DIY or Not

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mar2505

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Help, I am in a pickle. Just started a new job 9-5 ish . It is a career job and I really want to get on so for expample yesterday a meeting overran and I stayed till 6. However with this job I take a big pay cut due the recession and I am debating whether or not to go on diy. I do go evey day to horse and ride and with the fact he is mucked out etc I get to ride every day however I am worried that doing diy will put pressure on me and make me resent rudhing to to yard whereas now I take my time.
I think I will save about 100 a month as full is 95 and diy is 35 plus everything and I will need mucking out twice a week and turnout every day.
My mum says I should make sacrifices elsewhere and enjoy the horse, what does anyone else think, can one tell me their experineces and will \I really save enough to warrent it.
 
I'm on DIY and on work days I get up at 5.30am to go up to the stables muck out and do all my odd jobs (soaking hay etc). After work I go straight to the stables, muck out and ride which means I tend to get home around 8pm. I don't mind this, infact I love doing everything myself, but it does put a strain on everything else, social life, family etc.

I find it harder at the mo because mines been on box rest since may time, if he'd been out things are much easier, I save big jobs like poo picking field for days off.
 
I would personally stick with the full livery to give yourself the breathing space to focus on your job at this stage.

Am guessing that you'll have the scope to earn more later on if you put in the work now, something has to give and trying to balance full time work (with overrunning meetings) and DIY could easily restrict how much riding you end up doing and turn everything into a chore. The fact your mum has suggested making sacrifices eslewhere gives me the impression that it would be possible to cope financially??

The other option could be part livery so you don't have to go up twice a day but that does seem to be rarer than hens teeth.
 
I could do diy with them turning out but would have to pay and this is where I have worked out that with 2 straw a week and 3 bales of hay a week (I am being optimisitc I suppose) that it will save me about 100 a month. Mum says that 25 a week is not a good saving to avoid stress etc and really enjoy life, just got divorced and stuff and that I need time out to relax and do other things ie if tema at work say go for a drink then I can say yes ! I personally am desperatly worried about money!
 
I am on DIY and time is sometimes pushed I have to admit. However, I wouldn't change it as I can't afford to, and I enjoy it actually. It means plenty time away from home, for example, I finish work at 6, go home and feed my dog, then head up the yard, plan to ride 7-8, then I have to feed and put her back out (she is out 24/7 at the moment). I currently get home at about 9, then have to have tea etc. In winter it will be harder as I will have to go up in the mornings, feed and turn out, then after work the same as before but also mucking out and haynets. (I hate winter
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Could you maybe try it and see what you think and if you can manage having to do it all yourself?
 
Can you try DIY for a while and see if you get on with it, and then have the option to swap to full livery if necessary? I work 8-4(ish!) and my horse is on DIY. In fact in the winter I have an extra horse which I do the livery for.
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I do my mucking out etc in the morning and then ride after work, and manage to get her ridden most days.
I don't have any other commitments though and I live on my own so it doesn't matter how long I am at the yard in the evenings.

There are loads of ways you can save time in the week if you put your mind to it - filling a week's worth of haynets/premixing feeds etc - it can be done if you want it to work.
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I have been on DIY since I was 14 and I wouldnt go full livery I like things done my way and to my standard.
I work shifts 8.00-16.30 or 9.00 - 1800 so I go up the yard at 6am muck out and lay her bed back whilst madame eats her breckfast then turn her out.then when I finish work at what ever time all I have to do is get her in ride and feed.No problem at all
 
Sorry to hear about the divorce.

I've been on both DIY and am now on full. The extra cost for full can be stressful but I actually found that lack of time stressed me out more.

The number of times I remember being stuck in late meetings during winter worrying about horse being stood in the field waiting is numerous, I actually had to leave a few meetings early to get to the yard which was noticed by my old boss (horses don't earn the same flexbility as children
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All you can do is weigh up the pros and cons, in a lot of ways being on DIY is fab you can have a much more involved role in your horses life but IF you can afford it full can make a big difference - and you sound like you need to have some fun outside your horse as well.
 
My YO is great because if ever I couldn't get up, even if it was last minute, I could text her and she'd bring her in/put her out etc, whatever needed doing (for a small charge of course). Could you maybe work out an agreement with YO so that if you ever got stuck in a meeting she could do it for you for an extra charge?
 
For me its not the cost, but really depends on the standard of care as you will save money not going up some days. I have been on full, part and DIY and work odd hours and sometimes work 7 days a week. I am currently on assisted DIY (DIY but I can pay yard to bring in/feed etc) and wouldnt ever go back to part or full livery again.

I found it so stressful to go up in the evening, to be confronted with a miserable pony on a dirty bed with no hay. I ended up doing a full muck out, changing hay and water etc and didnt have time to ride as everything took so long as it wasnt done properly to begin with. On the evenings I didnt go up I felt so guilty about going out to dinner and having a nice time when my horse was standing miserably in his stable that in the end I would go up every evening, no matter how late I got there. Now because I do everything my way, all I have to do is muck out (15 mins), hay/water/feed (10 mins) and then bring in, groom and exercise (1 hr). Total time is 1.5 hrs. If I dont ride, then total time is 30 mins. Horse is fed and turned out by yard as I live too far away to go in the mornings before work.

If current yard provides a good level of service then I would stick to full livery, especially now we are moving into winter and reassess next year if yard is happy to let you move back and forth (some YOs dont like people moving from full/part to DIY as obviously they are losing money). This will allow you to be free in the evenings to attend work drinks etc and get to know your colleagues.

But if you have the option of 24/7 t/o in summer and live relatively close, then I would be tempted to stay on DIY and pay for the yard to bring in and feed in the evenings. I would then just get up early, feed, turnout and muck out in the mornings. That way if you cant make it in the evenings you know horse is in and fed. If you can, then all you have to do is ride. In summer all you will have to do is go up in the evenings.
 
I have a 9-5.30 job with 2 kids, a shift-working OH and 3 horses on DIY.

Yes its cheaper on DIY but its about the fact that I manage my horses how I want and I know they are well-looked after.

It can be hard work but you just have to be organised and make up haynets/feeds etc in advance. YO will turn out/in for a nominal fee so in winter I make sure all is ready on a morning, she brings them in about 4pm and I go down later on after to skip out and check and feed and top up hay etc. This way I'm not stressing if I get stuck at work or the weather is really bad.

They live out in summer so thats my rest time
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I have 4 on DIY and a FT job. Personally I would stick at livery for the winter (January and February will really try your patience!) and then go for DIY in the Spring when the light evenings are coming. That way you will be really in the swing of it before next winter and your settled into your job.
 
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