Getting rid of the kids on my yard...

I'd be tempted to lock up the tack and only let em have it after their jobs are done. We shared a field with a really stroppy girl who wouldn't do her share of poo picking. She said she had done it every day for a week, when the full wheelbarrow was sitting in exactly the same place in the middle of the field and there was tons of new poo on the ground. In the end we put a new padlock on the gate and wouldn't give her a key until she'd cleared it all up.

Teenagers seems to fall into two groups - the nice helpful ones who get on with the work and the grunty eye rolling ones who shirk responsibility. Trouble is they sometimes move from group to group without warning.
 
IMO most kids need a swift kick up their backside these days, granted it wasn't too long ago that I was a teenager. But most kids ('people' may be more accurate actually) recently seem to expect to just get whatever they want without having to put the work in and earn it. :mad:

They need to learn that they can't get owt for nowt! I think you should have a word with the parents - even if it is to explain how you are going to handle the situation. Then do what other have suggested and stop them riding for a week or x days until they learn that riding is a privilege. If they aren't prepared to put the graft in to care for an animal they presumably want to look after and treat as their own then they are out.
Good luck!
 
As others said, tell them to shake a leg, do the jobs or take a walk.

There is a teenager on our yard who has been great whilst I have been ill, helping me with Stinky and Farra. The pony she shares is getting on and a good hack but nothing else. In return for her help, she and her mum now have Stinky and Farra two days a week for nothing other than to look after them, doing all the daily jobs. They also clean the tack for me. She has also done very well taking Stinky jumping and showing which I help her do from time to time.

She can occasionally be a teen - forgets things, sometimes leaves a mess and in a world of her own, but not the huffing and bad tempered stuff. She also puts things right when I point them out to her with good humour and is far better at keeping the place just so than when she started.
 
I have a grandaughter with the same huffy attitude. she's had two different ponies bought for her, both good in their own ways, lessons have been paid for, jods,boots, hats, etc, all bought for her but boy could she throw a tantrum if asked to clean the field, tack etc. Her present pony is an arab gelding who is part retired because she can't be bothered with him. he is 20 so it's not so bad but he has a lot to give still. My daughter has found a young girl who will ride him sometimes. My sister and I used to "slave" for a riding school, just to get to take the ponies to the field when they finished work. We would be up at about 5.30am just to catch and prepare them for rides but we did get to take them to shows and "downs rides". Those were great fun with a whole gang of us all riding up to Marlborough downs and spending the day there. Good days.
 
I wouldn't have them on the yard. I have had numerous 'helper' which is quite a loose term don;t youthink? Having owned a number of small ponies, I often would have a couple of girls who would come and ride free of charge, they would be given lessons, taken to shows, taken out on hacks, pony club rallies, camps etc. They were expected to turn up and on the day they came (2 or 3 times a week) they should muck out a couple of ponies, do waters and fill haynets and groom. I would then spend the time saved by them doing this, teaching, taking out for hacks driving to shows etc.

There would be no question of them not doing it. Not that I was mega strict or evil, but that was just how it was. They (or their parents) are saving a FORTUNE by you letting them come to your yard.

Draw up a list of rules and tell them these things are to be done before they ride, and to drop the attitude. YOU are doing THEM a favour.
 
As I guess that really you don't want to get rid of them, the best thing to do is separate them. Treat them like grown-ups (I know, I know) have a 'meeting', explain that things don't seem to be getting done and make each of them responsible for one aspect each day. So one does, poo picking in the fields, while another fills haynets in the barn and the third mucks out, or whatever will work in your situation. Tell them that when those jobs have been done, then they can ride. Don't make the jobs open-ended or time limited, make sure that they know that x-number of haynets need to be filled etc. Stay very calm and assertive, don't be manipulated into discussing/debating. Good luck!
 
When i used to help down the local stables we where given a list with a time scale

ie

Muck out- ben 30mins
poo pick paddock 1- 30mins
sweep yard- 20 mins
etc

the tack room was locked untill all jobs were done, including headcollars and grooming kits, jobs to be done were to be at differant ends of the yard, if they werent done, we didnt ride. simple!

Also we had a traffic light system in place if found to be somewhere we werent allowed say talking to friends, in the school etc we were given a card green first, then amber and lastly red, which meant you werent allowed to ride, this is a per day thing, each day it starts again.
But it also worked the other way, if we did something good, then we got longer to ride, jumped a bit higher, had an extra canter, small bar of choc, etc
 
We have quite regular meeting for liveries and separate ones for the kids - etiquette in the arena, clearing up after them - and where they are allowed to muck around and where they are not.

I think you are within your rights to draw thm up a sharer contract if you don't have one already - if they are to get to ride etc, then they have to complete these tasks - fair and simple.
good luck with it all
 
Ha! I have the perfect solution...

You ditch one of these kids and get me in instead - responsible adult, small, lightweight, solvent and most importantly well over the huffy teenage years

Go on - what are your ponies like? :D
 
arizonahoney said:
Ha! I have the perfect solution...

You ditch one of these kids and get me in instead - responsible adult, small, lightweight, solvent and most importantly well over the huffy teenage years

Go on - what are your ponies like? :D
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Dont tempt me!!

I have far too many ponies :D
 
Easy way is to start charging them for livery if you don't do the jobs! They will soon decide if they actually want to be there if they have to pay £20 a week.
 
Explain the following to them:

1. Verbal Warning
2. Verbal Warning
3. Get orf moi laaaaand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

and stick to it!! Good luck. Plenty of responsible ones out there to replace them.
 
I hav'nt read all of the posts, so sorry if this has been said.
I would get them all together for a word, and tell them that they have a month to improve their behavier or on a given date, they will be asked to leave. Short, sweet and to the point.
 
where are their parents? even if you don't see the parents because vicki pollard and crew make their own way to the yard and back have you not got a phone number for them? I would speak to their parents and say if they cant stop the attitude then you will be asking the parents to stay with them while they are on the yard until things improve or if this is not possible they will have to go.
 
And here's me doing it for nothing!
I asked if I could help at the RS at the weekend just because I wanted to be round horses more and learn more about the stable management side of things. No payment, no free rides, nothing!
On the whole I enjoy my time at the stables - even the mucking out (can't say I was extatic about poo picking in the rain though)

I'm a bit past being a huffy teenager though.
 
Sounds like its time to have a wee meeting with them all together in the one room - tell them in no uncertain terms what is expected of them or the arrangement ends...short and sweet and to the point. They have clearly settled into a routine whereby they feel they can be disrespectful and annoying - a sharp pulling into line is in order methinks :D
 
Hevs said:
Sounds like its time to have a wee meeting with them all together in the one room - tell them in no uncertain terms what is expected of them or the arrangement ends...short and sweet and to the point.

My mum is good at this in her strict teacher/dinner lady voice, "and I do mean you boy" is one of her favorite lines to use lol
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I'm shocked that you haven't told them to clear off already! Seriously, being a 'teenager' is no excuse for that kind of behaviour - I'm 16, and have been helping out at different yards since I was 12. I have worked for free, being down at the yard at 7 am, in freezing rain and snow, mucking out and poo picking a whole yard of horses, going back again in the evening, and all day at the weekends, and occasionally getting a 'free ride' on a 3/4 year old that needs schooling/backing anyway and an ex racer. They are having an easy life, with you charging them no livery, loaning them ponies, and not giving them a huge amount of work, the least they can do is to do the work when they're supposed to! If I were you, I would tell them that if they don't sharpen up their act and start behaving in a responsible and mature manner, that you take away their loans, or charge them for livery at the least, and raise the possibility of banning them from the yard in the future if they don't take account of what you're saying! I know it's fun to have a bit of a laugh, but not before you've got the work done.
:)
 
Just let them know that if they don' t do their jobs, they don't get to ride!
I'm a teenager, and I have plenty of friends who expect their parents to muck out, groom, clean tack, plait... And their parents actually do it all for them! If I want to compete my pony it's my responsibility to plait, groom, get up at 5am to scrub white socks and spend the night before tack cleaning. I simply can't understand how some people expect to ride, but never get their hands dirty!
 
Echo all the above about meeting them and telling them how it is going to be, also I would put the date of the next outing on a board and remind them that this is what they are working towards. Also tell them that if the work isn't done and the attitude doesn't improve, that the outing WILL NOT HAPPEN. Stick to this, whatever the weeping and wailing, once they know that you mean it they will buck up their ideas.
 
Trouble is, if you have a number, then each one will egg on the other! and if this has been going on for a while, then they assume this behaviour is acceptable.

I think the suggested way of "you do x haynets/poo picking" etc before riding is the best idea. Also, I would set a time limit and say if its not completed, by all "team" members, then you will send them home early, sans ride! As for talking to the parents, I would if you already have a good relationship or communication but if you don't really know them, then it could backfire. Some parents can be very blind where their children are concerned and become very defensive - particularly if their first conversation is one where their childen are being critisized.

Another option, if you have other people could be to maybe split the clique up? so as each child arrives, he/she is given their tasks and set to work with someone else? not sure how practical that is.

and finally - another person who has very little sympathy for these teenagers! being as I also was of the group that would work my proverbial off just to be near horses, let alone being allowed on one!
 
I agree they don't know how lucky they are to be near horses let alone ride them. Do you have them under a contract or are is it just a verbal agreement-either way I'd give them a verbal warning, if no socks are pulled up then bin them off-they sound like they are supposed to be helping not making things more stressful! Good luck
 
I'd give them notice! Most kids/teenagers would jump at the chance for such an opportunity..saying that though I barely spoke to my mum between the ages of 15-16 :( I wouldn't wish my teenage self on others these days!
 
Wow - they are really being quite rude - I really like Luci07's ideas, I think that could work really well. Maybe give them one last chance and make sure that it is understood by everyone that it really is the last go - and enforce it if need be!

I am still a teenager now, and when I was 12/13 I worked all day at the riding school, for free, doing anything they wanted me to do. I would sweep, do waters, de-cob web the stables, tack up, groom, poo-pick the arenas, help out in lessons etc... but I really looked forward to the days helping there because i did it just to be around the ponies and just enjoyed working with them. I never got payed and didn't get a single free ride even though I helped there for years.
 
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