Livery yard 'rules'

[georgiegirl2]

Does anyone else have strange rules at their livery yard? At ours we pay rent and any extras ie turning out etc are charged for at the end of the week. Now, we are a close group of friends there and I would trust any of the girls there with handling my horses and we would like to do favours for each other ie they turn out in morning and i'll bring them in. However, our livery yard owner has said were not allowed to help each other out due to insurance - ie if someone gets kicked turning someone elses horse out. But, seeing as all our horses have to be insured to be kept there (with public liability insurance included) then surely this doesnt make sense? Surely she should just say she has made this decision purely from a business point of view? Its certainly ruffled a few feathers anyway!

 

[eventingdiva]

During the week the owners at our yard are not allowed to do each other favours to protect the grooms job, as if everyone did each other favours, the groom would lose business and money, which isn't fair to her. Livery is paid in advance, and any extras are meant to be paid in advance as well, but the owners are usually so unorganised they pay after! x

 

[Nailed]

Well. if the horses have 3rd party liability they are covered.
YO is taking the pee and is trying to get more money...
We have to wear hats to go from the yard to the horse walker.. yard to hose. yard to arena..
Lou x

 

[georgiegirl2]

Well thats what we all thought! Surely if she had just got it over and done with and said 'I am doing this from a business perspective and to keep the groom working' then it wouldnt have bothered so many people! Its the fact the has come out with this insurance crap which has annoyed everyone so much as its quite patronizing! I'm close friends with the girl who grooms there and I feel sorry for her enough already, its not as if shes short of work. She doesnt even get a chance to groom the full livery horses (at which if i was paing full livery I would not be happy about!). It is a nice yard ither than that, I mean we have a nice horsewalker, a brand new arena, brand new plastic showjumps. Although to be honest there has been an issue over hay at the moment. Hay and straw is provided with the rent money but the hay she has bought in is absolute sh1t so we have all clubbed together to buy big bale haylage, its just adding more expense!

 

[serena2005]

god i hate these stupid rules!! drives me insane, our yard is getting to that stage, but they still let us help each other out

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

The YO doesn't have to give you any reason as to why they will not allow you to do favors. Wether it is for financial reasons or insurance it doesn't matter. It is their yard & their rules are in play.

You will probably find that if they allowed favors to go on then they will put up the livery prices to cover the loss in earnings in the 'extras' they normally charge for.

 

[Ferdinase514]

I think that a rule like that is purely designed to make extra money and will cause bad feeling.

The two rules at our yard that I struggle with are keeping dog on lead (am very naughty with that, but am there very early and very late) and only 4 bales of hay to be stored in tack rooms and none in lorries.

Designed to force you to buy their hay assuming you wont be bothered to source your own that often. Au contraire. Their hay is cr*p and I am again naughty and shove 6 bales in at a time.

 

[lilpete]

Our livery is great. We dont have any funny rules. We all help each other out ect. I love it. I think the only rule is that we're not allowed to ride without a hat if there are children about. If not we can.

 

[georgiegirl2]

its just such a shame - i love having the facilities but its just stupid things like not being able to turn out which are proving expensive. its 1.50 for turn out or bring in which may not sound a lot but when you have two of them and want them either turning out or bringing in depending on work shifts mon to fri it really does add up to a lot of money!

 

[Tufty]

Every yard has these petty rules and as stated its their yard, their business so they can, I know its a pain but then I have been on about 6 yards in my life time and what is good about one is bad about the other, swings and roundabouts. If you get on well with the people who are on your yard and the facilities are good, arena, turnout lights etc. I would say you have a good yard, trust me from experience there are some really bad ones out there and with really bitchy people also.

 

[Jemayni]

These are our yard rules, emailed to every livery on a seasonal basis (the facilities are really good!)



1. No-one on the yard after 4pm on Sunday.
2. No-one on the yard before 6am without prior permission.
3. Horses must not leave the yard without someone being informed about their whereabouts.
4. Tack Room Door must be kept LOCKED at all times.
5. Tack ONLY in the tack room.
6. Each Livery is responsible for their space in the livery room.
7. Haynets and lead ropes must be tied up correctly at all times when stored.
8. No bedding or hay is to be brought onto the yard from an external source.
9. One hay net per night per horse.
10. Two bales of straw per horse per week.
11. No rubber matting in stables without prior permission.
12. It is each liveries responsibility to sweep outside their own stables.
13. Muck must only be placed on far left of muck heap.
14. Yard tools are not communal.
15. Yard tools are to be stored correctly.
16. The Hay Barn is to be kept swept.
17. Lights must be turned off when not in use.
18. All stable doors must be kept shut, unless in use.
19. Hot water may only be used with prior permission.
20. Hosepipe use will be restricted if used excessively.
21. Horse Bathing is only allowed on the far right tie-ring.
22. Horses may not be left tied up.
23. Horses may not be fed tied up.
24. Horses’ feet must be picked out at field gate.
25. No horse is to be left out alone.
26. No stabled horse is to be left out past 5pm in the winter.
27. Ménage use is forbidden between 9 and 12, and after four on weekends.
28. Anyone wishing to use the ménage for lessons must request permission.
29. Jumps must be cleared after use.
30. Do not lunge in the outdoor school.
31. Clear up all muck in either school after use.
32. School gates must be kept shut.
33. Cross country jumps are only to be used on weekends.
34. Owners are liable for any damage their horses cause.
35. Riders are expected to dress in the correct attire for riding.
36. Riders are expected to only ride when using correctly and safely fitting tack.

Any Livery in breach of these rules may be asked to leave the yard!

 

[mrdarcy]

But if everyone had their dog off the lead then it would be chaos. It can't be one rule for one at certain times of the day and one rule for everyone else. I reckon your YO is being very nice letting you have your dog on the yard at all.

Plus if everyone brought in dozens of bales of hay then there'd be no room to do anything. Most livery yards I know insist on bedding and forage being bought from them - when space is limited its the only practical way.

Please no one forget that the profit margins of most livery yards are minimal... no one is getting rich by being a YO

 

[icestationzebra]

Crikey! That is VERY prescriptive! A lot I can agree with but a lot that I don't.... Genuinely interested - do these rules work? Are people happy to follow them?

 

[fizz-tally]

our yard doesnt, only rule we have is keep the place clean & tidy

 

[georgiegirl2]

Must agree there! Alot of them I would like enforced where we are - particularly sweeping up - gets on my nerves people leaving a mess outside there boxes! However, no one on the yard after 4 on a sunday? how does that work?

 

[icestationzebra]

My thoughts exactly! I'm all for rules about shutting gates, sweeping yard etc. etc but not being able to go to the yard on a Sunday after 4pm (in summer as well?) Why is that? Also the haynet rule - only one haynet per horse per night - if my horse had to be in and 'done' by 4pm on a Sunday I might like to leave her with two haynets as she could be in for 15 hours before I got there in the morning!!!

 

[Ferdinase514]

[ QUOTE ]
I reckon your YO is being very nice letting you have your dog on the yard at all. [ QUOTE ]


Dog not on yard - in fields when I put horses out

[ QUOTE ]
Plus if everyone brought in dozens of bales of hay then there'd be no room to do anything. [ QUOTE ]


We have shared tack rooms (between 2/3) with plenty of room and previous yards have provided space for hay (20 bales at both my last yards) with no probs. So Is really a business decision.

[ QUOTE ]
Please no one forget that the profit margins of most livery yards are minimal... no one is getting rich by being a YO

[/ QUOTE ]

Our yard is 100% DIY with 33 liveries paying at least £120 per month. Hay £3 per bale (prob bought for less than £1)Believe me there's plenty of profit.

I don't begrudge them making money - it's what they do it for after all. And since I am polite and reasonable, they turn a blind eye to my slight rule breaking.

If it costs £1.50 per horse turn out and bring in - you'd be better off on part livery surely?

If my yard had a list of rules like the one above, I wouldn't go there - some of those are truely ridiculous and just asking for people to disobey - they're just not practical.

 

[lilym]

there is absolutley NO WAY i would keep a horse on a yard like that! i have to ride after 4pm and in the summer i like to hack in the eves, don't know where you live but a yard like that in my area would be bankrupt by the end of the month!

 

[Santa_Claus]

that is exactly how the yard I'm on works and to be honest it works well as the YO knows her stuff and the daily flexibility suits me down to the ground. The occasional little favour has a blind eye turned to but YO doesn't like it and she is right to have her rules. Firstly yes it is economic but it means everyone has the same rules. If you don't like the rules you don't come to the yard, I have been there since the main livery business started (used to be cows then diversified although already had a small number of liveries) about 5.5 years ago.

Also the insurance problem is a real one as recently shown in court when a YO was found liable to pay damages even though it was a livery's horse that kicked another livery and so nothing to do essentially with the YO.

Katie

 

[Rosyryan]

I.m fine with rules as long as everyone is required to adhere to them, I can see why yos and yms wish to protect their income they are after all trying to earn a living It really makes me mad when certain people are allowed to bend the rules, ie bring dogs to the yard unleashed, or expect other liveries to "mind" their children whilst they pootle off on a hack, the ym of my former yard interpreted the rules as gto who was in favour on that particular day and who helped out with his cockamainy comps, grr just thinking about him makes me want to commit "old-gittycide".

 

[mrdarcy]

My mate who I now share a private yard with is an ex-YO. She got so fed up of liveries taking the ***s, breaking rules and generally being obnoxious - to her and each other and then expecting her to act as referee - while failing to make anything like a decent living after paying feed/bedding/insurance/rates/utilities/land management/maintenance etc etc, that she sold up in the summer...

Being a YO is not an easy job - most rules aren't there to be petty or make vast profits but to ensure things are fair and safe for everone

 

[Christmas_Kate]

[ QUOTE ]
These are our yard rules, emailed to every livery on a seasonal basis (the facilities are really good!)



1. No-one on the yard after 4pm on Sunday.
2. No-one on the yard before 6am without prior permission.
3. Horses must not leave the yard without someone being informed about their whereabouts.
4. Tack Room Door must be kept LOCKED at all times.
5. Tack ONLY in the tack room.
6. Each Livery is responsible for their space in the livery room.
7. Haynets and lead ropes must be tied up correctly at all times when stored.
8. No bedding or hay is to be brought onto the yard from an external source.
9. One hay net per night per horse.
10. Two bales of straw per horse per week.
11. No rubber matting in stables without prior permission.
12. It is each liveries responsibility to sweep outside their own stables.
13. Muck must only be placed on far left of muck heap.
14. Yard tools are not communal.
15. Yard tools are to be stored correctly.
16. The Hay Barn is to be kept swept.
17. Lights must be turned off when not in use.
18. All stable doors must be kept shut, unless in use.
19. Hot water may only be used with prior permission.
20. Hosepipe use will be restricted if used excessively.
21. Horse Bathing is only allowed on the far right tie-ring.
22. Horses may not be left tied up.
23. Horses may not be fed tied up.
24. Horses’ feet must be picked out at field gate.
25. No horse is to be left out alone.
26. No stabled horse is to be left out past 5pm in the winter.
27. Ménage use is forbidden between 9 and 12, and after four on weekends.
28. Anyone wishing to use the ménage for lessons must request permission.
29. Jumps must be cleared after use.
30. Do not lunge in the outdoor school.
31. Clear up all muck in either school after use.
32. School gates must be kept shut.
33. Cross country jumps are only to be used on weekends.
34. Owners are liable for any damage their horses cause.
35. Riders are expected to dress in the correct attire for riding.
36. Riders are expected to only ride when using correctly and safely fitting tack.

Any Livery in breach of these rules may be asked to leave the yard!

[/ QUOTE ]

WTF is that??
OMG that's crazy!

 

[Weezy]

I dont know how you guys do big yards!

I am on a yard of 5 owners - we all are adults - without each other, at times, we would be royally stuffed! We turn out/bring in for each other so no horses are out alone, we hay each others horses, I have a share of care wth another grl so I do mornings and she does evenings (even tho I go up about 3 anyway it means my horse is fed at around 5 and re-rugged if necessary as sometimes at 3 it s still warm) - we use each others equipment but care for it as if it was our own

Our only rules are:

Horse walker MUST be swept after use

Paddocks are to be poo picked - treat as your own - you have one paddock, if you trash it in the winter you will pay for it in the summer!

Ummmm that is it! Oh and we dont have dogs on the yard if there is horse movement and we are supposed to have them on leads but ours are all well behaved so in the evening we do not adhere to this (it is a worknig farm wth machinery moving around so this safeguards us and ours too)

Straw is included in the £25 per week livery - hay is £3-50 a bale and we are all happy to pay for half a bale a day (even tho we sometimes use more, sometimes less, it wors well)

Our YO will book farrier and vet for us, ensure call out charges are split wherever possbile (for example Boss needs jabbing between Christmas and New Year and so she is bringing one of hers forward by 10 days so they can be done together)

I think I have it rather good!

 

[jayvee]

Oh hell I couldn't be doing with that, that would drive me mad being dictated to as to what I do, with and when with my horse!
Though I am sure the rules are there as there are too many idiotic owners.
I am spoilt running a private mod/con court yard of 11 boxes yet only housing 4! Only mine and YO.
I think I'd die or give up horses if this type of livery was the only option for me.

 

[Jemayni]

Everyone is quite happy to oblige by the majority of the rules, because if its what you used to (like making no mess what so ever) you dont even notice it. The rules which get on peoples nerves the most are the saving water/electricity ones. And livery is only £30 a week, which isnt that bad....

 

[regalrendezvous]

Gah i couldn't have time ristrictions on when i can / can't se emy horse. Some days i have to be at the stable at 4am for a show. That 4pm thing is just stupid, esspecially in summer.

I can see my horse whenever i like.

 

[Tia]

There are really only 2 rules at my yard; don't throw anything for one of the dogs and don't chain the double gates up tightly.

I am lucky in that all of my liveries are responsible and sensible people, so I don't really need to make rules for them.

 

[Tia]

OMG!! Those are a lot of rules.

 

[Enfys]

That does seem to be a lot of rules........ some seem a bit petty, but there are probably reasons behind it, many are plain common sense, courtesy and consideration for other owners and horses, it's a shame that it seems NECESSARY to state them as rules at all. Is this a riding stables also, or have a lot of young riders? Many of these rules have a strong health and safety feeling to them, we had to have rules like this for the Pony Club. Has your YO been stung with a liability claim before I wonder, or perhaps her Insurance Co. insist on this list?

1. No-one on the yard after 4pm on Sunday. YO lives on site? Bit of privacy perhaps, but not a rule I'd be happy with.
2. No-one on the yard before 6am without prior permission. sensible really
3. Horses must not leave the yard without someone being informed about their whereabouts. Health and safety?
4. Tack Room Door must be kept LOCKED at all times. Bit of a nuisance. Lots of thieves/strangers about ?
6. Each Livery is responsible for their space in the livery room. fair enough
7. Haynets and lead ropes must be tied up correctly at all times when stored. common sense. Are there lots of novices about?
9. One hay net per night per horse. Why?
12. It is each liveries responsibility to sweep outside their own stables. Obvious, not worth stating surely
15. Yard tools are to be stored correctly. Obvious, but H&S again?
16. The Hay Barn is to be kept swept. maybe she'd fed up with it being messed up? Obvious again though.
17. Lights must be turned off when not in use. Obvious
22. Horses may not be left tied up. Safety
23. Horses may not be fed tied up. Ditto
25. No horse is to be left out alone. Obvious + safety factor again .
35. Riders are expected to dress in the correct attire for riding. H & S again
36. Riders are expected to only ride when using correctly and safely fitting tack. and again H&S. Really does sound like Pony Club

I have few rules, mainly, keep your children out of my house, haybarn and pool (unless invited) and don't let them bug my other animals.

 

[lilym]

my livery is only £30 per week, but we have a pretty free rein as long as everthing is tidy the YO are happy to leave us to get on with things!