Livery Yard move - WWYD?

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Zipzop

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Current yard is a small private yard with only my horse and owners horse. I get to manage my horses grazing as needed, ie restricted in summer to manage weight and out with other horse in winter.

This has been working well and we have been there for the last three years. However, just recently they have divided the property up and sold part of it, which included our menage, sadly. So now we have stables and grazing but no real riding. My horse is difficult to hack so needs to be kept off the road which isnt really possible at this yard so we relied on menage.

I have just changed jobs and am now working full time at a yard. It is quite a big establishment and they have a variety of stabled and grass livery. They have two schools and are right on the edge of a forest so absolutely no road work if i didnt want it.

The problem is my boy is quirky and needs careful management which the yard have offered to help with. He also has some medical issues, in short he suffers with allergyish type things. He has regular bouts of allergic reactions to things, some unknown, where he will get really itchy and his skin will get sore or he will have a reaction to his wormer and half his hair will fall out. He can have breathing issues (on occasion)and has a dust allergy so cant be stabled or on dry hay, which i currently manage. At the new yard he can go on grass livery and they feed the fields haylage which is fine.

My main issue is that he is super quirky to ride. Some of the horses, (I guess as expected in a big establishment) head shake over summer, (either flies, midges or pollen, no one really knows) Due to his breathing sensitivities, I am terrified of moving him as i just couldnt handle him if he ended up headshaking to add to all his ridden quirkiness. I am really worried that if i move him as it is close to a forest, he may develop this headshaking and then as he is difficult enough, that really would be the end of his ridden career. I'm worried that if he does get it and i try and move him back to original place or nearby original place that it may not go away. The yards are about half hour apart so still relatively in the same area.

Any advice?
 
What makes you think he will copy head-shaking? It's usually allergy/pollen/light sensitivity related rather than a copycat behaviour (which IMHO, horses don't tend to copy other horse's behaviour - although this admittedly is open to intepretation).

He was mine, I'd move as the riding sounds far better but I'd be inclined to continue to pay a month or two at your current place as a fall-back if he doesn't settle.
 
MuddyMonster said:
What makes you think he will copy head-shaking? It's usually allergy/pollen/light sensitivity related rather than a copycat behaviour (which IMHO, horses don't tend to copy other horse's behaviour - although this admittedly is open to intepretation).

He was mine, I'd move as the riding sounds far better but I'd be inclined to continue to pay a month or two at your current place as a fall-back if he doesn't settle.
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Sorry, I didnt explain entirely well. I am worried that by moving him to a new area with lots more trees/pollens/things to be allergic too, that he will start headshaking due to one of these reasons as we will be alot closer to more potential allergens.
 
Could you do a 'trial week' at new yard to see how he reacts? You could tell current yard its a schooling week to avoid problems and then hand in notice if all goes well?
 
i think i would be really wary about moving him to somewhere that might make him much worse. i am not sure that if he was mine i would move him. in fact i don't think i would.
 
Hi Your OP is so full of words like quirky, careful management, allergic reactions, hair falling out, medical issues, sore skin, breathing issues, dust allergy, super quirky, headshaking etc that moving to a yard which is already causing you to be terrified of a poor result is not a great idea. Have you explored staying where are and renting the manege?
 
Arzada said:
Hi Your OP is so full of words like quirky, careful management, allergic reactions, hair falling out, medical issues, sore skin, breathing issues, dust allergy, super quirky, headshaking etc that moving to a yard which is already causing you to be terrified of a poor result is not a great idea. Have you explored staying where are and renting the manege?
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I was actually thinking the opposite, for 3 years this horse has required micro managing with many ongoing issues, sometimes a move will resolve at least some of the problems rather than cause even more, being able to ride more could mean less restrictive grazing, the allergies may be improved if it is something specific to the current land, being out 24/7 should mean no dust allergy problems so I would give it a try as staying where you are means limited riding and traveling to see him twice a day but I would start with a more positive attitude that it is going to be worthwhile.
 
Thanks for your replies. I am actually sitting here close to tears on this just not knowing what to do.
I spoke with the vet and asked if they have had experience of allergy prone horses worsening when moved yards. They said yes this can happen if the horse has an allergy to tree pollen and then is moved to a more heavily wooded area, for example. He said at this time of year you wouldn't see a problem but may in the summer. He said it isn't a dead cert but is a possibility.

I did ask if it did get worse would it then resolve if the hose was moved back to original area and he said yes most likely.

The problem is i will the lose my place at the yard i'm currently at and to cater for my horse is not easy.

I think my options are

A) I stay where i am - but horse will more than likely end up unridden and retired. (he is 14) due to work commitments, lack of menage and no lighting on menages which i could (possibly) rent. This will mean definitely no riding over the winter.
B) I move to the new yard and get on with training him over the winter and see what the summer brings. Maybe more allergies maybe less - maybe nothing changes and he stays as he is health wise.

Scenario C - Is that i move him, his allergies get worse in the summer and he cant stay at the new yard, I then will struggle to move him back to my area because the yard i am currently at will have taken on a new livery, there is only two horses there, and the regime he currently is in is grazing by day and at night he is loose on the yard with his stable door open so he can come and go, (due to dust allergy he cant be shut in stable) And i know i wont find this set up again.

This is making me so sad :(
 
Have you always had him on the current yard? Just a thought but what if it's something there he's allergic to (not trees)?

Could you leave him on current yard over winter, move him on a trial basis to the other yard in summer when pollen will be high, and if it isn't any good, move him back - then you'd avoid your space being snapped up by a new livery.

It sounds a tricky one and you have my sympathy x
 
I did a yard move 'leap of faith' earlier this year due to my gut feeling that my mare needed to be off dairy grass. The first 4 weeks were tough as my gelding hurt his leg on the lorry and my mare had a minor tie-up a week after moving . BUT now all is good and they are healthier and I have much, much better support.

I kept on good terms with my old yard in case it didn't work out and I know they would have had me back. If you don't try, you won't know.
 
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