How many times have you moved yards?

Fools Motto

Fools Motto

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As title.
I am just about to move the horses for the first time in 20 years (and first time as an adult and first time responsibilty all mine!) Feeling happy about the move, as long over due, but equally have a fear of the unknown. I am terrified the horses will take ages to settle, and have yet to finalise my moving 'what where and how'?!
So, how do you plan it, and how often have you done it?

Thanks
 
3.

1st yard we were at for a matter of weeks before there was a space at yard 2.

2nd yard I loved. I was there for about 11years and mum was there previously when she had horses. We only moved because we had to, yard was closed.

3rd yard is where we are now and I am very happy here (and horse is too).

If there was ever the option to go back to yard 2 I would be there like a shot.
 
I moved to a new yard just over 3 weeks ago so it the 5th yard in 9 years with my horse. Worried about moving but so far so good - she's loving her new routine and I'm enjoying having her nearer home :)
 
Went to yard 1 out of desperation because at the time we bought our first horse it was the only livery with an available space. Yard owner however had awful management skills of land, people and bussiness and closed the yard just shy of 2 months after we moved there.

We moved with a group to yard 2 which wasn't livery but a privately owned 'favour' type of set up. It was within walking distance of my house, had fairly nice hacking and we were able to ride in the fields and it had decent grazing and stables. Unfortunately after 3 months I became a target for abuse, with threats to call welfare on me and some fabulous stories about how i was stealing friends from another girl there and made her thoroughly miserable. It took another 3 months to get me to move which leaves us at current yard 3!!

Yard 3, current yard, is a bit further with awful hacking and hideous winter turnout but does have facilities (own feed and locker storage, outdoor and indoor arenas with polyjumps, horse walker etc) and lovely summer turnout. It's a much bigger yard (30 odd horses) and it can be bitchy but I do actually enjoy it :)
 
I've only moved once in 3 years. The choice was made for me so although I had been looking at other yards, I packed up that night then mum dropped me down the yard, headcollar went in the boot with rugs, pony was tacked up and just hacked out the yard first thing and never looked back.

I worried so much that night that she would be unsettled especially as I had hacked there then turned her out and she couldn't see the others in the ajoining field as they were down the valley and she was up the top. Needless to say all that worrying was over nothing when I found her like this the next morning!

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Key is to relax yourself (easier said than done!) if you make it no big deal your horse should be chilled too. Make sure you horse has things that are familiar ie rugs buckets etc and try to keep to the same routine. Go and see him early to remind him you are still there and i'm sure it will all go smoothly. Good luck with the move!
 
I have moved twice in 6 years. First yard was great and I loved it - Private family farm. Very fun but I left before I was pushed. 2nd yard was good and I was happy and settled there for four years. Sadly due to personal reasons I had to leave that yard in order to start a fresh for me and my boy. He is still a little unsettled but he is getting there... He was rolling about in his paddock this morning and today was the first day he looked really happy :o - I agree its all about planning and ensuring that it is done in one hit - good luck and you will be fine :D
 
Well up untill I got my boy I have been at the yard of the horse I was riding and my own boy has only been at one yard since I got him a year ago. But I am off to uni in september so he will be moving with me and then coming home for the holidays. I'm hoping that he will settle in well as he will have me there and the same routine and he is normaly quite happy as long as there is grass.
 
3 in the 3 3/4 years I've had bear.

First one because it was the only one available. Moved to a nice yard when there was space and then moved to my current yard and been there for 2 1/2 years now!
 
I think I have lost count of the number of times I have moved T! All bar one move were moves across different counties/countries; the one exception was to move locally to a yard with much better off road hacking after we were involved in a road accident and T lost a bit of confidence with traffic.

He is a very laid back chap and doesn't get stressed about moving - as long as he has (a) food and (b) company he is happy! :)
 
Moved from Military yard to a local private yard a couple of months after I bought B in '97 as got fed up with being taken for a mug (was working full time shifts in RAF and running yard).

2 1/2 years later he went to my Mum's for a year while I did a promotion course (had a 4 month old baby and a full time education course to deal with, but with hindsight I wish I had just left him in Scotland, he barely got ridden and he was never the same when he came back :( )

So back to same yard in Scotland

3 years later posted to Cornwall for moved to Mum's yard again for a few months till I found something closer to Newquay.

Stayed there for another 3 years until Posted to Somerset.

Stayed in first yard for about 6 months then moved as had real issues with one or two of the liveries and rather than rock the boat I moved.

Stayed at that yard for about 18 months until the YO lease finished and she was moving to a yard too far away for me.

So back to first Somerset yard (trouble causing livery had left) and I've been back there nearly 3 years.

So that's 8 moves since I've had him (not including the initial move to come to me).
 
I was at a yard for 11 years and moved to a different part of the country.
I then struggled to find a yard that I liked and where the horse was happy.

Wow, I've just totted it up and I have moved 11 times since 1998 :eek:, not with the same horse mind .. it makes it sound better :o.

I moved to a BHS approved yard that was worse than bad .... we ended up in small claims court with him :(.
Moved off there in a hurry to a woman who I didn't know too well. She was lovely but completely barking, pony wasn't happy so we moved off onto a yard where I stayed until it was sold and we had to move - was there a matter of months.

Off to a DIY yard (4 years) which was great until YO (male) took up with a girl who had a serious personality disorder and I couldn't be doing with her dramas :o.

Then to a riding school/livery yard (2 years) that again was great until it was sold and taken over by a man who thought nothing of telling clients to eff off :eek:. I left before I did anything to upset the delicate balance of his temper :D.

Onto a DIY yard that was newly set up. 3 months there and I knew it wasn't for me.

Then a lovely part livery yard (3 years) that has an indoor, lots of turnout, a great YO and my quirky horse settled there straight away. Had that horse pts :( and bought a horse who wasn't quite so needy so decided to move her closer to home.

Wanted to move to a friend's yard but no room, so moved onto another DIY yard, friend had a stable a month later, so moved to hers (for 1 year). Turnout proved hazardous to pony, so moved again.

Next yard had a nice outdoor school that unfortunately flooded and then froze. Can't see the point of having a horse I couldn't ride, so I moved back up to the yard with the indoor school. We're happy now :), been there 2 years and have no plans to move!

Really, I have been on 4 yards for a good amount of time .... 11 years, 4 years, 2 years and 5 years. The others were just a matter of weeks/months before I realised they weren't for me.
 
3 times in 9 months :o

first yard was lovely but the field was no good for my mare....

2nd yard again lovely but i didnt settle/feel comfortable tbh!

yard im on now i never want to move off :) my horse and me are both settled and happy :)
 
I have moved Genie twice in the time I've had her... was at yard no. 1 for 1 1/2 years (had been there for a year before that with my old mare), then moved to a friend's yard with no facilities for 3 weeks before moving her to where we are now. Genie's the happiest she has ever been and we've now been there about 1 3/4 years.
 
I've been on 4 yards in 8 years.
First yard was a large riding school and livery. It was good fun at the time but could be a bit chaotic. It was also expensive and although the facilities were fab it was hard to get to use them with all the lessons going on. The hacking was amazing.
I was at yard 2 for 4 years. It was a nice yard with reasonable hacking (nowhere near as good at the first yard but that would be hard to beat!). The yard owner did nothing in the way of maintenance and as the price crept up I got to the point of wondering what I was paying for. I also got sick of people letting their dogs crap all over the place!
Yard 3 was fab - small yard, lovely YO, well kept facilities and great hacking, although you had to do a short distance on the main road to get there. When I first went I had friends there and people to ride with. When they left, I ended up riding mostly on my own. It was also purely DIY and I seemed to be away more than anyone else and hated always begging favours.
Over the years, the friends I had made at my first yard had all moved around a bit and most of them ended up at another yard just along the road from yard 1. I had my arm twisted to move and have been there since the autumn. Its a fantastic yard with the same amazing hacking. I can see me being there for a long, long time!

Each time we moved my horse has settled in very quickly. I think because I have been there as a constant he has never fretted. I've usually given him the moving day to settle then got on and ridden the following day. However, last time I moved my friend was waiting for me as he wanted company to hack his new horse, so it was straight off the lorry and on with the tack!
 
We moved several times but OH now runs his own yard so we've been here for 5 years now. As wife of a YO (doling out tea and biscuits for melt downs etc) I find the horses generally cope with yard moves much better than the owners. The horses walk into their stables, find their hay, have a roll and start making friends. The owners panic as to whether their horses will find their hay, eat their beds, make friends.....
 
my boy is always moving and i've only had him 11 months!
Firstly I had him on trial for a month before i bought him and kept him at a yard 20 mins away from my house, however i didn't particularly like the yard.
during term time he stays at school with me in half terms he goes to my instructor's house for a week of grass then back to school.
then at christmas i had him at a yard where the facilities were really good during the bad snow (indoor school etc) but the quality of care provided for my horse was substandard so i left.
and now for the summer he's at the yard where i learnt to ride at!
 
twice first yard I was there about 10 months - pony never really settled and was very unhappy which was having an impact on his behaviour nothing wrong with the yard just not right for him. I think he never really settled with the other horses and there was a lot of moving about herd members and fields so no stability - it was a riding school

current yard have been there nearly 3 years and he settled the first day he arrived. Turned him out with the group as soon as he arrived and it was like he had been there forever. YO said she was surprised at how quickly he was accepted. However the herd are a greedy bunch and not really interested in doing anything but eating and my pony was the same as soon as he was turned out he started eating grass, the others looked up and then went back to eating.

I do worry about how he would cope if he had to move yards again as he was so unhappy at the first one and is so contented at this one the difference is amazing.
 
I have recently moved yards after 8 years in 1 place. It was really sad to leave but the yard had been taken over (informally) by a complete vile cow!

However before that I have moved yards quite often for various reasons (loaning a horse and owner wanted to move, looking for better hacking, relocation etc).

I felt awful when I first moved because the mare (as usual for her) was totally picked on in the field. But she settled in after a few weeks :) Good luck with your move! BTW - don't underestimate the amount of 'stuff' you can accumulate in spending a long time at one yard! I had so much to move!
 
A lot!! Mostly because the yards here are expensive or rubbish. There's no DIY options, ever, and most don't allow your own instructors. Many will only feed one type of feed, and are totally uncompromising on big issues. We have no hacking at all, nobody hacks in SA, so facilities must be reasonable...wish we could find our own place to rent :) One day hopefully!
 
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