Cons of putting your horse in a working livery?

[leanne_dando]

Before getting a horse I need to find a livery. So far all the cheap ones seem hidden and are found through word and mouth or have a waiting list. Searching online I have found a riding school close to me that starts from £104 a week... ouch! but they offer working livery starting from £35 a week. I remember a while back I read posts from people having negative views of a working livery but cannot remember what they were.

 

[khalswitz]

I had my last horse on working livery whilst I was at uni. Meant he was looked after when I wasn't there, kept fit and ready for me to compete, and I had access to all the facilities etc.

However, you have to accept that the yard will manage them the way THEY want to manage them - they may have their own feed regime, turnout hours, mucking out times which you won't have an option but to work around as they will be busy getting horses ready for lessons and can't fart about with individual plans. Your horse will be earning it's keep so you may have to be prepared to work around it being used in lessons - and be prepared for it being tired, or grumpy, or wired, or to turn into a riding school plod depending on who has ridden it that day. Depending on the agreement, you may find your tack/boots etc getting used on a regular basis (and not being cleaned!!!). Be prepared for the irrational feelings of jealousy when people ride your horse better than you, and irritation towards children who think they are now your 'friend' because they ride your horse (but I am a grumpy grinch who hates kids so this was my personal bugbear!). Also be sure your horse is insured for hire, as injuries won't be cover dundee regular pleasure horse insurance.

Don't get me wrong, it can be great. But I had enough after a year and a half and moved him to part grass livery - more expensive by far but less of a headache!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

It didn't work for me and my chestnut mare as I didn't like feeling that CM wasn't 'mine' as the YO did try to dictate what I could do with her on my days. Then CM wasn't happy with it either as she didn't like the YO or the staff and they couldn't catch her and if they did catch her she got injured. So for both our sakes I moved her to DIY.

 

[Echo Bravo]

You may own it, but it isn't yours fullstop

 

[Cowpony]

My pony is on working livery and it works really well for me. I work full time and have a long commute, so this way I can be happy that she is being looked after when I can't get there, and she is exercised regularly. She is always available for me to ride as long as I tell them in advance. On the downside I spend time each weekend tracking down kit that has been "borrowed" and not put back, but correspondingly I feel justified in using the riding school equipment if I can't find it! I do get a bit frustrated when she has clearly been ridden by somebody else and allowed to get away with things, but that's the price I pay for the peace of mind etc. She still goes better for me than anyone else, we compete and get pretty good results. I do let others ride her in competitions if I don't want to/can't compete that day, but that's probably the hardest part for me. And I could day no if I wanted to.

 

[Cowpony]

Yay! That post just moved me up from foal to yearling! Can't imagine having enough to get to old nag......

 

[Cowpony]

But I'm going to try!

 

[Shutterbug]

I rent stables and land from a farmer and his daughter recently moved her horse to the farm. She was previously on working livery and I was having a chat with her about it earlier today. She basically had to ask permission to ride her own horse or go to competitions. She paid £45 a week for working livery which included hay and feed and she had to muck out her own stables and provide her own shavings. She also had to purchase a set of stirrups for them to use with her tack on her horse as hers were too small for other people to use.

Not in a million years would I put my horse on working livery

 

[RoyalGreyGlory]

negatives:
If you go down it might already have been ridden
have to work round someone elses routine
gives your horse bad habits
gets fed when and what someone else wants
tack gets lost/broken

Positives:
Cheaper than full livery
get bedding/hay/feed (in most cases) included
horse gets exercised for you

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

It must depend on the terms and conditions and so on, I think that the last straw for me would be having to pay for clipping [injection required] and the yard charged £30 for the clipping , which they needed!
I offered my boy,who had some , fairly minor behaviour issues [they told me they were minor until I offered him as working livery over the summer]. I wanted him kept busy and properly schooled and so on, but they were not prepared to take him on, so it only works if you have what they want and provide it for free.

 

[Quenotte]

I have inquired about working livery, it was £495 per month and they would be using the horse 5 days a week 2 hours a day.
So I judged it was not a good deal! Plus I would not want the horse to be ridden that much.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Before getting a horse and so on, why not try a share, this will give you an insight into the work involved, and a small taste of the cost!

 

[madmav]

A large stables to the north of London charges owner of working livery horse £100 a week. Horse is worked 2 hours a day, six days a week. If it has a day off, not much room for manoeuvre for owner to ride. Having said that, they have nice horses there.

 

[Elvis]

Having had both my previous pony and current horse on brief stints of working livery I can conclude it isn't for me. You've got to accept that your tack will go walkabouts and/or get damaged- I know lots of people now have 2 sets of tack to avoid this (rubbish set for working livery use and nice set for themselves) and that some days you'll just have to accept you can't ride as your horse has already done enough. I didn't like giving away the 'control' either.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

£495......!!!!!!
I might expect to pay this if one of the top training establishments, but not an ordinary riding school

 

[leanne_dando]

£495?!? wow, what is it if it isn't working and just full livery????????

 

[On the Hoof]

But I'm going to try!

go for it!

 

[pennyturner]

Reading these prices with my eyes watering. I'm so naive, but I always assumed that working livery was free for the owner!
Why would anyone give up benefits of ownership (whilst still retaining risk) and still pay livery costs?

 

[khalswitz]

Reading these prices with my eyes watering. I'm so naive, but I always assumed that working livery was free for the owner!
Why would anyone give up benefits of ownership (whilst still retaining risk) and still pay livery costs?

Mine was free. That's why i did it. However I was slightly made to feel that because I wasn't paying, my horse 'had to earn his keep' - I could cope with lessons etc, but to YO wanted someone to share him (paying her for it) whilst I was away at uni. That was the last straw for me - I'd waited too long to have my lovely schoolmaster to be sharing him with someone else, especially as I was being forced into it!!

From now on, even if its a nominal fee, I'd rather be paying something - means that you are still a paying client and they have to respect at least some of your wishes.

 

[Daytona]

Major con for me would be the risk of numpteys riding my poor horse and ruining it.

Can't see how it can he of any benefit to you.

If you need money get a sharer and find a cheaper yard.

 

[TrasaM]

It really depends on the school I think. I have lessons on two horses who are working livery. The most recent one has a very novice owner and the first time I rode him he was very uptight and anxious about his mouth and very unbalanced. A week later and some schooling sessions and a few hours lessons and he's started making progress. My RI was being very careful though about who rode him and I don't think that you can always rely on that.
However my RI said that she'd never put her horse on working livery because you can't guarantee who rides it.

 

[McCauley]

There's absolutely no way i would have my horse on any kind of 'working livery' i'm afraid. It would take away all the joy of ownership and the 'one to one' bond that we have together, which to me is a massive part of owning a horse in the first place.

I've heard too many horror stories over the years of what goes on 'behind the scenes' in working livery to even consider the option. I've also been privvy to the sights of working livery horses and they look so tired and generally peed off with life, no sparkle in the eyes, no lust for life,...nothing. Extremely limited turnout too is seems to be a usual thing that does not sit well with me either I'm afraid.

If i were ever in a postion where i could not afford/look after my horse on my own, then i would endeavour to find a sharer that would be vetted to the hilt before he/she even put a headcollar on my boy never mind got on board!

I realise working livery arrangements have to work to some folk,...but sorry, this is one i feel very strongly about and it would just not be for me or my horse.

 

[Polos]

I would never ever do it again.

I was loaning a pony that was a livery at a livery yard with riding school. The greedy money obsessed YO decided the pony would be used in the school without notifying me. I would turn up to find I couldn't ride as the pony was being used. We then decided that if it was going to happen I would be paying less and have him for fewer days a week. Well this really didn't work out as they constantly 'forgot' the days I had even though it was written down in about 5 different places, so I would turn up to ride on my days to find I couldn't (I never got an extra day as a compensation or reduced bill). I turned up to take him to shows on my days to ride to find I couldn't (this was even though it was written down and the YO had been notified in advance). I was also rudely told by the head instructor that I was not allowed to ride him in the yard fun show (which somehow miraculously always fell on the days I rode!) as they needed him (Shouldn't have accepted that amount of people as they did not have enough horses) and when I told him that I had entered shows for those days I was very rudely told I couldn't go and that they would still use him.

My hard work of getting him back into jumping quickly went downhill and riding school kids used to help themselves to my things because the pony was a 'school horse' even though he wasn't.

It was the most upsetting and disheartening period of my life as I could never see my pony on my allocated days. It used to break my heart. It was also the worst yard I have ever been on, it was so money orientated that if you couldn't afford to buy the owner an oakley lorry and nice horses then you where pushed to the bottom of the pile. I wouldn't recomend the place to anyone!

I would never ever have a horse on working livery again especially if it is going against my will (like the previous incident), in my opinion it just does not work.

I am panicking with what I should do with my horse when I go to uni next year but I know for starters he will not be going on working livery!

 

[khalswitz]

I've heard too many horror stories over the years of what goes on 'behind the scenes' in working livery to even consider the option. I've also been privvy to the sights of working livery horses and they look so tired and generally peed off with life, no sparkle in the eyes, no lust for life,...nothing. Extremely limited turnout too is seems to be a usual thing that does not sit well with me either I'm afraid.

Disagree with this - this is pretty judgemental. My horse loved being on working livery - he loved the attention. He was only ever worked for 5 lessons a week plus my own riding, and mine lived out whilst on working livery! The standard of care was exemplary, and the RI's attitude was that the horses were her livelihood, and she looked after them to make them last - they were never overworked and she chose the rider for each horse carefully.

Just because a horse has to work at an RS doesn't mean they aren't looked after and happy - and my old lad was a tricky customer to manage despite being perfect to ride, so if he was unhappy they would have known all about it, and yet he was probably the most settled I'd seen him up to that point. There are bad RSs, but there are a lot of good ones here the horses are very well cared for and happy, so saying all working liveries are lifeless is not only insulting to the RSs that are good, but insulting to anyone who has had their horse on working livery at a good riding school, implying that they've made the worst choice for their horse.

My issues with working livery were nothing to do with standard of care or happiness of the horse, they were about my personal preferences and the fact I like to manage my own horse on my own schedule.

 

[Jnhuk]

Before getting a horse I need to find a livery. So far all the cheap ones seem hidden and are found through word and mouth or have a waiting list. Searching online I have found a riding school close to me that starts from £104 a week... ouch! but they offer working livery starting from £35 a week. I remember a while back I read posts from people having negative views of a working livery but cannot remember what they were.

I would look at maybe trying to find someone who is looking for a sharer over the winter and put your name down on the waiting list of the most suitable livery yard rather than working livery.

Working livery is a double edged sword - there are few that work well but there are a lot of horror stories out there so to be honest: depends on the exact arrangement of your chosen yard and how your horse reacts to it.

I would be worried that if you bought the horse who was then put on working livery to make the costs work for owning a horse, if things didn't work out, where would that leave you financially and your horse physically?

 

[eahotson]

Major con for me would be the risk of numpteys riding my poor horse and ruining it.

Can't see how it can he of any benefit to you.

If you need money get a sharer and find a cheaper yard.

Actually novices (by which I take it you are referring to when you say numpty) do far less harm to a horse mainly but not exclusively because they are not effective than someone who is effective but in the wrong way!

 

[Annagain]

Have PMed you OP.

 

[NellRosk]

My mum's big horse was kept on working livery for 10 years before she moved him to DIY, but he was rather 'special needs' so used for the expert riders and was generally ridden well. If they'd stuck a novice on them they would soon have been on the floor (and he was 17.1hh)! So it worked well for her but I think if you have a horse suitable for novices you will get a lot of numpty riders who aren't doing your horses schooling a favour.

 

[Grinchmass]

I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't want my horse worked 2/3 hours a day before I got to ride her. Which lets be honest after that much work, me riding wouldn't be an option.

I certainly wouldn't be paying livery for a rs to make money using my horse.

Plus I like to have a say over who rides her - I know she would happily carry a novice around, with her head in the air like a giraffe. However it only creates issues for me when I ride her, it would take me a good 10/15 minutes of disagreements to get her working correctly as she hasn't had the consistency. This would be heightened if she had even less consistency. To me it's not worth the schooling issues and the bad habits they pick up!

 

[Tiddlypom]

I did it as the only way that I could get owning a horse past the OH when we were first together. I was going back into horses after a long break, and OH didn't us want to be tied down at all re horse care.

Horse was used for 2 hours a day in the school 5 days a week, but was very fit so I had no qualms about hacking him for another hour. It suited me then, and didn't do the horse any long term harm, but after a year I got him on DIY livery and finally he was really 'my' horse at last.

The RS mine was at was top notch though.