Livery going up

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StaceyTanglewood

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Can everyone tell me if their livery has gone up in the last 2 years ??

Im currently having a problem with one of my liveries who is argueing the fact that she should get a discount for going onto straw (instead of Ecobed/shavings) - but as she has been with us for 2 years i have said she wont as she will now pay the same as everyone else who came this year - i havent put her livery up in the time they have been there but all new people were charged slightly more !!

They are trying to say the price of everything hasnt gone up - ha ha i wish !!! im sure inflation goes up 3% a year !!

why oh why do people have to be so funny - and think us livery yard owners make a huge profit !!!
 
Well ours went up but in that straw is no longer included in price. So costs me fiver plus extra a week for shavings per horse,so instead of 25 wk now approx 30 per wk.
YO sees this as rise so hopefully won't touch it again for a while.
 
All bedding, mucking out, ad lib hay is included plus they have my foaling box which is 16x12 !!!

I havent put up any of the livery up and am trying to keep costs down for people which is why we changed from shavings as this was so expensive and the quality was awful !!

i am full livery only x
 
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Ours went up at the start of last year by £5 a month.
Everyone is charged the same, regardless of how long they've been on for.

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At my yard eveyone is charged differently depening on what you want - i dont see how i can charge the same for a 16.3 as a 14.2 !!!

They were also my first ever liveries - I then realised id slightly undercharged but didnt put there prices up !!! they will now be paying on equal level as everyone else !
 
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At my yard eveyone is charged differently depening on what you want - i dont see how i can charge the same for a 16.3 as a 14.2 !!!

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That must get quite confusing! Unless the stable size is very different between a 16.3 and a 14.2 I don't really see the difference. Some of the 13hh ponies on our yard eat more haylage than my 16hh horse!
 
Has she changed bedding at her choice or your choice and is bedding included in livery?

Even if she is only DIY, your costs have gone up dramatically this last year or two; your maintenance costs, electricity, insurance etc. You can't keep supplementing it out of your own pocket else why have liveries to start with?! Even a DIYer should be able to provide you with a small profit, even if it's only a couple of pounds a week, it all adds up so I would be telling her to pay up or move; what else has had static prices for 2 years, she's been very lucky? In future, perhaps it might be an idea to tell liverires that their rates will be moving up according to your rising costs but not until absolutely necessary or have a date set for an increase and you absorb any extra costs until then; that way they know what to expect but also know you won't just hike prices up because you feel like it!
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Our basic livery went up last year by £5 per month no matter what size the horse. This increase had to cover the increased cost of insurance and water rates. Given that hay and straw went to stupid money last year as well I am very surprised the costs for those were not increased.

IMO its very devisive to have certain liveries on a preferential rate.
 
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At my yard eveyone is charged differently depening on what you want - i dont see how i can charge the same for a 16.3 as a 14.2 !!!

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That must get quite confusing! Unless the stable size is very different between a 16.3 and a 14.2 I don't really see the difference. Some of the 13hh ponies on our yard eat more haylage than my 16hh horse!

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yes stable size is different ponies in 10 x 10 some horses have 12 x 12 and some in 12 x 14 !!!

no not at all it works really well - i used to hate paying the same for my 15hh horse as the next horse that was 17hh and have 4 times as much as mine did !!
 
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Our basic livery went up last year by £5 per month no matter what size the horse. This increase had to cover the increased cost of insurance and water rates. Given that hay and straw went to stupid money last year as well I am very surprised the costs for those were not increased.

IMO its very devisive to have certain liveries on a preferential rate.

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they wernt on a preferential rate and no one knows what each other pays - they have been with us for a long time (18 months before i had anymore liveries)
 
Right basically what has happened is ive changed my bedding from Hunter shavings to Ecobed which is slightly cheaper to keep the cost down of everyone's livery - if we hadnt of changed the price would of gone up !!

This livery loves white beds and threw a huge strop when i said we were changing -0 then told me that prices had gone up and she would pay £25 a month more (per horse) to stay on shavings !! But to be honest its not about the money if i let her do it i have to let everyone etc etc - this person also runs there bed down every 3 weeks then does a brand new white shavings bed so our trailer gets filled up quicker !!

Anyway when we said no we arnt having shavings she said fine ill go on straw - another lady had gone on straw and i gave her a discount - 1 because she acame to me with money problems and 2 she paid for 2 bags of shavings a week (not just one like the other livery) so this is why she thinks there should be a discount when she now actually pays the same as the other woman !!!
 
I am sure she will find that if she works her salary goes up every year to take into account cost of living!

Our livery goes up every year and mine has gone up by £4 a month - I am on DIY.
 
Absolutely is Amymay right - tell her to shape up or ship out!

I also think that you are waaaayy to kind doing individual rates for people depending on size or horse etc. Have one set rate for full livery, no exceptions - that's what most full livery yards do isn't it? Certainly our YO does. I'm on her DIY yard, but I know her full livery yard is run like this.

You are just being far too nice and accommodating and unfortunately there will always be people out there who take advantage of this.
 
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Absolutely is Amymay right - tell her to shape up or ship out!

I also think that you are waaaayy to kind doing individual rates for people depending on size or horse etc. Have one set rate for full livery, no exceptions - that's what most full livery yards do isn't it? Certainly our YO does. I'm on her DIY yard, but I know her full livery yard is run like this.

You are just being far too nice and accommodating and unfortunately there will always be people out there who take advantage of this.

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I like the fact that my rates are different and find it does work extremely well - as does letting everyone buy there individual feed (a no 2 horses really every eat the same)

To be honest as they were my first liveries i did let them get away with a few things at first but since then ive learnt my lesson and got a bit stricter - i dont think they like that !!
 
When i first moved to the yard i'm at now, the livery was £9o/month inc straw, about a week after i moved it changed to £90/month not inc straw so went up by making people pay for their straw. Last year it went up to £100/month. Still very reasonable IMO
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My yard offers free straw and if you don't want to use it you can pay for you own bedding. There is no discount for not using straw. Which I think is fair.
My livery has recently gone up £5 a week, I think it is totally fair as EVERYTHING else has gone up, feed costs, petrol......
We haven't had an increse for 5 years so it was about time really.
I pay £55 per week for assisted livery, my horse is turned out/in, rugs am, fed, given hay. I muck out and excercise. Bargain I think.

Pilib X
 
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You don't have to justify your costs to her.
If she doesn't like it - auvoir
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I think its worth having a conversation with her that basically says what youve told us - perhaps she doesnt understand that people are on different rates ?

At the end of the day everyone likes to be treated like an adult. If that conversation doesnt work, then by all means says Au Revoir
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You don't have to justify your costs to her.
If she doesn't like it - auvoir
wink.gif


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I think its worth having a conversation with her that basically says what youve told us - perhaps she doesnt understand that people are on different rates ?

At the end of the day everyone likes to be treated like an adult. If that conversation doesnt work, then by all means says Au Revoir
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the thing is its not the first thing that we have had words over !!

Leaving lights on all night in the hay barn - bringing up her daughters frineds who i said were not allowed on my yard as they are not very nice kids - i go on holiday and she brings them up !!

Wanting horses moved into different fields -oh the list goes on !! maybe its best all round if she does go !!
 
Sounds like you are making a bit of a rod for your own back....as others have said - your yard, your rules.....do hope that you have a proper livery agreement to protect yourself if needs be....

I think that, with proper notice period of any changes, then should not be a problem. Costs have rocketted recently and this is your livelihood.

I have been lucky enough to only spend a few months in a livery yard and now have my own facilities again, but I really appreciated the clear guidelines that I was given at the start, everything in writing, etc. The yard did me a deal as I had 3 big horses and a companion pony, but when my old horse died and the pony went into his box, I paid for the box, not the size of the pony in it! Fair enough....

They added 75p onto a bale of Bedmax - and I could buy as much as I liked at their price. Maybe you need to be a bit tougher with this livery - and are you prepared to lose her?

Best of luck,

Catherine
 
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Absolutely is Amymay right - tell her to shape up or ship out!

I also think that you are waaaayy to kind doing individual rates for people depending on size or horse etc. Have one set rate for full livery, no exceptions - that's what most full livery yards do isn't it? Certainly our YO does. I'm on her DIY yard, but I know her full livery yard is run like this.

You are just being far too nice and accommodating and unfortunately there will always be people out there who take advantage of this.

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We have folk on our yard who get s discount for paying in cash or having to! My mate pays £200 per stable, I pay £260 for mine. A discount if you have 2 horses is ok, but thats a £120 discount that has to be made up by others and IMHO is not really fair. Maybe knock £50 off total.

But you should just have set rates for horses and is you want one for ponies. Write this up, post it up as a notice and give each livery a copy. But speak to the one who NEEDS the discount separately - I assume its only a temporary measure?
 
Yes I put my livery prices up as of this month. It's the first raise in 3 years and keeps in line with fuel, feed, wormer, farrier and hay prices escalating. My prices are all-inclusive of worming and farriery.

I charge different prices for each category; weanlings are cheapest, then yearlings and ponies, and then the most expensive is horses.

My liveries who have been here longer receive a discount and my liveries who have multiple horses receive a discount.

Not one of my liveries complained about the increase - most of them told me it was about time, LOL!!

You are offering what you are offering in with the price; if your customer chooses not to use what is available then that is her decision and as such she should have to pay the livery price and anything on top to buy her straw as extra.
 
i have recently had the exact same problem! im plsd im not alone!lol had to put prices up,
anyway i had a back lash, especially from one livery, who have known for years so thought they were entitlied to exception!? i asked they muck out more sensibly which seemed to improve til prices went up and they just got ridiculous filling trailer etc etc.. getting their moneys worth i suspect!! but its not just the cost increase in bedding were having to deal with its everything from counciltax and water to feed and fuel. i did ask wether they had a wage rise in line with inflation - apparantly thts irrelevant!?
its hard, livery prices have been so static for years! i too have seperate prices for horses and ponies.
 
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