DIY livery - maintenance of the yard

[{97702}]

Just curious, for those of you on DIY yards are you expected to help out with maintenance such as levelling the school or cutting back hedges/mending fences etc?

 

[MuddyTB]

No, our YO sorts this out.

 

[Damnation]

We look after the arena as a whole, including YO, I.e poo pick it, keep it tidy, there is one livery with a 4X4 who harrows it occasionally when its very churned up.

Our YO rents the yard from an estate so they do repairs, but this can take time, we would probably have to botch a temporary fix to make the fence secure. YO tries her best but Estate isn't always in a hurry to spend money.

We have never had to trim any hedges but I have only been at the yard 6 months, there is time yet!

 

[Annagain]

No, YO does everything.

 

[be positive]

My liveries may do a bit of raking in of the school track but other than poo picking their fields the general maintenance is down to me to arrange, one of my liveries has a OH who is very happy to do some jobs for the cost of materials plus tea and cake which is appreciated but not expected, we may have a big painting of jump poles session but that is more for their benefit than anything else.

I am quite surprised at how many DIY yards expect ragwort pulling to be done by liveries, that is not maintenance in my mind it should be a basic essential to provide safe grazing done by the YO along with harrowing, rolling and topping, any perimeter fencing gates etc.

 

[Expo]

I'm on a private yard immediately behind the owners house and they are very good at doing maintenance jobs. Either YO's hubby does things although he works full time so he generally does things at weekends, or they get a good local guy in who does building, fencing etc. I think they stay on top of it because they can actually see the yard and pretty much all of the turn out from the upstairs windows of the house.

Also, they are very quick to do things as a rule. The fencing guy arrived the day after my lad snapped a fence rail rubbing his rear end on it, and politely refused my offer to pay for the damage.

We are expected to poo pick regularly and pull any ragwort we find whilst doing it. I think it would be unreasonable to expect the YO to be aware of every bit of ragwort: that would need them to walk the fields regularly and inspect them in minute detail.

We don't do the school. YOs hubby has one of those mini tractor things and likes to have a play with his boys toys at weekends!!!

 

[AmyMay]

No, it's the YO's responsibility.

 

[MissTyc]

Yep we keep the DIY livery costs down by sharing the maintenance - financially and physically. Major repairs such as stables or fencing are done by YO but smaller repairs and ongoing maintenance are shared. Enables us to keep very low costs and suits our liveries. We're upfront about expectations so people know what they're getting into

 

[CrazyMare]

We do whatever needs doing. I repair my fences, fill holes etc, regularly unblock drains, tidy up, replace things however we are the minority on the yard who do!!

 

[Fidgety]

When I was on DIY it was the YO who did all that, though we were all expected to empty the beds and scrub down the inside walls of of the stable when the horses when out 24/7 and creosote the doors on a 3 year cycle.

 

[ester]

It was a source of annoyance to me that we were expected to hand rake the school at short notice (a note would usually go up late on a Sunday just when everyone is sorting for the working week!) when the YO rode in it more than anyone-3 dressage horses and had at least 10 lessons a week with outside clients when I used it max twice. I stopped doing it because for some reason compared to everything else it would really set my back off and would then cost me £45 in Physio! And at least 2 other owners used it more and never did it as YO would never insist they did like others. There was a lot of whingeing when she had to clear the drain outside her 3 stables too! That everyone else's fault

 

[SEL]

The farmer who owns the yard I'm on is supposed to do maintenance - but never does. Liveries are often out nailing fencing back together. I draw the line at clearing ditches though so fully prepared for flooding again thus year.

 

[{97702}]

Really interesting replies, thank you all very much

 

[Lexi_]

We do our own field maintenance (ragwort, hedge trimming etc) and when we moved onto the yard, we repainted the stables.

YO looks after things like getting trees cut down and getting the muck heap removed. She's always been pretty clear about treating it as us renting the field and stables, so we've got to look after them ourselves.

 

[Charlie007]

We do everything.

 

[skint1]

We do what I would class as light field maintenance- poo picking, ragwort pulling, checking the fencing, maybe making small repairs but major stuff such as harrowing, fertilising, weed killing, big repairs the YO does

For stables, it seems to vary, the yard is split into different sections, some sections are painted and well maintained by the YM, some parts the liveries tend to lead the way in painting and small modifications such as hanging tie rings for haynets etc

I think we get a good deal, i think if people have never experienced what a big headache it can be to run a yard yourself it's hard to appreciate how much the YO and YM does for us.

 

[catroo]

YO does the repairs and big jobs but there is an expectation that between the liveries we keep the place tidy inc communal areas. YO isn't on site so liveries are responsible for making sure fields are secure/fencing is good and report any repairs that need doing.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

General maintenance is done by the estate staff. We don't have a typical YO or YM really. They sort out fencing, fence batteries, lights, drains, painting etc.

We poo pick, pull ragwort (fields do get sprayed, narrowed and rolled) and keep the communal areas swept and tidied and do things like clean the toilet. Also do a bit of weeding. Luckily everyone chips in to keep yard relatively tidy.

 

[cowgirl16]

The farmer who owns the yard I'm on is supposed to do maintenance - but never does. Liveries are often out nailing fencing back together. I draw the line at clearing ditches though so fully prepared for flooding again thus year.

We've got a YM like this - nothing gets done. The place is a tip. Been asking for years to have the fencing sorted. I never bother to ask any more if something needs doing, unless it's major, I just get on and do it myself, or ask my hubby to help.

 

[wills_91]

No our YO does everything, obviously if we see something like broken fencing that requires a quick/immediate fix then yes I would do that and we are all responsible for pulling ragwort if we see it but again YO is usually on top of that.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

As a YO, I did everything regarding maintenance.
DIY's had to poo-pick and grab any ragwort in their paddocks (usually only 3 or 4 bits a summer as I keep on top of that myself usually) and keep the muck heap tidy when they tipped out on it.

The only 'mending' I ever asked them to do, was if i was away competing and something like a fence bar got broken, then I did ask them to temporarily fix till I could do on my return. I did have posts and spare bars kept in the store, as well as electric posts etc.

I would never have got liveries of any type to do hedging, ditches etc, tho I did have a couple of lovely traveller ponies in this summer, whose owners OFFERED to do specific jobs in return for lower rent, which we agreed on - and this was done

 

[lrw0250]

We have to pooh pick and pull ragwort plus give the school a rake if the track is getting deep. Other than that YO does everything although he has an office job Monday-Thursday so a broken fence for example would get a temporary fix from the liveries it affected until he could get to it. I believe everyone also mucks in every few years to put a treatment on the wooden stables but I have not been there long enough to have done that yet!

 

[milliepops]

Been on both extremes - spent a long time on a yard where, if you wanted something fixed or improved you did it yourself, fencing, school, pasture, the works. It ate up hours and hours of my weekends but on the plus side I did learn how to do all sorts of things!

Current yard is a bit of a mix, YO does most things but we have to weed the paddocks and some other minor jobs.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I am a YO of a DIY set-up and I would not expect the livery to do any kind of maintenance, that is the YO's responsibility and always should be.

With the exception of Poo Picking, of course!!

 

[Peter7917]

I think it depends on your set up and the price you pay.

My rent is very cheap at £50pcm (stable, grazing, barn storage) so when repairs need doing I do them. I wouldn't expect the land owner to do it at the price I pay.

If I was paying £120-150 a month like most DIY yards then I wouldn't expect to do it myself.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

If I ask, it might get done, but it's a very DIY yard, in all senses of the word.

 

[Ben2684]

I'm on a smallish private DIY yard... the rent is in the low side for the area however we all 'muck in' when things need sorting. YO may provide means/materials but help is always appreciated. Ragwort pulling, fences etc is all sorted by YO but with offered help from liveries. Arena wise we are supposed to keep it ridable but she will sort it once every few weeks. I had to paint my stable but that was more of a personal choice but a need. The builder livery is very useful-he does all major repairs (labour etc paid) Really we are all in it together and work together to make it a nice pace to be, works well for me so I have no need to complain

 

[Enfys]

When I was DIY ours was a self-funding co-op (the land was leased from the county - I think - they had nothing to do with it) everyone was expected to muck in and help, we had a committee. We had regular 'yard days' where liveries were expected to do their bit - usually it was the same old stalwarts everytime Mind, when I was there, tack was 7 pounds a week! If you wanted something done, you did it yourself. Damn fine deal as far as I was concerned.

If we wanted new fencing, new anything, then we had to fundraise for it, if we wanted the arena enlarged ditto. Regular shows and events were held for fundraising. As far as I know the yard has been trundling along like this for a good 20-25 years

When I had my own yard I wouldn't have DIY at all for the simple reason that DIY rent simply does not cover yard maintenance, insurance, repairs to fencing and property, labour, running and insurance costs of equipment, lighting. I have no idea how anyone can make any money from having DIY liveries.

Horse owners who have never had to keep horses on their own/or rented land, often (not always of course) have absolutely no idea of the cost of maintaining land, or the time and labour it entails, they want everything for nothing. (Note, I am speaking generally, not specifically here)