Dilemma - where to go

[meleeka]

I’d move to yard 2. Turnout of horses is going to mean mud in the winter unfortunately. I’m not sire how it would be achieved without making any mud.
You always have the option of not turning out so wouldn’t be any worse.

I have a Reolink Go which I can see from my phone. Even a owner on site isn’t going to be watching all the time so could still miss an intruder if someone was determined.

 

[jnb]

After being horrendously bullied and my horse being injured due to a YM ignoring my instructions ultimately leading to me losing him, I realised I COULD do DIY and indeed went from Full livery 5 days a week with my old cob (grey) to my own yard with my new baby cob.
You CAN do DIY /own yard - if you can find one - you might need a freelance or a yard sharer but you can do it - and believe you me you will be so much happier!
Not to have to time my yard visits to avoid the bully, not getting sarky messages from the YM, not worrying about putting hay in my postage stamp (I mean paddock), not being shouted at for random things that were OK yesterday / anyone else but me to do!

Yes, I don't have a school but I have amazing hacking and my cob is out 24/7 therefore meaning the stressful rushing to get to him a "feed time" doesn't exist!He knows when I turn up, he gets fed! He doesn't know what time it is.
And - he's the cleanest ever, my grey would roll every day and plaster himself, my coloured rolls but not obsessively as he knows he can do it anytime not just the 2 hours a day he's allowed out!!
Move somewhere, anywhere - even just a field - you won't regret it & your cob will love you for it.

 

[Fransurrey]

Just another point I haven't seen mentioned above. Is the groom living onsite the same groom that doesn't pick out feet or soak hay? If so, I'm not sure I'd trust them to spot an elephant crap on their face, never mind something like colic.

Remember you've seen yard 2 at its worst in terms of mud. I'm in the camp of use yard 2 as a stop gap at the least. Nothing is worth being abused!

 

[Tracking_up]

I think i would also have a think about those items that are solely horse welfare issues (eg lack of turn out) and any issues that are not truly/solely horse welfare (or just not what you are used to) (eg muddy access to fields), perhaps put them in 2 lists, and then rank them in order of priority?

If you are so unhappy at your current yard (and I've been there, so can sympathise) you may still need to reach your own internal compromise on those items that are not solely horse welfare issues, and I think the list system above might help with that.

 

[Sossigpoker]

I started listing pros and cons last night ,and the current yard only has two pros really : Good security and instructor on site. Neither is a pro for my horse.
I'm speaking to yard 2 this morning and will set up a plan in motion.

 

[Sossigpoker]

After being horrendously bullied and my horse being injured due to a YM ignoring my instructions ultimately leading to me losing him, I realised I COULD do DIY and indeed went from Full livery 5 days a week with my old cob (grey) to my own yard with my new baby cob.
You CAN do DIY /own yard - if you can find one - you might need a freelance or a yard sharer but you can do it - and believe you me you will be so much happier!
Not to have to time my yard visits to avoid the bully, not getting sarky messages from the YM, not worrying about putting hay in my postage stamp (I mean paddock), not being shouted at for random things that were OK yesterday / anyone else but me to do!

Yes, I don't have a school but I have amazing hacking and my cob is out 24/7 therefore meaning the stressful rushing to get to him a "feed time" doesn't exist!He knows when I turn up, he gets fed! He doesn't know what time it is.
And - he's the cleanest ever, my grey would roll every day and plaster himself, my coloured rolls but not obsessively as he knows he can do it anytime not just the 2 hours a day he's allowed out!!
Move somewhere, anywhere - even just a field - you won't regret it & your cob will love you for it.

Sounds like you were on the same yard lol! The only other so-called assisted livery couldn't cope and went full livery and now she gets spoken to a lot more nicely since she's not there everyday. But there's no way I'm giving that yard any more of my money ! Especially as I can't trust them to do things like make sure my horse doesn't go all day without any hay.
When I'm going away for a day and Nedd them to do my horse, I fill up all haynets the night before and label them to make sure the bloody groom gives my horse his lunch time haynet. When the YO is not there , the groom happily lets the yard go without hay all day. (Too lazy, just another corner to cut).
The groom would notice anything wrong with YO's horses and has done, but doesn't care enough about a livery horse to notice anything.

I'm so getting out of there !! Own little yards are nearly impossible to buy here let alone rent ,sadly, I have been keeping an eye and will continue to do so.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I just don't like the dynamics on a DIY , I prefer somewhere with some management.

A lot of yards local to me have management but are DIY, in that owners do their own horses. Perhaps you need to do a bit more research. I certainly wouldn't stay on Yard 1

 

[Birker2020]

I moved to a yard where I was told turnout was 365 days a year as I refuse to keep my horse in unless on box rest.
It wasn't until I had moved to the yard that I found out there was a big area of sand referred to as the 'sand pit' which was probably about 40m x 20m and split in two with electric fencing and during October - May (depending on the weather) horses could go out for 2 hours a day in the sandpit with a net that they all shared in their section.

I nearly moved due to this but so glad I stayed as this regime actually suited the horse I had at the time who was 17 at the time and was recovering from a suspensory branch injury and did better not pulling his injured leg through deep mud. Because the fields were peat they were just too wet to turn out. He healed incredibly well, a lot of this was due to the 'sand pit'.

What I'm trying to say is that this regime wouldn't have suited all horses but it suited mine. Is there no area like this that you could turn your horse into? Just a small area that he can have a kick and a f*rt and you can leave a haynet in there for distraction?

Otherwise I'd be moving out of Yard 1 to Yard 2. Where ever horses are is going to be mud. A bit of mud never hurt anything and it will be better not just for his body to be moving about but it will also reduce the risk of colic and it will make his mind more settled.

 

[windand rain]

Yard 1 would be an absolute no to me in fact if that was my only choice I wouldn't keep a horse at all. Turnout is essential mud rarely hurts the horse and being shut in is far more likely to cause injury. A quieter no stress yard will improve your horses life as well. As above horses normally are only stolen by disgruntled partners and ocassionally by loaners so that wouldn't bother me at all. Standard of care is non existant at yard 1 too so no loss there

 

[Sossigpoker]

Thank you everyone, I've just agreed to move to yard 2 so there is light at the end of the tunnel!
Feeling a lot more positive about things now that I've made a decision.

 

[mariew]

I left a yard due to winter mud like that, it is soul destroying. So if they truly are covering I would consider moving, current yard sounds like a nightmare.

 

[Pippity]

• Is there actually enough turn out: the paddocks are quite small and I'm not sure if the clay ground could sustain mine being out at night in summer and out during day in winter.
There's a Brook running past which has risen in the storm and some of the paddocks have standing water in the middle (there is a small turn out pen that will also get surfaced and you can put hay in there )

Just to say, my horse has pretty much always been in a field with standing water in winter, and she seems to enjoy it. The standing water tends to have less mud than the rest of the field, because it doesn't get churned up by horses hoolying, and she'll happily stand in there for hours munching away on the underwater grass.

 

[chaps89]

Just to say, my horse has pretty much always been in a field with standing water in winter, and she seems to enjoy it. The standing water tends to have less mud than the rest of the field, because it doesn't get churned up by horses hoolying, and she'll happily stand in there for hours munching away on the underwater grass.

this is true - my last yard a lot of my field was underwater. YO felt bad and offered me another paddock - it looked a lot better but I nearly lost my wellies walking it, whereas my own field was firm footing so they stayed where they were and actually seemed happy enough. The other field was an open invite for a leg injury.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Just to say, my horse has pretty much always been in a field with standing water in winter, and she seems to enjoy it. The standing water tends to have less mud than the rest of the field, because it doesn't get churned up by horses hoolying, and she'll happily stand in there for hours munching away on the underwater grass.

This paddock hasn't been used much so isn't churned and I won't be moving straight away so it has a chance to churn. As my boy is so desperate for grass, if he only goes out for a couple of hours to start with , he won't run around as he'll just want to eat.

 

[Sossigpoker]

I left a yard due to winter mud like that, it is soul destroying. So if they truly are covering I would consider moving, current yard sounds like a nightmare.

Yes she has assured me that the path will be sorted. She is walking up and down on it everyday so even just for herself it needs to be sorted.

 

[spotty_pony]

Another option could be find a nice diy yard and get a freelance groom to do the stuff you can’t do whilst at work?

 

[Sossigpoker]

Another option could be find a nice diy yard and get a freelance groom to do the stuff you can’t do whilst at work?

I don't know any nice DIY yards here but I'm giving "yard 2" a go.

 

[usaequestrian]

I think limited turnout(2nd livery) is better than no turnout(1st livery). Turnout is important for horses, they're animals that originally ran outside for miles. However I agree with some previous posts about different stables. Is there another yard/livery you could board at? The YO seems dodgy if you ask me, I would get out fast. I would just try and not ride when the hounds are out if possible. Happy trails!

 

[Sossigpoker]

I think limited turnout(2nd livery) is better than no turnout(1st livery). Turnout is important for horses, they're animals that originally ran outside for miles. However I agree with some previous posts about different stables. Is there another yard/livery you could board at? The YO seems dodgy if you ask me, I would get out fast. I would just try and not ride when the hounds are out if possible. Happy trails!

The owner of yard 2 said that they are notified when the hunt will be in the area so they can get horses in so it shouldn't be so bad.

 

[usaequestrian]

The owner of yard 2 said that they are notified when the hunt will be in the area so they can get horses in so it shouldn't be so bad.

That's good!