27/04/2026
When you don't think any more can hit the industry! Assumed fuel shortages and rising petrol and diesel costs don’t just affect transport—they can affect every part of day to day life, including livery yard operations. Its just another unecessary cost for yard owners and horse owners.
Livery yards are constantly being hit with increasing costs at the moment, and yet there still seems to be so much push back when prices need to go up.
Everyone knows their own bills are rising — electric, fuel, general day to day living — but somehow it’s harder for people to accept that yard owners are dealing with exactly the same, if not more. Running a yard depends massively on fuel, whether that’s commuting, running machinery, or just keeping things ticking over. Then you’ve got all the indirect costs — hay, bedding, feed — all going up because of production and transport costs.
It all adds up, quickly.
The reality is, a lot of yard owners are the ones picking up the extra cost without really meaning to. They end up subsidising their liveries just to avoid putting prices up or upsetting people.
It’s easy to say “wait and see what happens” — but a few months down the line, when the delayed effects hit and prices rise again (especially going into autumn/winter with even more expensive hay, bedding and feed), you’re already behind and trying to catch up.
I've seen so many yards close ver the last 2 years, and mainly because they are unsustainable. Costs increases, client demands increase, repsonsibilities are huge, but the prices stay as they are or perhaps put up a meagre few percent with no real working out it that touches the tip of the iceberg of the actual increases of costs.
For any yard owners who haven’t reviewed their prices in a while, and if this post sounds too familiar to you... this is your warning sign. Because once you fall behind, it’s an uphill struggle to get back to a fair and realistic price, and with costs constantly creeping up, you just end up chasing your tail. A few hours work to evaluate your financial position could literally change your life and your business.
Sit down and properly work it out. Look at your running costs, your time, your labour — then compare it to what you’re charging. It can be a bit of a shock.
Livery is a business, but too many people (on both sides) still treat it like a hobby or a “nice little extra.” It’s not. It’s physically and mentally exhausting, it’s 24/7, 7 days a week, and there are so many different roles wrapped up in it.
Too many yard owners undervalue themselves.
No more keeping prices low just to keep liveries happy or fill stables.
Spring is actually the ideal time to sort things — horses are out more, costs are slightly lower, and there’s a bit more breathing space. Use it. Review your pricing, update your contracts and policies, look at what you offer and where you can add value, get your admin sorted, refresh your website and socials.
Get yourself in the best place possible now — because the industry resally is at risk. Low prices. High expectations. Too many pople not willing to budge. And non compliant yards getting the lions share of the liveries and of the profits.
So. Get. Organised.
Charge what you're worth.
Run it like a business.
We've also written a really helpful post about the ways in which yards might be affected by the increases in fuel, and steps they can put in place to reduce costs or reduce useage...
https://yardownerhub.co.uk/managing-fuel-shortages-and-how-this-can-affect-costs-in-livery-yards/
Don't forget that we have a whole dedicated section to Livery Pricing on the Yard Owner Hub, all completely free to access and use helpign you understand what you need to be charging and why, a cost calculations sheet, price increase letter templates and mre. So theres really no excuses. You have everything you need to hand!
https://yardownerhub.co.uk/resources/livery-pricing/
