Follow on from 'opinions on individual TO'..am I doing the right thing? Long, sorry!

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Sandylou

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Following on from my request for opinions on individual TO......
Now the reason I am moving my horse is because we are currently on livery at a riding school.
I am not allowed to ride with the riding school hacks, I am not allowed to have a freelance instructor visit me, the riding school instructors will not teach me, there are only 2 other liveries (1 the YO's daughter and the other the riding school ride leader) so I have no-one to ride with at all unless 1 of said other liveries needs me to acompany them for some reason.
The field is lined with broken barbed wire fencing, the grazing isn't great. My horse is turned out with his 2 stable neighbours, 2 retired grass liveries and about 15 riding school ponies (the field is approx 20 acres)! I have to lead down the road to get to the field so bringing in in winter can be dangerous if I don't get there before it's dark.
My horse is 5, we need people to ride with, we need lessons and we need support which is non-existant at current yard i.e. my horse spooked and cantered up a grass verge and I was told by both liveries that my horse is a bolter and the YO said that I should seel him immediately....he's done this ONCE in a year and he's a baby for goodness sake!!!!
The reason I'm still there.....
My old loan horse is there and I love him to bits although our bond has been taken away now by his owner....totally happy with that, she loves him and looks after him well. Said owner (also ride leader) makes me feel that I owe her but I can't think why that is. She used to ride my boy, which was a great help as I work full time, until the day he really did bolt with her but she was completely at fault and caused the whole incident. Now she won't ride him at all.
I've had my boy a year and he loves my old loan horse.
I learnt to ride at this riding school 12 years ago and the hacking is great!

The pros and cons speak for themselves I suppose!

So is individual TO a small compromise to make to give us a better chance to progress??? Like I said in OP, I'm not a massive fan of individual TO and that's the only thing that's playing on my mind!
 
I dont like individual turnout but I think it might be the lesser of the 2 evils in this case, you sound quite unhappy where you are and your list of cons is longer than the pros.

I take it you're thinking of moving to a yard that only does individual turnout? Is there any chance that once you've settled in you might find someone else there that secretly wants their horse to have some company too?
 
maggiesmum said:
I dont like individual turnout but I think it might be the lesser of the 2 evils in this case, you sound quite unhappy where you are and your list of cons is longer than the pros.

I take it you're thinking of moving to a yard that only does individual turnout? Is there any chance that once you've settled in you might find someone else there that secretly wants their horse to have some company too?
Click to expand...

Yes the new yard only does individual TO but I don't see why they wouldn't be flexible if someone wanted to share. The yard I really want to be on turns out in small groups which would be ideal but it's a lovely yard and the waiting list is llllooooooooooooonnngg! :(
 
Your current yard sounds like a nightmare and completely unhelpful. I replied to the other thread saying I was on a yard with individual turnout, but had two or three ponies at a time so would share my own fields (one per pony) and rest them accordingly.

The other liveries would also pair up and share their fields, worked well as they would also share turning out/bringing in duties in the winter.
 
I would move, and I don't like individual T/O, but my horses safety has to come 1st and there are a lot of issues at the RS....

I would move, see how you get on. Stay on the waiting list for the yard you want to move to. You never know. You may get on fine at this yard, but moving in between times has to be the right thing.
 
My boy got put into his own field because he was a bully and had riggy behaviour (he was in a mixed herd). At that point my yard didn't have same sex turnout, only the mixed herd.

He wasn't bothered when he got put into his own field, he could see the other horses over the fence but was a big peace of mind on my part. I no longer had to hear "your horse did this, your horse did that". At least now he doesn't cause any injuries, he doesn't get any injuries, and his expensive hw turnout has seen 7 winters with not a rip in sight!
 
I think we all agree that moving yards is the best thing for me and my boy but now I have to tell the owner of my old loan horse and I don't think she's going to take it at all well and suspect she will do her best to change my mind. She's very unpredictable though so I don't know how she's going to react.
I'm s**ting it about telling her and have wimped out on several occassions!! :rolleyes:
 
Moving yards definitely sounds like a smart move - even if it's only temporary until you get the yard that you can be happy on.
With regards to telling your old loan horse's owner, just keep reminding yourself that you need someone to hack out with, you want to have lessons and your horse's safety is your biggest priority.

I feel for you as I had to tell last YO that the yard wasn't working out for me. I'd been stressed for weeks, ready to sell pony and all because owners kept moving their horses around so mine kept jumping out. The last straw was when she landed on a gate and I knew action had to be taken NOW. My only regret is that I didn't do it earlier.
They did try to talk me out of it but I simply stated that the right thing for me at that point was to go elsewhere!


Good luck x Hope the talk goes well.
 
No question about it - move ! Do you not know anyone at the yard you would like to go to ? Can they not put a word in for you ? My old YO always used to say there was a waiting list even tho there wasn't as she thought it made the yard sound more popular. I'm not a fan of individual turnout but if your horse can touch other horses over the fence at least it's something and as others have said there could be someone else who would like to turnout with another horse. Good luck.
 
Is there nowhere else around you that does "herd" turnout?

The loan lady will just have to lump it, be tough!!! :)

TBH it would bother me if my horse was on individual turnout when there was not a good reason for it other than the yard rules(one i look after here has to be out on her own as she is an absolute cow with other horses). Knowing myself also i would never be truly happy if i though my horse was not able to have a buddy.

Good luck
 
Thanks for your supportive replies everyone x
Told old loan owner last night, it was horrible!! She was mad at first but after a bit of tough talking from myself she started to understand. Then she got upset and said that she would stop taking the riding school rides out and ride with me at weekends and she'd talk to YO to convince them to allow me to have a freelance instructor.....why have I had to shout for help for months before having a meltdown to receive this kind of help??
I've known her for 10 years so I told her that I'd think about what she's said but my mind is still made up so - ding ding - round 2 of talks will commence tonight! Wish me luck.........again! :) x
 
I prefer turnout in small groups too, but I'm sure your horse will be fine so long as he can touch others over the fence. I was forced to put my mare on individual TO last year and she was the last horse I would think that could cope with this. But she broke her shoulder and needed a tiny paddock slowly making it larger. She had 6 months in her own paddock and coped really well. In fact, when I finally let her in with the others she booted them and bit them, little madam! All okay now though.
 
nuttynugget said:
My boy got put into his own field because he was a bully and had riggy behaviour (he was in a mixed herd). At that point my yard didn't have same sex turnout, only the mixed herd.

He wasn't bothered when he got put into his own field, he could see the other horses over the fence but was a big peace of mind on my part. I no longer had to hear "your horse did this, your horse did that". At least now he doesn't cause any injuries, he doesn't get any injuries, and his expensive hw turnout has seen 7 winters with not a rip in sight!
Click to expand...

This is almost exactly my feelings and experience.

I really feel for you, we used to keep our lad at a RS, let's just say I would not do it again. I think the two philosophies are too different, RS is about making money whilst a private owner it is more abut the horse being a family member.

In your case you need to be able to ride out and get lessons, so I would move for yours and your horse's sake. Personally I would also let the RS know why you are leaving.

FDC
 
I'm in a very similar situation to you, current yard is awful but the yard I want to move to is individual TO. I like horses to be in 2s I think this is a good number and you can pair them up with one you know they get on with.

I think it might be best for you to move, it will be hard saying goodbye to your old loan horse but you have a new one who will get all your love then. You can have riding lessons and you never know how far you will achieve.
 
I would definitely consider moving him if it meant I could further his education through hacking in company and being able to have lessons! As you said before it is only a stop gap until a space comes at the yard you want to move to.
 
i would move regardless of what the YO can come up with. it's not worth the hassle of being there knowing that they could make it hard for you to keep your horse there.

you could always move to this yard with individual turnout and wait for a place to come up at the yard you really want, if you choose to stay at the one with individual turnout then that's fine. as others have said you may be able to 'buddy' up with someone else at the yard anyway.

good luck.
 
The yard I used to be on was individual turnout only. Everyone had their own space. Quite often people would buddy up and share one space then when the grass had gone move them to the other persons individual space.
 
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