Horse injured on yard

[NooNoo59]

I am on holiday ATM and got a call last night to say my pony has cut his neck on the stable door. My excellent mates got the vet and it was stitched up. The cause of the cut was where the metal on the top of the stable door has split. This is a maintenance issue which is the yard owners responsibility my vets bill is going to be pretty hefty, should I be expecting a contribution?

 

[AmyMay]

Were you aware the stable door had an issue?

 

[NooNoo59]

It was getting rough and they had said it would be fixed. But it has now split while I am awsy

 

[ycbm]

I am on holiday ATM and got a call last night to say my pony has cut his neck on the stable door. My excellent mates got the vet and it was stitched up. The cause of the cut was where the metal on the top of the stable door has split. This is a maintenance issue which is the yard owners responsibility my vets bill is going to be pretty hefty, should I be expecting a contribution?

It depends on the yard owner. There could be a risk you would be given notice to leave.

I would guess that your horse rubbed it or leaned on it to make it split and then rubbed on it more once it had split to cut his neck like that. If you knew it was rough then there's an argument that you accepted the risk.
.

 

[PeterNatt]

As you advised the yard owner of the issue it became their responsibilty to offer you an alternative stable until the stable was repaired.

 

[JumpTheMoon1]

Let the irresponsible yard owner have the vet bill.It was a known urgency and should have been fixed right away.Things like this always seem to happen when we are away.

 

[Sossigpoker]

The YO has a duty of care. They knew that this was a health and safety hazard so they are liable.
If I had an alternative place to go to , I'd move and chase the payment through small claims court if need be .
You as the horse owner are responsible for paying the bull but I would absolutely chase the YO to refund me

 

[gallopingby]

Sorry your horse has cut himself, but happy l’m not a yard owner / manager.

 

[nagblagger]

I can see both sides:
As a horse owner you must accept some responsibility for using a stable when knowing it had a problem which your horse potentially made worse, could you have made it safe, could you have insisted it should be done before you went away.?
The YO not fixing a problem even though they were aware of it, or just thought it was 'a bit rough' not an emergency fix.

I am certainly glad i am not a YO, an insurance nightmare on proving liability and blame, so it depends whether you want to stay there.
I would wait to have a face to face with the YO when you get back as they might be feeling bad about this incident and offer a contribution.

 

[Red-1]

Regardless of the legalities, if I wanted to stay at this yard, or if I didn't want to be labelled locally as a troublesome livery, I'd suck it up and put it down as something that horses do.

I hope your horse recovers well.

 

[ycbm]

Proper steel doortop protectors won't break and cut a horse like this. I suspect what might have been used is aluminium or thin steel sheet, which is easy to cut, bend to shape and nail on. I had it on my doors for a while, but it does split over time if horses bite or rub it. For others with this problem, it might help to know that it can be easily bashed back into place with a hammer, and held there with a couple of nails of you don't think your yard owner is acting quickly enough.
.

 

[Birker2020]

Regardless of the legalities, if I wanted to stay at this yard, or if I didn't want to be labelled locally as a troublesome livery, I'd suck it up and put it down as something that horses do.

I hope your horse recovers well.

I'm afraid I would too.

 

[BSL2]

Depends on whether you want to stay on yard. The minute I see a potential issue, I get it sorted. This is not a dig at you, that is my anxy nature. Been doing it too many years, "where there's a chance, there's an accident". Horses are amazing at hurting themselves, I bet the yard owner is upset too. Use your insurance, pay the vet bill, and stay if yard is otherwise OK. If not move yards and complain. I truly hope your horse heals quickly.

 

[ihatework]

Regardless of the legalities, if I wanted to stay at this yard, or if I didn't want to be labelled locally as a troublesome livery, I'd suck it up and put it down as something that horses do.

I hope your horse recovers well.

This really
I suppose there probably is an argument for you having reported it to them and a duty of care but ….
You might not have a livery place for much longer.
It’s what your insurance is for ultimately.

 

[reynold]

As you knew of the problem was there any way you could use one of the 'fix alls', i.e. duct tape, to cover the wearing patch pending the YO fixing it properly? It's what I would have done. Duct tape and baler twine are excellent for temporary fixes, along with a small hammer for protruding nails/screws.

Before I was a YO and was just a livery I always had all 3 to hand in my trunk.
I would definitely not expect the YO to pay but I would expect the issue to be properly fixed before my horse was put in that stable again.

Horses are horses and as above I'm glad I'm not a YO anymore.

 

[Gallop_Away]

I can see both sides of this. If YO was aware of the issue and it wasn't resolved in a timely manner, then YO has potentially breached their duty of care. Some yard owners seem to just want to take client's money without going to the effort of maintaining anything.
That being said, by continuing to use the stable, it could be argued you accepted the risk.
Either way, unless you are prepared to move yards, maybe just chalk it up to horses being horses and move on.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Trouble is it depends if it was worn or obvious to you it was at risk of breaking. Did the horse get a rug caught on it if he or she was rubbing. If that is the case then it is not yard owner error, I would have a chat with them and work out what is fair between you. Personally I would not expect yard owner to pay all your vet bill unless you can prove the YO knew it was at risk of breaking, like if you told her it had a crack in it prior to injruy then I would say yes y/o can pay as she knew it was at risk.

Otherwise YO needs to mend it and see if she would give a token towards the bill.

 

[Tiddlypom]

This sort of issue is another reason why I won't lend my arena out .

 

[Gallop_Away]

Ultimately, if you offer a service and charge people for its use, you need to maintain it and have the correct insurance.
Sometimes, especially with horses, accidents happen, but if those accidents are down to poorly maintained facilities, then I'm afraid that is a breach of a duty of care. You can't have your cake and eat it whereby you are happy to take a client's money, but not be prepared to put the work in maintaining the facilities you are charging for.

 

[ycbm]

Ultimately, if you offer a service and charge people for its use, you need to maintain it and have the correct insurance.
Sometimes, especially with horses, accidents happen, but if those accidents are down to poorly maintained facilities, then I'm afraid that is a breach of a duty of care. You can't have your cake and eat it whereby you are happy to take a client's money, but not be prepared to put the work in maintaining the facilities you are charging for.

And in the real world where a lot of people think £35 a week is a lot to pay for a stable and grazing....

 

[Gallop_Away]

And in the real world where a lot of people think £35 a week is a lot to pay for a stable and grazing....

Hence why yard owners should be charging the appropriate amount to cover maintenance of facilities, insurance etc. I happily pay premium knowing my horses have suitably fenced fields, good quality stables, paddocks that are not overhorsed etc.
It works both ways but ultimately, if you charge people for a service you have a duty to maintain your facilities to a good standard.

 

[ycbm]

Hence why yard owners should be charging the appropriate amount to cover maintenance of facilities, insurance etc.

Personally I'd rather pay less and take a hammer and a couple of nails to my own stable door when I see an issue.
.

 

[Gallop_Away]

Personally I'd rather pay less and take a hammer and a couple of nails to my own stable door when I see an issue.
.

Each to their own. Perhaps landlords should take the same attitude towards their houses/tenants

 

[MagicMelon]

Regardless of the legalities, if I wanted to stay at this yard, or if I didn't want to be labelled locally as a troublesome livery, I'd suck it up and put it down as something that horses do.

I hope your horse recovers well.

This. I dont think you'd feel very welcome if you asked the YO to pay so I guess Id only ask if you were intending to leave soon anyway. I think personally if you knew it was damaged I would have fixed it myself or covered it, or anything to make it safe or I simply wouldnt have put my horse in it until then.

 

[meleeka]

I’d probably mention the bill with something like “The bill was £x don’t suppose you can claim on your insurance?”. I think it’s a fair question if it’s not asked in a confrontational manner.

Otherwise, have others have said, it’s down to whether you want to stay at the yard or not.

 

[ycbm]

Each to their own. Perhaps landlords should take the same attitude towards their houses/tenants

Have you seen how much it costs to rent a house these days?
.

 

[Gallop_Away]

Have you seen how much it costs to rent a house these days?
.

Yes thank you. Landlords have overheads to cover, mortgages, insurance etc etc, hence higher rent prices, but perhaps there are those like yourself who would prefer to pay cheaper rent and fix problems themselves?
Personally I would assume that as the landlord is charging the tenant for living at the property, the landlord is responsible for the maintenance, but then by your logic the tenants should apparently be paying for the privilege of renting the property AND fix problems themselves

 

[ycbm]

perhaps there are those like yourself who would prefer to pay cheaper rent and fix problems themselves?

There are tenancies where that is exactly the situation, very common in agricultural lettings.

 

[ycbm]

then by your logic the tenants should apparently be paying for the privilege of renting the property AND fix problems themselves

That's not my logic at all. House renters who have a contract where maintenance is the renter's responsibility pay a lower rent.

In livery if renters want everything to be provided top spec by the yard owner then people in DiY are going to have to get used to paying what that service costs.

Meanwhile if they are happy to sort things for themselves for a lower rental I don't see why that bothers anyone.

The problem is the many people keeping horses who want the services without the costs. (ETA I am not suggesting that the OP is one of these people).

 

[ycbm]

I’d probably mention the bill with something like “The bill was £x don’t suppose you can claim on your insurance?”. I think it’s a fair question if it’s not asked in a confrontational manner.

Otherwise, have others have said, it’s down to whether you want to stay at the yard or not.

That's a very good suggestion.