Bit of Fun...what really annoys you on a livery yard?

flying_high

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To those who don't like people touching your horse, does that really just include giving them a quick stroke as you go past? I wouldn't ever feed another person's horse, but I give them pats now and again unless they clearly hate it.

Both my horses are cuddle monsters. I am forever spotting people hugging and cuddling them as they walk past. Horses love it. I like it too.
 

9tails

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To those who don't like people touching your horse, does that really just include giving them a quick stroke as you go past? I wouldn't ever feed another person's horse, but I give them pats now and again unless they clearly hate it.

I've not moaned about people touching my horse as nobody does, but she'd attempt to bite you if you tried.
 

mushroom

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I just hate the mess that other people make and the lack of consideration for others.

Not forking up the muck heap is one of my pet hates.
 

miss_c

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I recently did some work at a large DIY yard, the thing that annoyed me the most was how miserable everyone was! Nobody says hello or even smiles when they see you, I know they don't have any idea who I am, but no acknowledgement I found weird.

Our DIY is the opposite! Everyone says hi and is friendly, and when leaving calls out goodbye.
 

Fransurrey

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Dogs crapping on the track I have to use to get to my horse. Mostly the YO's dog...also dogs loose running through school/other liveries' fields and so on. Went to see a yard where YO's dog was running through school once - put me off, instantly.
Screaming kids in ultrasound. Quite happy to see kids playing and making noise, but when they screech and squeal to see how loud they can make themselves it grates.
Anyone who doesn't clean up after farrier - particularly if I have farrier just after and I have to clear up their nails, despite mine being barefoot!!
People leaving the hose running while they muck out/chat, so it overflows the hay soaker and nobody can use water elsewhere on the yard as they have no pressure.
Cretins hosing off horses' legs and boots...etc, when it's forecast -10 overnight, meaning the rest of us have to negotiate a solid sheet of ice that evening or the next morning.
Duvet days, as said above. More for owner comfort than the horse's...
People. In general. Especially if they can't afford the vet/saddler/farrier, but can afford a 2 week holiday in Barbados. Or they won't use drugs, because pharmaceuticals are the devil incarnate (as are vets), but it's ok to spend a squillion pounds on some diluted water and a tub of turmeric/fairy spit or unicorn scabs.

I could go on all day, you know...
 

HappyHollyDays

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Reading this lot I am so glad I am on a private farm. There are times when the others annoy me but that is usually my state of mind not them. One lady in particular loves to cuddle DP and I have no problem with that at all, he loves her back. Our hay bales are side by side and nobody would dream of taking another persons hay. We all feed different food but if somebody is short they are welcome to my grass cubes. My medicine cabinet with Bute and all the accouterments is open to borrow and I know it will be replaced. Wheelbarrows and tools have their own space and always get put back and if the muck heap is looking untidy we ask the stockman to get rid of it for us.

I honestly couldn't cope on a proper DIY yard.
 

Shutterbug

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People who leave their horses tied up and then don't clean up their poo before they leave

Horses being left in all day with one tiny hay net that they inevitably finish by 10am then are left to stand until 6/7pm with no hay - and they go nuts if anyone dares to give their horse any additional haynets when its kicking the crap out of its door cause its hungry.

People who don't muck out their horses for days on end in the winter - coming up and chucking hay over the door and leaving. And who don't check on their horses once in an entire summer
 

Gingerwitch

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People that assume that if you have a horse box then you will give them a lift at anytime they ask, get miffed if you say no, and then tell you "well you never use it".....
People that just take the hose off you as they only need one bucket of water so they can get home in the minus 10 temp, because you have 3 horses and you will be here for ages any way.....
People that block the isle with their rugs, wheel barrows, horses etc and then snap at you when you attempt to get past with your wheel barrow or horse
People that borrow your stuff as you have 3 fly masks.... yes I have 3 horses !
People that run out of feed on Christmas eve and "borrow" from you as you have got stacks. and it was only for a few days, and you would not miss it anyways as you have so many.... yes I have 3 horses and do not want to keep anymore!
People that complain that you are riding in the school "again" as you get an hour free per horse per week at our yard.... yes I have 3 horses
New people to the yard that complain that you wont move one of your horses out of the barn so they can have their two next to each other or by their friends.... do you know how long it took to get 3 horses stabled next to each other...… yes over 2 years
Folk that join in on your pre booked vet visit = when vet arrives on the yard and thorw a hissy fit as they must be seen to first as you will be ages anyways.... well you do have 3 horses and they were going to call the vet and you will be ages anyways
:)
 

milliepops

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Lame/sore/miserable horses, crappy feet and/or saddles that dont fit. I see far too many like that and as much as I switch off from it, it still upsets me.

^^ this for me too :( and people not doing the right thing by their old friends.

The daily grib grob of people being annoying obviously still gets noticed, but I can live with that.. the lack of care and attention to welfare issues is much harder to get past :mad:

FWIW I think I'd pass the 3 rug test, like JFTD says as I have 2 the same size on the yard, that's 6 interchangable ones, right ;)
but I couldn't keep any more kit at home, my house is smaller than my stables :eek:
 

Xanthoria

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There are people at my yard to who fetch in their horse, tie it at the rail, then leave it twirling and pawing while they go get another horse (15 mins), and then finally go make buckets (10 mins) and bring to the horses.

Make the buckets first. Then bring in your horses!
 

Auslander

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This is the only storage I have - which doubles up as feedroom/rug room/box room. I wouldn't be quite so whingy if I had more room!
In case anyone was wondering, Alf was not supposed to be in there!

29512794_10156869787170730_334632736941508540_n.jpg
 

Haywain

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"please stop using all my coffee and leaving me an empty jar" when I was teaching I got round this one by filling a jar with brown powder paint nicked from the art room. Surprisingly it didn't happen after that.
 

SEL

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This is the only storage I have - which doubles up as feedroom/rug room/box room. I wouldn't be quite so whingy if I had more room!
In case anyone was wondering, Alf was not supposed to be in there!

29512794_10156869787170730_334632736941508540_n.jpg

Plenty of room to hang 'pieces of tack SEL has collected over the years and won't get rid off because they'll come in useful sometime' from the ceiling!

Plus if Alf shifted to one side then my enormous box of supplements all designed to cure my horse of her 4325 ills would easily squeeze in. ***seriously has too much junk***
 

OrangeAndLemon

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Ernie only has three rugs; a fly rug, 200g stable rug for when he is stabled and the temperature is -5 or below, and a waffle thermal rug to aid drying after a quick shower on a cold day, or in case of needing emergency transport anywhere (he's never worn the last one). Only one of these is currently at the yard.

Reading these either I'm the one who annoys everyone else or I'm very lucky and grateful for full livery.

I get slightly miffed if I can't find Ernie's special 10kg, labelled hay nets for his overnight haylage. There are spares on the yard but they have fewer holes than when they were made so the haylage is eaten quicker than I'd like.

The worst thing is if the staff have mucked him out in the morning and he needs another bale of shavings and they haven't ordered it and they wait for the next person to order one. I think this is because some livery owners don't want extra ordered without being asked first but I am happy for him to have as much as he needs (I live on pasta and beans while he has a lovely deep bed and as much haylage as he could ever want)
 

Greylegs

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I've encountered most of the above at some point or other and am in full agreement with all of the above .....

My current pet peeve is the person who drinks all the milk!! Our lovely YM makes sure there's always milk in the fridge for when we want to put the kettle on (frequently!!), but one person likes a "cold" drink after riding - especially during the hot weather we've had this summer - so instead of just having water or a glass of squash/can of coke, snarfs all the milk straight out of the fridge, so there's none left for the rest of us to have in our coffee. Gives me the rage ....!!!!
 

Keith_Beef

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And people not being safe. Saw someone trying to teach a youngster to load the other day. No hat, no gloves.

I don't see the problem with no gloves. In fact, I think that a beginner probably would get a better feel for the reins without them.

I don't like it when people take their horses out of the stalls, leaving the doors wide open. I come out of a lesson, lead the horse past an open door, and he thinks there might be food in there... Oh, and people who don't pin back the top half door on a windy day, and it slams shut.
 

Denbob

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I'm quite laid back really but whoever it is, please stop using all my coffee and leaving me an empty jar.

Cardinal sin in my book!

People who do nothing but complain about their horses/the yard. I'm all for a bit of a whinge on occasion (especially if there's no coffee left!) and I'll listen and be sympathetic to an extent but if you only have negative things to say about the people around you/their horses/your own horse bloody do something about it and stop wasting my precious yard time! Luckily nobody like that on my yard at the moment but have dealt with some corkers.
 

Auslander

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Plenty of room to hang 'pieces of tack SEL has collected over the years and won't get rid off because they'll come in useful sometime' from the ceiling!

Plus if Alf shifted to one side then my enormous box of supplements all designed to cure my horse of her 4325 ills would easily squeeze in. ***seriously has too much junk***

There is DEFINITELY no room for "might come in handy" stuff! Right handside is now completely filled with rugs, and another trunk, and more boxes...
There is a 12ft long shelf on the left hand side, above the feedbins. It is a breeding ground for supplements/shampoos/other miscellaneous crap. I regularly frisk it for empties, and then get "Where is the bottle with 0.2222mm of coat shine in it - I can't find it anywhere". I raise one eyebrow, and look pointedly at the bin...
 

Landcruiser

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From the other side of the fence (yard owner) People agreeing to the yard rule about stuff (3 rugs per horse, One box/trunk in the feedroom for stuff, and one in the tackroom for more stuff) then slowly adding more boxes/trugs/bags, until they have a small skip load of kit - then getting grumpy when I tell them to take it away.

Not keeping the muckheap properly. I've showed everyone, and taken photo's of how it should look, and moaned about it, and threatened to charge a muck heap fee - but it still took me an hour to get it back under control after the weekend

Leaving "poo scabs" on the yard. It's brand new concrete, so I'm a bit precious about it - takes 5 minutes to hose away the remnants after picking up. Ditto washing/brushing mud off, and leaving muddy puddles on the yard.

Mucking out on Monday mornings (part liveries muck out at weekends) and spending hours removing hundreds of bits of poo from clean bedding.

No bothered if any of my liveries see this/identify me, as I've not said anything that I don't regularly grumble about to them!

I was on a yard like Auslander's. I kept to the rules, but they did my head in. We had a square muck heap, no stable doors to be left open, ever, even after you'd lifted the bed and hosed out, no rugs hung over doors, no haynets, no feeding haylage in fields...and on it went. I hated it. Now I have my own place it has a "lived in" quality, as does my house. We are all different :)
 

Auslander

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I was on a yard like Auslander's. I kept to the rules, but they did my head in. We had a square muck heap, no stable doors to be left open, ever, even after you'd lifted the bed and hosed out, no rugs hung over doors, no haynets, no feeding haylage in fields...and on it went. I hated it. Now I have my own place it has a "lived in" quality, as does my house. We are all different :)

The only one of those rules I have is re the muck heap - because it costs me £180 a time to get the skip removed! I run a tidy yard, but I've got a very low turnover of liveries, so I think it's a pretty nice place to be!
 

pixie27

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The only one of those rules I have is re the muck heap - because it costs me £180 a time to get the skip removed! I run a tidy yard, but I've got a very low turnover of liveries, so I think it's a pretty nice place to be!

Definitely a very nice place! We would’ve loved to be there!

My biggest annoyances are people not picking up poo in the school, not sweeping/tidying up, not forking the muck heap up and the cliques/Chinese whispers and yard politics. Also things like being oblivious to bad manners and lameness. Yard is big enough to avoid most annoying things luckily!
 

Keith_Beef

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Loading a nervous/difficult horse without gloves on is a very quick and easy way to lose a lot of skin from your hands.

Fair point; I didn't read carefully enough, and just saw "teaching a youngster" and not the loading part.

But I don't wear gloves when sailing, either. If I've got a rope in my hand and it's got a big load on it, I have to choose quickly: hold so tight that it can't slip, or let go. HAlfway between is when it slides and there's enough friction to take off the skin. It happened to my nephew when he was a stagehand.
 

Jasper151

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Our DIY is the opposite! Everyone says hi and is friendly, and when leaving calls out goodbye.

Glad they aren't all like it! I haven't kept any of my horses on a large yard like that since I was a child, so it all seemed a little weird to me. I would have thought that people seeing a stranger on the yard would provoke them to find out who I was.
 

BethanT

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People who frequently don't turn up until gone 10am (11am at current yard) to see to their horses, then when they do get there first thing they do is go and have a cup of tea!

People who offer up advise, and criticise others riding, when they have no clue themselves! (Mum of horsey daughter but never ridden in her life)

Favouritism by YM.

People who box over for a lesson with a visiting instructor and park here there and everywhere. The other day I went to get my horse out the barn but couldn't as some numpty parked right in the way, when I asked them to move they looked at me in a very odd way!

When you clear the school of all jumps ad poles to practice your dressage tests, for some to come along and put them all out again before you've even started! Or more commonly just after you've finished so you have to do the same again the next day.

I could go on but I feel it might get a bit dull! Wish I could have them on my own yard.
 

Tiddlypom

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Leaving "poo scabs" on the yard. It's brand new concrete, so I'm a bit precious about it - takes 5 minutes to hose away the remnants after picking up. Ditto washing/brushing mud off, and leaving muddy puddles on the yard.
I've been on a yard owned by a dragon lady BHSI who made us it sweep up to pristine conditions x 2 daily. Even she wouldn't have wasted water hosing it down as well, that is IMHO OTT. Anyhow, can't you seal fresh concrete so that it doesn't stain?

Thanks goodness mine are at home.
 

Auslander

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I've been on a yard owned by a dragon lady BHSI who made us it sweep up to pristine conditions x 2 daily. Even she wouldn't have wasted water hosing it down as well, that is IMHO OTT. Anyhow, can't you seal fresh concrete so that it doesn't stain?

Thanks goodness mine are at home.

I know.I know!! I'l get over it soon, but it's still so lovely and white at the moment!
 
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