Has anyone given up horses due to livery yards?

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doodle

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Spent too long at a livery yard. Moved to another. Initially all seemed great. Soon after horse was injured, spent months of box rest and rehab to loose him to another acute injury. Spent 9 months paying livery until I got another horse 4 months ago. This yard has also turned into another toxic place with the same old drama, different place. I can't do this anymore. I love my horse and having a horse but the anxiety or going to the yard to find out what is kicking off today is too much.

I am more inclined to put new horse on sales livery and give up. I am almost 50. My new horse is a young talented but slightly tricky WB. I had in my head he would be my last.

Has anyone given up due to yard drama rather than due to the horse itself. If I had the money I would put him on full livery but I don't. Money is tight already and I can't afford more money to be miserable. 😔
 
I think it was a huge factor for me.
The last place I was at there were 5 horses and four women including myself.
The owner had a few horses too and for 5 years it was idyllic.
If anyone was on holiday the horses didn't notice., they were just slipped into someone else's routine.
I can remember the owner saying he was considering bringing more horses in and I did say to him that it just took one rotten apple and that four of us being there with no hassle was almost a miracle.
Then they came. It all went to crap and it turned into a very horrible place to be.
My old boy was nearly 30 so it forced a decision and after that I realised wherever I went it just took one person to turn up and it would all go to shit again.
Life is too short to work hard and then have to spend down time with dick heads or trying to tiptoe around them.
 
I am not wonderful with people and social skills. It is possible that some people who are good with horses and communicating with horses may be less good with people?
This may be even truer if one competes. I never competed with horses but my father expectd me to come top of the class which meant coming first in almost every exam to get my scholarship. Naturally the girls who came second and third didnt particularly like me, but remain each other's best friends to this day.
At uni I was not competing with anyone - no one else in my hall of residence was reading my subject. So I am still in touch with four of my uni friends (the others sadly deceased)
 
That's sad, maybe you could find a smaller private yard that won't be so bitchy. I've been lucky as I loved the yards I was on previously (there were the odd niggle here and there but I just avoided it personally) and whilst I love having the horses at home I do miss the sociability of a livery yard.
 
My yard is now the same as luckyoldme's initial yard, and yes, we have had our share of bullies, psychos, experts, ne'er do wells and thieves over the years. Our farmer owner has just about had enough of people knocking on his door asking him to referee the latest drama, and has closed the yard to newcomers. Yippee.
 
Thanks everyone.

It seems there is always 1 or 2 people that cause the issues and then run to yo crying saying they are being bullied. Taking their side without asking what actually the issue was.

I really really would love to find a small private yard. I have looked multiple times over the years but my hand has been forced now. Horse is lovely, only 7, I'm very excited by him and love working with him, it's all the rubbish that comes with yards that is hard.
 
doodle said:
Thanks everyone.

It seems there is always 1 or 2 people that cause the issues and then run to yo crying saying they are being bullied. Taking their side without asking what actually the issue was.

I really really would love to find a small private yard. I have looked multiple times over the years but my hand has been forced now. Horse is lovely, only 7, I'm very excited by him and love working with him, it's all the rubbish that comes with yards that is hard.
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It’s exactly what I did found an advert in a tack shop for tiny yard that had everything I needed. I did so love it there. Had to leave when pony retired. Field was too steep for his bad leg.
 
It helps to listen to them all, make no comments that can be passed on, and don't join in the bitching and character assassinations, Keep your stuff locked away. Go to the yard to be with your horse, and enjoy him. You may find that Facebook is largely to blame for most of the drama, plus people living their lives as if they are in a soap opera.
 
Can you put an advert on a local
fb page or something and see if any one has a spare stable privately.
If I had more space that’s something I’d have loved to have done for a bit of hacking company now and then.
One of the nicest places I kept a horse years ago was literally a little block of stables in someone’s back garden! It was me, the owner and her friend and it was perfect.
 
I have been very fortunate that over the years I have only had to use livery briefly because of various factors, i.e in between moving properties, my land being cleared of toxic weeds etc. Some were sort of OK'ish but never anything that would have tempted me to stay long term to be honest. I am more of an animal person than a people person IRL I think, so best kept to myself doing my own thing my way without having to accommodate others into what I do or say.

Although I have had grass liveries over the years and all but one was great company and still on good terms many years later, so in that respect I think I must have been lucky reading some of the horror stories on here of both yard owners and horrible liveries too.

OP do you have any good friend who is also a horse owner? If so would that be a possibility to look for somewhere together? It would be such a pity to have to give up your hobby because of a few unpleasant people.
 
I feel your pain and yes it has crossed my mind! I’ve been to all the yards in my area and they are all pretty bad for one reason or another…and no I am not being fussy! There is a group of liveries I know who have had the same issues and we’ve all been to everywhere it’s just a matter of what you’ll put up with!

Im actually about to move to a friends private yard where I am going to have to pay a freelancer over winter to make it work…I’ve tried every other option as it ticks the boxes in all other areas bar the fact it’s DIY.

It’s a blooming nightmare!
 
I've been on a few private yards. First, I think if anyone is taking liveries then they are not private anymore - they're a yard. Second - some of them are just as bad as non private. It was on a private yard that I got told that my standards were too high- I just wanted them to do what they said they do. I was also advised that if there was something wrong with my horse - which yard owner maintained there wasn't - then it was either because of my negative energy or it was Munchausen's by proxy. So I was either mad or bad!

There's no other service industry which treats its clients as livery yards do. Unfortunately even the poor ones will be full as demand outstrips supply.
 
Some of the issues I had.
Yard 1 owner thought it ok to offer turn out with acorns on the ground.
Yard 2 stable flooded and very poor turn out paddocks with limited turnout time.
Yard 3 very limited turnout every other day only sometimes and in a concrete pen occasionally. Also stables not ventilated and very smelly!
Yard 4 stable roof leaked really badly and nails actually fell into horses bed from roof! Also turn out very poor. Hideous clay soil. Welly pulling really badly in winter!
Yard 5 lazy owner who thought it okay to strim or cut the long grass around edges of paddocks and then leave to ferment. No where else to turn horses out.
Yard 6 poor quantity of turn out again and back to ammonia stables. Indoor barn. Lovely for humans. Not good for my horse.
Yard 7 Anotger difficult yard owner who wouldn’t let me electrify a paddock when my horse had laminitis. He kept escaping of course.
Yard 8 Another clay soil yard. Not there fault but poor drainage. Also issues with bullying there.
Where I am now there’s a third but I’ve removed everything important so it’s bearable.
 
I've met some interesting characters and had some not so pleasant experiences but never considered giving up over other people in horses.

I actually prefer bigger yards as find yard politics gets more diluted. Not wanting much to do with someone other than a brief hello on a 50 horse yard is much easier than a 2, 3 or 4 horse yard.

But I don't think it's just limited to horses - every hobby or club can be the same.

I've also met some truly amazing people on livery yards so it probably all evens itself out in the end.
 
Honestly, I think I'd struggle to go back to a conventional livery yard now, spoilt by a a good few years of freedom on a rented yard followed by where I am now being perfect for my needs now.
 
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