Feel Bad - But I know this is trivial so bear with me

M

mickey

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 November 2005
Messages
5,169
Location
Kent
Visit site
This will probably sound a bit stupid; But I am the biggest worrier in the World!

Basically, this is the scenario;

My horse is on full livery. I have been there 2.5 yrs, have been very happy with the service I get. Recently the manager has been taking a step back, letting her staff do a lot of the routine work.

A couple of weeks ago I asked both the girls who work there (Sarah and Hannah) to put my horse on Alfa A instead of plain chaff. It is also well know at the yard (because I regularly say so) that the one thing I am very picky about is that my horse has a large full haynet at night.

Well after a couple of weeks my horse was still getting a small net and they were giving him plain chaff still. I texted the YO and asked her to sort this. YO said she had spoken to the girls about it. I also wrote a big note on the feed board about the Alfa A.

A week on and I find last night that not only had his net not been filled that day (there was just a section left from the night before), but he's also still on plain chaff. Also he is meant to have sugarbeet and there was none in his feed. In addition his legs had been hosed off which I asked not to be done wither unless he is very very muddy. If I hadn't gone up last night presumably he would have been hayless for the night.

I mentioned the hay issue to Sarah who was still at work. But I didn't want to mention the chaff issue as didn't want to point the finger of blame when the other girl might have done it. Thing is, I was so annoyed that the minute she left work I texted YO who then immediately got in touch with Sarah. Now I feel like it looks like I've gone behind her back, grassed her up to the boos the minute she left when perhaps I should have said something to her myself.

I know it's a really silly thing to worry about but I am the biggest worrier and I hate upsetting the apple cart. What do you think? PS YO has taken my issues very seriously and they are both getting a good ticking off.
 
i think you have done the right thing, you are paying for a service and your horse is not recieving what he should.

If you had not spoken up then the issues would not have been sorted. Your YO is paying the girls to work for her so things should not drop in standard just because she has taken a bit of a back seat
 
Yes agree - its not as if they haven't had the opportunity to put it right already - you have made plenty of requests. I agree if you went straight to Y/O that prob wouldn't have been fair but you have adressed it with the staff and have been ignored ... no alternative but to progress it!!
 
Why do you want to switch to alfa at this time of year? And surely you want the mud from his legs? Sorry, just curious, not having a dig
 
I don't want his legs hosed as he is prone to mud fever and I would rather the mud dried and then I can brush it off myself.

Also, with regard to teh Alfa A it helps him keep his condition as it has more protein in it. He tends to drop off during the winter. He has the sugarbeet for that reason too.
 
As a yard owner I would expect problems to be addressed to me and not staff, as I would consider it my responsibility to make sure it is sorted unless one of the girls is deemed Yard Manager. But if thats the case someone has to respond to requests made by customers either to do it, and yours were reasonable, or explain why not.
 
Dont feel bad it seems you asked politely on numerous occasions, and they are reasonable requests. At the end of the day you are paying them for the service and you expect what you pay for. I think you have been very patient and glad the YO is giving them a ticking off, as it is her yard that will get a bad name if the service starts to go down hill through staff laziness
 
You have done exactly the right thing. I had my horse at livery for 3 years and you have to be very straightforward and if you are unhappy you should addresss the YO. You pay the fees, you should get the service.

However, I am sure we wll know how difficult it can be sometimes with yard politics. And, I quite understand about the worrying thing, I worry for England, about people's feelings and that I don't want to be badly thought of. It is difficult trying to do the right thing sometimes!
 
I think you have done absolutely the right thing. You are paying for a service, and not getting it at present.

This is an employee, not a friend. So there's no issue. You asked for something to be done, it wasn't - you go to the manager.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top