Livery Yard Problem.

Polos Mum said:
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.
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Sad but true. OP so sorry you are being used in such a cruel way at such a tough time. If it helps you are not alone I have been ripped off so much over horses that I think I must have a sign on my head:(

Take care chin up and move those horses, don't pay any more and tell them they've had all they are getting:(
 
Wagtail said:
So essentially you are paying DIY livery rates? Do you pay extra for all their care?
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I understood it to mean £80 per horse per week then half price for the mini i.e. £40 so £360 pcm altogether. Then feed and additional shavings on top of that.

That would be cheap round here for 7 day part livery but I don't know your area. However I would expect everything to be included except cleaning tack, grooming and riding so I wouldn't expect to pay extra for picking out feet.

Last yard I was at charged £3.50 for grooming and £8 to ride or lunge (half hour)
 
Sorry I wasn't very clear :o It's £80 per horse per week, half for my mini so £40 and then for the last 6 months I have paid £75 extra on top to part fund the groom and to get all the extra things like grooming done. But the yard owner became less hands on and left all the yard to the girl to do. The girl couldn't cope with it all on her own and it seemed I was paying for the yard to be mucked out rather than my horses seen to. She is no longer working there.

My stupid body is letting me down :( I am happy enough to just go and sit in the field or the stable with them, they are all characters, they make me laugh they don't care if they are ridden every day, they like their grub and going out in the field :) but at moment I am stuck.

I have just found out that they were all turned all yesterday and out over night, there isn't much grass most of that would have been covered by the snow we had overnight here and there was no hay put out for them, not surprised if one had a chomp on a fence. They weren't brought in until 9 am this morning, the weather here is awful.

I have asked a friend to help me get down there later this week, she is also going to drop a bag of carrots there tomorrow and have a mooch about. I won't let them know when though, I have to see for myself what is going on.

Thanks everyone xx
 
Sounds like you need a calm and serious chat with your YO/ friend. Explain you want your livery to include what every you'd like to see (in at night in the winter, grooming every day inc feet picked out, hay in field in winter, whatever it is) and if you don't see things improve a lot you'll be left with no other choice but to look for somewhere else to keep them. If she has any sense she'll fall over herself with apologies and buck up quick smart!

Summer is on the way and if you illness isn't getting better anytime soon you could find nice 'retirement' type livery where they live out together for c.£30 a week each - they will enjoy having fun just as horses and you could use all the spare cash to get taxis to and from the new yard as often as you wanted.

With them sorted you can then think about the longer term, either finding your own place or putting your name down on a waiting list for other yards.
 
Tadah said:
Sorry I wasn't very clear :o It's £80 per horse per week, half for my mini so £40 and then for the last 6 months I have paid £75 extra on top to part fund the groom and to get all the extra things like grooming done. But the yard owner became less hands on and left all the yard to the girl to do. The girl couldn't cope with it all on her own and it seemed I was paying for the yard to be mucked out rather than my horses seen to. She is no longer working there.

My stupid body is letting me down :( I am happy enough to just go and sit in the field or the stable with them, they are all characters, they make me laugh they don't care if they are ridden every day, they like their grub and going out in the field :) but at moment I am stuck.

I have just found out that they were all turned all yesterday and out over night, there isn't much grass most of that would have been covered by the snow we had overnight here and there was no hay put out for them, not surprised if one had a chomp on a fence. They weren't brought in until 9 am this morning, the weather here is awful.

I have asked a friend to help me get down there later this week, she is also going to drop a bag of carrots there tomorrow and have a mooch about. I won't let them know when though, I have to see for myself what is going on.

Thanks everyone xx
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get your friend either to do some secret video or pictures for evidence
 
OP I really feel for you and as far as I can see you are being ripped off massively, even if the YO concerned has problems they dont have the right to do that to anyone, especially someone as loyal as you and with the other issues you are dealing with.

If it were me, I would be buying somewhere, having them at home and employing someone to look after them, to YOUR requirements. Even if you get let down sometimes, there are freelance grooms who can come in and fill the gap and the amount of money you are paying at the mo you could well cover that.
 
A horrible situation for you to be in esp as she is a good friend, however, I personally would have to seriously consider moving! The extra stress on you will hinder any recovery which I would assume you want to avoid.

Some v good advice given on here so perhaps look for short term livery somewhere even though it may be expensive and in the meantime look for somewhere to rent or buy and hunt for a freelance groom.

I moved my two home in the summer and love it, even with limited facilities and a broken arm I am saving a lot of money and no longer lie awake worrying or dreading answering the phone to certain people. I am happier and so are they.

Good luck with it all, plus HHF is a great distraction in hospitals :D or it better be when I have my op 2moz
 
Tadah said:
I have paid £75 extra on top to part fund the groom and to get all the extra things like grooming done. But the yard owner became less hands on and left all the yard to the girl to do. The girl couldn't cope with it all on her own and it seemed I was paying for the yard to be mucked out rather than my horses seen to. She is no longer working there.
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What exactly was this girl doing? It takes half a morning (if that) to muck out 7 horses, then a good hour or so's exercise, lunch break, then think about afternoon stables.
 
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Well to be honest she always seemed to be on a totally different planet to me and she spent an awful lot of time rearranging the muck heap into shapes :rolleyes: :)
 
lachlanandmarcus said:
. Even if you get let down sometimes, there are freelance grooms who can come in and fill the gap and the amount of money you are paying at the mo you could well cover that.
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Not so easy to find at the drop of a hat/last minute though. Especially if you're an invalid who couldn't do them yourself now and again. Don't want to be the prophet of doom, but I have my two at home, and was injured a couple of years ago. Without my lovely husband and a friend, they could not have stayed at home, they would have had to go on livery. I've had so many let downs with freelancers lately, its very stressful..

Be very sure about who is caring for your horse if you're bringing them home and can't do them yourself. Remember all fencing and everything that broke would be your job to sort out too.

I would say that, unless you can find a wonderful groom, the horses could live out where you live, or you had a couple of extra stables that someone could use in return for doing your horses, it may be harder having them at home. Not for a minute saying that this place is good, but be very sure of where you are running to..
 
I have to agree with everyone else, as soon as you are able move your horses. I do hope that your situation improves as well, there is nothing worse than having to rely on others to take you places and you are not able to keep an eye on what is going on with your animals, I know and its not a nice place to be, I do hope that you ge something sorted soon with them and that you get better as well,take care x
 
Wagtail said:
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.
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Ditto this!!!

I'd want to know HOW exactly your horse has allegedly broken every lead rope in the place??? Has he been tied up and run back? (repeatedly?) OR what???

This isn't fair on you OP, you're not well, and sound like you're really concerned about your horses.

If there are financial problems on the yard then that's a burden that shouldn't be placed on liveries.

Is there anyone else with horses on livery at this particular yard that you trust and could keep an eye out for you on what's going on???

Failing that: it might be that you need to move your horses. Whilst appreciating that this won't be easy for you to arrange.

Aw bless you, what an awful situation to be in.
 
OP - would your horses live out? If so, while you're ill, would it be worth looking for grass livery, or a decent field to rent, and then you could pay a freelance groom to check/exercise them for you twice a day - it would be much cheaper and you would have control of who looks after your horses...I hope your health improves soon :)
 
If you arw un happy then move them.
I know it will be difficult as you aren't well.
But find a nice yard.
They will probably help you move the horses and things too.

Have a good look around any potential yards.
Ask lots if questions and be sure of what's included and how they do things.
 
Thank you everybody for all your support, it means a lot.

Four of the five would happily live out but they live on fresh air so would have to watch their grazing, one is far to "special" (he is a cob!) to possibly live out, he would happily stay in his stable forever :rolleyes:

I think I need the support of a livery yard until I start to get better, I have rung a couple of places but nobody has room for five. I have arranged to get down there twice this week and hubby will get me down there over the weekend, so at least I can keep a closer eye this week and will sort something out for next week.

Thanks Again :) xx
 
Tadah said:
Thank you everybody for all your support, it means a lot.

Four of the five would happily live out but they live on fresh air so would have to watch their grazing, one is far to "special" (he is a cob!) to possibly live out, he would happily stay in his stable forever :rolleyes:

I think I need the support of a livery yard until I start to get better, I have rung a couple of places but nobody has room for five. I have arranged to get down there twice this week and hubby will get me down there over the weekend, so at least I can keep a closer eye this week and will sort something out for next week.

Thanks Again :) xx
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Although maybe, in the short term and until you find somewhere else, an honest chat might make the YO rethink her priorities- realising that you know what shes been up to, and the prospect of losing her income, might make her buck her ideas up. At least it would take the pressure off you, until you can make alternative arrangements
 
Firstly let me say I'm sorry about your illness and I hope you are back on your feet soon.

I worked out how much you were paying and though wow thats a lot, however then I started to break it down and then I thought maybe its not quite as much as I thought.

DIY Livery (4 horses @ £25 and 1 pony @ £15) = £115
Ad Lib Hay (4 horses @ £15 and 1 pony @ £10) = £70
Bedding (4 horses @ £7.50 and 1 pony @ £5) = £35

So for DIY plus Hay and Bedding this would be £220 per week

YAs you are paying £360 per week you are therefore paying £140 per week (£20 per day) for 5 horses to be turned out, fetched in, mucked out and bedded back down, haynets and water refilled, rugs checked/changed as required, feet picked out and a general eye kept on to make sure no injuries. As I would say that half an hour per horse seems reasonable for this service you are paying £8 per hour for this.

Your £75 per week for exercising is on top but at 5 days per week 1 hour per time at £15 per hour again this seems reasonable.

So overall I think the money you are paying out actually isn't excessive and I think you would struggle to find somewhere else cheaper. Having said that if you aren't happy about the level of care that is happening that is a different matter and you do need to address that as an issue.

Good luck and again hope you are back on your feet soon.
 
Think your maths are out Lizzie. And OP pays for her bedding and feed.

She's also not looking for cheaper. Just what she's paid for.

The £75 is money down the drain as the horses are not being exercised..
 
When you're that unwell the last thing you need to be worrying about is your horses, you need to be able to concentrate on getting well again and not using up all your energy stressing!

I would move ASAP. They should not be worrying you by pinning broken things on your horses, how are you to know if it is your responsibility to pay for these things? Where's the proof that it was your horses? The staff should be aware you are not well and taking care of everything like they are being paid to do rather than making the situation worse for you. This is very inconsiderate of them in my opinion.

Look for a yard which understands that you are not going to be there to supervise and where the staff are aware that they need to be conscientious in ensuring everything is as it should be.

I really feel for you. I know what it's like to not be able to be at the yard regularly checking and keeping an eye on things and it's very stressful with that constant worry hanging over you.
 
Pippin79 said:
I don't agree that things such as broken five bar gates should just be sucked up by the YO, a decent gate costs over £300!! :eek: However, again depends on circumstances, if the gate was rickety and it leaned on it of course not, but if it charged through /over and broke a good gate unprovoked then I personally think the owner should pay - running a yard is low profit and if you paid for everything it could end up loss making.
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TBH if the YO had asked for a contribution I may have agreed, but she didn't even suggest it. He did charge through / over the gate, but on the flip side it was whilst she was mucking him out for me (paid as an additional service) and he escaped out of the stable so some fault on her side. We were both more concerned about any injuries to the horse at the time, and then the next day her hubby was fitting a new gate. I wasn't necessarily saying YO should always pay for absolutely everything.
 
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