Do you think the appearance of your yard is the most important thing ?

[Porkie]

Just wondering what you all think about the appearance of your yard - and is it the most important thing to you over other things ? And would you move to a yard that doesn't look so good?

My current yard is imacculate, brown doors, white washed walls, always swept ........but it feel like its getting to the stage where YO is obsessed with the looks - to the extent where we have now been told we cannot give our horses licks outside the stable as they make the walls dirty

and things are being painted every other day! The people are getting more miserable by the day as its one rule after another and we get 'notes' all the time about things! We have the bonus of an indoor school but the outdoor one floods all the time. Fencing is good post and rail but YO a control freak about everything!

Been to look at another yard with a friend (I loan one of her horses so its not totally my decision if / where we move to). She likes this yard as she has a friend there already and gives it raves reports but it looks shabby, more like a farm type yard. It has two schools, ( 3 sheep. 5 goats and some geese!) xc course, you can ride in the spare fields and everyone is happy. Fencing not so good as mixed with barbed wire.

If the health and safety aspect was generally good and the people and horses happy and place more relaxed would you accept it not looking so great on the outside ?

Just wondered what the general opinions are as the 3 yards I have ever been involved in are all very smart and not sure how I feel about possibility of moving to a yard like this! Am I being stoopid and worrying about something that doesn't really matter ??

 

[zigzag]

As long as everything is safe for the horses, I tend to go by how happy the horses who are on the yard are

 

[seansheep]

look at the faces of the horses and the people there - do the horses and the people look happy ?

do the horses look in good nick - and at the farm place do the sheep and goats look in good nick or thin/liceridden

most important thing with a farm type place is whether the owner carefully secures farm machinery from the horses - i.e. in a barn or fenced off enclosure - so that say a loose horse cannot get tangled up in the machinery

one yard I know is immaculate but totally soul-less, every facility under the sun but still people don't stay long and livery turnover is high

 

[dianchi]

Our yard isnt the smartest but every one looks after their horses and we have services and evryone is friendly!
Plus we have two schools and all year T/O

Id rather have that than obsessive YO- had that before rugs werent allowed to left on doors whilst your riding and hay had to be in haynets!

 

[crackerjack]

Your current yard sounds identical to my old yard.

My new yard isn't shabbby at all but not as 'pretty' looking as my old yard, it's always on the go, so i call it a working yard whereas my old one was name the postcard yard. It was picture perfect but you need more than that when you have horses to think about.

If the new yard is safe horses wise i wouldn't hesistate to move.

 

[rforsyth1984]

I picked my current yard - a bit ramshackle, stables of varying sizes and shapes around the yard, bit of straw etc strewn about the place, paintwork a bit shabby in most places etc etc over a completely immaculate yard.
Why? The people are lovely and the horses are happy, with owners left to look after their horses how they see appropriate.
So, no, I dont think appearance is very high on the list at all, so long as its safe. And I often wonder how happy horses/owners and immaculate yard can go together, I mean if you have to spend your whole life worrying about a stray piece of straw, a bit of mud, or 'poo-paintings' on the stable wall and putting your rugs and leadropes folded neatly away every time you use them.... well, Id have no time to ride, hehe!

 

[the watcher]

I like a tidy yard, but it isn't my top priority, certainly not at the cost to happy horses and good facilities. I wouldn't go somewhere really scruffy though, suggests a lack of care to me.

 

[Sooty]

The barbed wire would put me off.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

To me it doesn't matter if the stables are well painted & look smart or not. As others have mentioned it is the welfare of the horse that is paramount. However, when stables start to look scruffy it invariably means that they are probably neglected & need maintenance.

I would however rather be on a yard that needs a little work doing than on an immaculate yard with excessive rules that interfere with your enjoyment of your horse.

 

[izzyxxx]

when i was moving yards i went and had a look around one and thought this is nice enough people seem ok family run etc etc. After a few months it was starting to grate on me as the YO was always on about how tidy everything must be (i do understand because it was her home and property) but all horses had to be kept seperatly in there own patch of field you MUST poo pick EVERY day she was always cleaning something and when the fields got wet we had to keep the horses in so there was no mud (my mare got board and started chewing wood) so i got told off for the stable and if there was a delivery of hay you couldn't get hay on the yard (the yard was covered in big pebble type loose stones so you can't exactly sweep it

) ok so you get the picture just one thing after another i moved from that yard onto the one i am on now.

yes the fencing is barbwire but i put electric fencing round anyway the stable used to be a sheep shed but my new YO put a big stable door on slabed the floor and built a feed room on the side and a small barn round the corner

when i got a short term loan i had no stabling for 2 so he put a partition in the middle to provide 2 good size stables. there is only me and another girl we have our own fields and get left to it there is no bitching and the YO doesn't keep checking that everything is perfect however if pony is in trouble he is straight on the phone or sorts it out

sorry for the essay just to let you know you are not the only one

hope evrything sorts itself out

 

[browbrow]

I love a spottless yard - as if they are spotless they are generally safe but you can go over the top!!

NO Way would I go to a yard with barbed wire No No No No

If you do go to barbed wire place- make sure your insurance will cover you in a barbed wire field - some are cheeky and wont pay out if your horse has been injured with barbed wire and you have been fully aware that the horse has been in the field.

But if the horses are happy - then thats all that matters.

Good luck !!!

 

[Enfys]

In a word NO.

I was thinking about this yesterday as I swept my barn, it's not at all smart, but smart stalls and flowers in baskets don't, in themselves, make happy, healthy horses, that is down to management and work.

A very well known show producer once said to me that "Champions can come out of a cattle wagon as easily as one of those ponced up horse lorries" and the same applies to yards as far as I am concerned.

 

[Alibear]

Aooerance doesn't bother me bu saftery does no way would i hae a horse in a field where there was any barbedwire.

You really need the happy medium the safe yard that looks reasonable but is not a neat freak control place

 

[Patches]

Well I live on a working dairy farm. My stable yard is across from the bulls and we share a concrete yard between the two sets of buildings. There's also a small cubicle shed for the due to calve cows or those requiring regular treatment from us or the vet. This yard is mucked out with a tractor daily that scrapes the muck out across my bull/stable yard to the muck heap.

All in all it's not a pretty yard! Plenty of muck and mud about the place. However, my stables are well equipped and the horses are healthy and happy. Of course there are no tractors or other machinery littering the fields! That goes without saying.

Just because I don't have the most plush yard in the world, it doesn't mean I don't care for my horses.

 

[KatB]

Our yard always looks shabby tbh! The Yard Manager doesnt really care, and it is a huge space and noone really takes responsibility. However, the horses are all happy, although the fencing is broken in places, it is all safe (the fencing was 5.5ft high!) and generally the people are happy. As long as it isnt hazardess or difficult to care for your horse because of the way the yard is set out/looked after, i personally dont see the prob.

 

[grandmaweloveyou]

our yard is a mess but the horses are happy the owners have been there for years and years and years and move to better neater yards and always come back. there is always things at any yard everyone i know at always want to change.

 

[hussar]

The important things are: Will the horse be well-cared for and safe? Does the yard offer you the facilities you need?

Frankly, fresh paint and flowers don't matter a damn if the horses are underfed and underbedded - as happened to mine (briefly) at one smart yard. Where I am now, the tackroom roof leaks, there's mud everywhere, loose sheep and cattle wandering about, the fences could be better but no barbed wire - and the horses are happy, well fed, well looked after, can live out 24/7, and there's a friendly atmosphere.

 

[RachelB]

As long as the yard is safe, it shouldn't matter at all about appearance (unless it's 5* livery and you're paying the price!). We have a higgledy piggledy set of stables, they're not bad but are in blocks of different stables where they nwere built bit-by-bit as needed. The feed and hay store bit is boards of wood for walls, and corrugated plastic roof. Bits fall off sometimes in strong winds, and are patched up again! It's certainly not an ultra-smart, brick-built, painted kind of a place. We do, however, sweep the yard daily, keep the muck heap and tool store tidy, put our rugsm and things away and not leave them outside our stables and things like that. It's smart but casual, and if you make a mess it really doesn't matter as long as you clean it up!
The yard at work is smarter, we keep it as tidy as we can but again, it's accepted that it is a working yard and mess will be made. You can't possibly keep things immaculate with horses (even those on full livery). I like both yards as although they are safe and tidy, there aren't strict rules about the cleanliness of the yards and the owners of the horses can come and enjoy themselves without worrying about keeping things immaculate.

 

[Tia]

Although beautiful yards look good and are always a pleasure to turn up to, I would, and have, always preferred to board on farms. Farms tend to be more pleasant places in respects to what you are allowed to do and what you aren't and I have always enjoyed this type of freedom.

My own yard in England was a really nice looking yard but it did take work keeping it like that. I was not the sort to tell people they couldn't do certain things because it might dirty the paintwork though - for goodness sake these are horses we are talking about not a childs Day Care facility!

Over here, I knew I wanted a farm in preference to an equestrian facility as I don't care for the snobbishness that often goes on in equestrian facilities. My boarders are very down to earth people but they know that the standard of care that their horses get here is second to none, in this area. I am also a lot cheaper than anywhere else.

I personally wouldn't ever keep my horses in barbed wire fenced fields but I also don't think it is necessary to keep horses in post and rail fenced fields either. I have a mix of post and rail and stock fencing on my farm. This is not insurmountable though - you could easily rig up electric fencing to keep your horse away from the barbed wire.

Happy, healthy horses are what is important and you can have these at ANY place, it doesn't have to be a wonderful looking place but it also doesn't have to be a scruffy little farm - talk to the people and see how experienced they are - this is where you will get the vibes as to whether it is right or not.

 

[Gorgeous George]

It wouldn't be my top priority at all, having said that I really like the fact that my yard is neat and tidy as I'm a bit of a tidy freak - thankfully the YO isn't obsessive about it.

 

[claireross]

My yard is a mess and sometimes its annoying, but the YO is a farmer and doesn't get involved in the horses at all which is nice. They do decide when its time for the horses to come in at night, but usually its not til mid November and on a good year they can go back out 24/7 in April. It suits me and all the smart yards I know are very restrictive and none of them allow 24/7 turnout, so for me its a big no no.

 

[JM07]

been at "posh", been at "working farm" and in between.....

as long as you, your horses are happy, then does it matter?

yard i lease now is a mixture of a 6 box yard, L shaped and tarmaced, with auto water, rubber matting which the liveries have, and a dutch barn with pens, water in trugs, dirt and straw floors which house my horses/ponies.

both areas have happy healthy horses, which is IMO the important thing.

 

[trundle]

Our yard is brand new, so it is pretty neat and tidy still, but not obsessively so. Having things neat and tidy and a proper place for everything does help me, as a RS client (rather than a livery who spends all day every day there) know where things should go when i put them away.

However, I would expect a different standard of tidiness and efficiency at a working RS than I would at a yard that was DIY livery only, for example.

 

[__Annie__]

first I'd look for happy horses and owners and yard/field safety. I don't mind a bit shabby but barbed wire worries me .
ETS: I do like a place for everything and everything in it's place though !

 

[Porkie]

Made me feel a bit better! I quite liked the scruffy yard, in a weird kind of way - but some people I know have been saying they wouldn't like it becuase of apperance etc. & was making me feel wrong by liking it!!

From what I gather so far the owners have been there for years and are very good and live on-site. There are a few other bungalows dotted around here and there within the premises too so there are plenty of people security wise. (there is even a house in the xc field! Kinda funny but it takes all sorts!) The people all seemed friendly and happy and the horses were all well chilled out! The sheep and goats I mentioned looked very very healthy and very friendly, not sure about the geese, don't like them so didn't get close enough to find out! Overall it felt comfortable. The stables were a bit higgle-de-piggle-de like two barns converted into various shaped stables, some even had 'in-out' doors where two small stables had been converted into one, that sort of thing but all the stables were huge! And you each get a shed to keep your 'stuff' in. My main concern is the barbed wire fencing. But............. as I mentioned I only loan the horse so in the end it is his owners final decision but its nice because she sees us as a team and is concerned about my opinions too. (& she's a real worrier about her boys so don't think she'd make any stupid decisions)

Must admit YO where I am at mo is getting me down and is taking the fun out of it as she is so stressy and obsessive - everyone is leaving so am loosing all my friends too!

Maybe the other yard would be much more fun!

 

[BBH]

My horse has been on some fabulous looking ' posh' yards on full livery when I worked and lived in London but now having relocated he is at a traditional working farm where my friend can ride him. I hate it but he loves it and at the end of the day he lives there and ( doesn't care whether the fencing is painted or the yard is swept every hour on the hour ), and I don't so as long as he's happy and safe I will have to put up with the mess and slurry etc.

I think really there's a balance to be had
and a lot of YO ( in my exp ) are like prima donna's, forgetting that you are customers, if the rules become ridiculous and you're not happy leave.

 

[Skhosu]

Appearance is not important, but I can see her point re: the licks as if she is running a prof. establishment she wants it to looks neat and tidy. Are the horses happy? Any other silly rules?
As if it is tidy, it is safer and I hate barbed wire, the first one sounds possibly better for the horse.

 

[Partoow]

I think there is a happy medium. I have a beautiful yard and a man that comes in 2xs per week to help me and my staff keep it that way.
I hate sloppy work practice and to me attension to detail is very important but this is relation to the enviroment that the equine inmates live. So clean water drinkers, clean feed room, swept and raked yard, clean wash stand are all part of the daily management of the yard. Pasture management is all part of this, post and rails replaced as soon as they are damaged paddocks are poo picked and the school is also kept the same way.
this way the yard is safe and happy! The tack room is also kept tidy and all equiptment in its place well maintained and ready to use.
If this is called 5* well yes because the staff have to be well trained well thought of and well looked after and that does cost.
The horses on my yard are the focus of their owners lives many work long hours to keep them so my job is to provide a happy healthy yard for everyone. This results in a tidy beatiful yard that everyone wants to keep that way because they are proud to belong to our family.

 

[wishfulthinking]

As the old adage goes: "care and not fine stables makes a godd horse"

To me the best yard is neat and tidy, clean and safe BUT well used. First impressions are important though, especially if running a business of any sort. You don't want clients/buyers turned off at the sight of the place.

 

[teapot]

A well organised/tidy muck normally means a well run, organised yard - that's what I had drummed into me from an early age!

I go by appeareance, the staff, how it's organised ie: what the tack rooms look like and how the horses look