Best & worst bits about your yard?

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princess_jay

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I always find it interesting to hear how different everyone's yards are so thought I'd see what people love and what they don't! (No naming of yards though...!)

Mine: Best bits - 24/7 turnout april - oct, all day turnout throughout winter, big fields, reasonable prices for DIY and all hay/straw made on site, liveries help each other out a lot

Worst bits - small school made of bark not sand, non-horsey fencing in fields, YO isn't horsey! yard is slowing gaining more liveries but not more facilities, field gateways are like swamps!
 
Best bits - small diy yard, very friendly, we all help each other out.

Worst bits - no facilities whatsoever, just stables and fields, we could really do with a school.
 
Best = it's mine, and I live on it. :)

Worst = it's mine, and I haven't had a day off in over 4 years.
 
Best - my own stables so no livery charges, loads of big fields for horses and a long private lane ways for off road hacking

Worst - i have no school and bad hacking where roads are concerned, i get lonely on my own would like company to ride with
 
Best: It's my stables, and they're at home, in a lovely setting,just outside the garden fence, and it's my paradise

Worst:
a) The pasture's on two levels, and surface water tends to gather on the lower level, where the stables are (of course); and
b) The horses can eyeball me as I sit at the computer or, from the upper pasture level, as I sit in the bath. You can't have a nice cuppa or enjoy a good soak while there are underfed, unloved and vociferous equines watching your every move
 
Best - Lovely atmosphere, nice yard owner, 24/7 turnout in summer, daytime turnout in winter, yard shows organised, Genie is the happiest she has EVER been.

Worst - It's quite a big busy yard so not so good when you want some peace and quiet with your horses, I absolutely LOVE my early mornings before work when I can just get on with things without being talked at.
 
We have 3 horses at full livery at 2 different yards and they are both different. One yard has the benefit of all year turnout, they are cared for and produced very well, but it's a long way away so only see them once a week or so.
The other has just moved to a local yard and at the moment can't fault it. Very welcoming friendly atmosphere. We see him ridden every day, the rider seems to be getting a real tune out of him.
The only down side is no turn out Dec to March but the horse is used to that.
 
Best -
Its my grandparents yard (no livery charges for me!) and we've only got two horses but plenty of acreage, meaning I have free run of the place. Also my grandfather is a farmer; meaning he makes his own hay and straw and grows his own barley - which one of our horses is fed on (again all a money saver). Oh and access to glorious hacking and a lovely local hunt (which I'm yet to join mounted)
Oh and I can let them roam the garden for a bit before turnout, meaning I can watch them from the house :)

Worst -
I have no indoor or outdoor school; which can be a problem when you end up with a naughty horse like mine!
 
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Best: 24/7 grazing April to end of Oct and brilliant grazing during the day in winter! Best hacking in the area! Stubble field to have a blast in winter and fields and a few x country jumps in spring/ summer! Sand school with rubber and set of show jumps. Haylage at £24 for a large bale. Owners are lovely! Other liveries are all very nice too! I love my yard! Only 4 miles by car or 2 miles by bike! Costs me £23 per week!

Bad: can't keep tack on site and school freezes!
 
Best, I am the only livery and my YO is fantastic!, I have a sandschool and loads of hacking, plus 2 show grounds and all mock hunts within max 20 minutes hacking distance

Worst, at the moment the bloody tap! We get our water from the yard at the bottom of a very steep hill and sometimes the water pressure is useless :rolleyes: I assume the small pond we also have will mean loads of midges/mozzies come summer...
 
Haha, Enfys! Poor you, but you know you wouldn't have it any other way!

I'm the only person on it :D I don't pay a penny! I also have my own hay, my fields are dry, and I have good hacking.

But, that also equals all the work :( and no money... I also don't have a school, but my fields are dry enough for me to school and jump in!
 
It must be SO hard as a YO to meet the needs of how ever many individual horses on your yard and their different requirements and so for me as I have a good do-er these are mine though they are things that are fine for other types of horses on the yard:

Best bits:
Hacking straight off the yard onto RUPP and if you can cope with the busy road some other nice tracks that take you to fields you can ride through too
A school (with lights) if you need it though it needs a lot of attention as too deep if you are a cob type with short legs!
Summer jumping paddock
Nice size so not too big, not too small - 16 stables
7 mins from home

Worst bits:
Too much summer grazing for good do-ers, no restricted or smaller paddocks
Only haylage in winter when they're in at night, would prefer mine on hay
Winter field has poor soil/doesn't drain well so doesn't last more than 2 months and they have to be in there for 6 months so turnout in winter is restricted to c.5 hours per day once it's turned into a bog.
Some people who don't understand about shutting the yard gate as soon as you drive through it when you arrive.
 
Best bits: just outside the back door! Plenty of land + make our own hay. Fabulous hacking - straight onto the moor one way and quiet lanes + bridleways the other. Horses so content and it's great to watch them grazing from the kitchen window.

Worst bits: No one to sort them for a couple of days if you want to get away. No school (although we're working on that one!). We're pretty exposed so when the weather is bad we really get it!

I think the good outweighs the bad quite considerably! :)
 
Best bits - indoor and outdoor school, lunging school too, fullset of jumps, 24/7 turnout april to oct , 16 x 12 stable, ample haylage overnight and big deep straw beds, indoor school always empty at night when i ride, good turnout in winter unless too much ice to get them out.

Worst bits - Limited hacking, no hay in indoor horses fields in winter when turned out -people moaned horse would fight..? Kids leaving empty boxes across from me in a right mess as they use them to tack up in- BUGS ME LOL
 
Best bits - nice YM, nice liveries, not too big (12 stables). Lovely hacking, my horse is very settled there.

Worst bit - I want a bigger arena but that it because I like to jump and a 20x40 with a large gangly youngster can sometimes be a bit tricky!
 
Best Bits: 24 x 7 summer turnout/ winter turnout 8am - 5pm, hay and haylage available, small restricted fields, huge fields, big stables, lovely arena, safe hacking, lovely views, lovely YO proper horsey person.

Worst bits: No toilet on site yet.
 
Best bit - small, friendly, supportive, everyone goes and and competes as a team, family atmosphere, great hacking out.

Worst bit - due to limited grazing have to stay in once the winter weather gets bad.
 
Best bits: 2 mins away in the car, I can see them from my house. Some of the liveries are friendly, indoor stables and a large menage.

Bad bits: Atmosphere with some other liveries, YO always finding something to pick and nag about (with me and one other livery), winter - day turnout which is all mud, new restricted times 7am - 7pm mon to fri which are hard with my work and now 8am - 7pm on saturdays and sundays

Hmmmm.......
 
Best - The hacking is superb! And 24/7 turnout all year round.

Worst - No one to ride with, school is small, on top of a hill so the wind hits hard, bad fencing in the field, Not allowed freelance instructors as it is a riding school and I have no support which I really need right now...confidence crisis!

I'm moving next weekend!!
 
Best bits - friendly liveries and always somebody to hack with, all year turnout, large floodlit school, really good hacking.

Worst bits- service has gone downhill with new owners, can't have lessons at yard due to instructor and YO issues.

Considered moving yards but as i dont have transport my current one is great as i can hack to shows and lessons in under an hour. Showfield only 30 min hack.
 
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