Full Livery - how does it work?

[trundle]

I know what full livery is, obviously. I was wondering though, if you have your horse on full livery somewhere, do you simply phone them up an hour or so before you want to ride, and they tack the horse up ready for you, or can you just show up as and when, catch your horse yourself if he's out, tack up, ride, untack and clear off?

Do most full livery yards give clients a copy of the yard timetable so you know when your horse will be in / out, etc? I think what I am really asking is, as a full livery, do you work aorund the yard's timetable or do they work around yours?

TIA for any and all responses.

 

[Alibear]

Hi well mines on full livery allthough some apparently call it assisted livery.

They do everything except clean tack and I pay extra for them to ride him twice a week for me. I can turn up and see him anytime I like and the same goes for riding as long as no one else is in the arena.

But I do let them know when I am going to ride, I usually tell them when I'm up when I expect to be back and text to confirm nearer the day.

So I dont' have to fit round the yards time table but I do in order to be a nice livery.

I also let them know if and when I am going of the yard as we often have to move cars and trailers around.

Hackng out I would have to tell them in advance as the Stallions are on the front yard and get a bit excited when my boy goes past. But since we're not up to hacking out alone yet that's really not a problem.

 

[teapot]

Policy at my RS/yard is that you turn up whenever, and get horse ready yourself then chuck it back out (all are out 24/7). Most if not all owners do book the arena though beforehand (literally write it in the diary) so they don't face a group of kids jumping for example

 

[truffles]

At the yard I'm at, full livery simply means turning out for you, and riding 3x a week, brushing, mucking out etc...but it doesn't include tacking up. But at my last yard, which had a higher standard, they did everything for you - if you wanted to they would tack up for you, clip your horse, book farrier/vet/back people out when necessary etc... It was flexible in that I was on DIY at the weekend to save a bit of money, but current yard I don't have enough time to muck out, as it's still quite a journey for me there and back, so I remain on 'full' livery 7 days a week.

We slotted in with the current yard re: feeding and turnout times, but farrier/dentist/back is organised by yourself, even on full livery. I would say I'm on full livery, but she isn't actually ridden by one of the yards staff - partly because they don't have any LOL, but also I prefer someone I know well to ride her.

Most yards which have full livery tend to ask you to fit in around their feeding and turnout routine, because it saves confusion etc....but otherwise, it tends to be quite flexible.

I must say though, at my last yard I found that because I wasn't up there during the week, some felt it was okay to not do what was on the list included in full livery - so basically we were paying for stuff that wasn't getting done! If you can ask a friend to keep an eye on things you can find out if they aren't doing stuff they are meant to! I did that as I was getting a tad suspicious about things.

Oh yes, and watch for the ones which have a very high staff turnover - it means staff aren't happy, as they are probably being asked to work too hard, or the work was harder then they thought! Just means they may not be doing the job properly, or just have bitten off more than they can chew etc...I had four grooms with my horse in the 6 months I was there...all started off really enthusiastically but then it went downhill a tad...some dissapearing in the night

Sorry if that was all a bit of a ramble! Are you looking for full livery yourself?

 

[mickey]

I am on full livery (in fact I have been on full livery at 3 or 4 yards over the years). None of these have ever provided a service where they get my horse in and tacked up. At present yard I know when my horse comes in so I can go up then if I like - he will probably have had a quick groom to get the mud off him. To be honest I like to be hands on so I do my own grooming and tacking up, tack cleaning etc. But the yard would get him in for me if I esp wanted them to (to a specific time).
We have a menage that we can book for our sole use. We have to book around other lessons going on as part of the yard.

 

[burtondog]

My horse is on full livery but like AliBabe's I think some people would call it 'part' or 'assisted' livery because they don't tack my horse up or clean my tack, they do pretty much everything else though.

My horse has 2-3 hours turnout a day, always between 12.30 - 3.30pm like clockwork. I usually ride mornings or evenings but if I want to ride during his 'turnout time' I can just txt for him to be left in, then if there's time turn him out myself after I've ridden.

I'd say my yard generally works around my timetable.

 

[Chex]

Chex was on part livery when I first got him, and I was just told the times that they were fed at, so worked around that. I only had to let them know I wanted to ride if it was going to be at teatime, then they would leave his feed in the feed room for me. But this was almost 10 years ago!

 

[Tierra]

Both my last yard and current yard are very much "full livery". They do everything and i can call with a time and the horse would be brushed, tacked up and often warmed up for me. No, this doesnt work around their schedule... it works around mine

As it happens, I dont tend to use these options. I have my horse on full livery so that my timetable never effects him. If im sick, stuck in traffic, late, have car problems... whatever, he is 100% ok and I like that peace of mind. I also prefer the thought that there is nearly always someone on the yard who will be keeping an eye on him... if theres something wrong, he doesnt have to wait hours until I, or someone else, notices.

IMO, if you're paying for true full livery, then they work to your requirements - thats the whole point of it - you're the client

We have a couple of spreadsheets on the notice board that mark times when the indoor schools are booked. These are firm times when they dont want liveries using the schools (and it works out about 5 hours a week). I leave it to the yard to decide when Jack goes out or on the horse walker but will specify if i know on a particular day that im short on time and need him in.

IMO true full livery should accommodate everything... you should be able to turn up to a ready to go horse and hand it straight over to a groom when you dismount.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

As you can see from the other posts 'Full Livery' means different things at different yards.

Some yards totally look after the horse, clean the tack, exercise the horse & will tack up ytour horse ready for you to ride following a phopne call....... this type of livery will cost quite alot.

To others Full Livery means put out, bring in, groom, clean out feet, feed, change rugs & muck out. They will also hold for the farrier/vet etc.

You will be given a copy of the contract so you know what you are paying for & what services you will get.

Basically you get what you pay for.

 

[trundle]

Thanks everyone, thats very helpful. I think due to work commitments etc that I will be going onto full livery initially (when I get my horse, that is), partly due to those aforementioned work issues and partly because I will be a very novice owner and I would like the horse to have a good settled routine to start with. As I get more confident at caring for him/her, I have the option of moving to 5-day part livery or even DIY / ssisted DIY.