Liveries who can't pay during virus.-

Penny Less said:
Slightly off topic but Ive been wondering how riding schools have been managing with no income from lessons/hacking
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One near me had a 'go fund me' type thing to raise £5k.

Another has told the farmer they rent the land off that they can't pay their rent until they can do group lessons again (he sold a lot of land for housing so while appreciating bills need paying the farmer is far from on the breadline!)
 
My local one has been doing all sorts of fundraising. Photo shows, raffles to win free lessons and hacks, sponsor a pony, selling old horseshoes to the parents as art project materials and probably a few I’ve missed.

They were lucky that they could chuck most of the horses in the fields as they’ve got fairly poor grazing so no real risk even to the ponies.

They also asked riders to buy gift vouchers for future lessons so they had a bit of income now.

They’ve also started doing individual lessons in one of the fields rather than the indoor school, so although they’ve lost grazing, they’ve at least been able to start getting some income.

If things had gone on much longer, they were going to consider putting the retired ponies down but as they’re all small and cheap to feed, it would probably have cost more to do that than would have been saved on their keep.
 
I think realistically if people cannot pay your livery bills than you have to think is horse ownership for you. I think it not fair for yard owner go without money just because livery cannot pay because yard owner have bills to pay themselves. They are predicting a another corona virus outbreak in the winter so the country could shut down again. My local riding school used rant more land that had a indoor and stables they have stopped ranting forever as a result of losing money . it’s a small riding school now.
 
Ish2020 said:
I think realistically if people cannot pay your livery bills than you have to think is horse ownership for you. I think it not fair for yard owner go without money just because livery cannot pay because yard owner have bills to pay themselves
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normally I would agree with you re money and horse ownership but I’m not sure anyone predicted they would need months and months of savings in case of a pandemic.

I think it’s a case of trying to be as fair as possible so everyone can try and muddle through this and get to the other side!
 
My livery ( I just have the one) has been furloughed from the beginning and hubby was laid off the week before lockdown so no furlough money for him. She was paying me a little extra to feed and check her pony 5 days a week before lockdown. We knocked that on the head, turned them all out together and gave them both the summer paddocks. In exchange I have just asked that she keeps on top of the poo picking (does her fair share) and checks on mine when she is there. Its worked really well for us and neither of us (i dont think) feel we are getting a raw deal.

I know this wouldn't work for everyone but this has worked for us. And if it stops working we'll change things around again.
 
In a normal situation yes, but with hospitality industry taking such a hit, it is difficult. A lot of people before probably thought they would always be able to get work in bars, restaurants, & leisure either as their main source of income or a back up to tide them over between jobs. Now these services jobs are not available in such large numbers it is a problem.

Ish2020 said:
I think realistically if people cannot pay your livery bills than you have to think is horse ownership for you. I think it not fair for yard owner go without money just because livery cannot pay because yard owner have bills to pay themselves. They are predicting a another corona virus outbreak in the winter so the country could shut down again. My local riding school used rant more land that had a indoor and stables they have stopped ranting forever as a result of losing money . it’s a small riding school now.
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Wow just going through this thread and realising how lucky I am!

I keep mine at a private yard where I'm the only non family pony.
The family are wonderful and not covid related but recently another horse arriving meant mine spent 2 weeks out 24/7 instead of coming in overnight with the others while her new stable was built and painted.
(She is the only one sensible enough to be left out unsupervised)
Pony was happy, I was happy, YO adamant that I should pay less this month because less feed and bedding were used.
I will be paying my usual amount regardless!
I pay a flat monthly rate for stable bedding and haylage, and in my mind if she’s cheaper for the YO in the summer that will offset against increased winter costs.
 
Michen said:
Not trying to be inflammatory but just curious. Do you not have access to funds on a credit card? If I didn’t have any savings (which I don’t) I’d certainly want to know I have a few k on a credit card to easily access. Most people are able to get some form of credit.

I wouldn’t be comfortable paying the YO late due to current circumstances, providing I could access the money even if that meant debt. Using the YO as credit is, IMO, not acceptable unless a last resort (which I do appreciate will be the case for many).
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Bear in mind though that not everyone can get a credit card with a few grand on it.
 
Penny Less said:
Slightly off topic but Ive been wondering how riding schools have been managing with no income from lessons/hacking
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One of the riding schools near me has shut down as a result of no income over lockdown and not being able to viably restart group lessons. I think it is really sad, I would never have learnt to ride without a riding school.
 
Penny Less said:
Slightly off topic but Ive been wondering how riding schools have been managing with no income from lessons/hacking
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In short, it's been a nightmare, we got the small business rates grant and help to pay furloughed staff plus as a BHS approved centre we got £750 from them but I have had to take out a bounce back loan from the bank to keep afloat. We have some income from liveries but some owned by an RDA group based with us have left to save money so income has in no way met expenses over lockdown. We are in Scotland so the easing of restrictions has been slower than England, we are now at the stage where a coach can teach two private lessons a day but not groups unless from the same household so income is still very limited and doesn't cover staff wages. Some yards are blatantly disregarding the rules which is annoying but not worth the risk IMO. I really hope we survive.
 
stormox said:
I wouldnt be at all happy living on credit. Borrow a few quid by all means but racking up thousands on a credit card isnt a good idea.
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But if they cant borrow of anyone then credit card is the only option? I had to furlough until recently, I keep my horses privately - you find the money to pay for them. I have no choice but to do so I dont understand why some on livery think its ok not to pay... Why should the YO pick up the bill for keeping other peoples horses...
 
MagicMelon said:
But if they cant borrow of anyone then credit card is the only option? I had to furlough until recently, I keep my horses privately - you find the money to pay for them. I have no choice but to do so I dont understand why some on livery think its ok not to pay... Why should the YO pick up the bill for keeping other peoples horses...
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Stormox didn't say he/she wouldn't pay the yard owner. Stormox only said that living on credit isn't a good way to go. And I agree.
 
Penny Less said:
Slightly off topic but Ive been wondering how riding schools have been managing with no income from lessons/hacking
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The one I go to sent most of the horses away to pasture out in Normandy. Only the few who don't do well in herds were kept at the yard, so that the staff would have enough time to exercise them. The company that runs the yard and school also runs several others. Livery fees would still be coming in for those that were not sent away.

It's a company that runs these four yards/schools, and has been in business long enough to have competent management (in personnel, financial and equine matter) and I would expect it to have good enough relationships with its suppliers of feed and bedding to be able to negotiate a bit of leeway for paying invoices.

It seems to me from listening to the radio that companies here in France have been getting better support and clearer guidance from the government than have those in the UK. Tax and mandatory payroll contribution holidays have been granted to businesses, furlough was quite generous (employer pays 80% of salary and the government reimburses that), and there was supposed to be a rent holiday for businesses and some individuals.
 
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