Do you care if YO is horsey or not?

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tye_bo

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As the title really, do you care if the yard owner is a horsey 'expert' or would you still go to a yard where the owner isn't horsey? Do you even factor this in when you think about moving?
 
Yes...tbh...Id like someone there who knows/cares what they are doing...

dont like livery yards though and would hopefully never need one...so kinda contradictory but oh well
 
I like having two very knowlagable YO's, means when I go on holiday or anything happens when I am not there I can completely trust them to handle anything till I can get there
 
I spose I was thinking if it's a DIY yard then surely it wouldn't make any difference? In fact thinking about some of the mental YO I've come accross at least if they weren't horsey then they wouldn't get so involved maybe?
 
I would definately prefer it if YO is horsey that way if there was ever a situation where I couldnt make it to the yard I would be happy asking for their help.
 
I don't think I could ever ever consider placing my horses in a place where the person supposed to be looking after them didn't know what they were doing. So yes I would definitely care if the YO was not horsey. A knowledgeable YM might be a bit of a consolation, however I still wouldn't put my horses somewhere where there is only a part-time experienced person around.
 
With the new government law now in place, all YO are equally responsible for any horse on their land and can be prosecuted if neglect is proven.
 
Yes they would have to know what they are doing. I want a YO who can recognise if my horse is showing symptoms of colic if I'm not there.

I went to see a fantastic yard, with amazing facilities. I asked the YO if the mares and geldings were turned out together. He had no idea what a mare or gelding was.
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In an ideal world I would want even a completely absent hands off owner to be horsey to a degree otherwise you could run into maintenance issues amongst others.

If you are on the land, either as an owner or a YM, of someone who doesnt have a clue about horses there is a huge amount of room for misunderstanding and argument.
 
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I don't think I could ever ever consider placing my horses in a place <font color="red"> </font> . So yes I would definitely care if the YO was not horsey. A knowledgeable YM might be a bit of a consolation, however I still wouldn't put my horses somewhere where there is only a part-time experienced person around.

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Fair enough but as I say I was thinking more of a DIY situation so the person looking after your horse would be you? The YO is there to collect the rent and have no direct involvement with the horses (other than maintainance etc)?
 
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With the new government law now in place, all YO are equally responsible for any horse on their land and can be prosecuted if neglect is proven.

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That's interesting I didn't know that?
 
I have horses on DIY at a really good yard where YO is very knowledgable. Yes, it's DIY but I know I'd get a phone call if anything went/looked wrong when I wasn't there, which is a great comfort. I certainly wouldn't want a 'just collecting the rent' YO.
 
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I have horses on DIY at a really good yard where YO is very knowledgable. Yes, it's DIY but I know I'd get a phone call if anything went/looked wrong when I wasn't there, which is a great comfort. I certainly wouldn't want a 'just collecting the rent' YO.

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Would you never consider keeping your horses on your own land by that token? ie there'd be no-one around when you weren't there?
 
Yes it is really important to me that YO is knowledgeable because I can deal with everyday things but I always ask for help if something out of the ordinary happens and I am out of my depth. Also, my YO is on site most of the time which I find very reassuring because she would alert me to any problems which ocurred in my absence.
 
I was talking about DIY
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Three quarters of my liveries in England were on DIY but I still kept a good eye on their horses when they were at work. It was part of my insurance to check on these horses at least once in every 24 hour period, and it was part of my job description to help out in emergencies or to call owners in emergencies.

Maintenance, well this doesn't make any difference if the livery is on full or DIY; the maintenance still needs doing by the YO and if the YO isn't horsey then I can't see how they could possibly have a good understanding of how or why certain things need doing.

There is more to being a YO than just sitting on your backside collecting money each month.
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I was talking about DIY
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Three quarters of my liveries in England were on DIY but I still kept a good eye on their horses when they were at work. It was part of my insurance to check on these horses at least once in every 24 hour period, and it was part of my job description to help out in emergencies or to call owners in emergencies.

Maintenance, well this doesn't make any difference if the livery is on full or DIY; the maintenance still needs doing by the YO and if the YO isn't horsey then I can't see how they could possibly have a good understanding of how or why certain things need doing.

There is more to being a YO than just sitting on your backside collecting money each month.
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Oh! It was the bit where you said "you wouldn't consider placing my horses in a place where the person supposed to be looking after them didn't know what they were doing" it didn't sound like DIY? I've always been DIY and I wouldn't have described the YO as the people 'who looked after my horses'.
 
Ah I see - hmm well at my livery stables I have always kept a close eye on all of the horses living there, regardless of whether they are my own or someone elses and regardless of whether they are full or DIY. Don't all livery stables work like this? All of the ones around me were just like me and were out and about all day long doing things and keeping an eye on peoples horses. Isn't that why livery stables are more expensive than just renting a field or yard? Because you are getting extra peace of mind, and your horse is getting extra attention, even when you can't be there?
 
I think like anything they vary hugely from yard to yard. I have been on a couple of yards that were farmers diversifying into horses and although they could talk the hind leg off a donkey about cows, they knew very little about horses!

It's interesting to hear everyone's answers. It actually had never occured to me to take into account what the YO's level of expertise was when I chose where I was moving to. I think mainly because I have always mine on DIY and had no involvement from YO? If I ever wanted a second opinion I would ask one of the other liveries or get a horsey friend up.
 
Our YO has a fair idea about horses, he was never on one before and took a shine to my horse angel and has since started taking lessons on either her or Mae.

He was the one that helped me foal Mia/Jacada when there was problems, he doesnt interfere but has alot of knowledge for someone that has only recently started riding. He was brought up around horses but never took the interest to ride them until recently, now hes hooked and ive lost my horse lol
 
It doesn't bother me really. In fact after years of having an interfering YO, its nice to be able to do my own thing. I check all the horses when I'm up, and the other liveries do the same.
 
It is important to me. It may not stop me from moving onto a yard, but it would weigh heavily against it. The mistakes that non-horsey YO can make can be very serious, even fatal. One such YO locally decided he could make a bit of money in some way from pheasants. His approach to this was to throw large quantites of 'pheasant feed' across the fields. The horses ate it, it swelled in their stomachs, several coliced and a few died
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Another yard I moved onto with a friend about 5 years ago was over run with rats. They were running all over the hay. It turned out that the YO had no idea that was a problem
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That, combined with being told after we moved in that if there was ever a problem with a horse in the field, they would call us, but not go into the field as they were 'a bit scared of horses' resulted in us moving off the yard in less than a week!

There are several other somewhat less scary incidents with these and other yards run by non-horsey people, but you get the gist.
 
Having been on yards with both horsey &amp; non-horsey owners I can def. say that the horsey YO gives me more peace of mind - I know if anything was wrong he'd be able to deal with it til I got there unlike the other YO who didn't call us when one of the ponies escaped and they couldn't get him back in the field - they left him where he was so he could make his own way back...clever...NOT!
 
When I moved we looked at a yard where the owners weren't horsey and I have to say I didn't like it. I don't think they would understand and wouldn't be able to help in an emergency either and I find this un-nerving!

Also they only built stables as they had land and thought it would be a good way of making a bit of money ans I didn't really like that either.

Love new place! YO lovely not interfering, but helpful and I know she keeps an eye out on the horseys to check they are ok which I like.
 
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....they only built stables as they had land and thought it would be a good way of making a bit of money ans I didn't really like that either.


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Horsey or non-horsey YO's still only put up stables to attract liveries for money. They don't do it just to look at pretty horses belonging to others.
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I don't think I'd want my horses on a yard where the owners were not used to animals. Farmers, used to large stock, are very well equipped to spot a horse that looks off colour and will understand pasture management requirements, even if they are not consistent with the management of cows for instance.

Of course, unless my hubby divorces me, it's all irrelevant to me seeing as I married a dairy farmer and keep my horses at home.
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I know obviously they do it for money! What I didn't explain was that they had alot of land, had set up a fishery as well as the yard. I couldn't help but think that they thought it was a good way to make a bit on the side even though they didn't have any understanding of land management or horses themselves. I do get the feeling that most YO whilst want to make money, also have a horsey interest themselves even if they might not have their own horse. Eg some of them teach &amp; school other peoples horses.

I just wouldn't like to be somewhere where the YO probably wouldn't know the difference to a horse having a roll and colicking! (sp!)
 
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