How to Generate a Second Income Stream from Your Livery Yard
Livery yard activity slots let you monetise underused space and horses. How to structure them, price them, and manage bookings without admin overhead.
Most livery yards have assets that are underused for significant portions of the day. The arena stands empty between 10am and 3pm on weekdays. A schoolmaster or reliable cob is doing one or two hacks a week when it could safely be doing more. The facilities that cost money to maintain are generating nothing outside of the regular livery routine.
Livery yard activity slots are a way to change that — by opening specific sessions to horse owners outside your regular livery who want to use your yard for a hack, a lesson, a schooling session, or another activity. Done well, they add a predictable secondary income stream with relatively low additional workload. Done poorly, they create administrative complexity and undermine the experience of your existing liveries.
What livery yard activities actually work
Not every type of activity suits every yard, and it's worth being honest about which ones are feasible for you before committing to anything.
Guided hacks. If you have good local hacking with clear, safe routes, guided hacks are one of the most straightforward activities to offer. They require a competent member of staff or the yard owner themselves, a horse with appropriate temperament, and public liability insurance that covers riding activities. The market for guided hacks — particularly for horse owners who are between yards, on holiday in the area, or looking for a safe route they don't know — is larger than most yard owners realise.
Arena hire. If your outdoor school or indoor school has capacity during the working day, hourly hire to external riders is a simple addition. Set a clear booking process, a minimum notice period for cancellations, and a price that reflects the surface, lighting, and any equipment included. Many yards charge £10–£25/hour for external arena hire, with premium rates for peak evening times.
Schooling or loan sessions. If you have horses at the yard that are suitable — a reliable cob, a schoolmaster, a horse whose owner is happy for them to be used — supervised sessions with a competent external rider can be arranged. This requires careful matching of horse and rider capability, clear terms around liability, and specific insurance cover. It's not for every yard, but for those where it fits it can be lucrative.
Lessons on livery horses. Where a qualified coach is involved and appropriate insurance is in place, lessons using yard horses for external riders are a genuine income stream. The prerequisite is a horse suitable for the level of rider, an appropriate briefing process, and visibility of the booking schedule so existing liveries aren't affected.
The economics of livery yard activity slots
The financial case depends on what you're offering and how often. A yard with two arena-hire sessions per day at £15/hour, six days a week, generates around £1,000/month in additional revenue with minimal additional cost once the booking process is established. Guided hacks at £35–£50 per person, run three or four times a week, can add significantly more.
The main costs are additional insurance (check your current policy — most standard yard insurance does not cover commercial riding activities by third parties), any additional wear on the arena surface or equipment, and the time to manage bookings and enquiries.
The net margin on activity slots is typically high because the primary assets — the yard, the horses, the facilities — are already paid for. You're selling spare capacity.
How to manage bookings without creating admin overhead
The administrative cost of activity slots is the thing that puts most yard owners off. Managing bookings across WhatsApp, email, and Facebook messages, keeping track of availability, handling cancellations, and chasing payments can quickly consume more time than the income justifies.
The solution is a structured booking flow that requires minimal manual input: a published availability calendar, a fixed cancellation policy, payment at the time of booking. Systems that require you to manually confirm each enquiry create friction for both parties and tend to degrade over time as the volume of enquiries grows.
OpenStable's activity slot feature is built for this. Yard owners list their activities — type, duration, price, available spaces — and horse owners browse and book directly. Spaces decrement automatically when a booking is confirmed, so you're not manually updating availability. All communication happens in one thread rather than scattered across platforms. If a space doesn't fill, it's visible in search results for horse owners nearby.
List your activity slots on OpenStable →
If you're also looking to fill your regular livery spaces more efficiently, see how to fill a livery yard without relying on Facebook.
What to get right before you start
Before you take any external bookings for riding activities, two things are non-negotiable:
Insurance. Your standard livery yard public liability policy almost certainly does not cover third-party riders using your horses or facilities for commercial activities. You need specific cover for this. Speak to an equine insurance broker — policies that cover commercial riding activity are available and not prohibitively expensive for occasional use, but the standard yard policy will not apply.
Written terms. Every booking should have written terms: what's included, the cancellation policy, liability limitations, and the requirements you have of participants (appropriate riding level, hat standard, footwear). These protect you and set expectations clearly.
Getting these right before your first external booking is significantly easier than dealing with an incident that reveals a gap.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need special insurance for livery yard activity slots? Yes. Standard yard public liability insurance does not typically cover commercial riding activities with third-party riders. You need either an extension to your existing policy or a separate commercial riding activity policy. Speak to a specialist equine insurance broker before taking any external bookings.
How much should I charge for arena hire at my livery yard? Typical rates for outdoor arena hire are £10–£25/hour, with indoor facilities or those with better surfaces at the higher end. Evening and weekend slots command a premium. Research local rates — most equestrian centres publish theirs — and price relative to your surface quality, lighting, and accessibility.
Can I offer guided hacks without a riding school licence? If you're charging for guided hacks, UK law requires that you hold a riding establishment licence under the Riding Establishments Act 1964. This involves an annual inspection. If you're offering free or informal hacks with an expectation of a tip, the position is less clear — but if money changes hands for a riding activity, licensing requirements apply. Take advice from your local authority before starting.
How do I manage activity slot bookings without it taking over my time? Use a structured booking system that handles availability and payments automatically rather than managing enquiries manually. Set a clear cancellation policy (typically 24–48 hours for arena hire, 72 hours for guided hacks) with payment at booking, which eliminates most of the chasing and reduces no-shows significantly.