Livery yard

A livery yard or livery stable (Great Britain, Ireland), or boarding stable (Australia, North America) is a stable where horse owners pay a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses. A livery or boarding yard is not usually a riding school and the horses are not normally for hire (unless on working livery - see below). Facilities at a livery yard normally include a loose box or stable and access for the horse to graze on grass.

History of livery stables in North America

Cascade Livery, Feed and Stable, Montrose, Colorado, circa 1900

Historically in North America "livery stable" had a somewhat different meaning: a stable where horses, teams and wagons were for hire, but also where privately owned horses could be boarded for a short time, often attached to a hotel or boarding house. The C. W. Miller Livery Stable is an example of a multi-story livery stable located at Buffalo, New York.

The livery stable was a necessary institution of every American town, but it has been generally ignored by historians. In addition to providing vital transportation service, the livery was the source of hay, grain, coal, and wood. Because of the stench, noise, and vermin that surrounded the livery, cities and towns attempted to control their locations and activities. Often the scene of gambling, cockfighting, and stag shows, they were condemned as sources of vice. With the advent of the automobile after 1910, the livery stables quietly disappeared.[1]

Types of livery

Livery stable ad, 1905

American horse boarding

In the United States, terminology is less defined and varies by region, requiring horse owners to inquire specifically as to services provided, but boarding usually falls into one of the following categories:

See also

References

  1. Clark C. Spence, "The Livery Stable in the American West," Montana: The Magazine of Western History, June 1986, Vol. 36 Issue 2, pp 36-49.

Further reading

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