How does your yard handle school bookings?

[milliepops]

Assuming it does... unfortunately it's essential for us so not looking to hear from all you lucky people who never need to book

We have a paper diary in one of the stable barns which is used to book the school. At this time of year there are lots of external hire slots because one of the liveries is a BHSAI and has people come in from elsewhere, so there can be bookings from 8.30am to 7pm or later.

Occasionally it gets forgotten to make a note of these (I guess plans are made on the phone etc and not copied over to the book) so then we have a clash Historically the person who has come from outside gets priority.

Well aware that this is a first world problem but due to the scarcity of slots I have to plan my riding schedule a week or 2 in advance, so with 2 horses competing it's giving me a headache when things get unravelled

Just wondering if there is a better way? What do other yards do?

 

[ihatework]

Assuming it does... unfortunately it's essential for us so not looking to hear from all you lucky people who never need to book

We have a paper diary in one of the stable barns which is used to book the school. At this time of year there are lots of external hire slots because one of the liveries is a BHSAI and has people come in from elsewhere, so there can be bookings from 8.30am to 7pm or later.

Occasionally it gets forgotten to make a note of these (I guess plans are made on the phone etc and not copied over to the book) so then we have a clash Historically the person who has come from outside gets priority.

Well aware that this is a first world problem but due to the scarcity of slots I have to plan my riding schedule a week or 2 in advance, so with 2 horses competing it's giving me a headache when things get unravelled

Just wondering if there is a better way? What do other yards do?

It was quite a similar system at a yard I was previously at and to be quite frank was a PITA.

If I were running a yard, whose clients predominantly worked, which Thank heavens I'm not then I'd probably work it so that peak times midweek (6am-9am and 4pm-7pm) were non bookable and for shared use only. Outside those times you either pay to book sole use or take your chance to ride shared.
Same would apply to externals.

 

[milliepops]

I would suggest that to YO (who is v reasonably and level headed) but I think it would upset some of the other liveries who don't like to share I'm always happy to work with other people as my horses have to cope with warm ups but some of them don't like it.

always felt that this was a yard with no politics but this seems to be the hot potato!

 

[Lexi_]

What's the current balance between internal/external hire slots? If the BHSAI is essentially running her business from the yard and that's preventing internal customers from being able to access the facilities they pay for in their livery, that doesn't seem quite fair to me!

Would it solve the problem if you kept things as they are but said if there's a clash, priority is given to the person who actually followed the rules and put their name in the book? I can't quite get the gist from your post if the clashing is the problem, or the general availability of slots/approach to booking? If it's generally working ok other than the odd clash, just enforce that rule a bit more strictly.

 

[Identityincrisis]

I'd be miffed that a fellow livery was using a school I pay to use, to use for outside clients and they get priority!! Or have i misunderstood that?

Anyway, we have a booking system, 30mins per horse, as a general rule it doesn't get booked more than a week in advance, but we have issues with people booking but not using! Due to that, I usually just 'play it by ear' and slot in where I can

 

[milliepops]

I can't quite get the gist from your post if the clashing is the problem, or the general availability of slots/approach to booking? If it's generally working ok other than the odd clash, just enforce that rule a bit more strictly.

ahh sorry. It's because I'm trying to be diplomatic when in fact I was spitting feathers this morning :lol:

Lack of slots is a problem at this time of year, personally I always ride the most important horse that day first thing before anyone else gets to the yard because pretty guaranteed that no one else wants to ride at 7am or earlier all year round. That's fine... but rarely get a slot after work unless planned a week in advance.

This morning there was no entry at 8.30 and work owed me some time so I tacked up next horse ready to go (school booked all afternoon) but external bod turned up so we had a clash.

We all have to get on so I don't want to be rude or difficult but this kind of thing drives me up the wall, putting it bluntly.

 

[ihatework]

I would suggest that to YO (who is v reasonably and level headed) but I think it would upset some of the other liveries who don't like to share I'm always happy to work with other people as my horses have to cope with warm ups but some of them don't like it.

always felt that this was a yard with no politics but this seems to be the hot potato!

What about suggesting 2 mornings a week and a different 2 evenings a week are reserved for shared use only?
That way those reasonable (!!) people can at least be assured of 4 sessions a week, and those that couldn't possibly share have plenty of opportunity to book their sole use slots.

 

[SEL]

My last yard had a big diary where you could book 30 min slots up to a week in advance. If it was a lesson then people used to jot that down so you knew not yo share with them.

We had a few freelance instructors on that yard and they definitely weren't allowed to book the school for anyone who wasn't already on the yard. Lessons for liveries were fine, but they couldn't run their business using the facilities.

Current yard shares with a riding school, so they get priority and the liveries grab whatever free space they can.

 

[milliepops]

What about suggesting 2 mornings a week and a different 2 evenings a week are reserved for shared use only?
That way those reasonable (!!) people can at least be assured of 4 sessions a week, and those that couldn't possibly share have plenty of opportunity to book their sole use slots.

ahh that's a great idea. thanks.
Would make it predictable too.

 

[Hanno Verian]

Assuming it does... unfortunately it's essential for us so not looking to hear from all you lucky people who never need to book

We have a paper diary in one of the stable barns which is used to book the school. At this time of year there are lots of external hire slots because one of the liveries is a BHSAI and has people come in from elsewhere, so there can be bookings from 8.30am to 7pm or later.

Occasionally it gets forgotten to make a note of these (I guess plans are made on the phone etc and not copied over to the book) so then we have a clash Historically the person who has come from outside gets priority.

Well aware that this is a first world problem but due to the scarcity of slots I have to plan my riding schedule a week or 2 in advance, so with 2 horses competing it's giving me a headache when things get unravelled

Just wondering if there is a better way? What do other yards do?

where I was, albeiit with a shared indoor school, the way it worked was we would write up on a whiteboard that was divided up into days, when we wanted the school and people respected it and worked around it.

I think I would be a little peeved if one of the liveries used the school excessively to teach and that took priority over my usage, I would hope that this would be managed so that it wouldn't impact my use and that external bookings could not overwrite my booking.

 

[milliepops]

I think I would be a little peeved if one of the liveries used the school excessively to teach and that took priority over my usage, I would hope that this would be managed so that it wouldn't impact my use and that external bookings could not overwrite my booking.

I really try not to be peeved because it doesn't help the atmosphere plus they are all lovely people most of the other liveries have lessons with this person at some point in the week (I go off site for training) plus the YO gets the benefit of school hire fees through it so I guess there are probably only a few of us in this position of needing to get squeezed in somewhere.

 

[abbijay]

We have 2 arenas and only one can be booked at a time so we don't have the same issue as you really.
We have a paper book and liveries are limited to max 2 hours booking per week per horse. This allows for lessons and lunging (have to book one arena to lunge and must be alone) but still ensures plenty of flexibility. Also, you can't "block book" the same slot on an on going basis, you must mix it up a bit as it's not fair for someone to dominate a certain slot - the definition of this is a bit woolly but at least it gives you something to argue against.
I'm assuming the AI is paying on top of her livery for arena hire when teaching outside clients so I can understand them getting priority as it's money in the YO's pocket but it would be frustrating if they don't get properly booked in more than once in a blue moon. If the AI is not paying arena hire then whoever is in the book gets priority to me and I would have a quiet word with YO about getting a limit on the times that can be booked so that it's fair for all.

 

[Embo]

We have no booking system. We have a diary that we can put lessons & such in as a courtesy, but if we want sole use, we have to pay.

We have a 20x40 indoor and a larger outdoor with no lights. In summer, we can also ride in the top field.

So in summer months, it's rare that you end up riding with more than one other person, as lots of people hack or will use a different school etc.

There are a bunch of us who work 9-5 so peak time is between 5-7.30pm. In winter, it's absolute mayhem. I've seen 5 people try to ride at once in our small indoor, with one of those people trying to have a lesson. There are some who have zero consideration for others and will not wait, even if there are 3 or 4 people already riding. Anyway, I digress...

In short - I WISH we had some sort of booking system but it just wouldn't work, I don't think.

MP, I think it's unfair that one of your fellow liveries books the school for outside clients and is given priority. I agree with IHW that peak times should be non-bookable.

 

[milliepops]

MP, I think it's unfair that one of your fellow liveries books the school for outside clients and is given priority. I agree with IHW that peak times should be non-bookable.

thanks, I'm sure all of us on the yard as well as the forum will see this differently as we all have our own circumstances and obviously she has to earn a living so is a major stakeholder but it's helpful to know that i'm not being completely unreasonable in trying to find a better solution :lol: I think having some regular slots that are not booked would be a good happy medium.

eventually we'll move to be nearer OH but at the moment haven't spotted anywhere suitable

 

[Nici]

The most effective method of booking is to use a landline for the stables and keeping the booking ledger right next to the phone.
Some schools ask for a down-payment from external clients: that's more likely to be written down because then the booking can't just be done on the go, via cellphone.

 

[Goldenstar]

One yard I knew had one and half hours in the morning and one and half early evening which where open use for liverys .
These hours could not be be booked by anyone on the yard or from outside .

 

[Abacus]

Where everyone pays the same for their livery, the number of bookable slots should be divided so that each person has their fair share during the week, and then it's first come first serve to book the ones you want. The same should apply to outside users, who can book a reasonable number of slots per week but not just turn up and take priority. Would drive me mad.

At my yard I don't have a booking system, and a couple of neighbours do use the school for lessons. I ask them to let me know in advance so that I can tell the liveries (only 2 of them) when these will be. It doesn't always work perfectly but mostly we manage to either share or just work around each other. I don't mind people riding in empty fields as long as the ground is ok, which helps a bit. It also helps that I am putting all the money from external bookings into a pot to buy us some more jumps, so it will benefit everyone.

 

[TheHairyOne]

Had a few different systems at a couple of yard I have been at!

1, Slightly less than 20/40 outdoor. No booking for sole use at all for just day to day riding. Lessons were not allowed to be booked for sole use peak time, which was 4.30 - 7. If you wanted a lesson then you could, but you had to share if other people wanted to ride. No less than 48 hours notice. If you hadn't got it on the board before this then you had to share. No lunging if someone was already riding. Had a very flat field for summer, so there was no problem 6 months of the year.

2, Very big 40 x 60 outdoor. Chopped in 2 with poles so a 20 x 40 and a 40 x 40 (with some of the jumps in it) so if no lessons the could ride using the whole lot, if there was a lesson then rode in the bit of it that wasn't being used. Again 48 hours notice, not allowed 2 different lessons at once. Very good, could always ride in the school.

3, 1 20x 40 outdoor and 1 maybe 30 x 50 indoor. This was a much bigger yard, so had no jumping 2 nights a week in each of the schools, no booking in the evenings from 4 until after 7 I think. No lunging in the indoor at peak times. Some notice period for booking.

I looked at one that liveries could book for sole use, but they had to pay £10/hr regardless of the reason and everyone got over their need to ride alone apparently.

In your situation I would just suggest liveries stop booking just to have a normal ride for a start. I have never been on a yard like this, and since my sister and I have 5 between us in the evening we could have taken the entire school every single night of the week when people wanted to ride after work. And if they don't stop that then have a couple of hours time at least some nights a week that it can't be booked.

Good luck, that would drive me bonkers!!!

 

[Sealine]

Where I am use of school is not included in livery and must be booked before use. We have a weekly sheet with 30 min time slots. The sheet is put up at the end of the previous week and you just write your name in the time slot you want and it's for your sole use. The resident instructor will have filled in the time slots she is using for teaching before the sheet goes up. A vast majority of her pupils are liveries so this isn't an issue and we rarely have visitors using the school as it's not the best.

I do visit another yard nearby for lessons occassionally. They have a diary and their liveries have priority. You are only allowed to book it via the YM. I text her the date/time I want but she does leave it until the last minute i.e. day before to confirm whether it's ok. Even then if one of the liveries wants to use the school while I'm in there I have to share which I don't mind. It is quite difficult trying to arrange to meet an instructor for the lesson when I can't confirm until the day before but I get the impression they're trying to make it difficult.

 

[Whoopit]

We can only book half hour slots and one two at a time so everyone gets a fair go at booking times. Lessons take priority.

The problem is the owner doesn't put her lessons down in advance and just overrides your school booking. So a livery had booked an evening slot around 7:30am one morning as it was free, only to turn up later and it been scribbled out and the owner written Lesson. Not being funny but check the planner before you book lessons for a start, but to add insult to injury it rained so she didn't have her lesson and the livery is an all-weather rider. Imagine how seething she was!!!

 

[Abacus]

Something to consider: we have a Whatsapp group with absolutely everyone on it, who uses the school at all, liveries and outside. When someone wants the school or we have a 'clinic' as several of us use the same instructor, it's all on there - so no one can claim they weren't informed about bookings. It's an easy way of booking, although when it is sometimes several weeks in advance, people tend to forget a bit.

 

[milliepops]

Something to consider: we have a Whatsapp group with absolutely everyone on it, who uses the school at all, liveries and outside. When someone wants the school or we have a 'clinic' as several of us use the same instructor, it's all on there - so no one can claim they weren't informed about bookings. It's an easy way of booking, although when it is sometimes several weeks in advance, people tend to forget a bit.

Well I was wondering about something like this because we all have a whatsapp group too, but today there are (I think) 6 or 7 bookings and the same applies most days so it would become quite difficult to remember scrolling back & forth esp when some are booked weeks in advance. But something that we can all access easily would make it easier, so if outside bookings were made they could be added straight to the diary rather than needing to go and physically write it in a book which is kept somewhere else... Hmm. Food for thought.

thanks everyone, just another case where you really can't please all the people all the time.

 

[tatty_v]

We have a white board booking system on a weekly basis. Bookings open on a Sunday evening for the following week, although if you have lessons/saddle fitting then you can mark these up in advance in the pre-bookings section so people can see them and plan accordingly. Every week day has what we call a "communal slot" in the morning and the evening where lessons etc are not permitted and anyone can use the school (within reason). Sharing outside the communal slots is at the discretion of the people involved. We also mark up whether you are lunging, flatwork, jumping etc so the practicality of sharing can be assessed. There are no restrictions at weekends so lessons can be at any time. This system works for us most of the time and was a huge improvement on the free for all we had before!

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

If you all have Whatsapp I assume you all have smart phones, could you not all have a shared calendar for this purpose only?

We booked slots for lessons or saddle fittings at my yard, but we all got on so well that we sort of knew who was nervous to share, or who would rather not, or be happy to. Quite often had 6-8 of us in there for a fun little jump off at 2 mins notice and we'd all scurry to go tack up.

 

[Luci07]

we had a diary which you wrote down if you wanted sole use but no one could book out the school for sole use after 5.30 - vast majority of liveries would be riding after work and it wasn't fair to turn up then find a night you had planned on riding was a no go as someone else was hogging the school. It did happen to me on a couple of occasions, but I did thrown my toys out of the proverbial pram. I didn't appreciate someone else dictating when I could ride., particularly when trying to juggle work with horses and an outside life. It would get a little packed at times but people were considerate and we all tried to work with each other. Last yard I was at we had 2 schools and not many liveries so never an issue ...

 

[scats]

We are lucky. Small yard so none of generally clash. We will ride 2 in the school at a time if need be, but it's a rare occasion as we all tend to ride at slightly different times.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

Previous yard had a 20x60 outdoor and a 20x30 indoor. If YO/external person was teaching, it was sole use, but you could always go in the other school so not usually a problem (as long as you didn't mind getting wet ). Although from what I remember, lessons were written in a diary/whiteboard so you could check. We didn't have any external clients come for lessons, only liveries, and most of them rode at odd times so I don't remember having any issues.

Current yard has a 30x60 (it might be 40x60) outdoor. Once ground is dry we also have a 20x40 arena (with boards and letters) set up in a field and the proper XC course for use. I don't think liveries can book sole use of the arena, the only time the arena is sole use is for clinics, PC rallies etc. or when the driving horses need it (but they usually only use it early morning about once a week) YO teaches in there a lot of the time but is nearly always happy for you to share. Her lessons are written in a diary, but may only be a full list in there the day before. We don't really have problems as everyone is happy to share, I don't think I've ever gone up and not been able to ride. In the summer you can easily either go for a hack or school somewhere else, so it's even less of an issue. But we're soon getting a second school so should be less sharing involved, even in the winter.

 

[Annagain]

It doesn't! We're a small yard. 12 liveries, only 8 of which are in work and only about 5 or 6 who actually use the school. Of those, two work either permanent evenings or shifts so ride in the day, I tend to ride fairly late so am the last one there, 2 have a regular lesson every other Saturday afternoon so the rest of us know to stay away then. Of these two, one of them barely rides other than in her lesson and the other rides fairly early in the evening. One more is usually leaving as I'm arriving. She occasionally overlaps with the one before her or me and that's no problem. If someone's having a lesson and needs sole use, we have a What'sApp group and just ask the others if it's ok. It works perfectly! YO also hires school out to a couple of people from the yard next door. Again, unless they're having a lesson, they're happy to share, although they tend to ride very early in the morning and are long gone before we're out of bed. YO lets the What'sApp group know when they'll be there. Before What'sApp we had a blackboard for messages!

 

[Annagain]

It doesn't! We're a small yard. 12 liveries, only 8 of which are in work and only about 5 or 6 who actually use the school. Of those, two work either permanent evenings or shifts so ride in the day, I tend to ride fairly late so am the last one there, 2 have a regular lesson every other Saturday afternoon so the rest of us know to stay away then. Of these two, one of them barely rides other than in her lesson and the other rides fairly early in the evening. One more is usually leaving as I'm arriving. She occasionally overlaps with the one before her or me and that's no problem. If someone's having a lesson and needs sole use, we have a What'sApp group and just ask the others if it's ok. It works perfectly! YO also hires school out to a couple of people from the yard next door. Again, unless they're having a lesson, they're happy to share, although they tend to ride very early in the morning and are long gone before we're out of bed. YO lets the What'sApp group know when they'll be there. Before What'sApp we had a blackboard for messages!

Sorry, I forgot the main point of my post. I wasn't being smug about not booking, what I meant was technology has made it easier for us. There is probably a technological solution to your predicament. There must be some sort of online diary you can fill in so that people can book without needing to be physically onsite? That way the instructor could fill it in as soon as she gets the phonecall and everybody else knows where they stand.

 

[PorkChop]

The indoor school we use has an online booking system, have to say it works really well. Each member has a number and password to book. You can book up to an hour in advance, and also cancel obviously.

There is a box you can add a note, eg, 2 horses flatwork happy to share. We are each allowed one hour private per week.

The online system allows up to three bookings per hour, it is a really big indoor school.

Very occassionally someone might overbook, but generally it works rather well