Field Maintenance - Who's responsibiilty

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Witchy

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I am on a yard where you pay a flat rate for your stable and grazing per month. I'm on DIY and pay £135.00

I was astonished last night when I heard that one of the other people on the yard had paid to have the field that she uses, harrowed, airated and fertilised!!!

Surely this is the responsibility of the Yard and not you when you are paying for grazing?? Should they not provide decent grazing as that's what you're paying for already????

I was not made aware of this when I went there, nor when I shared a horse there. The owners wife merely said you get a stable and grazing and sometimes they rotate the fields as necessary.

Some of the other people are just going to pay to get their fields done too but I feel really strongly that this must be wrong?? Surely??

Unfortunately the owners of the yard are in the middle of a split and the husband has the attitude "if you don't like it then F.........." ...well you get the idea!
 
YO is fulfilling his obligation by supplying grazing, safe fencing, access, etc. Things like ariation, harrowing, fertilising, are not absolutely essential and although it would be nice if yo, did do those things, they don't have to.

If my horse was permanently in that field, and I particularly wanted those things done, then I would take responsibility for doing it myself with YO's permission. But if the fields are rotated then I would want assurances that I wouldn't do that and then be moved.
 
All depends what is in the contract.

Sadly tehre are too many chancers out there running livery yards who should not be.
 
I run a diy yard and do all my own field maintenance. I do not charge the liveries for this service as see providing good grazing as part and parcel of the livery package. Also it would be short sighted of a yo not too - if the livery leaves and hasn't paid 'extra' for field maintenance, they would still have to recover the land for the next client.
Thats my view anyhow....!
 
I agree with Baileyhoss. In an ideal world it would be done - but I've never come across a yard yet that does it. And as Owlie rightly says, it all depends if it's specified in the contract.

It's not the first time I've heard of people paying extra for field maintenance over and above the what is stated in the contract.

Sorry Witchy, but I don't think anyone is doing anything wrong here.
 
Hmm I'm getting the feeling that this isn't something that must be done then this time every year?? Sorry I'm still in my first year of ownership (until June) and haven't come across this until now.

When he went in the field it was very lush grass but is now grazed right down to the ground - I was thinking of splitting the field in half to give half chance to recover whilst I still feed hay on the other side. Would that be better?

The field is ok, a bit chopped up by the gate but where we've had this dry weather, that is now nearly all trodden flat again...
 
I can't imagine why anyone would think this is anyone other than the YO's job.

It's done several times a year where I am, as routine.
 
Some yards offer stable and turnout ie your horse has a space to exercise and the quality of the ground doesn't come into it so if you want it lush enough to graze you'd have to sort that yourself.

To be honest I do my fields and don't charge because my animals also use them but as a yard owner I do sometimes wonder how some livery clients expect yards to make a profit at all with all they want. If your contract is DIY that means you might have to ( depending on your contract ) do the work yourself and the work involved with horses includes field management and fence maintenance etc.

I was on a DIY for a very short while and we did everything, ragwort pulling, fence repairs the lot. We had barbecues and made an occasion of it.
 
Field maintenance should be in the contract. Personally, unless it is priced into the monthly charges and the livery is aware of this (because of the contract) i think its the liverys responsibility, not the YO.

Field maintenance costs money, so if the YO wants the fields looked after they either have to do it and charge accordingly or make the liveries aware that they have to do it and pay for it.

Looking after the fields is all part of owning a horse. If you cant do it yourself then you have to pay someone to do it for you. It shouldnt be expected from the YO unless you are paying for it.
 
Witchy said:
Hmm I'm getting the feeling that this isn't something that must be done then this time every year?? Sorry I'm still in my first year of ownership (until June) and haven't come across this until now.

When he went in the field it was very lush grass but is now grazed right down to the ground - I was thinking of splitting the field in half to give half chance to recover whilst I still feed hay on the other side. Would that be better?

The field is ok, a bit chopped up by the gate but where we've had this dry weather, that is now nearly all trodden flat again...
Click to expand...

It's good practice, but not essential. Some people say that fertilising the fields that horses use for grazing is a bad idea as it makes the pasture rich and can induce laminitis or weight issues for suseptible horses.

If your field is big enough to rest a section, then that would be ideal as you suggest.
 
I would say that the basic harrowing if offered should be free as its normal maintenance. The aerating and fertilising isnt commonly offered and fertiliser can be expensive so depending on that I would expect to pay extra. Mind you I wouldnt want a horse field fertilised anyway!, only aerated. Horses arent designed to live on bright green grass, recipe for colic and lami.
Some yards dont allow hay to be fed in fields as it makes a mess and can stifle the grass, so check that before splitting, but that sounds a better idea....
 
Although I don't have any liveries at the moment it is our responsibility to maintain the land imo. Should be done by the owner.
 
It is desirable but not essential to harrow, roll, fertilise and aerate the fields. We do our fields every five years but do not fertilise as we are on dairy grazing and it is fattening enough already.

We pull weeds like thistle, dock and ragwort every year.

At the various livery yards I was on previously, muck clearing was sometimes done and that was about it.
 
Im having a similar sort of concern at the moment... At the livery yard im at no one seems to do any field maintenance at all (other than YO fixing fences when they break apparently) but my field really needs some maintenance, it was in very poor condition when i moved to the yard in November, it hadnt even been poo picked or harrowed since the previous horses moved out and through the winter its only got worse cos as well as my horses being in there, tractors are driven through it daily (which i wasnt told would be happening when i moved there!!! YO is never available to talk to (havent seen him in about 3 months) and the other liveries dont know whether it is done or not, they dont even know whether we're supposed to poo pick, which i have done. Im not paying to harrow it as money is tight enough at the moment, when i had my own land or rented a field i did all the maintenance myself, but the way i see it im paying a LOT of money (3 times more than i paid for renting a field) and dont see why i should pay to maintain someone elses field...

I have no livery contract at all either.
 
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