Do some horses do better at one yard over another?

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smanf

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Without going into massive detail, as I could quite easily write an essay on the subject;

I am considering moving my 6yo anglo-arab from his suburban yard where there is hardly any riding or real interest, to a yard in the country where there is more room and better facilities, in a bid to try and improve his attitude, education, and general outlook on life.

He has lived at his current yard for the past seven months since I bought him, and just recently seems to be getting increasingly nervy and moody (which I am aware could be partly owing to the grass).

Am I giving myself false hope that this will make things better for the both of us? Or have others had similar experiences / success stories? :confused:
 
Just to add, I'm not doing this solely for his benefit, I'm doing it for mine too. I get as bored as he does riding round the school and the roads!
 
i've seen a good few horses completely change their outlook after moving yards. One of my lads went very nervy on a small quiet yard, and is much happier on a busier yard now with more stuff going on around him. Turnout and feed play a massive part of course. But my lads seem to like the variety of stuff i can do easily on the newer bigger yard.
 
Feel you should move with your gut instinct over this...... you know your own horse and how they'd react to a change, even if that change is for the better it can still be very unsettling for even the most placid horse to move yards.

IME mares are far more likely to be unsettled by a move; and take longer to settle on a new yard, then boys. I know that the girl who had my loan mare before me kept her at a yard where shall we say the management of the yard was less than ideal and she was left in a field all on her own for extended periods, and she was very unhappy, to the extent that her owner took her away from there as she just wasn't prospering.

My cobby boy is the type who'd settle in anywhere within 10 minutes as long as he had a full feed-bowl in front of him and enough grass & hay to fill his guts, but not all horses are so easy to settle.

But IF you feel this would be a beneficial move for both of you; then go for it, but take the time to thoroughly research the new place coz oft-times it can happen that whilst the grass on the other side of the fence may SEEM greener, sometimes it just ain't.

Good luck anyway.
 
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I moved my mare from a small yard where nothing happened to a comparatively large yard where there is always something going on :) and very importantly a purely mare herd with a good established hierarchy.

It has changed my youngster from an aggressive, moody Prima Donna to a calm, confident, affectionate mare.

I saw the improvements within a few weeks, it's in her nature to be tricky at times, it hasn't cured everything, but there has been a significant change for the better.

The yard is run much more professionally than the last, and she seems to thrive on the bustle around her. A couple of professionals who have come to the yard have commented on the significant change in her and all the other horses are genuinely happy there too.

It's great :)

Good luck finding a yard that suits you both :)
 
Yes, my horse went to another yard for rehab livery for 4 weeks and was much more chilled, not sure if it was circumstance/diff haylage/atmosphere or a combination.

Good luck :)
 
That's really reassured me thanks, I have a yard in mind, and am going to see it on Saturday. I know that if I go ahead, it won't all be plain sailing, and I am preparing for the "OMG where am I!!" phase for a what will probably be a while knowing him :rolleyes: But the more I think about it the more I just think it will be the right thing to do. He had always lived in the country before I got him, and I had never envisaged keeping him where he is for the rest of his life anyway, it was only ever really a means to an end.

Plus Mum said she will muck him out for me during the week :D
 
I did exactly this OP! Moved my horse from a busy suburban yard on a busy main road with zero turnout to a very rural yard with proper hacking and year round turnout and the difference in his attitude has been incredible. He was very tense at the first yard, all the horses were. Many box walked and door kicked. They never got out apart from riding or an hour in a dirt pen, so they must have been incredibly frustrated! My horse was very difficult to deal with on that yard, he was stressed and some days he was just bouncing off the walls and I couldn't even ride. After a long wait for a space to become available I moved him to the rural yard and overnight he was a different horse. He was relaxed and so much happier in himself. He was able to interact with other horses as they have lovely open plan barn style stabling and group turnout. He's a pleasure to ride now and I can vary his work with hacking. He's just generally enjoying life so much more. I think some horses would be fine in a more suburban lifestyle but my horse just seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and say thank you when he moved house to a more relaxed atmosphere.
 
I moved my competition mare from one very good well run yard to another very good well run yard back in February. I had no complaints about the former yard, but the yard and the structure just wasn't suiting the horse at all. She is like a different person at the new yard!
 
My horse had what seemed like a complete personality transplant when I moved yards earlier this year. We had moved from original yard to rehab him from an injury (no safe hacking at original yard) and the rehab yard was on paper perfect (and very expensive!) but for some reason he was miserable there. Stressy, irritable, difficult to handle, all in all an utter pain. Moved again due to cost and yard changing hands to a cheaper yard with far less fancy facilities, and he's totally reverted to his former relaxed self! At previous yard we got to the point where I needed gloves and a bridle to bring him in from the field - I can now hack him back bare back in a headcollar again....
 
Yes! The yard that I first had my mare on was wonderful, I loved it, but since moving and now looking back I can see how utterly miserable she was. She is now a different horse. I moved and she was happier and then I moved again and she seems to be happier still!

We're not going anywhere!
 
Of course.

My mare freaked out on a friends small holding. She had a massive field in a beautiful area, the company of two other horses and she was described as dangerous!? Moved her to a bigger yard with its barn stables, tiny individual paddock six strides away, kids running all over the place and riding bikes around her legs and she becomes super trustworthy and sane!!?

Grrrrrrr, .....horses?!!
 
I was on a small yard. The YO kept four young Exmoors, and my girl got increasingly stroppy and bad tempered.

Then things started to go wrong between me and the YO so I looked for something else. The new yard was busier with more horses, and following the initial settling down period she was a different horse. My theory was she felt she had to be in charge of the youngsters, but didn't really want to be and once she was free of them she was much happier.

She settled quite near the top of the herd, and a few months later took over when the alpha mare was off sick. When she came back to the field there was a bit of a challenge between the two mares, but mine soon backed off and things got back to normal.
 
Oof, it's going to be a gamble then! I get the impression that the yard I am going to look at has more going on, and more room with tons more hacking on the doorstep and a massive school. He will also be on a stricter routine with it being assisted DIY (I.e all fed and turned out / brought in at the same time). Knowing him as i do, I am hoping he will find more security in the routine as well as having more around him to stimulate his brain so that he isn't constantly yoyoing between being almost depressed and the ultra hyper!
 
Yep - both of mine.

Moved from our own little place to a livery yard which had limited turnout. We were only there for 4 months but my pony became stiff and difficult to ride and handle and I was considering retiring my 19 yr old who was semi retired at the time.

Moved to a new yard in march. Just three months later my two are like different horses. My pony is calm and happy. My 19yr old is put of retirement being ridden nearly every day. My pony was becoming hard to turn out - I now take both him and my horse out together with no issues at all.

They are both so happy and content.
 
Yes I had previously kept my boy at a very busy yard with lots of hussle and bustle. He was always highly strung and use to throw a tantrum within 5 mins of sitting on him to ride ( drop shoulder and dart across school). I used to wait for it happen then he would work fine. He got grumpier in stable and was very narky. I went up early one day and saw stable girl taking 5 horses in at once, he was being dragged at the back and looked so uncomfortable. The only time he was happy was if I was at yard when no one else was about. Moved him to a private country yard with a friends horse and couldn't believe the difference. Took him on first hack on his own and was waiting for the tantrum and it never came, he was so relaxed. Best think I ever did, he doesn't like busy environments and has remained so much more relaxed and happy.
 
Yep.

I moved my old horse from a busy yard to a small, private yard with limited off road hacking and individual or pair turnout out & very smart facilities. He was quite stressy if he wasn't in a routine and didn't do well with other horses - and YO kept to the same routine (but he was good to hack & road work didn't phase him).

Sadly, he was PTS and my current boy was miserable on the same yard. He was too boisterous for any of the field companions, escaped out of the fields, was too naughty for YO to safely lead unless he was in a chifney (he's a 14hh New Forest - my old horse was a 16.3hh stress head of a WB :rolleyes: ) and isn't particularly good on the roads to hack.

I've moved to a busier, much less structured (predominately DIY) and albeit 'less posh' yard, with group turn out and direct off road hacking and he has never been happier. Current horse has far less of a set routine and couldn't care less - you learn what is important to each horse.

Both thrived at completely different yards - and I'd seen both miserable at different yards before that, so I wouldn't under estimate the difference the right yard can make.
 
Yes they do. My mare completely changed from a horse who was always wired, jumped out of the field and spooked at everything to a calm horse literally overnight :) All the things I warned the YO about never happened :D
 
Yep, similar to nativeponylover - we moved to a big yard where my New Forest was often left alone in the field, getting distressed, I also discovered that she was being turned out in a chifney. She became obviously unhappy, started being a little bit aggressive towards people (not like her at all), I moved yards to where I've been now for the last 10 years and would never move her again! She's back to being happy, affectionate and easy to handle! :)
 
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