HashRouge
Well-Known Member
When we were on a largish yard we had a booking system. We had about 2 hours several nights a week that were "free school" when anyone could use the school and you didn't book lessons in that time. The "free time" days could change from week to week to accommodate people who needed to book specific times on specific days. Outside of freetime you could book your hour or half hour when you wanted so long as you booked 24 hours in advance. That way you knew when you couldn't ride at least a day and usually a week in advance.
They had this on a yard I was on while a teenager. We had a calendar on the yard you could use to book the school, but prime-time (which was 4-7pm weeknights) you couldn't book because they ended up with certain people pre-booking the school virtually every night during those times, weeks in advance. I've never been on a really big yard though - I think there were only about 20 horses on this yard, with fewer owners, and most didn't ride on week nights so you could usually get in the school when you wanted.
I think the best rule I've seen on this thread is the one about your horse having been fed by a certain time in the morning. Drives me bonkers when people leave them for ages without hay/ feed! One of the great things when I worked as a groom was the horses having the same, excellent routine everyday. It made for an incredibly chilled out group of horses.
I haven't really been on a proper livery yard for years though - we've rented a field for a bit and have spent quite a few years on a private livery yard. I think she must find us okay as liveries as the only rule she has is don't turn out in the menage, which is fair enough, and no real need to anyway since her turnout is amazing.