Do I move yards or not!?

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Sophie1990

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Not quite sure what to do... My horse is very settled at the current yard and will have been there 2 years in spring, but I'm not as happy there as I was before. The yard manager seems to really not enjoy being there and doesn't resolve problems. My horse is an 18yr old tb who is prone to weight loss, last year there was plenty of grass but this year there has been NO grass at all, with 5 horses in his field which was more than last year. He's has been having hard feed all summer and hayledge. He's now coming in during the days having 3x smallish feeds and ad lib hayledge which I have had to supply myself in small wrapped bags as nobody else's are coming in yet. That alone was 60 pounds which is quite alot on top of what I am already paying. Most of the horses are good doers apart from him! I asked if he could move into a field with more grass and she said I had to ask the people who's two horses were on two whole fields with more grass and they said no because they wanted to rotate it...:confused3: so hes stuck in the smaller field with less grass and five horses it doesnt make sense to me that it was their decision and not the yard managers, and why should they have soul use of two fields? :(

Also I had been asking for bedding for days on end and she kept saying she would get me some down and never did, I had to get someone who has nothing to do with the horses to get it out for me in the end as they know the code for the storage space.

Obviously there are good points too otherwise I would have left by now! We have morning turn out in winter and my mum keeps our old pony up there so we can share jobs. I have my friends up there and its quite relaxed, not a lot of bitching goes on, which I worry about moving to new yards. Very close to Ashton court which is nice and hacking is quite good!

the ponies best friend is leaving on Thursday which will be very sad! Should I follow or should I stick to what I know!? The rent is more expensive but hayledge is inc (which would be cheaper for me atm) lots of off road riding and is more of a competition type yard which may be better suited to him?! Decisions...:confused3:
 
Go with your gut instinct. If its starting to slowly wear you down and not suit your horse, move, but check out the new place first, ie summer turnout, is there enough grass etc! Get your mum to move too! :)
 
it sounds as if you are not happy there - go & have a looking at other yard & then make your final decision x
 
Well getting your own bedding and hay is normal for most horse owners. However being on a yard with poor management sucks. And on that basis alone I'd probably want to move.
 
If there's no grass now, there will be even less in winter so your feed costs will skyrocket!

What does your mum think? Would she leave if you did? Talk to the YM and tell her you are thinking of leaving, as your horse needs more grass. I doubt she will want to lose both you and your mum, so she may let you move fields.
If not, I'd consider moving, you do sound a bit fed up of your current yard- perhaps quietly explore your options first and have a chat with your mum before making any decisions. :)
 
We moved yards for exactly the same reason that you have talked about. We had 4 horses on one field with no grass, while the next field, exactly the same size, had one pony on it, with plenty of grass of course. After asking YO several times over weeks, we took them to a friend's farm. But it was only a stop-gap for a few summer months until we moved into our own place, which I think might have been part of the YO's rationale -i.e. we were going to move anyway.
 
Thank you for all the feed back, I'm going to talk to the YM again and see if I can go into the spare field as would ideally like to stay with mum but she has fat pony who lives on fresh air so I don't think she really quite understands either, I'm going to continue to search for yards but want to be 100% I'm doing the right thing as have been on some horrible yards in the past. The one I was thinking of going to is now a no no after talking to a friend who kept her horse there, so I will just keep looking for now! Thanks again
 
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