Another which yard thread

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Sossigpoker

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Please help me decide or give some pointers. Cost and distance and a few other issues (YO passive aggressiveness) have made me decide to move my horse. I'm seeing two yards this weekend. Both have good aspects but also down sides.
My horse is a cob and needs restricted grazing and as of yet I don't know how much grass either yard has. My other stipulation is daily turn out in the winter (a lot of yards here don't do that )

Yard 1
-6 miles from home (which is the closest I've ever had a horse
- Winter turn out for 6 hours (fine as he doesn't like being out in bad weather )but I need to get a sense of how guaranteed it is
- hacking is country lanes with a few off road bridleways
- 30 x60 arena
-the yard manager hasn't given me a warm fuzzy feeling yet. I don't think she owns the yard although the actual owner lives there.
- she is semi-retired dressage judge I believe
- would save a lot of money as they do assisted

Yard 2
- 12 miles away (same as current distance )
- spoke to owner who was lovely!
- they only do full livery but would be £200 less than I'm paying for part livery
- winter turn out guaranteed as the ground drains well
- looking at the map , the only hacking would be on country lanes /roads (don't know how busy they are yet ) so I'd probably need to book away for off road hacking
- don't know if owner lives there but she was a advanced level event rider so will know how to look after horses
-arena is only 20x40

I like yard 2 because the ground will be drier but I do like to hack so no off road hacking isn't great. The owner has been very pleasant so far.

Yard 1 concerns me as I don't know if the winter turn out is guaranteed and have had only text communication with the lady who runs it , I don't know what she will be like.

Obviously I'll know more once I've seen them both !

Does anyone have opinions or pointers I might have missed ?
 
nagblagger

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You say you have only had text communication with yard 1, have you tried phoning and she is ignoring you, replying by text?
Yard 2 might know off road riding
i would visit them both and go on what you actually see, how the other horses look and the vibes you get. Are they single turnout?

What are your priorities and what does your horse like, it is hard to advise at this time until you visit them as I go a lot on 'gut' feeling.
 
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Sossigpoker

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nagblagger said:
You say you have only had text communication with yard 1, have you tried phoning and she is ignoring you, replying by text?
Yard 2 might know off road riding
i would visit them both and go on what you actually see, how the other horses look and the vibes you get. Are they single turnout?

What are your priorities and what does your horse like, it is hard to advise at this time until you visit them as I go a lot on 'gut' feeling.
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The advert for yard one said to text, and the reception around there is very poor so that might be why.
Definitely seeing them both .
I think both are individual turn out but I'm happy with that and my horse doesn't really care , he just wants to eat !

My priority is for my horse's safety and welfare, so the turn out is a must. Everything else I need to decide what I can compromise on , be that a slightly less warm and fuzzy yard manager or having to box for hacking.
 
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gallopingby

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Difficult to tell until you’ve met both yard managers. If someone asks you to do something they’ll expect that to happen. Yard 1 owner may be fed up of people texting, Yard 2 could be desperate for business. Why are they £200 less than your current yard? If theres limited hacking how would you cope? Wait until you’ve visited both yards and met the people involved which needs to include a couple of other liveries.
 
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gallopingby said:
Difficult to tell until you’ve met both yard managers. If someone asks you to do something they’ll expect that to happen. Yard 1 owner may be fed up of people texting, Yard 2 could be desperate for business. Why are they £200 less than your current yard? If theres limited hacking how would you cope? Wait until you’ve visited both yards and met the people involved which needs to include a couple of other liveries.
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Current yard put prices up by 40% a month after moving in.....that's why others seem cheaper. I can just about afford it but for premium money I expect premium service and it's hardly that.

I could cope with road hacking as long as the roads are quiet and nice , as in like nice village roads and if there are grass verges to trot on. Otherwise I might struggle as I don't trot on the roads
 
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Barton Bounty said:
I dont like full livery as I like to do everything myself. But if that is the one you like, go for it.. you need to be able to leave your horse there safely and with piece of mind
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absolutely. Currently i end up doing jobs myself because the lady running the place is simply filthy and disorganised.
And tonight she told me that 5 day livery will be going up by another £100 per month !
Jog on! ! Gives me a convenient reason to leave without falling out I guess
With all the childish , passive aggressive texts I get , I'm really proud of myself for not losing my shite yet !
 
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Sossigpoker said:
absolutely. Currently i end up doing jobs myself because the lady running the place is simply filthy and disorganised.
And tonight she told me that 5 day livery will be going up by another £100 per month !
Jog on! ! Gives me a convenient reason to leave without falling out I guess
With all the childish , passive aggressive texts I get , I'm really proud of myself for not losing my shite yet !
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That kind of behaviour isnt good for anyones mental health!! Its shocking!

If I could Id open a yard that was only filled with people that actually wanted to be there. No crap, no whiny, everyone helped each other and the only time your looking down on someone is to help them up!
 
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southerncomfort

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Both probably have equal pros and cons so I think it's going to be the gut feeling you get when you visit.

If YO on yard 1 is actually OK (some of the nicest people I've met come across very poorly on text messages), then I think yard 1 slightly edges it for me with the better hacking.
 
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So went down this morning as goy loads of rude texts yesterday as apparently she couldn't catch my Saint of a cob.
Stable not mucked out and hay not soaked despite asking her yesterday to soak it. So I said I wasn't happy that I'm paying £700 pm for 5 day livery , going up to £800, and she's not even doing the basics. She reacted like a child and said "I have a child ". To which I said and I pay you for a service. And then she said "and you soak the hay because he's so fat ". Like trying to get me into a childish tit for tat thing. And then she said that apparently my saintly horse had kicked someone- first I'd heard of it!
It really is like dealing with a child.
After I left she texted me to give me a month's notice lol , not even adult enough to speak to me!

I wouldn't mind paying a premium if the service was premium but the place is chaotic and filthy, when the paddocks are poo picked she leaves about half behind and just chucks the poo into the hedge where she can. Gross.


Anyway , I don't know if yard 2 which I'm seeing has a place available straight away so that will limit my options anyway.
 
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gallopingby said:
Maybe your YO doesnt want liveries any more? It’s not something l’d want to either do or be.
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She does , she rents the yard from a well known event rider and keeps putting the price up because of that name. But it's run badly , it's filthy and chaotic. Someone is leaving after being there for only a few months so she's leaving two liveries at once. Tbh she deserves it.
 
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Sossigpoker

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Update!
Viewed two other yards as well but went for yard 1!
It is a private yard , rented from a lovely lady owner and I'll be sharing it with another lady and her dressage rider daughter. We are on the same page about things like welfare, cleanliness, tidiness etc and I'm so looking forward to it!
It has a big arena , decent stables , winter turn out , the lady will do mornings for me and it's only 5 miles from home! My livery bill will go down by about £400 per month too!
I so can't wait til the end of the month !
 
splashgirl45

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Sossigpoker said:
Update!
Viewed two other yards as well but went for yard 1!
It is a private yard , rented from a lovely lady owner and I'll be sharing it with another lady and her dressage rider daughter. We are on the same page about things like welfare, cleanliness, tidiness etc and I'm so looking forward to it!
It has a big arena , decent stables , winter turn out , the lady will do mornings for me and it's only 5 miles from home! My livery bill will go down by about £400 per month too!
I so can't wait til the end of the month !
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If the new yard can take you earlier you don’t have to stay till the end of the month. If I was that unhappy and the new yard could take me I would go a s a p. As the new one is going to be cheaper you won’t have lost that much by leaving earlier . Good luck
 
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splashgirl45 said:
If the new yard can take you earlier you don’t have to stay till the end of the month. If I was that unhappy and the new yard could take me I would go a s a p. As the new one is going to be cheaper you won’t have lost that much by leaving earlier
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I've paid £700 for the month (and that's for 5 day livery!!) and can't really afford to pay twice for livery with all the extra things I'm having to buy too.
Also I don't want to hand the current yard the money and not have to do any work - she's got away with so much crap !
 
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Sossigpoker said:
Update!
Viewed two other yards as well but went for yard 1!
It is a private yard , rented from a lovely lady owner and I'll be sharing it with another lady and her dressage rider daughter. We are on the same page about things like welfare, cleanliness, tidiness etc and I'm so looking forward to it!
It has a big arena , decent stables , winter turn out , the lady will do mornings for me and it's only 5 miles from home! My livery bill will go down by about £400 per month too!
I so can't wait til the end of the month !
Click to expand...
Sounds like a much better option
 
splashgirl45

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Sossigpoker said:
I've paid £700 for the month (and that's for 5 day livery!!) and can't really afford to pay twice for livery with all the extra things I'm having to buy too.


Also I don't want to hand the current yard the money and not have to do any work - she's got away with so much crap !
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That’s a shame, I only meant that the new yard is cheaper so you would be better off in the long run.. hope it all works out for you
 
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