Livery Yard Politics

D

Den83

Member
Joined
25 May 2013
Messages
26
Visit site
Hi everyone

Just a bit of advice needed please. One of our liveries is causing us a bit of grief! She is a lovely lady but totally obsessive when it comes to her horse! She is rubbing another livery up the wrong way by moving her stuff out of the way and demanding her horse can only be tied up in one particular area of the yard.

Also, the lady that owns the yard and lives on site is currently having maintenance/building work carried out and all the livery keeps doing is asking them to stop making a noise as it upsets her horse. The horse couldn't care less!

Should we have it out with her and just tell her she must let the workmen get on with their work. Also she keeps moaning all the time about various issues, should we just ask her what her problem is?
 
ohhh the joys of being a livery LOL..... personally i would speak with the yard manager firstly and see if there prepared to address the issues with her, and just say if not i will address them..... try and do it in a cool,calm manner ..... good luck x
 
amymay said:
Ah right. So manage it.
Click to expand...

Snorted coffee over keyboard :D

OP, I believe the spelt-out version of amymay's post would be you (not 'we') need to tell this lady to let the workmen get on with it, and have a tactful, private conversation with her about a) what is bothering her, b) how it can and can't be resolved and c) the need to accommodate other liveries.
 
Well said Amymay ;)

On a yard a few years ago, one livery took over three stables and vast amounts of shared space with her "stuff". The YO did not manage it - so I left. You may lose other liveries if you don't get rid of this one.
 
Hi OP,
I think that the best course of action is to have a chat with your livery, ask what her problem is (maybe a bit more diplomatically, though ;)) and go from there. Make her aware that the workmen have a job to do and can't keep stopping what they are doing to accommodate her.
You have to ask yourself what you want to come out of it, then act accordingly.
In my experience, people like that rarely settle and become problem free, it's just a question of how long can one bend over backwards to keep them happy - I've found that I have about 10 months long fuse :)
 
I'm a strong believer in face to face talking & sometimes a bit of reverse psychology can help :D
I would ask her for a chat. Explain that the workmen can't keep stopping work for her, suggest if they are upsetting her horse she should come ride etc before they start or after they've finished for the day.
Then I would be a bit brutal & say that you've noticed that she seems to have too much stuff for her storage area & struggles with where to tie up her horse. Then say that she doesn't seem very happy on the yard because....& then list all the things she moans about. Then suggest that this makes you think she thinking of giving notice. Be kind & say that you really don't mind if she wants to leave & you will be able to replace her so she doesn't have to stay on your yard if it makes her unhappy or it isn't suitable for her & her horse ;)

Either way its a win win. She'll either breath a huge sigh of relief & say that she does want to leave...which means you can replace her OR she'll realise that she doesn't want to leave & will try & rein her behaviour in.
 
glamourpuss said:
I'm a strong believer in face to face talking & sometimes a bit of reverse psychology can help :D
I would ask her for a chat. Explain that the workmen can't keep stopping work for her, suggest if they are upsetting her horse she should come ride etc before they start or after they've finished for the day.
Then I would be a bit brutal & say that you've noticed that she seems to have too much stuff for her storage area & struggles with where to tie up her horse. Then say that she doesn't seem very happy on the yard because....& then list all the things she moans about. Then suggest that this makes you think she thinking of giving notice. Be kind & say that you really don't mind if she wants to leave & you will be able to replace her so she doesn't have to stay on your yard if it makes her unhappy or it isn't suitable for her & her horse ;)

Either way its a win win. She'll either breath a huge sigh of relief & say that she does want to leave...which means you can replace her OR she'll realise that she doesn't want to leave & will try & rein her behaviour in.
Click to expand...

This.

P
 
glamourpuss said:
I'm a strong believer in face to face talking & sometimes a bit of reverse psychology can help :D
I would ask her for a chat. Explain that the workmen can't keep stopping work for her, suggest if they are upsetting her horse she should come ride etc before they start or after they've finished for the day.
Then I would be a bit brutal & say that you've noticed that she seems to have too much stuff for her storage area & struggles with where to tie up her horse. Then say that she doesn't seem very happy on the yard because....& then list all the things she moans about. Then suggest that this makes you think she thinking of giving notice. Be kind & say that you really don't mind if she wants to leave & you will be able to replace her so she doesn't have to stay on your yard if it makes her unhappy or it isn't suitable for her & her horse ;)

Either way its a win win. She'll either breath a huge sigh of relief & say that she does want to leave...which means you can replace her OR she'll realise that she doesn't want to leave & will try & rein her behaviour in.
Click to expand...

This is perfect. I think you wil find any less will be a waste if breath
 
amymay said:
All of these are issues that should be dealt with by the YO, not her customers.
Click to expand...
Agree with this. As a yard owner, if one of my liveries had as many issues as this lady seems to have, I would, very tactfully, be suggesting that maybe she would be happier elsewhere? I have done this several times in the past and it usually makes people realise that, you know what, things aren't actually as bad as I thought here. If everyone else is happy with your yard I would say this lady is possibly the type that wouldn't be happy anywhere!!leave it to the yard owner to sort :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top