happy on your yard or NOT?

[charlene]

Hi all,
simple questionnaire, are you happy on your yard or are there problems galore, love to move but worry you'll jump out of the frying pan and into the fire or is it horsy bliss. You tell me?

 

[Coffee_Bean]

I love my yard, there is 2/3 horses, me and one other owner,3 stables, 2 stores, 2 fields, wonderful hacking on the doorstep, even more hacking just a couple of road crosses away, we have jumps but not proper showjumps and ditches and logs to pop whilst hacking. On a sunny day its like another world

but i really wish the fencing was better and that we had a school and electricity.

 

[Lucy_Ally]

Great yard, a few niggley little things but I can live with them. Sadly a new job means I'm moving so currently looking for a new yard too. Very worried as I don't know the area so its really going to be a leap of faith!

 

[fizz-tally]

99% happy but will be 100% when we get the new schools & fencing done

 

[Elise]

Very happy

 

[phoebelgrant]

Love my yard! Brilliant people, lovely school and only a hack away from the shore. couldnt be better really!

 

[apkelly01]

Love my yard , but unfortunitly I have to move out as they can't accomdate a foal. I'm really going to miss the place

 

[Ferdinase514]

Been ok at my yard - not truely happy - until the past few weeks.

YO put rent up and restricted the amount of hay we could store to 2 bales - mainly to force us to buy his overpriced poor quality hay. Overgrazed fields and too many liveries.

Hacking is also cr@p - in middle of surburbia.

Anyway, I went to look at a felloe HHO'ers yard and i'm moving in tomorrow. Much better hacking and smaller yard.

I've never been one to put up with being unhappy!

 

[charlene]

Reply to FinnMcCoul [hope i spelt it right] thats same as me really, have been at my yard a few years now, started off very happy then slowly but very surely realised am totally miserable. My YO has done some real tricks accross me, and Im not the type of person to put up with this so am moving this Saturday to my own field with stables. I know when im not happy my horses know too and i love them so much that i want to be happy around them!!! lol

 

[Ferdinase514]

Exactly! Sounds a good idea to move.

I felt exactly the same. That excited feeling I used to get in Summer wasn't their - I love being in the countryside and really missed that. Really fed up of hacking around housing estates

The way I think about it is, if you're unhappy at the new yard, you can alway look again

 

[PennyJ]

Not perfect, but then very few places are. Have to keep them on combined system, but it's not the end of the world. No other restrictions on turnout, and in exceptional circumstances they can stay out all night which they don't mind. No electric. Can buy in our own stuff, individual stable for private storage. Their straw is £1/bale delivered so very reasonable. Just around the corner from our house, so kids can go up on their own. Own grazing, not shared with other peoples horses. Biggest downside with kids is having to ride up a pretty busy road (lots of big lorries) to reach either the quiet roads/bridleway or the forest. And it's not very expensive for round here.

 

[Emily99]

My answer = We're moving in 3 weeks!!! woo!

 

[charlene]

Thats right I agree, its your money, you are paying for a service and if you dont get what you want its up to you. I always think that you dont have to stay anywhere that you dont like. For example.. nobody would expect you to stay in a house all of your life if you did not call it home. The same is true with your horses...you spend that much time with them the yard/stables is almost a home. The feeling on my yard TBH turned from excitement to dread. Not a nice way to feel at all....

 

[Stinkbomb]

I love my yard. there are only about 7 liveries. My friend and i have our own field to ourselves to do with what we wish all hedges/electric fencing. We can use it all year round if we want. Can use your own hay/ bedding or theres. Morning feeds included in the livery price. Everyone very friendly and helpful. Only slight problem is the paddock is not too good. The drainage its not the best but i dont really need it at the moment so ill put up with that!!

 

[4whitesocks]

Love my yard....great YO (also my instructor), other liveries like minded sad horse huggers, v supportive lifts in the truck to hunt, xcountry, sj, as much or little turnout as required (he's out 8 hours a day - unless it's p*ssing down so he stands by the gate and looks mournful), xcountry course for schooling, newly resurfaced arena....
Good farrier, vet, backman, dentist...

in fact it's bloody too good - won't want to leave when I finally get my stables built!

 

[patchandloopy]

my yard is the best for me, everything i could ask for is here!! And with days like today i was there for 10 hours (working too!!) and didnt want the day to end, it helped that horsie was good when jumping too though!!!

Honestly thugh love my yard!

 

[PapaFrita]

Ooh, that's quite a tough question; loads of things irritate the hell out of me about my yard (especially the people!), but PF is happy and well looked after and that's the most important thing for me

 

[charlene]

Yes, I do think once one thing starts to annoy you any other smaller problems seem to get compounded, everything seems so much more the worse when you have people around you that you secretly or obviously just dont like, and I must add...dont like for very good reason.

 

[PapaFrita]

My yard is almost entirely populated by ignorant w*****s

They bought their horses thinking nothing of vaccinations, shoeing and worming, and question every suggestion of such a thing, whilst they complain about how being skint whist they roll up in their brand new 4X4s....

 

[charlene]

I'll guess then that you will be wanting to move pretty soon. Its such a shame that you cannot enjoy your horse without nasty- as you say w****** ruining it for you. I am moving to a new place this Saturday, and I cannot wait. Its such a shame when you have to do this because it causes me guilt and anxiety, I derrive no pleasure from upsetting my horses routine etc, luckily where I am going ammounts to them being in there field next door, so I suppose it is not too bad. People.. I find want it all roads and all there own, especially YO. You pay them, they take the best, rip you off and give you the S*** leftovers in return.

 

[PapaFrita]

Well, honestly, if it were up to me I would leave. HOWEVER, the eejits don't mess with PF and she's happy, so that's that; we stay. As soon as her welfare becomes compromised, I'll go.
The w****** astonish me with their ignorance; they buy horses with no well-informed help and then are surprised they get sold a broken-down old nag, or they buy a nice horse, then don't bother to shoe it regularly, vaccinate it or worm it... they wouldn't treat their cars like that, so why their horses; living, feeling creatures??
I want to smack them every day!!!!

 

[charlene]

I know what you mean. When people do not look after their horses how they should it really does get to you. Especially when its not really a reportable welfare case but you know that the horse should be better regarded and receive more lovin care. I suppose all that we can do is make sure we give our own horses lots of TLC. It should not be each to their own but thats life I suppose?? I dont really understand it either. My friends who were on a yard got sick and tired of a similar situation, one particular lady was quite often buying new horses from auction, and although these horses were not particular inferior horses, they never the less had not been vaccinated and because had been from pillar to post brought the infectious STRANGLES to the yard. Nobody was happy with her... but some as you say are so selfish.

 

[PapaFrita]

Ignorance REALLY gets to me!! Sometimes I think it's worse than cruelty, especially if people are being told, but just prefer not to know! Fortunately at our yard, the grooms, Fabian and Luis are BRILLIANT about fixing all sorts of problems without needing to be told; wormy sheaths, cuts, bumps, etc, etc... Sometimes the owners don't even find out that their horse has been poorly.
However, the bloke whose horse had a girth gall (I TOLD him!) and chose to ride him anyway, and then brought him back hopping lame from a rope burn around his fetlock nearly made me scream!! And this is NOT a bad bloke

 

[charlene]

Ignorance really is the same as cruelty. I knew this at the age of twelve when I read Black Beauty. That is the reason why I have to move yards, how the YO expects me to keep my gorgeous baby foal amounts to cruelty and I just cannot allow it. My horses come first with me every time and I have started to suspect a few nasty tricks going on. Oh I really do hate these silly games, I have been upset about this now for a week and I cannot wait to leave. When you have had enough, you most definately know. Oh and yes.. the people who do these things are never really bad people.. I know what you mean, but good people are capable of random bad acts!!!

 

[lisan]

[ QUOTE ]
Reply to FinnMcCoul [hope i spelt it right] thats same as me really, have been at my yard a few years now, started off very happy then slowly but very surely realised am totally miserable. My YO has done some real tricks accross me, and Im not the type of person to put up with this so am moving this Saturday to my own field with stables. I know when im not happy my horses know too and i love them so much that i want to be happy around them!!! lol

[/ QUOTE ]
Me too!!
It is a good yard I am currently at, but its so big you get the usual problems of your stuff being 'borrowed' and not put back and my worst bugbear - people putting new horses out in the field with mine without even telling anyone!

I came across a yard to rent from a guy who comes in the local where I work, so jumped at it! Will miss the indoor school in this foul weather thou!

 

[charlene]

Good for you! I could understand if livery was free that you get treated in such a disrespectful way, but its dam expensive to keep a horse and very time consumin. Obviously you do not mind these things if you were happy. But if your're not you feel like youre being ripped off left, right and centre. YO are a law unto themselves. Hope you will be happy at new place!!!!

 

[echodomino]

I couldn't be happier on my new yard (well it's not that new now I've been there for 7months

).

I was worried about moving Nelson at 17yrs having been on the old yard for 5yrs, but I was soooo unhappy there. Everyone I got on really well with and rode with left because they were unhappy, we had to be off the yard by 8pm so no decent hacks in the evenings in summer, hay was rubbish, grazing rubbish, indoor school unusable in summer - too dusty, unusable in winter - over watered!

They were bringing in more restrictions too and silly rules like if the muck trailer wasn't shoveled back and they had to do it we'd all be charged, if the yard wasn't swept we'd be charged, if we were even a day late paying livery we'd be charged. Oh and they'd never let us fetch our own hay and straw out the barn and they counted every bale to check we'd not helped ourselves, if we forgot to mark one on our sheet they'd go round and check our beds to see who'd put new straw in.

Also there was no maintenence so the roof tiles were coming off, there was a big hole in the roof to the indoor, there were big holes in the drive and car park - not easy when towing, the drain fell in outside Nelson's stable twice because he caught the edge of it, it wasn't until the 2nd time that dad gave YO a mouthfull that he fixed it.

New yard on the other hand is so laid back it's lovely, everybody gets on, with the exception of 1 person but we hardly see them. There's always someone to help. Hay & straw is the best I've ever used and grazing is fab.

All we need now is a proper menage, we have a school sized area taped off in the field though and we can use it all year round.

Ooo and it's £12.50 stable/grazing, £2.50 hay and £2 straw at new yard, old yard was £18 stable/grazing, £2.50 hay, £1 straw (poor quality) and £4 per hour in the school - they put prices up just because they hadn't for a few years, it was £15 a week when I first moved.

 

[hussar]

Been at this yard for nearly 2 years - YO promised then the outdoor arena would be up and running by the end of 2005 ... still waiting. Holes in the tackroom roof so everything has to be covered up. Fences in poor condition but at least no barbed wire.

On the plus side, the horses are allowed to be out 24/7 all year round; they get ad lib hay or haylage as we prefer; one feed per day of our choice is included in the livery (other feeds are up to us); there is power, water and a loo; trailer parking is free; and there are hardly any rules - mind you, there are only 3 liveries.

 

[Chex]

I like the yard, just some of the people I don't like!

 

[celia]

Very happy on my yard.

Only 5 people (with 9 horses) and everyone is really friendly and helpful. Fields are great and there's good hacking literally 1min down the road. Only minus point is no school.

We're moving in the summer and will hopefully be keeping horses at home (which will be fantastic) - will miss this yard though!