21/10/2025
Livery spaces available! We are looking for one to two working livery horses for our therapeutic centre, Equine Elements, based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK.
They will be part of the Equine Elements herd, partaking in therapy and therapeutic sessions (mainly ground based) and horsemanship sessions (including riding). Horses take part in 4- 8 sessions a week, currently we only run approximately 20 sessions a week, so not 8 at the moment, as we already have a team of 5 horses, 3 of which are ridden. The sessions will also be a mix of ground based/ therapeutic, and ridden horsemanship, and any riding is conducted in a way that is working with the horse and their movement, and not restricting them or making them less responsive to a rider.
All our sessions are run ethically with the horse having choice to participate, and focusing on having a relationship and connection with our horses. We work with gentle pressure and release and positive reinforcement, with choice and consent. Our horses are ridden bitless and we do not use any equipment or methods that cause discomfort, pain or fear. We hold a five star riding licence with the local council, and can provide references. We have an in-depth Equine Welfare Policy, and will provide all information around sessions, session content, approach, etcetera.
We will be choosing carefully to find the right fit for horse and human, please get in touch!
We are looking for:
15hh-16hh mare or gelding
Age approx 8- 18
Novice/ beginner friendly for riding and handling, no vices, must be able to be handled by novices/ children
Must be able to live on a hay diet.
Barefoot please (potentially front shoes only, or a horse who wants to transition to barefoot)
Must be happy in a mixed herd of mares and geldings, and a variety of sizes and ages, and social standing wise best as middle-ish.
Horse Facilities:
24/7 turnout on a specially designed track system around a 7 acre field.
Herd living in a stable friendly herd.
Horse safe woodland and hedges.
Autumn/ winter, 3-6 months of overnight field turnout on meadow grass fields, 10 acres and 5 acres.
Ad lib access to forage, locally grown meadow hay in slow feeder nets, with multiple feeding stations so there is enough for everyone.
Morning feed, consisting of thunderbrooks synergy balancer, micronised linseed, and thunderbrooks chaff, worked out to the horses weight.
Enrichment activities such as water buffets, mineral/ salt licks, treat balls, herb foraging and more.
Tie stations for feeding, grooming and tacking up.
Man made shelter and natural shelter.
Stable and turnout pens in case of injury or illness.
Shelters/ stable bedded with aubiose.
We don't have an arena, but there are some close by/ a short riding distance, and we are working on surfaced areas for ground work (currently have unsurfaced/ grass)
Excellent hacking and lots to explore.
Horses are cared for by Alice, an experienced horse person who has run Equine Elements for nearly 3 years, and managed another therapy yard before that.
Human facilities:
Tack and rug storage
Being part of a kind and connected team of like minded horse people
Support for looking after your horse in general and also if you are ill or in holiday
Being part of a project that supports the local community and mental health
Human hang out area
Equine Elements training and fun days
Facilities to come soon:
Groundwork areas
Large communal shelter and loafing area
Specifically built tack room
Cross country style jumps in our main field
Cost:
Working livery assisted care: £250
Working livery full care: £350
Care included for each livery type:
Hay, basic hard feed
Enrichment, herbs, minerals, salt licks
Am feed and morning check over
Hooves picked out every other day/ also before sessions
Pm check
Organising and holding for the trimmer / routine vet checks
Organising and doing of worm tests and worming
Creams or sprays applied for minor wounds
Assisted care:
Owner has to do 2 shifts a week of care jobs, eg putting out hay, poo picking and water checking, and helping with shelter clearing/other seasonal jobs
Full care:
All care jobs are done by Equine Elements eg poo picking, hay putting out, shelter clearing, water cleaning etcetera
Owners are responsible for:
All vet bills, both routine and emergency
Dental costs
Trimmer costs
Worming costs
Additional feed costs (eg supplements, conditioning feed if needed)
Additional bedding costs (eg if horse is stabled due to illness and uses more bedding)
Equipment costs, eg rugs and saddles (maintaining tack to high standards that are safe for use)
