love discussing options and needs with potential livery clients and as part of this there are a number of questions we regularly get asked. This has made us realise that there are a few things about our livery packages that you might not know and that you might like to know if you are looking for a new home for your favourite four legged animal.
1. What are your opening hours?
The great thing is - there are none. At Dunbyrne Equestrian you don't need to panic about getting home from a competition before the yard closes or getting access for an early start. We are family run and live here 24/7 so our livery clients can come and go to their own timetable.
2. Do you do discounts for ponies?
Our full livery costs €120 per week. That includes top quality haylage and feed twice a day and daily muckout, turnout and use of all our facilities. We can offer this full livery for just €90 a week for ponies 14.2 and under. We have lots of clients with ponies who take part in activities such as interschools, pony club and SJI. All liveries can take part in free group lessons in our AIRE approved riding school.
3. Do you do DIY?
We offer assisted DIY. This means that we look after the feeding and haying daily for you and you look after your own turnout and mucking out with us providing fresh bedding for you to use when mucking out twice a week. The turnout provided is individual turnout paddocks. We carefully and mantain and rotate the use of these paddocks so that they all have grass in them year round.
4. is the riding school seperate?
There is no need to worry about having to share arena space with riding school lessons. Our AIRE approved riding school is housed in it's own 20 * 40m outdoor arena and stable block. Our main livery arena is a separate 70 * 50m, floodlit all weather arena with a huge amount of space for everyone.
5. Do you offer lessons?
All of our livery clients can avail of free group lessons in our onsite AIRE approved riding school. However we have three BHS and HSI trained coaches on our team one of whom is also a BHSI and BHS Exam Assessor. These coaches are available for private lessons at competitive rates and work with clients to create individual training plans.
6. Do you offer grass livery?
In the Spring and Summer season (April to October) we offer a limited amount of grass livery at just €50 a week. In the Winter we offer a choice of assisted DIY livery at €80 a week or full livery at €120 per horse / €90 per pony. This allows us to maintain our grassland to a high standard over the Winter to ensure that all of our horses can enjoy fresh grass in the Spring and Summer seasons.
7. Can I have a flexible livery plan?
We offer flexibility to our livery plans at short notice to meet clients needs. if for example you are on assisted DIY and need two days of full livery a week or you are on full livery and need a week of coaching or you want to switch to schooling livery while you go on holidays we can accommodate these requests by adding the extra services to your basic plan for a reasonable fee.
8. Are there any hidden extras?
We don't believe in charging our livery clients for any reasonable ad hoc requests for routine needs. So if you need a rug changed or to have your horse held for the vet or to park your horse box etc you wont have to worry about any surprised on your bill. Understandably if our team need to do something extra on a regular basis this would incur a small charge. Our livery rates also include vat / taxes.
9. What is coaching and schooling livery?
Coaching livery is full livery with 4-5 coaching sessions from our BHSI per week. It is ideal for anyone preparing for competition or wanting an intensive course of sessions to improve them and their horse. Schooling livery is full livery with your horse exercised by a member of the team 5-6 days a week. This ideal for busy clients who want to keep their horses fit while handling their own busy lifestyle and / or competing at the weekend. Both options are available as needed so if you want full livery with your horse exercised twice a week we can organise it.
10. Have you any hacking?
Dunbyrne Equestrian includes a 1km all weather sand gallops which leads on to a wooded hacking trail with cross country fences with the backdrop of the hill and bog of Allen.
11. Are there any competiton or schooling venues near by?
We are a ten minute drive from Coilog EC one of Kildare's premier competition venues. We are within an hour or Killossery and less than half an hour from several local competition venues for riding club / pony club / schooling / cross country.
12. What are the stables like?
We are not a fan of colder, sparse stables with rubber matting and not much else. We manage our stables with the comfort of the horse in mind. Each stable is very spacious (14 * 14 feet) and includes a deep litter warm shavings bed with good banks for optimum comfort. (straw also available if required). Our stables are built in a courtyard formation allowing full ventilation and allowing horses to see each other.
13. Do you take horses in for schooling / breaking / sales prep?
We are happy to take horses in for schooling, sales preparation, competition preparation, breaking and handling and any other work needed by the owner.
14. What is holiday livery?
If you are heading away and want to keep your horse fit and well schooled we will happily take them in on holiday livery while you are away. You can enjoy your break and come home to a horse that has been well looked after and is not fresh. We can even give your horse a makeover while you are gone if you like.
15. Do you run any competitions?
Dunbyrne Riding Club, affiliated with AIRC (association of Irish Riding Clubs) is based onsite at Dunbyrne Equestrian. Membership is open to anyone 17 and over. We run at least two riding club shows a year at Dunbyrne Equestrian and enjoy social outings. Our members compete at AIRC competitions locally and nationally.
To talk to us about any aspect of our yard or livery packages, drop us a private message or call 086-2222440/ 087-9244385