Extra hay on full livery

I;m on DIY Livery but used to be on Full Livery. Could never agree with the amount of hay/haylagew the horses were given and most were left for hours at a time with absolutely nothing. Also, most had ran out after an hour of eating in the evening of what was supposed to be their night time supply and they weren't given any more for at least 12 hours! :eek: This is unacceptable IMO. I insisted my horses were fed ad-lib forage, yard staff grumbled because my Appy likes to stir his into his bed so I gave him a haynet which solved the problem. YO was known for checking and removing what she considered to be an excessive amount of hay/haylage so I solved this by using two haynets. This way, he never ran out and always had a bit left in the morning. As for hard feed, they weren't fed an awful lol and so I bought my own.
 
Our yard provides unlimited hay, and I mean unlimited. Each individual horse is given what they need, and the YO likes to see a little left in the morning. If all gone, and owner agrees, they get more. Simple! They produce there own hay and it is lovely. One of the reasons I love my yard!
 
Our yard it's what you want so most horses get as much as they can eat, they come in at 3.30 to a full hay bar, the staff top up at 4.30 - 5.00pm

The YO refills on her night check at 10pm
I do not agree with horses stood with nothing to eat so for me this is a must for any yard if it did not if not livery there.
 
I give my liveries enormous hay nets at night included in the price however they have requested that they are only out for half a day now its winter so I charge a pound a day for extra hay, I also catch them and keep them skipped out all afternoon. Mine are part not full livery
 
It varies, on some yards I've had to pay extra, and others are ok with it.

I usually ask when viewing if the hay is adlib, or if they have a weight limit per horse.
 
Gingerwitch said:
Just wondering what the set up is at your yard - if your on full livery do you always agree with the feed ration given ? and if you dont what do you do about it ?
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I'm not on full livery, my fee does however include hay/haylage, I feed him an all you can eat buffet at night and soon he will be having his Hayhutch in the field for the daytime. My YO feeds hers less than I do, but she is pretty good if I can't do Ben she puts a ration that he is used to, not the amount she gives her horses. The only thing she doesn't stand for is waste, but then it's a very rare thing that he leaves anything behind! I always make sure he has a load of fresh straw on the side too so he can nibble on that when he is done, because he is a pig.
 
I only do full care board at my farm. Horses never ever run out of hay and even in the summer when we have loads of grazing, we still always have hay in the feeders in each field in case the horses want it. The way I see it, some horses eat more, some eat less, therefore it all evens out in the end. Everyone on my farm pays the same rate. It's no different from if a horse injures itself and this needs tending then it gets more of my time than another who doesn't, but then perhaps the owner of the other horse needs help with sorting some riding skills out, or their winter rug rips and I mend it for them, or their horse needs extra handling etc. My people know that what they are paying for is me to be there on-hand all the time, I save them a lot of money on vet bills by handling many incidents/injuries myself, I repair their rugs so save them money there, they know I can handle almost anything that comes my way and will do so in a professional way.

I can't imagine being at a livery yard but I have to say I'd be making sure things were as I wanted before moving to one. I expect ad-lib hay for all of my horses and if this were not happening at a livery yard then I would ask them to make sure my horses always had it, if they said no then I'd move. Ad-lib hay and good turnout are something I simply will not compromise on.
 
On my yard, each owner has their own big bale of hay and they can feed as much as they want. When mine's on full livery (he's usually DIY but if I'm away with work, I put him on full for the time that I'm away) the yard staff check what I'm giving him before I go away and just give him the same.
 
Oh and I meant to add, there is no such thing as *extra hay* imo. There is only the correct amount of hay for that horse and in my book that is as much or as little as that horse requires.
 
I have been on 4 yards on part livery with hay included, none have ever allowed ad lib hay and none except one have topped up after horses come in. I have always said I will pay for an extra haynet to be put in at late check but found it rarely happens. I am so glad I now have my boy at home. He doesn't come in until 8-9 pm when he gets a decent sized haynet and treat ball, both are gone by morning but I have tried 2 nets but he barely touches the second so assume he doesn't need it.
 
Ad lib haylege here, on our DIY yard. I put 2 HUGE piles in for Boyo - it is always all gone in the morning, every last strand nibbled out of his bed! Not sure what to do, we already put a lot more in than the other liverys, and need to watch his weight. Hate the thought of him standing hungry :( He is a greedy Sec D X, been advised by the vets to feed him from ground level, though tbh I don't really like haynets, and the way they have to "snatch" mouthfuls, can't be good for their neck!?
 
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