for those who have horses on part/full livery....

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lukeylou

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i'm considering moving my boy from a diy yard to a part livery yard. firstly because the facilities are much better suited to us (two full sized schools, horsewalker, gallops etc) but also so i have more time to study for my exams.

i have a few worries though:

1.) i'm scared that i'm going to feel like i don't own him anymore and that i just ride him, which is not the point at all, as i don't mind mucking out etc, i just don't have time!

2.) there won't be much of a yard community as most are on full livery so there won't be many people around etc...

i know every yard is different, but what are your experiences with having a horse on part/full livery?
 
I have my boys on part livery (last few days on full) And the service I recieve is fab!

Every yard is different though so I suggest you have a good look at the state of the horses beds on full livery and see if they are groomed etc
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I keep Jazzy on Full livery. It does feel a little bit like he's not my horse, but he still recognises me and neighs at me when I walk on the yard, even if I haven't seen him for a week.

The second point, however, I don't agree with - there are ALWAYS people around when I go down, but it's probably because I go up on Sat/Sun mornings when lots of other people aren't at work either.

Being on Full livery has been a godsend these last few weeks with the ice and the snow as I don't have to worry about Jazz - he's in the best possible hands.
 
yes one of my friends has a horse there and also grooms there, and her brother is moving with me.
i also know another groom personally, and will be getting a weekend job there to pay off some of the cost as its stupidly expensive. it's not really the quality of care i'm worry about as i know he will be well cared for!
 
I have mine on part but I have also had her on DIY.

TBH, it suits me to be on part livery as I have 2 young children, a husband who works away and no family close by.
I know I can ring at short notice and she can be put on full, exercised or I can change whether I go up in the morning or evening and it is not a problem.
 
It all depends on the yard and how they view owners. I have been on a "top class" full livery yard that made you feel like an inconvenience and I lost all control over the decisions regarding my horse. However, yard I'm on now is fab, he's so definetly my horse, and there's always lots of people around.

Good luck!
 
just doing exactly the same thing as you and i cant wait!
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for exactly the same reasons aswell
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we are having part full livery which is 5 day full livery and 2 day DIY which will be perfect as it means all i have to do after school is pop up and ride.. and it still gives me the weekends to do him myself! so excitedd :P hope it goes well if you decide to move
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Well I'm very lucky where I am my ned is very well looked after and I'll be honest I prefer spending my time doing stuff with him rather than all the time I woud have to be doing things when I was on DIY

He prefers a routine and when we were DIY he was def unsettled as there were about 3 or 4 different routines going on at the yard, and I work shifts.


When I first went on to part livery a few of my friends who are on DIY were very sniffy about but as I said he is very well looked after and I would rather spend my time with him rather than mucking him out etc.

But as I said I am very lucky where I am

 
I would never ever ever have livery again - ok the odd day but i would never have part livery or full. Your horse is not your own, you feel like you are tredding on egg shells and mostly they are stuck in for hours and hours and hours - face if if the grooms are hired 8 till 4 or 9 till 5 - your horse has to be breakfasted, turned out, brought in and fed tea before they go - a pretty short day for the horses
 
I've never quite understood why people feel shovelling sh1t helps them 'bond' with their horse!

I've done part livery, and am now back on diy for various reasons, but would have part again like a shot at the right yard. If you have the disposable income to get someone else to do the frankly dull and menial jobs associated with owning a horse, then why not?!
 
Im on 5 day part (moved from DIY) and now actually quite like it. At the end of the day the horse doesnt care who shovels the poo and turns out, its all about who brings the carrots up and rides them! I am on a great yard though with really friendly liverys, it only offers part and full and we all still have a good chat and get on well, and the grooms are great too!
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I've never quite understood why people feel shovelling sh1t helps them 'bond' with their horse!

I've done part livery, and am now back on diy for various reasons, but would have part again like a shot at the right yard. If you have the disposable income to get someone else to do the frankly dull and menial jobs associated with owning a horse, then why not?!

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i like your take on this!

i think what i might do is keep my diy stable on for a month and then if i hate it or luka doesn't settle i'll move back.
 
Absolutely love it, best thing I ever did! Since we got there my bond with George got better, I think because he was so settled with the routine. I thought I would really miss mucking out, making feeds etc. - but I don't!! I still go up and ride everyday, I skip out when I am there in the evenings, and I have more time to spend with George.

I work f/t and have to commute into London, so it means I don't have to panic if i get stuck on a train, or delayed at work, for me it is a godsend.
 
I have worked in a livery yard where all the horses were on full or part livery, and I can safely say that all of them certainly knew their owners.

Also the horses I looked after where all very well cared for and certainly nothing was ever neglected.

Please don't tar all yards with the same brush x


edited to add that I would love to have my horse on part livery but cant afford it!
 
I agree the horse does not care who mucks out - but does care if they are stood in the stable for 18 hours a day. Face it would you want to go out at 10 and come back in at 2 come winter, spring summer etc because its the routine? Poor things end up standing in for hours with nothing to eat and you try finding a bale of hay or horsage at 7pm on a night - thats if you visit in the week.

5 day full livery is probably the worst case as every weekend the poor horse looses its routine unless you stick to the yards so it probably gets a smack when it plays the stable girl up on the Monday.
 
I would do it if I could afford it. D doesn't care who mucks her out or makes up her haynets. Provided I was happy with the standard these things were being done to I'd have no issue with it.

I was on one DIY yard where your horse wasn't your own as it had so many rules and the YO had very strong opinions about how things should be done. I'd say there are no hard and fast rules about these things.
 
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I agree the horse does not care who mucks out - but does care if they are stood in the stable for 18 hours a day. Face it would you want to go out at 10 and come back in at 2 come winter, spring summer etc because its the routine? Poor things end up standing in for hours with nothing to eat and you try finding a bale of hay or horsage at 7pm on a night - thats if you visit in the week.

5 day full livery is probably the worst case as every weekend the poor horse looses its routine unless you stick to the yards so it probably gets a smack when it plays the stable girl up on the Monday.

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i beg to differ with the 5 day livery, as they are still fed and hayed/haylaged at the same time and they offer to turn out and get in if you leave correct rugs on.. all thats different is the mucking out, grooming, and tack cleaning so i dont see the problem.. obv this isnt the same at all yards but i think it sounds very attractive...
 
bigboy - at the last 2 yards i was at whom offerd 5 day livery - the weekends were a car crash.... some poor horses the "owners" forgot to turn up too.. the others would stand in until 11am and then be smaked for being "naughty" and not standing- they would either get too much feed or not enough - some were turned out in there indoor rugs... I could go on... one woman used to empty her entire bed - straw on to the muck heap on a Saturday and lay fresh and then do the same on a Monday - the owner used to go mental but could do nothing about it as the contract said free hay and straw...
 
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Absolutely love it, best thing I ever did! Since we got there my bond with George got better, I think because he was so settled with the routine. I thought I would really miss mucking out, making feeds etc. - but I don't!! I still go up and ride everyday, I skip out when I am there in the evenings, and I have more time to spend with George.

I work f/t and have to commute into London, so it means I don't have to panic if i get stuck on a train, or delayed at work, for me it is a godsend.

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Ditto this. I work full time and have a 50 minute commute into Amsterdam. I have Vardi on Full Livery i.e. he is mucked out, turned out, fed, brought in etc on a daily basis but I am very lucky as it is a small yard, YO has three of her own horses and 3 liveries.

Very much feel he is still my horse as she will call to ask may I change his rugs as it is getting colder etc and as soon as he sees my car he comes hacking over the field to the gate whickering like a loon, I will skip out when I am there if needs be, and 2 nights a week I get in the mares and feed them all as YO is teaching. But I really don't think he holds it against me that I am not the one mucking him out 7 days a week.

The other people there are great always someone to ride with and I get to go down every day and ride, lunge or just hang out with him.

Also means that if like last Wednesday it takes me 5 hours to get home because of the weather then it is one phone call saying not down tonight see you tomorrow and I know he is fed, warm, clean and well cared for so one less thing to stress about.

Just be sure of your yard I am luckly and love mine but I have been on some horrors with YO's who after a while turned into complete control freaks the one who decided that my horse needed a full set of shoes when I only wanted a trim was one example!
 
Gingerwitch - I think you have had a very unfortunate experience
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because I've never felt like that about my horse who has been on DIY and part-livery at different times and at different yards depending on my circumstances at the time.

Mine always calls (screams) to me when I arrive on the yard and he was pleased as punch about all the fuss he was getting from me after 4 days of not being able to get to the yard due to the snow. My YO who is lovely said he never calls out when they arrive to feed in the morning.
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In the winter the girls usually finish by 5 but often then I am up to ride and give him a good groom and lots of treats.

I have much more time and energy to ride and groom him than my DIY friends who get their horse in as late as possible (I see them standing at the gate from about 3pm or earlier in the winter in the bitter cold wind in a foot of mud kicking the crap out of each other or worse left on their own and panicking ) so as not to use up bedding or tie them up with a haynet whilst they go about yard duties. They either then slap tack on and whizz around the arena or go home because they are too tired to ride. (I'm not knocking them because I have been there myself).

My horse goes out about 8 hours a day and quite honestly loves being in his stable. Then he probably spends about 3 hours being fussed and ridden 5 - 6 times a week. He is not suffering at all and has plenty of hay which I can add to if I wish. Admittedly my last yard was a bit crap about that so I bought my own to supplement it if required but the livery was cheap for the area and you get what you pay for.

You just have to choose your yard carefully and match it to the needs of the horse.
 
Sussex - i am not saying that all full livery/part livery yards are bad - but yep i have had two unfortunate experiances. The yard i was on in County Durham was physically locked up at 6pm on a Sat and Sun and you could not get in before 9am in the week - i left there as soon as i could as god forbid the place had a fire the horses were completley locked in the stables... it was scary. My poor girl was so unhappy there it was untrue - in the end i used to have to catch her in with a bridle, hat, gloves, lunge line - at the yard previous to this i could bring her in with just a lead rope round her neck. She was left 1 section of hay at night - she is a 16.1 hh idxtb and was on the "scratch paddock" by day - i objected strongly but was told she was too fat...... she was well covered but not fat by any means.

The last yard i was on 7 day full livery due to a horrific injury i had sustained. As i was getting better i used to visit - one Chrismas week 12 bags of shavings were put on my bed (shavings were charged extra) - why because they mucked her out with a snow shovel..... she had virtually no bed. The final straw was when i found a "mouldy" poo in her hay pile that had obviously been left for days AND a decomposing rat that had died of being poisened i was as flat as a pancake and in the poor horses hay. No wonder she was not eating any of it
 
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I'm another one on 5-day part.

Our yard certainly wouldn't put up with that kind of a shambles of a weekend. Owners are expected to keep to the routine that the staff do during the week. Everything is tailored to the horses' needs. They get plenty of turnout and go out and come in at the same time and in the same order every day - whether it's a "full livery" day or a weekend. This keeps things trouble-free, as everyone knows what's expected of them! I think good communication is the key.


I love my yard!
 
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They get plenty of turnout and go out and come in at the same time and in the same order every day - whether it's a "full livery" day or a weekend.

I love my yard!

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I'm completely with you about putting them out at the same time every day but how do you all put them out in the same order? What if someone wants to ride before turning out or fancies a morning grooming, trimming, pulling etc?
 
I have two horses (well 1 is a pony)

My horse is on full 7 day livery. I moved him last year as I was starting a new job and couldn't cope with DIY anymore.

I love having him on full livery now - I spend much more time enjoying him, be it riding or just grooming / haning out in his box with him rather than mucking out!

My pony lives out so I do no mucking out at all anymore - just loads of riding and pampering and I don't feel like I'm missing out at all!! I hope I never have to go back to DIY again!
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Worked well for me last winter (bar one or two "please don't put *quite* so many rugs on my horse" or "please stop feeding my fat horse sugar beet, he is fine with just a bit of chaff for his supplements"
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) although I did feel a bit redundant at the weekends, as part livery at our yard includes sat and sun. This winter I have a slightly dfferent arrangment with YO in which she TO, BI and mucks out mon-fri, and will do nets and feeds if I can't get there for any reason. It suits me better than proper part livery because I feel I have more control over things, plus I do him at weekends so feel like I'm contributing more than just money!

However, I wouldn't hesitate to do part livery again if my situation needed it as it's so nice to just get to the yard and be able to ride! Barring this awful weather, having my YO muck out in the week for me means I can pretty much just turn up and ride. Provided you have a YO you can trust then part / full livery is great. I trust mine 100% which makes life so much easier
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