Leaving Gear at a Yard

MrsMozart

MrsMozart

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Another thread made me think of this.

I left jump poles and planks at a yard for many months. Kept meaning to go and get them but never got round to it. When I finally went the YO was less than impressed. They're the good full size ones so worth a fair bit, especially at a yard without a lot of jumps. I think that if I hadn't gone back when I did, another month and he'd have told me to sling my hook.

Come to think of it, another yard still has a couple of rubber mats (we did go back, but they were in use and it got a bit iffy, so we left it), a very nice dressage square (same yard); and electric fencing at another yard because they didn't have enough - they were most miffed when we took it back even though we'd given due notice.
 
Yes there is another thread on here re. this at the mo!

I think there is a world of difference between the two situations TBH.

The sit. on the other thread is an individual who suffered long-term illness and was unable to visit the yard and her horse for a protracted period. The yard would have known about this, and really the best thing to have done would be to just put her stuff aside for such time as she might have been able to return for her goods, OR sold them and then kept the money aside for just this contingency. The individual then recovered from her mental health issues and, feeling well enough to do so, then returned to the yard and found her items missing, the Yard says they were chucked because they "had mildew". These were small items I gather, like boots, some tack, a few rugs maybe, BUT would be expensive to replace. But my point when I posted on that thread was that the yard were negligent in that they really did know about what had happened, and maybe, just maybe, should have taken better care of the property, in this (unique) situation.

However, as a YO myself and also having been a landlord: if a livery and/or tenant leaves a yard/address, and duly gives notice to that effect, and STOPS PAYING, then after that date I don't feel I have any responsiblity towards any of their goods or chattells basically.

We had a situation here where someone left an old landrover frame out in some space near to one of the fields: they said it would be for "a few months", which then turned into SEVEN YEARS. During that time we received no contact from the owners of it, it was rusting and looking unsightly, so we rang up a local scrapyard and they came and took it. We didn't receive any payment for it, but were just glad to be rid of it!

If a livery comes to our yard here, and has property here (and pay their livery bill!!! :)) then we tell them, and its in the contract, that anything they leave on the premises is at their own risk. When someone leaves, and gives a date for their leaving, and pay up to that date (and not anything after it!), then again its in the contract that any property they have on the place MUST go with them on that date. No exceptions. Period.

So if anyone left bulky stuff like jumps, matting etc on the place here, and THEN in "many months" (er, how "many months" OP??? :( ) came asking for it back again, we would treat them as trespassers in effect as they have no right to be here!!! If the stuff had gone missing, that would be just tough!!!

We are only a small place here, we live on the premises, and can't keep other people's clutter. If someone had left stuff with us like jumps/poles & planks, we would have got back in touch with the person and asked them to remove them, and if they'd failed to do so we'd probably put the stuff on e-bay and/or sell it to anyone that wanted it, and give the money to an equine charity.

I can understand why, OP, your YO was "less than impressed". Yes, we would have told you to "sling your hook" too!!!! If you want to continue storing goods at someone's yard, then FFS then either pay appropriate livery/come to an arrangement for "storage", OR hire space like a depository and sling your junk there!!! DON'T expect YO's to store your stuff for you, and look after it, for free!!
 
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I'd agree with the above Mrs M. Unless you've actually made a separate arrangement with the yard you're leaving to leave your equipment there (with possibly a storage charge being levied) I can understand your YO being a bit annoyed. As far as I see it, when you leave a yard, you take everything with you - and if not, you ensure that the YO is happy to store your things for a time period.
 
I have given things away to other liveries, like tack lockers and saddle racks etc.
I've sold jump poles for a nominal amount and once lent electric fencing to YO but went back for it when they'd bought a replacement.

Some liveries tend to leave rubbish, broken kit and ripped boots/rugs which is quite rude because YO has to dispose of it and also because everyone leaves the junk messing up the place just in case the owner returns.

With reference to the other thread, I'd like to say that when someone is ill or has an accident and is away for months, that's different and it's nice if their kit is stored away carefully.
 
Sorry! I wasn't clear - I can quite understand the jump poles YO being irate. I was ver sorry and said so and if he'd said I couldn't go get them then I'd have had to leave them, and I wouldn't have blamed him! It was purely and totally my fault, same if they'd been damaged whilst here (they were being used).

The mats YO less so as there was a snow storm when we left so things were a bit fill on. We agreed to arrange a time to go and collect them and we tried a few times to sort put a day/time, but due to the layout of the yard, it was of benefit for the YO to keep them and there was never a good time. So be it. The last time we tried we didn't rant and rave, just drove away. Never told anyone which yard, so nobody has been put down over it.
 
And again, to be clear (though why anyone on here would think I'd say something to harm another member!), this is different to someone leaving something because they're ill, this was just a muse on the things left behind because of not enough/time/forgot/oops.
 
Your response MJATBT is over the top for this thread.

My aim was a tongue in cheek thread for those of us who have left things by mistake and been slow in collecting.

If you read it as I wrote it, I do not blame the jump pole YO. His liveries were getting use out of the poles, so not so onerous in this instance I don't think.

The mats YO less so, as we had arranged to collect, but they were never available. When they told us to just go up and get them, and we found them in full use, we left, rather than disturb someone else's horse and bed, ie the new livery. The YO in that case was making use out of something we had left at their suggestion and which we agreed we were collecting. We didn't rant, just put it down to experience.
 
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Oneof my liveries has left a full set of showjumps at her last yard, because her mare is retiring, and mine are dressage horses, so there's no point having them here - and the last YO was delighted to have them on long term loan. She made an itemised list of what she'd left, and they both signed it - everyone happy.

Previously, if I have left a yard and had stuff I didn't want - I've put it all in a box, with a note saying "Being binned on (leaving date)-please help yourself", and then chucked out anything that no-one wanted.
 
I left a trunk of stuff at a yard for several months after my horse was put down and my mum was seriously ill in hospital. The only thing that went missing was a torch. The YO was lovely she even supervised my horse being PTS for me as I couldn't face it. I don't think things should be left indefinitely but things happen to people and its nice if people can be a bit sympathetic rather nick all your stuff and get miffed when you want it back.

In MrsMozarts case they were getting free use of equipment so hardly onerous they were just annoyed that someone else wasn't subsidising their equipment anymore.
 
And as a final note, I spoke to both YOs a few times over the months, and despite knowing all access codes for both places, I wouldn't have dreamt of going on-site if I hadn't had their express permission and a day and time for my visit.
 
We've had liveries leave stuff at our yard, I think it depends on the reason, illness and other life crises of course that is understandable. We have a friend who has some stuff left when she had to sell her horse ( a very sad sale) but its neatly stored away, we are allowed to use her wheelbarrow and broom and I don't have to worry about where it is.

Another livery just left all her stuff out on the yard, was gone for the winter, got another horse in the spring and then got cranky because her stuff had been used/moved/lost/broken. I personally hadn't used them but obviously others had and I hadn't noticed, that was her look out really.

Earlier this year we had some weirdo who kept a horse at our place for a couple of months, told a lot of lies, didn't look after the horse when it was injured, and then just left. She took all his rugs and grooming stuff but left her mucking out tools and feed (which about summed up her attitude toward the poor thing really) The feed went mouldy in the end and had to be thrown, we had to clear her disgusting stable for her, and we had looked after her horse a lot when she was too lazy or busy to so after a few months went by and she didn't appear, I kept her mucking out tools. Obviously, if she came for them I would hand them over, but she hasn't yet.

In the case of something really expensive like tack or jumps in your case Mrs Mozart, I think you are justified in being upset and the liveries shouldn't have assumed you wouldn't want them back
 
Hi Mrs M, I can easily see how you would leave things in that situation. I have a bit of a rule which is if I dont want something to go walkies, I am very careful about leaving it at any yard. I dont think there is often malice, but people do borrow things and if you are not there to check up on a very frequent basis they gradually forget to put them back and the next thing you know its gone. After a while I think people genuinely dont realise it is not theirs! I have lost a really lovely big bag (I know where it is but too shy to ask for it back!!) and a girth just in a space of about 3 weeks when i was away. Shame about your mats though! x
 
I've got someone else's rubber matting at the front of my stable - I've genuinely no idea whose & when I asked the YM she told me not to worry about it. To be fair, P is 14hh & barefoot, so not doing any damage to it - I was going to move it before I moved in, but there's no way I could move it on my own & nowhere to store it. What can you do?

I've been there two years & no one has ever come back for it - although if they did, it's not mine, so of course they are welcome to it. If I left, I'd leave it in the stable.

I hope no one thinks I'm being cheeky now, having read this thread!
 
I'm not miffed or upset, well, I was over the mats at the time, but leason learnt and we move on (taking all our stuff with us ;) :)).

I can fully understand the jump pole YO being miffed. Would fully have understood if he'd told me to bob off. Would have not whinged if any poles had been damaged. My choice/fault.

In my case, lesson definitely learnt - if one is able to move the gear then do so, or have a written agreement in place :)
 
I'm an organised mover when I move yard and horses.
Before the move I clean my kit, send rugs to the cleaners and box everything up. Rubber mats are taken out, washed and stacked and stables scrubbed. If its winter, the horses will have enough bedding put down for the last night ready for a quick muck out.
I'd hate to leave stuff behind partly because its so blooming expensive, and partly because it's the final act of being a decent livery. Clean up and don't leave stuff behind as space is usually very limited on livery yards.

We last moved during a snow storm and the new yard was snowed in. We had to live out of boxes for the next 24 hours. It was manageable but not fun.
 
MrsMozart said:
Your response MJATBT is over the top for this thread.

My aim was a tongue in cheek thread for those of us who have left things by mistake and been slow in collecting.

If you read it as I wrote it, I do not blame the jump pole YO. His liveries were getting use out of the poles, so not so onerous in this instance I don't think.

The mats YO less so, as we had arranged to collect, but they were never available. When they told us to just go up and get them, and we found them in full use, we left, rather than disturb someone else's horse and bed, ie the new livery. The YO in that case was making use out of something we had left at their suggestion and which we agreed we were collecting. We didn't rant, just put it down to experience.
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No hun I don't think I am being "OTT". Your thread didn't appear to be in "lighthearted" mode; so I responded with a genuine sentiment on how I, as a YO, saw liveries who leave their things hanging around after they've left and then expect the YO to "store" it for them to pick up when it suits. It doesn't!!! Liveries come, they are allowed to store their things here (at own risk); when they go, they go on a certain date and the normal rules of courtesy apply, i.e. when the term of the "livery" ceases - and payment for that service ceases, the livery is expected to take their stuff with them on that date OR if not possible on the day of vacating the yard, at a pre-arranged time and date with me the YO, NOT leave their junk for me to deal with! If someone were to be taken poorly or there is other good reason for leaving the stuff, I'd naturally ensure it was placed somewhere as safe as we could manage to be collected at some point.

But to leave stuff for months on end and then think its OK to come back and re-claim it??? No way is that acceptable, and I therefore refuse to be labelled "OTT" :)
 
When A loan horse I used to loan was suddenly moved he left his keiffer bridle behind. I'd already stopped loaning him at this point so I had no idea he'd gone. When I went back a few months later to work there for a day a lovely lady had kept it safe in her tack locker for me to stop it being used by someone else/the riding school. It is of great sentimental value to me so I was very grateful.

When I bought my current horse and moved him to my current yard there where some rugs in the tack room that had been left there for 6 years, no one had any idea whose they where. I used them on my horse whilst he was still growing and I was prepared to hand them back if anyone came back for them. The rugs are still there but they have been turned into a cat bed!
 
If you read my clarifications you'll see that I didn't think it was alright re the poles and wouldn't have been surprised if the YO had told me, in one of our telephone conversations, to bob off. You interpreted my OP one way, which I hadn't intended, others the way I had. I've clarified even though I thought it was clear the first time.

It sounds like you suffer from a number of people leaving stuff. I've moved yards a number of times (turnout is usually the issue, or the lack of it) and friends have moved with me, moving up to ten horses at a time, and we've only left things at three yards - two prearranged (though only got one the fencing back and not the mats), and one not, which I apologized to the relevant YO for and would not have been surprised or kicked up a fuss if he'd said I couldn't have them back.

This was meant to be a lighthearted thread referencing the daft things people had left behind, such as how the heck can one forget something like jump poles(?!), but it's not gone that way so I, for one, will go and consider how I could have worded it better :)
 
Hypothetically, if someone left a really irritating relative at a yard they were leaving, would they have to reclaim them? I think I could find a yard with space to join for a while if I can abandon my sister in law there when I leave! :D Sorry, someone used the phrase light hearted...

Regarding the OP: why didn't the YO ever get in contact to ask about these jumps? Doesn't communication work both ways? After all, the jumps were used whilst at the yard, so hardly just junk! And rubber mat user person was a bit cheeky considering OP attempted to collect them several times!

When we moved yard last time, I had very little to bring: injured pony, headcollar and leadrope, feed bucket. Staff hid (yes, deliberately hid) the feedbucket just before we loaded up, so I left that and came back the next day for it. Staff apparently couldn't find it. Demanded the feedbucket or its cash equivilent. It appeared almost magically from the office.

Have also been at a yard where they even offered bags to take your useable shavings away in! And a week's supply of hay to get horse settled in elsewhere. They were lovely people.
 
I've only ever been on one livery yard and I'm still there (I work there); I also have a horse at home. When I arrived I brought a lot of stuff with me but had to buy feed bins etc as I obviously couldn't bring the shared ones from home. There was a feed bin that no one was using and no one was sure who owned it, so I have been using it ever since. Obviously if someone said it was theirs and wanted it back I would give it back. My tack and all my gear is stored in an old wardrobe that someone didn't want to take with them when they left, so I will of course leave it behind when I go. Same goes for my stable mats - my boss was selling her lorry and gutting it first, she was going to scrap the rubber mats off the floor but I asked if I could have one for my stable. She said I could but I will leave it when I go as it's not really mine. I will be taking everything of mine with me when I leave, and disposing of anything that needs to be disposed - I can't stand when people leave the yard and leave odd boots, ripped rugs, broken tack etc behind them!
 
In his defense the YO didn't know they were there until I told him when we were talking on another matter :). He said I could pick them up any time. Life went a bit pear shaped and I spoke to him a couple more times before we actually set a day and time. He was fine until I was actually taking them then he got a bit irate, which is just how he is, so I kept apologizing and if at any point he'd said no then I'd have left them as even though we'd discussed it, I still felt in the wrong.

Glad you got your feed bucket! That's an odd one.

I've been given feed bins by a YO that a livery had left. I felt a bit awkward but the YO was a force to be reckoned with and when you have two horses and need them to be homed and not turfed out on their ear then you smile sweetly and say thank you :). I would have given them back had the old livery turned up :)

I've moved onto yards where the previous livery has left their full and disgusting deep littered beds, one assumes in an attempt to get at the YO, only it's, on my experience anyway, the new livery who's left shoveling doodah.
 
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I can't say iv ever moved and left stuff behind, I don't understand why you would.

Whenever iv moved I have had to give the yard I'm leaving a months notice, I move most of my stuff about 2/3 days before the horse. The day before I move the only thing I leave at the old yard is the horse and some emergency feed and medical bits.

So the day I leave all I have to do is muck out, take water bucket, Haynet, feed buckets and the horse itself.
 
We usually do the same :)

No idea how we managed to leave poles behind! Probably because they were round in the school and we'd only had them since being at that yard so weren't used to moving them :)

Have come across old saddles, bits, rugs, wheelbarrows (dying ones), rakes, sweeping brushes, grooming kits, chairs, a dead fridge/freezer, buckets, and at one place an entire rubbish dump that took us a couple of days to shift.
 
I have not long returned from the yard and I was thinking of this thread, there's an empty stable where people store feeds and stuff like that and in the corner is a dusty pushchair, one of those 3 wheel off road jobbies, no idea whose that is!
 
Sorry........ meant to add that the NICEST thing that someone ever left at our yard was a really lovely livery called "F". Her horse and mine bonded, and we both gone on very well. Then her horse had to be PTS, and she then left (obviously) and a few months later her and OH bought a private estate and started again with horses ......... BUT she left me her old boy's rug, which fitted mine, and which I believe helped him to get over the loss of his old mate as it would've smelt of him.

It was/is a lovely rug: I still have it, goodness knows how many years later - and even after a few repairs its still very usable!!!
 
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