Following on from "mad Y/O" and "is my Y/O negligent" posts of recent days...

R2R

R2R

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And mentioning NO ONE in particular, but in general...

You think of your horses, yard owners think of a yard of other peoples horses.

You muck out...yard owners think of muck heaps, tools, and fixing the flat wheeled wheelbarrow

You think of your stable, yard owners think of stables – woodwork, guttering, flooring, leeks, creaky doors.

You turn your horse out...yard owners think of herds, worming, grass management, electric, fencing, water troughs, ragwort, topping, harrowing, field shelters, skipping

You fill your water bucket...yard owners think of water bills, drainage, hose pipes, ice

You turn on the lights in your stable...yard owners think of bulbs, safe fixings, bills

You ride in the school...yard owners think of harrowing, rolling, skippinig

You go to a competition...your yard owner wonders how you do

Your horse hurts itself...yard owners are on hand to support and offer advice

You get stuck at work...yard owners are there to look after your horse...

You ride out...your yard owner is aware and thinks about you till you’re home safely



Sometimes, yard owners get it wrong. They turn a horse out and another gets upset. They forget to put bute in a feed. They change your horse into the wrong rug. It doesn’t make them ‘mad’ or ‘ill intentioned’..... mostly, whoever they are, I bet you they are trying to get it right.






*I would just like to add that some fail...but as a client, if you are not happy, there are hundreds of y/o's who do get it right :D*
 
Hear hear! Our YOs are a bit "eccentric" but it's all about give and take. If I have a problem and OH isn't there it's them I go to.

Big up to YOs :)
 
Totally agree, i wouldnt want to do my YO's job. My YO is amazing gives every horse the exact care they need and takes pride in her job but i find that some other places i have been the yards are just too big and the horses are not seen as individuals as such but just as annother horse on the yard and many people handle the horse everyday which is when problems arise like rugs being wrong or horse in the wrong field ect. I think we all need to give credit to our YOs and all the yard work they put into running and maintaining the yard and giving our horses the best care they can and fogiving mistakes on busy days.

Though i do understand that some YO's really are not cut out to be a YO and do make 'mistakes' a lot and in this case i dont why people stay on these yards for as long as they do
 
As someone who posted one of those just a moment ago I totally agree that the trustworthy YO/YM is like that.

However there are many who aren't and I seem to be finding all of them. When you look round they promise the earth and then you quickly realise they don't maintain or do the bare minimum maintenance, you end up repairing and replacing the fencing because they don't. You end up lopping trees, removing all the ragwort, sorting out yard lighting, supplying water all winter when the pipes freeze and they "forget" to tell everyone that the one tap working is the one next to the house so their horse is ok. I could go on. I'm a bit ranty at the moment.
 
would happily agree is my yo did any of those things! You sort yourself and your horse out (inc stable and grazing) or nothing is done. Could do with a little more support from a yo. suffice to say I'm moving!
 
having worked on a busy competition yard i know the sheer amount of effort and hardwork that goes into looking after horses on a dailybasis, whether thye are valued at £500 or £500,000.

Hear hear to fab YO's!!!
 
I would just like to say that my YO is great!

Had some dodgy experiences in the past and is so good to be able to find someone that is 'sane'. Well kind of. lol!
 
glosgirl said:
would happily agree is my yo did any of those things! You sort yourself and your horse out (inc stable and grazing) or nothing is done. Could do with a little more support from a yo. suffice to say I'm moving!
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That's my yo too, i don't mind being left to my own devices but we sort everything out and she does nothing but moan and complain about us to each other.
 
I love the yard I'm at now - the YO is fabulous and really takes care of each horse as if they were her own. However, it did take some time finding it!

I have been on yards where the management hasn't quite been up to scratch - think no water in field on boiling hot sunny day - I moved!

I want to receive the service that I pay for and not to feel like an 'inconvenience' for making basic requests (that I shouldn't have to make). I'm pretty easy going and laid back and my horse is not difficult to look after so its not too much to ask.

At the end of the day, you get good and bad in every profession - the secret is to find a good one and stick to them like glue :-)
 
R2R said:
And mentioning NO ONE in particular, but in general...

You think of your horses, yard owners think of a yard of other peoples horses.

You muck out...yard owners think of muck heaps, tools, and fixing the flat wheeled wheelbarrow

You think of your stable, yard owners think of stables – woodwork, guttering, flooring, leeks, creaky doors.

You turn your horse out...yard owners think of herds, worming, grass management, electric, fencing, water troughs, ragwort, topping, harrowing, field shelters, skipping

You fill your water bucket...yard owners think of water bills, drainage, hose pipes, ice

You turn on the lights in your stable...yard owners think of bulbs, safe fixings, bills

You ride in the school...yard owners think of harrowing, rolling, skippinig

You go to a competition...your yard owner wonders how you do

Your horse hurts itself...yard owners are on hand to support and offer advice

You get stuck at work...yard owners are there to look after your horse...

You ride out...your yard owner is aware and thinks about you till you’re home safely



Sometimes, yard owners get it wrong. They turn a horse out and another gets upset. They forget to put bute in a feed. They change your horse into the wrong rug. It doesn’t make them ‘mad’ or ‘ill intentioned’..... mostly, whoever they are, I bet you they are trying to get it right.






*I would just like to add that some fail...but as a client, if you are not happy, there are hundreds of y/o's who do get it right :D*
Click to expand...


Totally agree, we have the best YOs ever, they are always there for us and our horses. As for just thinking of money, I have to remind mine to give me my bill sometimes!They are out there, you just have to get lucky.
 
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Haven't read every reply but couldn't agree more with OP - certainly true when it comes to my YO. Just about to move my horses to be at home, but don't for one minute underestimate all that she does for me. Ok, she's a friend as well, but all the horses in her care are looked after so well. I relocated nearly two years ago, in order to get a place with some land. I had no hesitation about leaving mine with her (in full livery) - rather they are safe and looked after and I see them less at the moment (over 1 hour's drive) than have to move them someone else in the interim.

In the 28 years I have had my mare I have moved her about 4 or 5 times, she has been full livery, part livery and DIY livery in that time. All moves were because of my circumstances, and the last move was when my friend set her yard up 15 years ago. I am lucky never to have HAD to move. Yes there have been times when YOs have done something I haven't necessarily agreed with, but it was never with malice intended.

I have high standards when it comes to my horses (having my mare for 28 years and the fact that she is still full of life and happy to be ridden at 34 should be evidence that is is well looked after). So it is not that I'm not fussy, and maybe I have been lucky. But I would probably say that all of the issues I've witnessed have tended to be down to the liveries being unreasonable/ultra sensitive and not the YOs.

Although I can't wait until I get my horses at home (stable partitions being delivered next week!!!), I will really miss having someone to ask advice - so you will probably see me asking a lot more questions on here!
 
poppymoo said:
Would also just like to point out.....horse owners are also mad/deranged/menopausal;)
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lets face it, we pay thousands to keep animals that stuff it in one end, create a mess out the other, require the vet more times than we ever get time to see our GP, cause us constant worry, and we still buy them a new headcollar even though the old one's still perfectly good.
Of course we're deranged! It comes with the territory.

I'd like to point out my ex YO isnt at all horsey.... and does sod all all day but sit on her rather large backside yaddah-ing with other 'ladies' about mind numbing subjects such as the calorie content of a grape (they 'debated' for about half hour on that one, and when they had decided on a number one sighed and exclaimed "that was fun!" ).

I've met plenty of lovely YO's who work hard to provide a good service.
 
itsme123 said:
lets face it, we pay thousands to keep animals that stuff it in one end, create a mess out the other, require the vet more times than we ever get time to see our GP, cause us constant worry, and we still buy them a new headcollar even though the old one's still perfectly good.
Of course we're deranged! It comes with the territory.
QUOTE]


hee hee hee.....how true:D
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My YO is fab. I had one that was going to turn a new large young horse out in my field (I paid for seperate turnout) and I objected, and moved. It was turned out with someone elses pony, and kicked it resulted in broken hind leg and pony pts.

I made sure the terms at new yard were as I wanted and they are. You can tell just be looking at the place that it is well run.

I would be a terrible YO. I can;t stand mess for a start.........get very riled (in my head) with other liveries (its DIY) about this.
 
If only I could find a YO/YM like that, professional, organised and caring. I'm sure they exist in South Essex but they are so rare that they have waiting lists and no vacancies - ever!:confused:

I don't think I'm unreasonable - I'm very upfront about what I need when I visit a yard, not especially picky except for a few things ie all year turnout and I ask those questions in such a way that there can be no misunderstandings, the answer is either yes or no:rolleyes: .

I not only work in a customer service industry, I also train people in CS, up to quite a senior level and IME CS is totally lacking in most cases in the horse industry.....think about it, there is no other service that we pay for where we would tolerate the carp that we are given on the average livery yard.....changes to prices, terms and conditions and the generally sh***y attitude you often get when you ask for the service you are paying for. If our garage, utility supplier or tradesman behaved like that you would tell them to sling their hook and run, run away!

But when it comes to our horses, we are regularly spoken to and about as if we are idiots by the people we are paying who also think that H&S (for instance) is for other people, rules if there are any either change with the wind or only apply to some people , that they are doing us a favour by allowing their PAYING CUSTOMERS to do their job. Because they are so economical with the truth when people view the yard they always get new liveries (but never seem to notice that they don't stay long:rolleyes:) and have the head up the posterior attitude that must "be doing something right" .

Yes, there are plenty of unreasonable, unreliable, frankly nutty liveries:o but welcome to the real world - anybody who's had to work in a customer facing role can tell some hair raising stories but the difference between then and many (not all!) YO is that learn the techniques to manage these fruit loops rather than turn in an alpha version of them:eek:

Sorry about the mega rant but it drives me to despair the way many YO run their businesses and treat their customers, after all that's what we are - paying customers.......
 
I think my Yard Owner deserves some kind of medal - she turned up on the doorstep at the ungodly hour of about 1245am one morning because she was worried about Porridge, knew my mobile had no reception at home and couldn't get an answer on the house phone. Her and her husband let me sit in their house drinking tea until the vet came, and she stayed up with me til the vet left (at about 0230!). She gives me lifts to numerous shows and although she is very firm, she is fair - and to be fair to her she does have a couple of awkward customers to pacify! :)
 
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