Just because I finish early does not mean i am your Slave !

Gingerwitch

Gingerwitch

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Starting to feel more than a little bit used at the moment... so be prepared for my last moan of 2009 !

I get to the yard at 5am - i feed 20+ horses almost every day - including weekends - i work 8 till 4 which means i get to yard at about 4.30 most days.

I fetch my 3 in, and any other horse left out on its own in my fields. I catch my friends horse in every Tuesday so she can have her grandson. I catch my other friends horse in every night now the weather is bad and chuck him hay. Both of these people repay me by mucking out a stable on a weekend.

Now because the weather has changed i have been asked to catch in 5 other horses and get water for them before yo turns off the water. Not a problem in the week as i understand they dont finish work till 5.30 and 6pm - BUT what has annoyed me is the snotty comments i had today when i was asked why i had not caught in their horses last night and they had to go to the house for water !!!!!!!!! WTF ! I must have MUG or IDIOT on my forehead. And guess where these people were.... shopping, in the pub, having a kip or with friends !
 
Talk about throwing it back in your face.
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!!
 
ahh bless you, people are taking advantage of your good nature,

I finished work early today so mucked out hayed watered and fed my horse, my friend whos horse I either turn out or give hay and water too every morning, text me at 5pm as i was picking up my 2 yearold son and asked me to do her horse tonight I was not amused as she is on holidays and could have come up and done him herself.
I wouldnt normally mind but it is freezing cold and yard completely iced over and slippery not the place I want to take my son.
 
Good grief people sound as if they are useing you as part of their livery.

Do your horses, and let the others make their own arrangements.


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I had a lot of this a my last yard. One night turning up to find ELEVEN people had left notes on my stable door, asking me to do their horses that night
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I made a promise to myself when I changed yards. It would just be my horse. I have broken trhat rule and turn my friends mare out three mornings a week, it's really no trouble though and I don't mind at all.

Slightly different note, but can't they fill their water buckets in the morning.

Heck if I wanted to be treated like a stablehand, I would get a job as one!
 
Would make it clear that from now on you are doing your own 3 & thats it, if they want their horses fed in the morning brought in, whatever, let them shift their lazy arses & do it themselves!!
 
OP - I think you are incredibly goodnatured and generous. Not surprised you are feeling 'taken advantage of'.
You are doing these people a favour, but they are not treating it as a favour - so maybe you ought to present them with a list of 'favours done' (a bill) and ask if they will be returning them 'in kind'?
 
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I had a lot of this a my last yard. One night turning up to find ELEVEN people had left notes on my stable door, asking me to do their horses that night
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Eleven notes??????? How selfish is that? Can't they count? I assume they are on Do It Yourself Livery!!!!!!!!!

I don't like asking people to do me 'favours' - I feel guilty because I would be putting on their workload.
However! I have an 'arrangement' with Rachel - Whoever gets there first, puts feeds in, Rachel puts the 2 horses out in the pen to muck out, and I bring them in after mucking out.....She brings Star in Wednesday's because I have Staff meeting, and I fetch Quarry on Thursdays when it is Rachel's late finish. Turn and turnabout!

But 11 people leaving notes for 1 person to do their horses is outrageous! What do they think you are?
 
You need to be careful as I am in a situation where I end up bringing in my 2 plus 4 others every night. I do this as a favour but people quickly forget that part of it and when I say that I can't do it for some reason it becomes a big deal and teddies are thrown out of cots.
 
I know. Never again.

The thing is none of those people even knew I was coming up that afternoon, could have been OH lol. I can imagine what he would have done with the notes!

Another time when I was working full time, I turned up at 6 am on the Monday morning only to find a note from another DIY'er saying she had gone on holiday for the week and could I look after her two. I was a little put out as you can imagine, especially so when I bumped in to her in town midway through the week
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She hadn't gone on holiday at all, she just "needed a break"
 
Not good at communicating are they. How about asking you face to face? And very irresponsible of them as well.
Very good job for the horses that you turned up.
 
WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!1 omg!!
Id never depend on someone like that.... ok so i prob dont poo pick as much as i should but Sue likes doing it, as she potters around up there all day during the weeks.

But i would never go mad like that getting someone to do it all.

I would definatly start billing people per item!
 
some folk are just so rude i frequently recieved treatment like this when i worked at a stables, tell them were to go x
 
Thanks for the advice, I know i have enough to do with 3 but i have always tried to help out when i can i.e. if people work late i will catch in, in the winter. Christmas Day and Boxing Day I have my own 3 to do, so another few to turn out or catch in does not make that much differance - I especially try to help those with the young children or the "grannies" having the grandkids round - and 90% of people are really grateful and i dont have children of my own so its only really me, mum and dad and hubby.

But one of my so called friends can manage to be at the yard for 5pm when she is going out, but the rest of the time she rocks up at the yard gone 7pm and moans that her horse is in but without hay, last week she had a go at me because the "numpty" whom had brought him in had not noticed he had a bad kick!

Anyway back to my current problem - just texted them all to say i am in a rush tomorrow so can they make provision for there own horses... no one has come back yet either way - bet it will be frosty up yard tomorrow - even if it thaws (lol)
 
Can you have a word with your YO? At my yard (where I work), if there's a problem with any of the liveries a "polite note" is slipped in with everyone's bills at the end of the month reminding them that there are standard charges for extra services, for example, or that bills must be paid on time.
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YO gives these notes to everyone, so no-one feels singled out or picked on, but it gets the message across. It's definitely out of order to expect you to be everyone's personal groom on top of your own job and horses!
 
I would get round this by the following-
* go speak to yard owner, if your a very DIY yard ask if he minds you charging for doing extras. If not then write a letter, give it to everyone stating that as of xx/xx/xx you shall be doing extras, if they want their horse brought in they must give you 24 hrs notice and pay you£x.
The way to get round doing any of these extras is to charge quite a lot, say £2.50 a time for bringing horses in. £5 a muck out. That should put them off!
 
Definitely agree that unless someone is doing you a favour in return, or they are a very close friend of yours, you should be charging them for bringing their horses in. They are definitely taking the mickey!
 
I was like yourself would do anyone a favour but learnt to say no.The first one was the hardest.Now I just say nicely if can't do it.I'm not awkward if I can help I will BUT not if its just cos they can't be bothered must have what I see as a good reason.
Even with my best mate have said will put her lad out but may be days am unable to due to work/other commitments.
Found letters from YO usually have had little effect as they decide it doesn't include tham as you don't mind.
People are usually ok if I say no (politely but firmly) and if their not well thats their problem as obviously were taking the pee!!!
 
My friend and I help each other out occasionally when we are stuck...but as I have 3 horses then I try really hard not to get stuck because I feel its a lot to ask.....I work full time and have 2 kids so I have to be organised.

I recently got asked to see to someone elses pony.....but I felt really pee'd off because she works part -time and really could have done stuff herself-...YO does assisted DIY too so if I know I'm going to be late etc YO will bring in/turn out for 5-p per horse...hardly bank-breaking.....but this person was texting me whilst I was still at work to put pressure on me to bring her pony in....too late for her to ask YO and no-one else would do it ( all wise to her tricks)......thing is...when its crap weather, field is half a mile away from yard and I have to go up there twice to bring my 3 down, after a full days work in the dark and rain it was getting really unfair of her, especially as she knows when she is working and could make arrangements with YO.

So...unlike me, I made a stand and told her I had enough to do myself and that she should arrange with YO......she hasn't spoken to me since.
 
I'm not surprised you are feeling used! Sounds like time to put your foot down and say no to these people.

I live on site so am happy to put feeds and hay in when I do my boy in the morning, and one of the girls brings him in for me in the afternoon by way of return. Sadly, every yard seems to have someone who wants to push it. One went from "can you pop her feed in" to "oh would you mind just doing her hay and water too" to "could you just change her rug and put her out for me because I have to go to work" at which point I called a halt. Err, so I'm sitting indoors all day living off my trustfund am I?
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Sorry, but it's a Do-It-Yourself yard, not a "Get-someone-else-to-do-it-for-me-coz-I'm-a-lazy-wotsit-yard".
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That's the trouble I think, if you are a nice helpful person it is hard to say no. The trouble is it is very rarely reciprocated.

I have run around to get people's horses in during driving rain in winter as I was the first one there, and it was horrid and was the natural thing to do. Only the same week to turn up last and find my 30 year old mare left out in the peeing down rain, while everyone was having a cup of tea. It didn't even occur to those people to bring her in.

I believe there are thoughtful people in this world....then there is all the rest of them lol!
 
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