Livery yard owners - who/what's been your worst livery to date?

[arwenplusone]

Just curious really. I'm not a YO but have seen many appalling liveries (people wise/not the ponios of course) and wondered what the worst was!?

IMO it is not the very novice (as they tend to admit it and ask for help!) but is the 'more experienced' - a small bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing....

Or is it those who think they know more than you do about running the place..? I wonder?

 

[kerilli]

oh, gosh... where do i start!? put it this way, i don't have liveries any more!

there was the one with the lovely young (first) horse, the new Pessoa saddle, the doting parents... and not only did she think she knew everything, she couldn't ride one side of it, left it in a filthy stable, didn't bother giving it clean water, didn't even shut the stable door one night (luckily i noticed before it escaped), couldn't be bothered to muck it out properly... she was about the worst, probably because the horse was such a sweetie and really didn't deserve to go to such a flipping vile princess!

there was the one who didn't turn up for 3 days, in winter, when on d.i.y. livery with a fully clipped out horse, leaving it to me, with no warning and no thanks. she was the same one who asked to borrow my mini-clippers to hog her horse, proceeded to do a full clip, and was amazed that i was a bit annoyed at her cheek!

there were the couple who tried to run a dealing yard from my place while on d.i.y. livery. i ended up showing horses off for them for nothing (must've been mad!), they bought horses from sales and then tried to sell them a week later with a "full history". hmm. they borrowed my stuff, and then tried to do a runner while owing me hundreds of pounds, and after they'd coughed up and i removed my car from the drive and let them go, the girl said to me as a parting shot "you want to watch it. we know where your horses are." charming.

i think my brain's deliberately hiding the ones who were worse than that!

 

[Tia]

I have to say that the vast majority of mine are and have been truly lovely people. Actually I have to admit that the only issues I have had, have been with a couple of novice men being totally unsafe and doing the silliest things. The women have all been terrific, regardless of whether they have been experienced or novice.

 

[Shilasdair]

I think you should also ask who's been the worst YO you've had as there are some right nutters who own yards.
S

 

[dozzie]

I had one who thought it was really cute that her colt foal reared up and tried to put his feet on her shoulders.....

Her mother and I told her that she had to wear a hat when handling him but she knew better!!! Got kicked in the head by a front foot the next day. She didnt get much sympathy Im afraid.

 

[snurse]

I'm not a YO but my YO tells me about her worst experiences and I'm happy to repeat them! Actually this wasn't a bad one, just funny. Couple, ex-city types, bought most expensive horse they could - dealer saw them coming. Anyway, she was a positively dangerous ex-racer and they were too scared to do anything with her - that's another story. What she (the woman) is 'fondly' remembered for is how she dressed - this on a busy yard with several men around - low-cut shirt, one button done up, no bra, and she was a BIG woman. And leggings (or tights) - pretty revolting, but OK until she wore a pair that were split round the crotch. Bent down to get grooming brush, no knickers - please imagine the rest... And the expression on the face of a teenage lad who was standing behind.

 

[ESH_Jess]

well!!!
we've had a few!!
the first and probably the funniest lady was very sharing! she would often tell my partner (male and OY) 'i'm not riding today because i'm a bit delicate' (touching her tummy) to which he would reply 'ok, no problem' (feeing slightly nervous as to what was coming next) then she would say 'you know because its that time of the month' to which he would reply 'yes yes, ok' then to make sure he absolutly understood she would say 'i've got my period'!!!! eeewwww, its making me cringe just thinking about it all over again!!!!! poor oh, he was only in his early 20's!! and she was considerably older!!!

then beyond that it goes down hill.... one livery after a row with another livery tried to stab her with a pitch frork and then gave her notice for the 24th december not realising it was christmas eve and she had no transport, then when asked to settle her account in full (as she was always behind) before leaving yard, phoned her dad who in turn phoned us and said he was coming to 'sort us out'...chraming!!!! but when he finally arrived he was very polite as though the phone call had not happened but proceeded to tell us how he had a 19 yrs old defended himself on a murder charge!!! and to top it off he also mentioned that his daughter after a row had slashed her boyfriend back so bad, he couldn't lay on it for a month.... nice!!!!!........we found out much later that he had actually made it all up anyway!

oh then there were the two sisters that insisted that their horses were brothers (although completely unrelated) and they should go out together.....despite the fact that when we gave in and put them out together, they kicked the s*@t out of each other!!! oh, and ran though all of the electric fencing! great!!

oh, and nearly forgot the livery that took her horse home and converted her kitchen into a stable!!!

 

[PapaFrita]

[ QUOTE ]
What she (the woman) is 'fondly' remembered for is how she dressed - this on a busy yard with several men around - low-cut shirt, one button done up, no bra, and she was a BIG woman. And leggings (or tights) - pretty revolting, but OK until she wore a pair that were split round the crotch. Bent down to get grooming brush, no knickers - please imagine the rest... And the expression on the face of a teenage lad who was standing behind.

[/ QUOTE ]
Eeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

 

[moneypit1]

When I was on livery the YO said she was an AI but clearly she wasn't. In fact she was a terrible liar and was a novice rider (who couldn't canter) and yet told us all she was once a groom for David Broom!! Trouble was, she was so sweet and twee that people belived her at first. She is now goes on the IHDG forum and has everyone believing her, its amazing what you can pull off when no one knows you face to face! We all watch what she writes and laugh so much but no one susses her out! Quite worrying really.

 

[ISHmad]

Moneypit I think I *might* know who you mean. If it is who I think it is then rest assured she has been pretty much rumbled. Has she moved from the Devon area since she was your YO?

We've had one really cranky YO, but that's all. Had some odd fellow liveries at the cranky YO's yard. Including one who when walking out with my husband to the field to get the horses in started walking along with her knees bent and really crouched down. Hubby looks on amazed wondering what the hell she was doing, and she said it was because there was a storm brewing and she could get struck by lightning. Hubby patiently pointed out there was a massive pylon in the next field which would get struck first!

 

[NuttymareII]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not a YO but my YO tells me about her worst experiences and I'm happy to repeat them! Actually this wasn't a bad one, just funny. Couple, ex-city types, bought most expensive horse they could - dealer saw them coming. Anyway, she was a positively dangerous ex-racer and they were too scared to do anything with her - that's another story. What she (the woman) is 'fondly' remembered for is how she dressed - this on a busy yard with several men around - low-cut shirt, one button done up, no bra, and she was a BIG woman. And leggings (or tights) - pretty revolting, but OK until she wore a pair that were split round the crotch. Bent down to get grooming brush, no knickers - please imagine the rest... And the expression on the face of a teenage lad who was standing behind.

[/ QUOTE ]

eeeewwwww

 

[smerls]

I have now decided for the sake of my sanity that I will never ever have liveries again!
There have been 2 that stick in my mind-
Firstly a local girl who found a horse she used to own in a terrible state. Wanted to rescue it, bought it, asked me if I could have it on livery ( sure), did her ' mates rates' as she was a student who was genuinely skint- basically she had a stable for nothing, but had to pay for feed, bedding etc.
Then I didn't see her for the next 2 months. I was left with an emaciated horse that I got the vet, farrier and chiro to- paid the bills ( horse was a complete cripple- I would have PTS if it was my own), I put my rugs on it, and cared for it as one of my own. When I eventually caught up with her ( she moved and changed her number!) I presented her with a bill, and gave her notice. She borrowed my lorry to move the horse to its new home, gave me a cheque ( which bounced) and put a massive dent in my lorry. Serves me right for being a soft touch.
The next was THE most hysterical wannabe DQ. Inspected my yard- it came up to her standards and moved her poncey warmblood in, complete with about a million sparkly rugs and more fluff than you could imagine. Said warmblood was meant to be competing PSG, therefore had to be turned out alone, only handled by me blah blah blah. When my staff and I realised we had never seen it ridden...... but she did go off to several clinics with big named trainers, before swapping to a different big name trainer every other week!
Eventually curiosity got the better of us, and we checked out the horses BD record. It was competing at Elementary and didn't have a single point to its name- or a mark over 50%!!!
And she was telling several of the yards more seasoned competitors how they should ride/ train their horses and she was c**p.
In the end after far too much hassling from her about why we didn't ' spencer' the 4yr olds we told her we knew she didnt compete at PSG, and to keep her wisdom to herself unless asked for it. She proceeded to do a midnight fly by, leaving her bill unpaid and now is being chucked off all the local yards on a monthly basis!

 

[ballvicki]

I can give comment from the other side of the coin - worst yard owner??!!

At last yard I wasn't allowed on the yard before 7.45 in the morning, if I got there and if I couldn't see her car parked in the yard car park from the top of the drive, I had to turn my engine off and wait till she got there incase I woke her horses up!!!

That said I am very friendly with her now that I don't have to keep my horse there! She is a lovely lady, just a bit of a control freak!