Follow on from horse being bitten by neighbour....new yard, to move or not??

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EMC

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Following on from my previous post....thankyou all for your advice.

Yesterday we moved Fred away from 'Horse B' to a new paddock next to two mares (he doesn't seem bothered by the fairer sex.) This went very well, he had company over the fence and seemed content, he led in nicely and was much more settled overnight. Brilliant!! Problem solved.

This morning I went to the yard to turn him out and sort his stable. It was nice to see his bed was relatively clean and showed fewer signs of box walking, usually it is a nightmare to muck out and being slightly OCD about it, it takes me forever to seperate the little bits of walked-in poo!!

The sky was drizzling but nothing the horses couldn't deal with. Fred's new paddock was at the other end of the yards premesis from his previous paddock and he walked up with a spring on his step. Until.....when we got there we realised at 8.30am nobody else had turned their horse out. Nada, not even a hairy pony. It took about 30seconds before Fred went banzai in the field, squealing and bucking. So, figuring other horses wouldn't be long, trying to not think about the potential for injury and the heartbraking neighing, we went back to start mucking out.

Hearing no sound of horses being turned out, and still hearing Fred's frantic neighing (horrible mum I am) eventually I went to ask if anyone else would be putting their horses out in the rain, apparently not. The only lady there was turning her grandaughter's mare out, luckily in the paddock next to Fred. The mare will be taken in early evening and we have arranged for Fred not to be left on his own.

However; I can't arrange my shifts and horse management around a yard that hardly anyone turns out in the rain. I have to pay £5 each time to another livery to turn out/bring in for me whenever I am not there due to work. Surely in summer the horses should be kept out as long as possible? They are happier, less feed/bedding etc is used?

Also I am utterly sick of the backstabbing, horrible bitchiness of which I've never encountered before. Dear lord, I have an 18 year old girl (very pretty and talented with lovely horse) who is clearly a queen bee and for no reason smirks everytime she walks past and makes it very clear when talking to others next to us that I, my other half and our well behaved racehorse are not welcome. I am old enough to know better but it makes me feel like I am back at school being bullied by the 'popular' girls.

So....I have found another yard. I am torn wether to move or not.

Pro's
- Turnout in groups, not individual and overnight if the weather is good
- Immediate offroad hacking including bridleways, grassy hills for galloping and quiet roads for roadwork
- The yard is just being developed so apart from the owner and one other lady I would be one of the first liveries
- Experienced eventing lady YO who is happy to school Fred in the ways of a riding horse
-Horses look relaxed and happy in their herd, if a bit soggy
- Livery tailored to my shifts and Freds needs

Cons
- Outdoor school won't be finished until January 2013
- Stables will be finished end of July, until then turnout 24/7
- No facilities for lunging etc until school in place, current yard has huge outdoor arena, jumping paddock, small dusty indoor school, not sure if its working but a solarium and warm shower
- Unsettling Fred yet again, poor boy is doing brilliantly and I just want the best for him

Do I go with my gut feeling and move so Fred can be with a herd and learn to be a proper horse, despite the current lack of facilities? and for my own sanity. Or do I shut my mouth, and put up with the current yard.
 
I would move - pronto. Yes you'll have to put up with a lack of facilities for a while but by the sounds of it both you and your horse would be happier and more relaxed at the new yard, and in time it will have the facilities you want. You can just do lots of hacking until the school is built - if he's out 24/7 it will help him to chill out :)
 
I'd move, good turnout with company is top priority for me. Even if the promised facilities don't arrive at the new yard when promised I would prefer that to current one.
 
Move, move, move! Bitchiness and people who think their horses dissolve in the rain :rolleyes: - why would you stay? You said the horses looked happy at the new yard, I'm sure Fred and therefore you will be a lot happier there :) Excellent hacking is worth it's weight in gold, and if the facilities are a work in progress then that's something you can live with for the time being..
 
Personally I always go with my gut feel and it tends to turn out alright. The pro’s you have listed are good things so don’t need to be analysed. The cons – outdoor school and lunging will be available soon enough and until then you will be able to explore the off road hacking. Waiting until the end of this month for a stable is nothing at all (I live in hope of a summer :-) ) you wouldn’t need a stable before then anyway.

Unsettling Fred again, at the moment he may be happy but the longer you stay where you are the unhappier you are going to get which is not good for him and he won’t be happy for long if he has to stay in because no one else is out or if he is out on his own.

For what its worth I would move.
 
I'd move, its not nice having your poor boy out on his own, and like you've said horses shouldn't be in during the summer, so what does it matter if theres no stables for a few weeks! As long as youre sure they will be ready in time for the winter, it wouldn't worry about it!

how often do you school or lunge? im sure you can cope for 6 months without it? or is there somewhere close by that you could hack to for schooling?
 
I would move, in the long term you should have a yard with good facilities and no backstabbing and hopefully horses that go out in a bit of rain.


I was on a yard where people wouldn't turn out if too hot, too cold, too wet Or over night ....... It was awful for my horse that needed to be turned out if for a few hours or was a nightmare to ride. No one would help anyone new as they all helped each other so you could turn up to two horses left out opposite ends of the fields going mad but didn't bother them as it wasn't their horses - as a collective of 9.

Without a walker or a surface to lunge on if too wet on the fields it was a living hell :( now on a yard where everything goes out for a few hours at least regardless of weather and I know if I'm a bit late someone will grab my horse as I would do theirs.

It will do your nerves and Fred's the world of good in the long run, you never know he might settle at the possible new yard straight away.
 
I agree with everyone else - move! Sounds like it'd keep you and Fred more sane, and turnout is hugely important to me personally so I would definitely move. It is a shame to unsettle him again, but it sounds like it'd be a better option in the long run, despite there being no school. Maybe you could use what sounds like excellent hacking to your advantage and practice schooling just a tiny bit when out and about? Not entirely familiar with your setup so you might be doing this already, but I think it makes sense to move in the context given.
 
I'd move, i'm sure you can find a school to hire locally for the time being but there is nothing worse than you and your horse feeling miserable. Your horse is meant to be your relief and hobby not something to worry and stress over :)
 
Having discovered the effect of herd life on my mare I would go anywhere for group grazing in future. Deffo another vote for move.
 
Thank-you all so much, it's lovely to have message of support. I sometimes wonder if I've gone mad, horses are supposed to be fun!

kerrieberry2 - I generally lunge, ride or freeschool up to five times a week, although never more than 20 minutes on the lunge. This is because Fred is used to being worked hard 5/6 times per week in hs old yard. The outdoor school has been great as we have been able to use trotting poles, small crosspoles etc to vary his schooling. Also the indoor school is brilliant for groundwork and bonding. We've hacked out twice only as we have to find others to tag along with, being an ex-racer I don't want to force Fred out alone until we are ready. Also the hacking is mainly roads which are reasonably busy.

Schooling whilst hacking sounds fun, I know hillwork both up and down is very good for muscle behind as we used it in Freds P2P yard. What else can we do?

The new YO has said she'd be happy to hack out with us as she has a mare who doesn't hack alone and a TB who would enjoy racing Fred up the grassy slopes so this sounds like I would still be able to keep him in work.
 
Agree you should move. It sounds like Fred isn't 100% happy on current yard so I'd move to find the right place.

He'll adjust and settle. End of July isn't far away for stables and you will feel less stressed knowing Fred is out with other horses and not alone stressing.

You pay for a service where you should be happy and not have bitchy teens treating you like that.
 
What will you do over the winter when the nights are too dark for hacking and you have no school? Is there an option C which has facilities and turnout??
 
That's a good point Susie, one I hadn't thought of.

In my current job I work shifts which means for one week I start at 6am and finish 2pm which would leave maybe an hour or two in the afternoon to hack out. The second week I start at 2pm and finish at 10pm which would give me most of the morning to hack.

I work for a large helicopter manufacturer which is my real trade, I only work with horses when I am out of a contract which I was unfortunate enough to be last year. I would love to work in a racing yard again, but they don't pay well! It worked out in the end though as Fred found me and now I have both him and a great job. This does give me flexibility with regards to when I ride but means I always need part livery to cover the times I am not able to see to him.

Failing that I could fit Port and Stbd navigation lights, flashy tail guard, upteen layers of hi-viz to Fred & me and get the OH to light the way with the car?? I'm blind as a bat so I hope horses can see in the dark. On the plus side nobody would be able to see if I was wearing a 'onesie' to counter the cold.
 
The new YO would perhaps be willing to do some schooling or exercising when your work prevents you being able to. If you feed a quieter/calming feed, this might help? I would absolutely move. You want to enjoy your horse, not dread visiting him in a yard with a horrible atmosphere. If you're relaxed and happy, your horse will pick up on this and love seeing you even more! Good luck, let us know what you decide please.
 
I too think the horse would be happier in the new place so on that basis I would move. Over the years I've had plenty of experience of fake, poisonous uppity little cows who need a slap, I would not move only because of someone like that, unless the yard was so small that I couldn't get away from them and I could find somewhere with better grazing for my horses
 
Superhot - Fred is on Pure Easy and Marksway High Fibre haylage and is lovely and relaxed when ridden, certainly ten times better than when he was on race feed!! He really is brilliant considering he only came out of training in April and had a month at grass before I had him moved here. This (my profile pic) is a photo of our first time in the outdoor school. This was in the first week and we still had my race exercise saddle. If anything he is sometimes too relaxed!! I'm struggling to teach him th concept of jumping over small crosspoles on a lunge, he just happily trots higher!

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I think he would benefit greatly from an experienced rider (a non racing rider I mean) schooling him, and she has said she would be happy to which is brilliant. I've always thought that if Fred does turn out to be a superstar eventer or suchlike and I'm not quite up to par, then I'd love to see another rider improve him by competing him as much as Id rather it be me!

Echo Bravo - I've had a lengthy chat with the OH today, we've just paid a months livery early at our current yard so whatever we choose we have a months leeway. He is of the opinion we should wait until the stables are in the new yard then we know for sure Fred can come in if the weather gets too bad or he gets something silly like mudfever OR we give it a couple of weeks, save up the necessary deposit for the new yard and recoup the remainder of our early livery payment and move then.

Hmm....I'm thinking we should wait two weeks too, as I get paid then (having a week off for the op means I have no pay this week :( ) and we can move without worrying about finances. Fred will just have to man up and stay out until the stables are ready! You guys have helped me confirm a decision I had probably already made in my heart.

The lady running the new yard is called Lysanne Vast (if i've remembered rightly), if anyone knows of her? She has just moved from Bournemouth area. It's out by Yeovil Marsh and from first impressions she seems lovely, very knowledgable but not the type to take any yard politics! Her horses look very relaxed and happy and all wandered over to have a chat whilst we were looking round which was my main concern. Her partner also makes a great cuppa :)
 
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