How does your yard do it? (DIY Mainly)

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sazzle44

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There's been a bit of friction lately on my yard about rules for using the school and jumps. Basically I always saw it as;
1) You leave the school clean having picked up any droppings and taken any jumps out.
2) Jumps should be leaft neat and stacked so as not to cause any damage.
3) If you want to use any of the jumps, you must provide some yourself.
4) You must book the school prior to use on the whiteboard. Once you have used it, wipe your name off for that week or re-date it for next week.
5) If you damage any of the jumps you must admit to this and replace them.
This was made clear to me when I joined the yard, but we have had lots of new people since then and maybe it hasn't been explained.
I went to the school to have a jump yesterday to find my fairly expensive plastic poles were cracked and falling apart. The wings had either fallen over (although the school is pretty sheltered from the wind) or the person who had just been jumping up there hadn't put them away properly. There was also lots of droppings in the school. The people who had just left have not provided any jumps and others who use them have dumped some old tyres, road cones and road signs by the school saying that's their contribution!
I left a note on the board politely reminding people of this, thinking it wouldn't be a problem....well of course it was....
Just wondering if you think any of this is unfair or anything. It's driving me mad how everyone keeps argueing and I always seem to be the one who gets the back-lash from them all :( tell me I'm not completely out of line...pleasseee....:confused::confused::confused:
 
Not out of line at all - I'd be fuming and personally, if I'd bought my own jumps they'd be chained up for my use only as at the end of the day, I'd be the one who had to pay for any damage!

Can you not speak to the Y/O to see if they can make the rules clear and it means that you don't have to be the one approaching other liveries directly?
 
there is a list of rules in the main tack room which we go over each year and all the liveries must sign at the bottom. And so far (12 years) we have never had any major problems like this! 24 horses on my yard so it must be helping!
 
No you're not. My YO is one of my best friends but I really wouldnt like the reaction if I didnt poo pick after my horse or shut the arena gate properly, and the day my horse landed on a pole and broke it I went cap in hand, and got the oh to make a jumping gate a couple of weeks later just to make up. I would immediatly replace a poly jump wing if anything happened to it and allways clear away the jumps afterwards. You wright your name in the book if you want a slot and the last people who "forgot" this didnt last long (combination of other stuff as well). Everyone knows these are the rules and I've no doubt if we took the mick we would get told, but I've been there 16 years and I wouldnt change it for the world.
 
yikes! no your not. jumps are so expensive. most of our jumps have been provided as we have a jumping paddock but its not fair to treat them badly, break etc. we are also told if we put the jumps up alot to leave one smaller fence as a warm up and to put them down to a reasonable level when finished and vice versa if people put them down to tiny jumps to put them back up. only problem we had was when someone decided to deconsrtuct all the jumps to ground poles (which is fine) but never rebuilt the jumps afterwards. not very fair on the person afterwards!
 
our YO supplies the jumps but I am sure if anyone broke anything they would offer to pay to have it replaced but then that is sort of people we have at our yard. we can't book the school for private use but we do have to write in the book when we are having lessons which helps other liveries plan eg they might not book a lesson if two other people have booked lessons at the same time for example.

it is not fair if you have provided the jumps and others are using them without contributing either by providing jumps themselves or at the very least paying for any damage.

Maybe speak to the YO and ask if the rules have changed, as if they you want to put your jumps in a storage area for your use only.
 
ahhh I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like this :) It just drives me mad as they would never ever admit to having damaged them but the day my pony decides to pull at one of their horses rugs, for example, they'll be expecting me to put my hand in my pocket! (which I actually wouldn't mind doing, if I it was definately him who'd done it)
The thing is, the YO is a farmer and is so far from interested in the horses it's untrue. Unless of course it's costing him money :rolleyes::p haha
I might have a word with him about it anyway though, because they really are starting to make me feel a little uncomfortable :/
thanks for the reassurance :) xxx
 
No one at my yard rides unless it isn't too hot or cold, not windy and not rainy. So in England thats about twice a year ;) so don't have a problem

I would put the rules up on the board, and if it continues keep your poles locked away and say no one can use them as they don't treat them with respect :)
 
We have the exact same rules at our yard but are quite lucky that everyone communicates and its not that big (only about 6 or 7 people actually jump!). Only problem is if you take your jumps and move them you then cant use everyone elses as your not "contributing" :(. I would be talking the the YO/YM, we had a yard meeting this year to sort out little problems and since then for the first time we have had a nicely harrowed school, everyone actually poo picks the menage and the muck heap is forked up - YO just threatened to kick everyone off that wasnt pulling their weight!
 
so if the YO is a farmer who is not interested in the running of the yard, who made up the rules? perhaps they have changed or been relaxed but no-one has told you? who is responsible for making sure people abide by the rules?

i could see this being an issue really if there is no-one to implement any rules.
 
SO1 said:
so if the YO is a farmer who is not interested in the running of the yard, who made up the rules? perhaps they have changed or been relaxed but no-one has told you? who is responsible for making sure people abide by the rules?
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Ours has given two liverys free trailer parking because he has no interest in the yard (this was straight after our yard meeting) to keep running the yard (as in make sure people poo pick and fork up)! If that doesnt happen then I suppose you need a yard farie like another thread was talking about (basically if you want it done you have to do it yourself or put up with it - I do it myself). Ultimatley though the person who is responsible for the yard is the one you pay your rent to each month, but it is a difficult one and I see where your coming from if its DIY :)
 
SO1 said:
so if the YO is a farmer who is not interested in the running of the yard, who made up the rules? perhaps they have changed or been relaxed but no-one has told you? who is responsible for making sure people abide by the rules?

i could see this being an issue really if there is no-one to implement any rules.
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hmmm that's true to be fair. He'll step in if there's big arguements, but that's very rare. Everyone gets told the rules when they move to the yard. The thing is, the rules were there when I arrived and I've always stuck to them and most people do. Inevitably there's those who don't. They are usually the ones kicking up a fuss when someone upsets them :/
aarrghhh I dunno :confused: I don't want to take them away, it would be a nuiscance! but more of a nuiscance to replace them...:confused::confused:
 
At my yard the rules apply UNLESS you have several horses, in which case as you pay more livery than the rest of us you leave the jumps up so no one else can school at the weekend, even though you don't work so can ride in the week when no one else is here and you employ a groom so would imagine between the two of you could manage to rearrange the poles/wings....
 
it's completely fair enough that you're fed up with it! it's nice that you want to share your jumps with everyone, but it should be shared. Have you thought of having a yard jump fund where everyone puts a bit of money in the pot and you all invest in a set of jumps?
as for clearing up after themselves in the school, well that should go without saying! you wouldn't expect someone to borrow your stable without mucking it out after they've left...
so you aren't being unfair or out of line dont worry xxx
 
I think its asking for trouble if the yard owner makes everyone provide jumps. Naturally you should be fed up if your stuff is broken. When we did DIY we provided a few fences for them, and would have expected people to repair/help replace if they damaged them. Droppings should obviously be picked up. I had a diary for the school, so it had to be written in every week, rather than being left on the board..
 
As annoying as it is, its really not your place to say anything to anyone. Have a word with your YO its their job to sort it out not yours.
 
We have kind of the same at our yard. Our YO provided jumps, polypoles etc etc for us all to use. Most of these have now been broken and absolutely no one owns up to it! it drives me nuts, but its not my place to say anything.
 
I'm getting to the point of locking up my polyjumps for my use (and a select few people I trust..) only! My poles in particular are not cheap - as everyone who has bought polyjumps knows...!

We're a solely DIY yard, part of a working farm. YO gets a bit involved, but is fairly relaxed. A couple of liveries (our of 20) have provided jumps, but everyone uses them - some politer people once they have discovered whose the jumps are have asked me if I mind them being used and I have always ssaid no, as long as they are put away properly. But inevitably people just chuck them over the arena fence when they are done, and then the poles are getting discoloured and damaged in the long grass. So my last resort is to build a sturdier storage rail for them (currently they are resting on some raised blocks) and if people are still too lazy to care for them properly I will stick a chain and padlock round them I think!

We have very few rules which generally works okay - obviously some people stick to them more than others, but for the most part we have no real issues. I did lose about 20 wooden jump poles to rot in the first couple of years I was at the yard because they were up in the jumping paddock (grass) and of course if people dumped them on the ground as always happened, they rotted very quickly being wooden. So I am not providing any more jumps for up there! But in general I don't mind people using my polyjumps in the school - as long as they care for them as they would if they had spent their own hard-earned £300 on them!!
 
Agree with everything you are saying except for the buying your own jumps bit. In an ideal world we would all have enough money to buy our own jumps but unfortunately that is a big NO for a lot of people.

But the putting your name down, picking up poo, clearing jumps away (very anoying but essential) and certainly fixing or repairing jumps is a YES YES YES!!
 
BonneMaman said:
Agree with everything you are saying except for the buying your own jumps bit. In an ideal world we would all have enough money to buy our own jumps but unfortunately that is a big NO for a lot of people.
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That's understandable, my jumps were bloomin' expensive but I also got some wooden poles and painted them myself for about £4 (don't ask me where from, my dad got them from a fencing place of something!) We aren't asking they buy a full set of poly-jumps, just a couple of poles or some wings or blocks. Maybe that way they might respect the rest :/
My mum has no solved the problem of people chucking my wings about by taking the cups away as they're the only ones which go in our wings! I feel really bad for doing this, I don't want it to end up like that but there you go...:o
 
I had to re-read your name about 5 times then to make sure that I hadn't started this post in my sleep!!!!
I can sympathise with EVERYTHING you are saying here...

We too have a whiteboard, which I have gone and purchased a marker (just about weekly) and there are only abut 4 of us (out of approx 35 horses) on the yard that actually write our lesson times on, or book a slot...admittedly there are only a handful of people on the yard that ride/ride in the school!, ~BUT the annoying thing is, that even though you write these times on, people still b**ch/pass comments etc about the fact that you are in the school!?!?! arghhh drives me mad!!!!!

Another HIGHLY annoying gripe I have is ther jump situ...I was VERY lucky enough to have been bought a whole course of PolyJumps and poles about 8 years ago..and I also have another small course of wooden fences, fillers, tyres etc etc...all of which were stored (in the designated area) in our school. A few others on the yard have added a few wings/poles here and there...but there are some on the yard that have their own fences, but won't put them in the school and insist on using mine/breaking mine and just dumping them back any old how in the school!!!! DRIVES ME MAD!!!!

Have spoken to the YO numerous times, as I get SO fed up of the comments and mess that it is left in etc..and we had a small board (which I had to write!!) to put up on our menage gate asking liveries to:
*Not lunge in the same place (nearest the top end of the school- less to walk) as it is ruining that end!
*Remove droppings after every use
*Put all jumps away NEATLY after every use and report ANY damage etc
*Write lessons/school bookings on the whiteboard

I have since noticed last week that the board is now lying upside down in the grass next to the menage!!

Drives me mad...but as you say, YO is a farmer...such a shame that only a few liveries always seem to ruin things on yards, but I suppose it is the same everywhere...lots of woman (usually of a "certain" age) that always seem to be disagreeing over something or other........

Rant over :)
 
Considering our horse is on a fairly big yard it works pretty well.

YM supplies jumps. There is a field where they are up all the time and there are some for the school, if you use the school ones you must put them back afterwards and obviously pick up any poo your horse might do in the school. It doesn't get harrowed as often as everyone would like because only a couple of people are allowed to do the harrowing but that's really the only criticism you could make.

Most of the time it's no problem to get in the school, you can book it in advance or if someone is in there already you can ask if they don't mind sharing, most don't mind. T

They have a brilliant muck heap system at the yard. You dump it in one of 2 locations and then the YO comes along with his tractor and pushes it all up neatly and then takes it away when full.

Similarly with field management, the YO/YM will ensure troughs work and fencing is safe but it is up to you to pull your own ragwort, poo pick, clear rough patches etc. We have a summer rota with the people who own our horse's field mate so we keep it up together pretty well. It is also up to you if you want to cordon some off to save it for winter or whatever.

We are also lucky because haylage/straw is provided as part of rent between Oct-Apr and there is no limit to how much you can use as long as you use a haynet and aren't stupid about it.

Most people stick to the rules but now and again there might be a lapse (I have lapsed a few times myself in various ways)
 
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