Daily routine questions
A yard's routine becomes your horse's life, so ask exactly what a day looks like: when horses are fed, turned out and brought in, in summer and in the depths of winter when many yards cut turnout to a few hours or none. Ask who handles the horses, how experienced the staff are, and whether services like catching, rugging, holding for the farrier and giving feeds are included or arranged case by case. Ask whether your horse can keep a routine it is used to — a horse that has always lived out will not settle into long stabled hours just because the yard runs that way.
Feeding, turnout and herd questions
Ask what hay or haylage is provided, whether it is fed ad lib or rationed, and whether you can supply your own feed and supplements with instructions followed exactly. On turnout, ask about field sizes, how herd groups are chosen, whether mares and geldings are separated, how new horses are introduced to a group, and what happens when fields are rested or waterlogged. Ask how the yard runs worming — a shared, vet-led program across all horses protects your horse far better than every owner doing their own thing.
People, safety and emergencies
Ask what happens at 2 a.m. if your horse is colicking: who checks the yard last thing, is someone on site overnight, and which vet practice attends? Ask about security — locked tack storage, yard lighting, who has access — and about fire procedures. Ask how the yard handles a horse that is being bullied, a fence broken overnight, or an owner who cannot get there in an emergency. The quality of the answers tells you more than the quality of the arena surface.
Facilities and how the yard actually runs
Walk the facilities with your real riding in mind: arena size and surface, hacking access from the gate, trailer parking, wash box, and whether the school is booked solid at the times you ride. Then visit unannounced at a busy time — feeding or bringing-in — and watch how horses are handled and how the yard feels. Talk to current liveries if you can; ask what they would change. Yards that welcome your questions at this stage tend to keep communicating after you arrive.
Contract and notice terms
Ask for the contract in writing before you commit: the notice period on both sides, exactly what your livery package includes, which extras are charged and how, when bills are issued, and what happens to your place if you go on holiday or your horse is on box rest. Ask about their new-horse settling rules and any quarantine period. When moving day comes, a KinsLe Pet Passport means the yard gets your horse's vaccination record, vet and farrier details, feeding routine and quirks as one packet, so staff are working from your horse's real information from the first morning.