Livery Increase

Kayfm

Kayfm

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OMG as if trying to keep your head above water at this moment in time isnt enough. Our yo has just increased the livery ! What with hay prices sky high and everything else going up on a regular basis (apart from my wages) the cost of keeping a horse is getting a little silly. Lets hope the hay/straw prices come down again next year, the livery stays the same for a while & I get a pay increase (yeh right) Any one else had their livery increased and how are you all coping ? Even the farrier keeps increasing prices. I know I could sell my horse, but, god, life would be so boring. Another problem is employers are just not giving cost of living increases which makes your standard of living fall each year. Oh dear think I have depreased my self now !!!! Will have to pig out on chocolate to cheer my self up !
 
We had an increase a year or two ago but it was still mega cheap. Sayin gthat I have moved to a place half the price - hasn;t got the same facilities but then I hardly used them anyway!
 
I think the problem is that costs for everyone including the YO, farrier etc are also going up. and they are all trying to run their businesses at the end of the day - they're unlikely to be trying to rip you off.

It is going to be a horribly expensive winter - and they are forecasting another very long, cold & snowy winter, so it's not going to get any better.

Why not get a sharer if you're really concerned about your finances?
 
The trouble is the YO also has increased costs such as feed, bedding etc. However the rises are sometimes more than the rate of inflation and they still have to remain competative as horse owners will look for the best deals around. Like yourself we will find it a struggle this winter (we have a pay freeze for 3 yrs and one horse which we wanted to sell hasn't sold).
Speaking for ourselves the horses will have a longer break this year and will be competing less to save some money.
 
Yup, my grass keep has gone up by a third this last month...wouldnt complain but I do all the maintenance etc so the Land Owner has no outlay....hmmmmm
 
Don't talk to me about farriers! When I lived in Sussex, it was rapidly approaching the £100/set price tag. I was relieved to move to Suffolk in 2005 and find the farrier still charged £50/set. They went up to £55/set in 2007 and up again at the start of 2010 to £60/set. He has just told me they are now going up again to £65/set. He is charging £40/half set and £25/trim (up from £15 last year). It seems in the last twelve months his prices have suddenly gone through the roof. He is now also adding VAT onto everything ON TOP of these prices. I have downsized from 12 to 3 horses, and yet my farrier bill seems to have remained pretty much the same :(
 
my yard has as well as riding insructer who is freelance ive just started lessons again ,ive put them to once a fortnight instead of once a week and keep my boy at diy assisted but look after him myself
 
Can feel for you. But I own my own place and my feed bill has gone up, bedding gone up, and as I didn't get much hay off my big field and will have to buy in nearer Xmas, and that has shot through the roof and I have 4 too feed.:(:(:(:(:(
 
My rates have gone up, electricity has gone up, shavings have gone up, feed has gone up and is likely to go up again, haylage yield was well down this year due to lack of grass growth earlier in the year, and yes, I will have to put my prices up at the end of the month.:eek:

The alternative is to close the yard or subsidise everyone else's horses myself:confused::rolleyes:

It's called running a business lol :) being competitive is all very well, but not if it results in you going bust;)
 
My yard is the same rent and it won't be increasing- shoes are around £80 per set, but worth every penny.

Haylage has gone up about £1 per bale, so thats not too bad, talk of hard feed prices going up, doesn't seem to have increased on the bags I've recently bought, but no doubt it will over the winter. Have hay already so that's all sorted.

Bedding .... am paying a good price at the moment .. but no doubt that will increase too!

Things are getting very expensive though -especially as I've not been given a payrise for 2 years because the company I work for are a bit short of work, to say the least, but I'm lucky I have a job at the moment, so nothing to complain about really.

I know a livery yard near me has put it's prices up by a huge amount due to haylage prices increasing, I know the farmer that supplies them and he hasn't actually put his prices up by that much!
 
We havnt put our prices up yet ,but have warned people they will go up i just dont know by how much .
Our haylage though has gone up from £30 to £42 a bale and when we can easily use a bale or more a day in the winter ,i just cant afford not to increase what we charge.
With straw and feed also set to go up one wonders how much money we are all going to lose this winter.
Some of ours have had to go back on shavings as the straw isnt the best either so all very frustrating.
And of course the worse thing for us is that by increasing what we charge we may well also hit the VAT barrier and have to charge that as well.
Complete nightmare
 
While I am a livery I do have to sympathise with yard managers at this time of year - I am sure there are some people who are going over board with their additionial charges but there are equally a lot who need to cover their extra costs.

Though, while I can understand why our odd weather this summer has meant hay/feed prices increasing with the shortage, there is a general price increase of everything (and I don't know anyone who has actually enjoyed a salary rise at work!)..
 
sallyf said:
And of course the worse thing for us is that by increasing what we charge we may well also hit the VAT barrier and have to charge that as well.
Complete nightmare
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Unless you're being charge VAT on the stable block you shouldn't have to pass it on to your liveries apart from services, even full livery should be able to get away with it unless you add grooming and riding as apart of it.

but I'm no expert
 
Unfortunately as a stud you are incorrect there ,the only thing we might be able to get away with not charging vat on in grass livery ,once anything else is added in we have to charge it on.
We pay vat on some of the property we let at the moment.
 
Yep ours has gone up too. I can completely understand it for feed/hay etc, my only bug bear is when prices have gone up for something that hasn't changed ;)
 
The alternative is to close the yard or subsidise everyone else's horses myself:confused::rolleyes:

It's called running a business lol :) being competitive is all very well, but not if it results in you going bust;)[/QUOTE]

I am a YO and I have just had to have my first increase in 5 years. I cannot afford to swallow the expenses of haylage and straw going up and I have had to cut back on my competiting a lot this year. I do not make a profit only a living and go out of my way to help my liveries but it is as above now....prices up or no yard left! :)
 
CBFan said:
Poor you!

We haven't yet but it really wouldn't suprise me if our Y/O did... makes you so cross doesn't it!
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Why does it make you cross that your YO puts their prices up? Yards are a business and YOs have to make a living, just like the rest of us. Their energy bills and water bills go up, the price they pay for hay etc goes up so why would you expect your YO to absorb that?

I find this attitude really bizarre. Yards are not a charity and it isn't up to your YO to subsidise you and your horse (this isn't specifically aimed at the poster I've quoted but at everyone who is complaining).

My YO puts her prices up every winter. Not by a great amount but enough to cover costs. I don't have a problem with it. My salary goes up each year, even if only by a small amount, the cost of living generally goes up and I expect my livery bills to increase. Part livery (7 days per week) at my yard was £345 per month when I first moved here 2 years ago; last winter it went up by £10 and this winter it has gone up by another £10. I really can't see that £10 a month as a massive increase. Surely it is only fair that YO's increase their bills? Please remember that most YOs work long hours in pouring rain, have rates and bills to pay at the yard as well as paying themselves a wage out of which they pay the same increasing food, rent and energy bills that the rest of us do.

*rant over*
 
Jeni Ball said:
The alternative is to close the yard or subsidise everyone else's horses myself:confused::rolleyes:

It's called running a business lol :) being competitive is all very well, but not if it results in you going bust;)
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I am a YO and I have just had to have my first increase in 5 years. I cannot afford to swallow the expenses of haylage and straw going up and I have had to cut back on my competiting a lot this year. I do not make a profit only a living and go out of my way to help my liveries but it is as above now....prices up or no yard left! :)[/QUOTE]

^^ This ^^

At my yard, YO writes to us all in March to warn us about summer and winter increases in livery costs. So, in March 2010 I knew how much summer livery (April/May 2010 until Oct/Nov 2010) would be increasing by and how much my winter livery (Oct/Nov 2010 until April/May 2011) would increase. We have plenty of warning and if the extra £10 per month is a real issue for people then they have time to put away that extra bit in time for winter.

I really can't see a problem with YOs putting prices up. They have to cover costs. YO has said in the past that she breaks even at our yard in terms of livery but doesn't make a profit. She has to make her money from lessons, which she does pretty much 7 days a week.
 
Well you know how much my livery for DIY is and if that went up I'd be in big trouble. Luckly she has secured a deal for hay and shavings so they are a very good price but for how long I don't know.
 
And to add to all that, and sorry to be the bearer of bad news, dont forget that VAT is going up to 20% >>>>>dons tin hat and runs for cover!
 
Yes it's a pain, but I don't see how anyone can expect YOs to bear increasing costs themselves. My DIY livery is going to go up this winter - YO told me this when I was looking to move there. It will be tough, but I've had warning and it's completely understandable in this case because our hay and straw are included in the livery costs.

Just think how you would feel if you had someone renting one of your rooms and, come winter, putting your heating on all the time for example - your bills would go up - wouldn't you feel a little inclined to charge them for the extra???
 
I think some comments are side tracking a little. Of course if haylage and straw and everything else has gone up then the yo must increase if on part or full livery etc. Im on DIY, no riding facilities and no real maintenence is done. For what we get I dont think an increase at this time was appropiate. I am however happy on the yard and love the people there. As i was saying, not having a regular wage increase is biting in to my standards of living. *mini rant over*
 
We moved yards, thought not because of the price (I thought what we were paying was reasonable).

New yard is cheaper and has the same facilities, if not more in some respects, but it is a bit further away and D1 can't walk there. It's also only our horses on it, so the school is always free :D
 
.. and don't forget the landlords annual upwardly only rent revue.
Because the £ has lost so much value against the Euro (In effect about £40% within the last 2 years) all imports are very much more expensive as well. Sadly the good times have come to an end and we can continue to expect the costs of running horses to go up dramatically over the next 5 years. I would suggest that it will be no les than about 20% per year.
 
Kayfm said:
OMG as if trying to keep your head above water at this moment in time isnt enough. Our yo has just increased the livery ! What with hay prices sky high and everything else going up on a regular basis (apart from my wages) the cost of keeping a horse is getting a little silly. Lets hope the hay/straw prices come down again next year, the livery stays the same for a while & I get a pay increase (yeh right) Any one else had their livery increased and how are you all coping ? Even the farrier keeps increasing prices. I know I could sell my horse, but, god, life would be so boring. Another problem is employers are just not giving cost of living increases which makes your standard of living fall each year. Oh dear think I have depreased my self now !!!! Will have to pig out on chocolate to cheer my self up !
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:eek::eek::eek: You can afford chocolate and a horse:mad:

You are obviously from the silver spoon crowd:p
 
Kayfm said:
I think some comments are side tracking a little. Of course if haylage and straw and everything else has gone up then the yo must increase if on part or full livery etc. Im on DIY, no riding facilities and no real maintenence is done. For what we get I dont think an increase at this time was appropiate. I am however happy on the yard and love the people there. As i was saying, not having a regular wage increase is biting in to my standards of living. *mini rant over*
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I don't think the comments *are* side tracking. In your OP you talk about how unfair it is and how the farrier (god forbid!!) keeps increasing his prices. Presumably this is because the cost of his raw materials / materials from his supplier has increased therefore he has to pass this cost on to you, the customer. If this is the case, why should the farrier bear the cost and not you?

Even as a DIY livery, the rates your YO is paying will be going up. If s/he pays rent, their landlord has probably increased that this year. Energy bills (presumably sometimes you switch the lights on at the yard?) and water rates are increasing (what does your horse drink?) so you can't expect your YO to absorb all of these costs. As I said in my first reply, full livery at our yard has gone up by £10 each winter. I am on a sort of assisted DIY and the cost of that has also gone up by £10 per month since last winter, as has our pure DIY package. My YO used to pay the landlord a flat rate for electricity so we had the lights on, she didn't bother about chasing us to turn arena floodlights off immediately, walker went on 3x a day... this summer the landlord installed a meter and bills YO for everything she uses. As a result, we now each pay a flat rate for floodlights (on top of normal livery) to cover the cost of using those at night plus walker is limited to once a day.

Such is life, unfortunately!
 
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