Am I being unreasonable?

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Loubiepoo

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My friend and I keep our horses together on a small DIY yard - just the two of us. The farmer has informed us this morning that a new livery will be joining us shortly. My friend and I are very concerned because at the minute we have a great routine, we arrange times to go up and turn out/bring in, look after our field well and our two horses get on well with each other. The other problem is that we don't have enough grazing as it is at the moment and don't think the field can take another horse. The farmer has said he will open up a bit more of the field, but the grass is so poor at that end that its just not enough.

I feel bad not wanting another horse to join our's, but I just think it will cause problems - so am I being unreasonable?!?
 
You certainly sound as if you are, and a bit selfish.
Maybe you could work out how much extra income this new horse would bring in and offer to pay more livery, if the farmer is trying to suppliment his income- or just offer to rent his entire yard so you have control over who is there.

Clearly there is more grass available so that doesn't wash as a reason to reject a new person (and frankly I wouldn't want to be them either)
 
There is more field available - not more grass, at the minute the bit of field the farmer has said he will open up is just a mud bath, there is no grass on it.
 
The farmer has said he will open up more grazing to accomodate the other horse so that shouldn't be an issue. Generally people don't like changes in their routines & this is happening to you & your friend. To be honest I think you are probably being unreasonable. I hope when the new person arrives that you give them a chance. They will be apprehensive coming to a new yard & you should make them welcome.
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Having been in a similar situation myself I can see exactly where you are coming from.
We ended up having to turn out and bring in the other horse all the time as the girl who owned him never came up the yard. In the end we told YO and she said to leave him and then the owner would have to come up and get him in.
We left the horse on his own a few times but he galloped about and got in a state and then the owner got upset and we got the blame, it was horrible.
She left eventually, and the next girl that came was lovely, really helpful and fitted in with us well.
Hopefully you will get a nice person who will help you and your friend out too.
 
I think whatever happens you should not take it out on the newcomer. She/he will probably be oblivious to these issues and it would be unfair to make them feel uncomfortable. I do hope, though, you get someone amenable who will slot in and not cause some of the problems you anticipate.
 
I agree with mother hen. I think you are being a tad unreasonable. It's not the new person's fault. You could always see how it goes (now that the grass is coming through, you might find it is ok) and if it's still a huge issue, look for another yard.
 
The difficulties when you are on livery include not being able to control who else is there. That is one of the reasons my sister and I made the decision to share a house (selling our seperate houses) and buy this place with enough land for our horses. Having your own place is the only way to have control over it all. This also means doing all the maintenance etc yourself as well.
 
I was the third party who joined a situation like this! It was a little strained at first, especially as I brought two horses, and there was an element of the other two ganging up a bit. But we soon all got used to each other and I stayed there for 6 years, until I moved away from the area!! I still keep in touch with one of the others now. Yes, the grazing was more restricted, but that was a problem that could be overcome. I think having an extra pair of hands and another hacking buddy was a bonus.

Please give the new person a chance. They only want a nice place to keep their horse too.
 
Interesting...I was just about to post exactly the same thread!!
We have been told a new addition maybe coming to our yard. Its a small place with 4 owners & 8 horses. We are very settled & happy & new horse is only 2 & 15.2hh already! Owner has just bought horse & hasn't taken it from old owner yet!!
We have offered our YO extra money per week to cover cost of what extra horse would be. It sounds mean but it is not a proper livery yard, we are totally left to it & no one runs the yard as such.
Can't really offer advice as I need it too..other than asking YO if you can up contributions if this is feasable. We are lucky - we pay a very very minimal amount currently so upping it isn't too much of a problem.
Hope it works out.
 
Youcoudl be reasonable an ask for a spearate paddock to be added so that the new arrival can be turned out and avoid any quarentine stabling and to ensure that the new horse gets to know yours over a fence
An electric one might do.
 
I can sympathise with you as our situation was similar. We share a yard with one other (she has one horse). When we moved to the yard we had three horses and everyone was very settled and we had a very workable routine. We lost two of our horses and initially thought we would keep the places open but it seemed pointless so gave up one stable eventually having another horse for the second one. We did not want anyone else on our yard but the farmer would still want the same income so we decided to divide the extra livery between us. This worked well because our livery is reasonable anyway.
 
I can understand your concern but the owner and horse could be very nice and not upset your routine at all. I'd see what happens and if you are not happy look for another yard.
smile.gif
 
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