Livery being paid to ride my horse every week, BUT ARE THEY DOING IT?

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radharc05

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Hi there
Hope somebody can help. My horse is in a livery yard and I am paying for the privlige of him being ridden out twice a week (to keep him from maybe getting to fresh). Problem is I have reason to believe they are not , but how can I be sure? Short of staking out the place and dressing up in camoflage gear! Has anybody got any hints or tips? Any help would be
much appreciated. Thanks to everybody in advance XX <font color="orange"> </font>
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leave your tack arranged in a certain way? stirrups on uneven holes?, take it home to clean and see if they notice? ask them what days they are riding this week or how he went/what they did?
 
Thanks so much for you speedy reply. But another problem is that they dont have a tack room and use their own tack that they own themselves? Anyway I can mark his girth I wonder? Hmmmmm
 
What is making you beleive they are not riding the horse?

Im not beinmg funny, but being ridden twice a week is not going to make the horse less 'fresh'

Lou x
 
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Im not beinmg funny, but being ridden twice a week is not going to make the horse less 'fresh'

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For many horses it will make a huge difference.
 
See I ride 2-3 times per week. I'm just getting back into the saddle after years (so v.novicy I suppose). I'm just happier that in case I dont get up to ride, that they are keeping on top of it. But I have a sneaky feeling!
 
maybe you would rub some chalk on the inside of the girth , i'm sure it would no longer be there after use

i agree that being ridden twice a week should certainly make a difference to a fresh horse compared to not at all
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Could you just ask a fellow livery just to keep an eye out? That is seriously naughty if they aren't doing it! Hope you find out soon.
 
Bring up your own tack and boots and tell them to use it.
Leave your tack and boots in a certain position and see if it moves.
I agree with Holly_P, they should use your tack not their own because of the fit..
 
i also am a bit shocked that they are using their own tack, if i were in your situation, i would say i want them to only use my tack and then as another member said, leave stirrups of different lengths etc.
 
ditto all the stuff about tack. never heard of communal tack, that's not good. You pay a lot of money for tack because it fits your horse.

This sounds all a bit dodgy.
 
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If you've lost the trust with the Yard i'd move my horse.

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I am inclined to agree with this comment
 
Simple

Ask them not to ride your horse for a month and see if you see any clear difference when you exercise him, if your paying for them to do it, there must be reason for this ....as you feel that it does make a difference, so just ask them not to exercise him to see if there is a difference, if there is you will clearly see....if not them perhaps you no longer need to pay for this privilege....thus saving you money!

Just an idea
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Unless you have an off the peg horse (which we don't), are you saying they stick any saddle on him &amp; ride off, Sounds odd to me...


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Lets be realistic here, many yards have a wide selection of different tack and it may be that they have a saddle which fits him well and fits their exercise rider better than the horse's own tack.
 
A friend of mine a few years ago sent her daughter's showjumping pony to a well known trainer / ex-showjumper for schooling (at huge cost!). Over the weeks, she noticed that the pony had been rubbing it's magnificent full white tail, and although no longer 'full of it' and naughty, wasn't a lot different to ride. it turns out that all the schooling involved ws putting the pony on the walker twice a day. it had rubbed its tail off sitting on the back board of the walker!
 
i must be honest i have worked at some dodgy yards when the client thought their horses were being ridden and all they got was a wazz on the lunge or just put on the walker. When i left my last yard they did this with a lovely very novice lady who had a nasty fall, the horse hadnt been touched for weeks, hence i told her horse hadnt been ridden and she left. I didnt feel guilty either.
 
i would ask to see the horse ridden-one can usually tell if someone is used to riding it, esp if its been there for a while
it the rider struggles to get him to work id be abit suspicious its the first time they've sat on him.

i would want my horses ridden in their own tack-i get it fitted to them so they are comfy and able to work properly!
you could arrange it in a specific way-maybe with the girth layed over the top and really clean-if its got horse grease on it, its been used.not to say its been on your horse of course...

is there any reason not to trust the yard?
 
To the original post - discuss it! I know that sounds delusional but if you are dealing with a professional outfit they should be happy to discuss what, exactly is going on with your horse and answer questions without getting offended. Ask when the horse is usually ridden, what's been going on with him, how their work should relate to your riding him etc. Discuss why you think, regarding his behaviour, that the current situation is not working. (Note, I'm not saying they might not be lying to you. I've been around far too much to think everyone does everything they say they'll do.) Ask if you could start a book for him, or at least a calendar to mark down what he does when for your own planning and information. (This is standard practice if I don't see/speak to clients regularly.) Or could they send you a text letting you know how it went. Again, I'm not saying they couldn't fake this too but you're reminding them you're paying attention and making it a lot harder to write you off as someone to fool.

If you have a trainer riding your horse, or supervising someone else riding it, even just for exercise, you have a right - a responsibility even - to know what's going on. Presumably you're paying for a reason and if that reason is not being addressed then you have to change the situation.

If you really don't feel you can have this conversation with the person in charge then I would agree you might have a larger problem. These people are working FOR you and while you should take their professional advice, they should also provide it for you in an accessible manner. Is whoever is instructing you doing the riding/supervising? Ask that your lesson topics are incorporated into the riding and the information from the riding is fed back to you so you can use it in your own schooling.

On the tack subject, if this is a professional yard, doing this sort of thing regularly they may very well have tack to fit. It has not been my experience that professional yards, dealing in number in the double digits, have a saddle for EVERY horse, but rather have a range and pads (gasp!!) to the vast majority of day to day needs. I would also ask, what's the situation if the owner's tack does not fit the rider? This is not a good situation either - it's very difficult to ride in a secure and sympathetic way in ill fitting equipment, however expensive. In the spirit of full disclosure, when my business was at its peak I had 5 saddles and about half my client's horses used one of mine for various reasons. In a few cases I've even had people send horses in tack that didn't fit as well as mine!

I do know horses for whom two rides a week makes a big difference. I know some that are different with one ride a week. Depends on the horse, depends on the ride.
 
i used to work in a competition yard where they often 'ran out of time' or 'forgot' to school liveries. Owners weren't numpties, but were fooled by convincing stories of how their ponies had gone (helped that they were trained by said schooler).

I'd ask them straight (much harder to lie than to make up elaborate story) or ask other liveries. Chances are if they think you've caught them out they'll be a little more vilagent in future. Don't like the chalk/sneaking about ideas, seems you'd be as dishonest as them. If you don't trust them, leave and tell the new yard why you left - hopefully they won't do the same!
 
I agree with nearly everyone who's already commented.
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I would want them to use my tack, I'd also ask how he'd been when they rode and what they did with him. Are you paying for them to hack out or school? If you are not convinced they are riding and you can't tell then save yourself some money and lunge him for 15 mins before you get on.
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The best way is to look them in the eye and ask them straight!
Insist your tack is used so you can double check if need be.
This sort of thing happen's all the time on yard's I'm afraid.
 
If he is in his winter coat, without being clipped, then I would say it's fairly easy to see if he has been ridden or not. He will have girth marks and the saddle area will be flattened to an extent. If he is clipped then I'd say if you look closely then you should still be able to see if he has had tack on during the week.

I have also known places where they take money for doing jobs/ridden work/etc and do not follow through. There has to be trust here, and sadly if you have lost trust in this place, then you need to consider either having it out with them, or moving the horse.

On the subject of tack, most producing/training yards have their own tack; generally a number of saddles in all shapes and sizes, so them not using his own saddle wouldn't unnecessarily bother me, providing they did have one which fitted reasonably well. I would also check that YOUR saddle fits him well. I've had that before, my saddles fit the horse much better than their owners one!

I had a horse that I was doing some training on recently. I happened to be a horse which I used to own as a youngster and backed myself a few years ago. The horse was sold to an owner for a year, they did nothing with him and then when they ran out of money needed to sell him. I had a buyer for him and so he returned to livery at my place. A year had taken a toll on this horse and he was not the same horse I had sold the year previously. Anyhow the new owner knew she was getting him cheap because he had been left for a year, so she asked me if I would work on him to get him back to how he was prior to leaving my ownership. Within a couple of weeks, with a fair amount of extra training (which I didn't charge the owner for) over and above that which she was paying for, the horse was pretty much as he had been prior to his move. I had absolutely no problems with him; he had remembered most things I'd taught him as a youngster and by the end of the first month, I was very pleased with him. The owner was also pleased with him, however she apparently had problems with picking his feet up and tacking up, so I spent some more extra time (again unpaid) to do these things every day with him - problem was, I never had any trouble whatsoever with them, every time I went to do these things, the horse was totally obliging...so then I took time out to watch her, and it was the owner who was not getting it, not the horse, hence I spent a bit more time showing her where she was going wrong. A few months fast-forward, all is absolutely perfect. All wrinkles have been sorted out and everyone is happy. The point I am making is that if you are still having some problems with the horse, it could easily not be because they are not doing their job, it could be that you are not following through on what they are doing? I think if I was you, I would book a few lessons (or go out for a hack) with the person who is supposed to be riding the horse and just talk to her when you have any issues. She will then be able to see first hand what is going on, and as she rides the horse too, could give you some pointers?

Communication is the key here, and if you are not satisfied that you are getting value for money, or you feel you are being cheated, then say so, or leave.
 
if you are doing or contemplating such things as chalking your horse (is this CSI?!!) then you shouldnt be using their services as you obviously dont trust them to do it.

If this mis-trust has come from other events at the yard then its possibly not the best place for you to be at.
i think you said your a novice or returning after a break? some people can bit a bit sly and quick to take advantage so just make sure your on a genuine yard with genuine people. they are out there.

as already mentioned perhaps lunge him before riding - or get a 1/2 loan or similar to help you with the riding.
 
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