Do your horses fit in with you, or does everything revolve round them?!?

Grumpy Herbert

Grumpy Herbert

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Just curious to know! I'm in the position of having to try to find new DIY livery for my horses - they've been on full livery for sometime - and am struggling to find a place that fits my huge, long list of demands! (or should I say THEIR huge, long list of demands....) I've found a lovely yard, within walking distance of my house, but am put off because they haven't got lots of grazing. Yet, I would see the horses every day, could do more with them and could go round whenever I liked - in other words, it would suit me fine! Is it a compromise I should make because it suits me? Who knows!

So, do your horses have to fit in with your life or do you go above and beyond the call of duty for them?
 
sadly at the moment paddy has to fit in with my life. but he has a fairly good life i think??
i ride him every day during the week but most school holidays he goes out to play also at weekends. there is nothing i can do about it at the moment and as my kids get older i will be able to do more,
but he is 5 so i think at the moment it suits him too it gives him a chance to process what he learns :D:D
its not an ideal situation but its not for ever :D
 
A bit of both, within reason. My horse is very high maintenance and I accept this, as does my family and OH. He's worth it 10,000 over though. My life is, essentially, structured around his needs.

That said, if I need to, I am happy to make arrangements for these needs to be met by either the yard (and I pay) or friends (and I do stuff for them in return) so I still have a good degree of flexibility.

I think as long as you are organised and can plan in advance, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to meet every one of your horse's needs and still have a life for yourself.

God, walking distance - lucky you!!
 
Badger doesn’t have a long list of demands, I think people can get a bit OTT in thinking their horses have to have this, that and the other in order for them to be happy.. although I suppose decent turn out is probably one of the things they DO need. Would depend for me how cr*p the grazing was? Does sound very convenient though!!
 
I know - I've never had them less than 20 minutes drive away before!

It's just the lack of grazing that bothers me, I'd go without a second thought if they had loads. That's my dilemma, really - it suits me to have them nearer, but is it best for them? My life has revolved round their every need for so long, I find it hard to see that there is probably a solution to this!!!
 
Mine lives out so fits in with me perfectly, I don't have to stress about getting up to turn him out or whether he has enought to eat (huge round bale out there). If it's raining he has a rug on anyway and can go in the shelter, if it's sunny he can stand in the shade.

I used to bring him in every night and now we are both much happier.
 
Grumpy Herbert said:
It's just the lack of grazing that bothers me, I'd go without a second thought if they had loads.!
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I suppose it depends on what the 'lack of grazing' entails. If it is just that they won't have tons of grass and will need more supplementary feeding then that wouldn't bother me so much, but if 'lack of grazing' meant they couldn't go out for a decent amount of time everyday in the winter, then I would have to look for another yard.
 
I would love to have more time to spend with NAS, family always seems to take over... Last few weeks though I have been trying to put him first and the only thing that suffers is the cleaning.

We have limited turnout here. 4hrs a day... Sometimes 6hrs in the summer.
Generally though the grass is really good. I knew the deal when we moved here. It has turned him into a fair weather horse... When it's miserable out he just stands by the gate waiting to come in. he definitely perks up when I spend more time with him

I,m sure your horse would like the extra time you get to spend with them.
 
My horses have to fit in really......I have been at various yards, but now rent my own.....They dont have copious amounts of grazing, but they have enough, and at least they are not being unsettled every five minutes with a new horse coming or going.....

They only have about 3/4 of an acre (between 3) for the winter, as I save the other 3.5 acres for the summer....however they come in every night and get fed hay out in the field.....

It isnt ideal, as the field gets pretty poached, but it suits me, and they seem to be happy enough.

I feel like they are a bit neglected atm, as I seem to have been so busy doing everything else to do with the house/kids/family, but they are seen to twice a day and certainly seem to be happy!! Roll on Summer!!!!
 
Mine revolves around me.
She is well looked after but if I can't ride for a week or so then that is how it is. I can't drive so its my parents agenda :(
If I had the choice I would be up to her for longer every day..
 
Both,

I do them twice a day approximatly 12 hours apart. Because I want to spend time with OH in the evenings I do the bulk of my jobs in the morning and ride in the morning too. This means getting up earlier so I can leave things ready for them. I kind of fit round myself in that respect but they get fed and watered twice a day at about 12 hour intervals (except at weekend when they get left with additional hay and water so I can have a lie in, not hours but later than 5 am!!) They're part of the family and we fit round each other, they seem happy enough. Ice and Lottie hate getting up early and never seem to mind getting up later at the weekends.

Holidays are a nightmare though.
 
One of mine is on part livery and my baby lives out. My life can't revolve around them (two kids, no car, job with fluid hours) but there needs are being met, we still have a bond and they are happy bunnys. Our yard does not have good grazing either but they are fed hay during the day in the winter so youngster is happy. Our oldie quite likes being in during the bad weather
 
Grumpy Herbert said:
Just curious to know! I'm in the position of having to try to find new DIY livery for my horses - they've been on full livery for sometime - and am struggling to find a place that fits my huge, long list of demands! (or should I say THEIR huge, long list of demands....) I've found a lovely yard, within walking distance of my house, but am put off because they haven't got lots of grazing Grazing isn't the be all and end all. By grazing do you mean actual acreage available? My horses don't have a huge amount of grazing but they have decent turnout with ad-lib hay, I think if turnout is available, actual grass isn't that important. Yet, I would see the horses every day, could do more with them and could go round whenever I liked - in other words, it would suit me fine! Is it a compromise I should make because it suits me? Who knows!

So, do your horses have to fit in with your life or do you go above and beyond the call of duty for them?
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My horses fit in around my life. My business is the boarding yard so I sort the horses first. But, once everything is fed, watered, healthy etc,then if I have something planned I go and do it, usually, by 10am (if I get a wriggle on and no disasters occur) I can have the rest of the day free if I want to.
 
My life used to revolve around my horses as they were stabled at night, out during day and I hated clock watching especially in the winter, but last year I moved them to new yard and they live out 24/7 and they now revole around me - best thing I did and enjoy my new "freedom" to come and go when I wish during the day and they are thriving.

:)
 
At the moment neither...I'm stuck with a broken knee having to pay for help and rely on lifts.

But normally my life revolves around them - but they do have to fit in with my work.
 
marmalade76 said:
Mine fit in with me, but they are out 24/7/365 and are low maintenance. I would never keep them on a yard with poor or limited turnout.
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In an ideal world I wouldn't either! But sadly the area I live in is not really geared up for horses (cabbages, yes - horses, no), so decent yards are as rare as hen's teeth. I would love to be able to live them out with shelter, but I cannot for the life of me find anywhere to do so. I thought of buying my own land, but I don't think we'll be living round here in the long term and property doesn't sell quickly, so I don't want to tie myself to something else to sell. Unfortunately I'm under threat of redundancy, otherwise I would stay put.
 
mine fit in around me - they are out 24/7 all year - but lucky to have them either in field directly opposite me or just down the lane - as I work in a school get to spend more time with them during holidays and am looking forward to the lighter evenings again (as only got them last summer) - it's great they hear my car and look up and if see i'm there come over which is lovely :D
 
Well, sister and I sold 2 houses to buy our shared smallholding so that we could have the horses at home, so I suppose you could say that we changed our entire lives to accommodate the horses.
But on a day-to-day basis they have to fit in with us - out before we leave for work, in after we get home, whatever time that is and out for a shorter time at the weekend.
 
I designed my facilities so that it was perfect for my horses - they can choose whether to be "in" or "out" so I never have to rush down in the morning to let them out! They had paradise whilst I, for 6 years, lived above the horses with no electricity/hot water or sewerage!

I would say that adequate turnout is your priority above all else. Even if it is on hardstanding not grass that would be something but if the yard insists on limited turnout then I would say a definite no. Also having enough grazing will make your life easier and the horses less demanding on your time and money!

Best of luck!
 
Both.

Timewise, the horse has to fit around me as I have a job and husband.
Yard-wise it's all about the horse, turnout is of the upmost importance to him IMO so I am actually moving this week to a less convenient yard to get more grass hours.
 
Everything revolves around the horses. There are lots of things that I would like but which would compromise on something which is better for them. So we don't compromise, the horses have the best of everything they need and are very happy, settled and healthy as a result.
 
A horse's general demands:
  • Be able to move freely and with some space several (or more) hours per day.
  • Be able to eat +12 hours of the day ( preferably 16-18hours grazing)
  • Get enough nutrition
  • Have well fitting tack
  • Be met with respect, consistens and gentleness.

I don't really find that very hard or difficult to meet. I'd like for them to have a bigger pasture and more times outside (they're normally out 24/7 in the summer, but only 8-12 hours in the dark and cold time of year) and more eating time. Two of them has next to free access to hay, the third one is too fat ''easy keeper'' and has to settle with less - but still has a lot of it.
We bring them in sometime around nightfall and give them hay then, take them out in the morning, muck out the stalls somewhere in betwen and the rest of the time we don't think about them unless we want to ride. More routines than that just makes them stressed. If there's no grass in the pasture they get straw so thy can chew on something, chewing is very important to keep sound, relaxed horses.
 
I'm a saddo I think lol as my whole life revolves around my horses, from the career path I chose to the fact that my home Im soon moving into is near the yard. Will not move them as they're happy there and I am too tbh.

I spend every penny I have on them and their needs.

My social life is poor because of them.

Have just ended my 3 year relationship mainly because of them.



But I love em to bits and they're worth everything to me!

ETA

Just realised I'd gone off the topic slightly lol- my 2 can live in/ out as much as I want on my DIY yard, currently out 10+ hours a day and if not too cold they may stay out 1 night at weekend, then in the summer usually from end March-end Nov they live out.
For me, turnout and security are the main things that're important.
 
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Zabby said:
A horse's general demands:
  • Be able to move freely and with some space several (or more) hours per day.
  • Be able to eat +12 hours of the day ( preferably 16-18hours grazing)
  • Get enough nutrition
  • Have well fitting tack
  • Be met with respect, consistens and gentleness.

I don't really find that very hard or difficult to meet.
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Good list! Although the turn out can be difficult to meet depending on location, I am lucky in that after many hours of searching I have finally found a yard within driving distance of where I live which has what I consider good turn out but I basically lucked out and asked at the right time when a girl had just sold her horse due to pregnancy. Can't wait to bring the pony there, think he will be so relaxed and happy!
 
He has to fit in with me but if he is not happy then that makes my life awkward as he misbehaves so in some ways for him to fit in with my life he needs to be happy where he lives so it is a compromise.

he lives out 24/7 as he does not like being stabled at all and trying to stable him was making me incredibly stressed. I moved him to a yard so he can live out and then moved house to live nearer (I only rented so it was not as big a deal as it sounds!)

I check and feed him once a day after work as I don't want to get up at 5am to check him before I go to work as I would be so tired I would not be able to do my job well and they are paying me good money so I owe them that. He has to fit in with this routine (though there are normally others going down to the field during the week days during the day so it would be unusual if he was not seen in the day too as not everyone at our yard works).

I work an hour and a half away from the yard so he has fit in with my job though I do take time off work of course if he is sick.

It is a compromise not perfect but we seem to both be happy with it most of the time! Ideally I would like to ride more but cant due to my job and I need the job to pay for the livery and life.

Yes my spare time does tend to revolve around him but that is my choice but at the same time fits in with my life at the moment. I would not choose a job where I had to work extra hours in the evening (unless I could do the extra hours at home after going to the yard) or had to travel a lot.
 
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My life fits around my horses. I did have them at a yard where one was on full livery, and assistance was available for the other - but have had to move them as my old boy was injured and couldn't stay there.

They are now on total DIY (one still on box rest) and I have to go to the stables twice a day to do everything. I do have help from my sharer on some days also which is lovely.

Although its hard work, I love where we are now and it is absolutely perfect for both my boys, and for me and my sharer too. I am actually enjoying having both my horses back on DIY and have really re-bonded with my old boy who is poorly as I spend so much time with him. I make it work - and until he is better have to sacrifice other things. I don't mind in the slightest.
 
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