Livery Yard Problem.

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Tadah

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Morning

I need some advice please, I am unsure of what to do so I will try and keep it brief :)

I keep my horses on full livery, however I am extremely ill at the moment and I can only get around in a wheelchair and I can only see my horses if somebody drives me to the yard. So in the last month or so I have only been able to see them five or six times :( When I have been down I have noticed some things aren't quite right, my feed is going down far quicker than it should do, same with supplements, one horse has rug rubs on his chest, and rub marks on his face where his head collar has been kept on when he is turned out. The beds were looking pretty rank as well. I have brought this up though and other than my boy still being turned out in his head collar, most things have been sorted.

The turn out this winter has been dire, I am paying for them all to be kept ticking over and exercised but there has been hardly any turn out for five months now, where as in previous years they managed to be turned out unless it was deep snow. The yard owner is really struggling financially, the maintenance of the fields last year wasn't good, the fencing wasn't maintained very well, however for the last week they have been allowed to go out into some of the paddocks again for a few hours. I have just had a phone call to say that my horses have chewed through all the top rungs of the fencing including some of the uprights and I have to replace it all. We are talking about an half acre paddock. There is another horse that goes in the adjoining paddock, so can't be sure it all of my gangs doing, but the fence posts were rotten anyway and had been chewed by a previous occupant. I don't know if this is normal practice, it's the only yard I have been on, is this something that would be covered on the yard owners insurance or on my insurance ?

Obviously if I am liable I will pay for it, but I keep getting calls for things, like an auto water drinker has broken, your horses have kicked it, you will have to buy a new one, or my horses have snapped all the lead ropes in the yard, you will have to replace all of them, your horse stood in a wheelbarrow we need a new one! I am just getting concerned that I am being taken advantage of, it's a small yard but I pay an awful lot of money to keep them there and it's my horses that make up half the yard, but I am not a bottomless pit of money and I just want to make sure I should be paying for it. I need to go and see how bad this damage is, but the gateways are so muddy I can't get to them in my chair and my husband is away for a week now.

My horses sound like they need ASBO's :o

Thank you for any advice :)
 
move :)

i know its difficult if you are ill but transporters will do it for you etc...

i wouldnt be able to sleep tbh if i knew my horse wasnt being brilliantly looked after - because you are ill you need to be able to trust them even more so!
 
Oh no, that is really awful. Surely your horses can't be blamed for everything. I would move and quickly, your horses are getting inadequate care and you are being charged for things you are not sure you are liable for. Not on
 
How long have you been at this yard, and have you been happy with the standard of care until recently? Have your horses damaged stuff in the past?

YO's financial problems are not yours. Your post reads as if you are being taken advantage of at the moment, both on standard of care and being asked to pay for breakages.
 
It sounds like the staff are incompetent if they are letting your horses stand on wheel barrows!

I agree it sounds like they are replacing old/broken things by blaming your horses. I would consider moving. Maybe arrange a meeting with the YO and talk about your concerns. What does your contract say about breakages etc? Surely general maintenance falls with the YO? If you horses are chewing an entire fence in the short amount of time they are turned out, then they are lacking in something/hungry maybe?

I'd arrange a meeting first. If you cant sort things out then I would look to move.

Good luck with it all and I hope you make a full recovery very soon xx
 
I am a yard owner and none of the things you have listed would be charged for unless one particular horse was a repeated offender above and beyond what you would normally expect. I have lost count of the numbers of posts and rails I have had to replace, wheelbarrows, kick boards, electric fencing etc. As for lead ropes, don't your horses have their own? Surely so do the others? I would inform an owner if their horse had broken its lead rope so that they could replace it, and lend them one of mine in the meantime.
 
Agree move! Might cost a bit to do it but will work out cheaper in the long run.

If your horses are chewing through fences then there might be something very wrong with their care (are they bored, lacking in nutrients?) or if they just like fencing then the YO should have spotted it sooner and arranged better fencing.

Why was your horse able to stand in a wheelbarrow???? If he's the type to kick auto-waterers and break all the leadropes then he shouldn't be allowed near wheelbarrows.

And if he's truly broken through all of the leadropes then they aren't providing full livery as full livery includes all handling and exercising and to me that all comes together with ensuring ongoing good behaviour on the ground and/or ridden if appropriate.

Either way (whether you're being taken for a ride in terms of being forced to refurbish the yard or your horses have gone renegade through rubbish handling) it sounds like you're best off out of there.....
 
Sounds like you're being taken for a ride, I'd demand to see anything broken before I paid a penny. Mending rotten fences shouldn't be your problem either. I think I'd be looking elsewhere.
 
TBH if you are ill, you dont need all this stress. Move yards as it sounds like you are being taken for a ride.

:)

Hope youget better soon!x
 
You don't need this. Phone a transporter company, get a quote for moving the neddies and their stuff.
Ring round some reputable livery yards, explain your predicament. Someone will help you out.

Get out of there, they are taking you for a ride! Horrible people.
 
well the votes are in ! would def consider moving, like wagtail has said, its seems a bit unreasonable for you to pay for all the things you have mentioned, good luck x
 
I think the problem in moving will be finding a good yard with enough full livery spaces available to take you. I have never had more than one box available at a time and currently have a waiting list. OP I would start looking now. Best opportunity would be if you could find a yard that was just setting up and filling their spaces for the first time or a very large yard which has a better chance of having space available. Good luck.
 
Sorry to hear you're having such a tough time. You tend to know when your horses are vandals if this is all new since you've not been there and/or since owners financial problems I suspect the issue is the YO not your horses.
If your illness is long ish term then I'd move them to a larger more professional yard that has rules/ a contract that makes it clear who is responsible for what.
I was at a full livery yard once where leadropes were costing me more than shoes some months !! and never once did my horse break one when I was there.

It's sad that people take advantage when you're not able to be there - but the reality is that they do.
 
I am a YO and like wagtail said unless they are repeat offenders it is absorbed as part of the livery outgoings, if they are on full livery the YO should be providing feed not using yours unless they are on something specific that cannot be supplied by the yard.
Move to somewhere that will not take the **** before something more serious happens to the horses.
 
Thank you for the replies :)

I have been there for about 2 years and at first it was brilliant, but then yard owner started having a lot of personal problems, we are quite close friends now. But it started going downhill slightly in October, the yard took on a stable hand and as I was showing the first signs of being ill, I paid a contribution of the girls wages on condition that she groomed them all and exercised at least two of the horses, but though the grooming got done the exercising wasn't happening. That's when it all started going really bad and it culminated in me losing the plot slightly earlier this year when I found one of them stood in his stable in deep in pee and poop. With buckets and all sorts over the barn so you couldn't even get a horse out of it's stable. It got better after that.

I still haven't had an explanation about how my mare stood in a wheelbarrow :eek:

They all have their own leadropes, but they get used for all the horses apparently they break when it get's too cold !

I have seen all the horses at the yard have a chomp on the fences at one time or another, I have seen one of mine have a nibble at the fences last summer but he has only been out in this paddock for the last week or so. Some rails have been broken for 12 months where a new gelding came onto yard and caused a kerfuffle with the other boys.

I know I have been taken advantage of "slightly" :rolleyes:, but she is my friend and she is struggling, but to replace all this fencing will cost hundreds and hundreds of pounds and I just haven't got it, not with five on livery and me being ill. I have been a good livery, never been late with my money, never given any cause for concern, the horses have everything they need.

I have thought about moving them, but finding space for five has proved impossible in yards in my price bracket and close enough to home.

There is nothing in the contract about breakages, I thought that fences getting broken or chewed was all part of running a yard and would be covered by her insurance, though I am starting to suspect there is no insurance. They wanted me to sign a new contract earlier this year, but the terms of it were outrageous so I refused.

It's a bit of a nightmare, because I know if I leave the yard will go under. I don't think the horses are being neglected as such, I think they are probably very bored of being stuck in which may explain them having a party when they finally went out.

Thank You everyone xx
 
Tadah said:
There is nothing in the contract about breakages, I thought that fences getting broken or chewed was all part of running a yard
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It absolutely is. In the last few months my thug has broken a five bar gate, a fence post and a metal tie ring. These are all directly attributable to him since people (usually including me) actually saw him do it (basically in winter anything between him and food gets it!). The YO has never suggested I pay for any of these, breakages are part of the livery fee, and I'm just assisted DIY not full livery.
 
amymay said:
That's not your problem though.
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I know :( But it will be on my conscience, I am to soft for my own good but it would finish the YO off mentally as well as financially. I am going to stand my ground over the fencing though, it was in bad condition, with bits broken off, my husband was knocking rails back into place himself last summer.

I just feel so helpless being stuck here and not able to get to see them, I would normally be there for hours, I have them on livery as back up because I know my heath is so unpredictable and it's particularly bad at the moment. I will have to put skis on my wheelchair and head down there, be quicker than wheeling myself ;)
 
Honestly you say YO is a friend. Who needs friends like her!! She is taking advantage of you.
Insurance would never cover chewed or broken fencing. But should come out of YO's livery income
To be honest it sounds like your horses would be better off our at grass once the spring comes than the routine they have now. I'm sure you could rent a field or two and pay a freelance person to look after them
 
Does nobody ever talk anymore? What about speaking to the yard owner/manager and telling her your queries? Ask her to reiterate what damages you are being asked to pay for, if damages are included in your livery or not? How did your horses break ALL of the leadropes? That sounds a bit strange!
If your horses are happy there, surely its worth putting a bit of effort in to try and sort the situation, and not run at the first sign of trouble!
 
Tadah said:
I just feel so helpless being stuck here and not able to get to see them, I would normally be there for hours, I have them on livery as back up because I know my heath is so unpredictable and it's particularly bad at the moment. I will have to put skis on my wheelchair and head down there, be quicker than wheeling myself ;)
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Which is why it's so important to take control of the situation.

My horses would not be staying there I'm afraid. But as you say, 5 is a lot to find new accommodation for.
 
Tadah said:
I know I have been taken advantage of "slightly" :rolleyes:, but she is my friend and she is struggling, but to replace all this fencing will cost hundreds and hundreds of pounds and I just haven't got it, not with five on livery and me being ill. I have been a good livery, never been late with my money, never given any cause for concern, the horses have everything they need.
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I don't think she sounds like much of a friend to be honest - you are ill, and it sounds like you are paying a lot of money into her business anyway. To try and rip you off at this point (and I'm afraid thats what it looks like, I've never seen a horse stand on wheelbarrow but there is a first time for everything and the lead rope things sounds plain ridiculous...) doesn't speak well of how she treats her friends or her clients. It sounds like it'd be no ones fault but her own if her business does go under.
 
benson21 said:
Does nobody ever talk anymore? What about speaking to the yard owner/manager and telling her your queries? Ask her to reiterate what damages you are being asked to pay for, if damages are included in your livery or not? How did your horses break ALL of the leadropes? That sounds a bit strange!
If your horses are happy there, surely its worth putting a bit of effort in to try and sort the situation, and not run at the first sign of trouble!
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Hi

I spoke with her this morning and she basically said it has to be done and she can't afford it then listed three of mine as the "offenders", I haven't indicated either way what I will do as I am not sure where I stand with the liability. God knows how they broke all the lead ropes, I am forever buying them and haynets and headcollars the list is endless .......
 
Tadah said:
Hi

God knows how they broke all the lead ropes, I am forever buying them and haynets and headcollars the list is endless .......
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That's ridiculous! I can't remember the last time a horse of mine broke any of those items! Or any other horse I have seen on the yard!!

Do you mark your items? I would and then request that ONLY your horses use them and check when you go up that none of your items have walked!!!

The yard I'm on has only ever asked 1 horrendous fence breaker to pay for the fencing (he would walk through a fence within an hour of being turned out every day). Otherwise it is paid for my YO, although insurance would not cover items like that. That it general maintainence to be expected when you run a yard.
 
There are seven horses on livery, I have five of them, am not quite sure how that happened mind you ! I pay £80pw for 4 and half price for one as he only comes up to my knee ! and I also provide all the feed for them myself and pay for extra shavings.

It's a good job my hubby loves them as well :o
 
Speaking as a yard owner.

If there is proof someone saw it, a horse (repeat offender)chewing the fencing, Owner is liable. ( rails are £4 )most owners here replace it. I had to give notice to a big clydesdale who owner said it was 16 hh ( it was near 17hh) our limit is 16.1 b) it would walk through fencing daily breaking it including pushing on the stable door till it came off the bricks.


Ask if someone saw horse kicking water bowl, lead rope etc because unless there is actual proof., Some one prepare to put it on paper and give it too you then I would not pay for those things.

Feed going down could be down to person 's feeding could have a different measure to you ie. their scoop is fuller which would justify the amount change. If it is the same person feeding, it could be down to some other mongrel going in and pinching it.

Rugs well hard to say someone might have put cheap rugs on thus the rubs, or put them on to tight . Any number of reason.

I would put all this across to yard manager, if they can come up with no proof or no viable reason for these changes , I would give my notice.
 
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I wouldbe seriously worried about the safety of horses on a yard where a constant supply of stuff was getting broken . How an earth can a horse being properly managed break a wheel barrow ? I answer that my self it can't as it should never in a postion to break one.
Lots of horses chewing wood shows something is wrong with the feeding I have had the odd horse who chews they usually stop after i have had them a while but never like that.
You are in a difficult position OP have you a friend who can visit the yard regularily on your behalf ?
You may be friendly with the YOer but You need to get a grip on this situation fast .
A friend with an IPhone taking some pictures at least weekly should help.
I would move if I could , but I think it's likely if YO is pushed for money she will need your livery fees so the situation mightbe able to be salvaged with some work.
Don't sign any contract you don't like and start researching alternatives ways of keeping them .
I hope you are well soon and then all will be easier .
 
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