livery yards are stressful!

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simple_things

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Just a small vent really!

Have recently moved to a livery yard while my stables and school at our new place are being finished and oh my I picked a good one!! It's been years since I last had a horse on livery and it was a lovely small friendly place to be...This place is much bigger and there seems quite a divide amongst the liveries there!!

My lot are still in isolation at the moment which is separate from the main yard and have kept myself to myself as best as I can but have already had the yard know it all give me advice on my horses that she has never seen go....i have heard b*tching and bickering. There seems to be alot jealousy and they are always trying to outdo each other! Have seen all this and Ive only been there 2 weeks!!

I'm guessing this is to be expected at large livery yards and wonder what it will be like outside isolation when it won't be so easy to stay out of there way :)

Can't wait for my stables to be finished and I can get back to my normal routine :D
 
I find it is more medium size yards that are the worst. I'm on a large (80 ish horses) yard and there's no bitching or gossiping that I've seen in the few months I've been there.
 
am with you there. I moved to a smallish yard few months back and I mist admit, I am struggling/hating it. Wish I could go back to being by myself .... you are so lucky to have the option in the distance ! I envy you with a passion
 
Actually, this kind of behaviour isn't necessarily to be expected on yards of any size. I'm on a yard of 30 horses ... 27 liveries plus the YO's own. The YO chooses her liveries carefully so they fit in with the crowd and jumps on any bitchiness or bad behaviour like a ton of bricks should it happen. She's gone as far as to eject people (once with very little notice!) should anyone step out of line!! As such, we all get on very well, everyone's friendly and helpful and it's a great atmosphere generally. You will always get someone who thinks he/she knows it all and isn't shy at making their views known, but just ignore them, smile sweetly and get on with doing your own thing.

A good YO/YM will want to hear about anything making the clients unhappy and do their best to sort it.

Good luck!
 
simple_things said:
Just a small vent really!

Have recently moved to a livery yard while my stables and school at our new place are being finished and oh my I picked a good one!! It's been years since I last had a horse on livery and it was a lovely small friendly place to be...This place is much bigger and there seems quite a divide amongst the liveries there!!

My lot are still in isolation at the moment which is separate from the main yard and have kept myself to myself as best as I can but have already had the yard know it all give me advice on my horses that she has never seen go....i have heard b*tching and bickering. There seems to be alot jealousy and they are always trying to outdo each other! Have seen all this and Ive only been there 2 weeks!!

I'm guessing this is to be expected at large livery yards and wonder what it will be like outside isolation when it won't be so easy to stay out of there way :)

Can't wait for my stables to be finished and I can get back to my normal routine :D
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- Surviving on busy livery yards, where there isn’t active or effective management can be a learnt skill. But it is just hard work in an indoor barn, full of strong personalities (and most DIY horse owners IMO are strong personalities!!)
- Think every set up has pros and cons. Being at home can be lonely and the buck stops with you.
- I’ve now got my own separate area of my yard, and it is a very small yard anyway. But does mean there is rarely anyone to talk too. Which can be a pro and a con.
- But when I was at a busier yard, I loved the early mornings when I was alone best. Now I’ve quickly forgotten all the one upmanship / pettiness / space wars etc of a big livery yard, and sometimes miss the company.
- Hard to win sometimes.
 
I've found yards quite hit and miss tbh. Only one really bitchy one, and one with a nutter YO. Current yard is big, I'd guess around 80 horses and everyone gets on well. I'm sure there's the odd niggle but tbh these things go over my head.
 
yards are only generally going to affect you if you get sucked in, just go about your business and make it very clear you are there to enjoy your horse and don't care who what where or when lol, I find this method works a treat!!!
 
In what I have seen so far the YO has her own little posse! I think she could be quite the handful...and there definitely seems to be some giant personalities at this place! don't get me wrong it's a lovely yard and everything is kept clean and tidy, it's just the people that I think will rattle me!! I would say there's probably around 50ish liveries there...to me that is huge when you're used to just yourself, your friend and your own rules!

My stables are all ready to move into tonight when i get up. so I'm bracing myself for a Q&A evening!

I'm not interested in yard nonsense i have worked on many yards over the years and think i have just about seen every personality out there haha! I like to go and just enjoy my hordes without the dramas of the day!!
 
It's not just big yards. I have three liveries, all ladies over 40 and two of them aren't talking over a silly fall out about something and nothing. As yard owner I get both of them moaning to me. Drives me insane.
 
Not on mine- huge American barn with around 50 stables, tackroom and indoor school all attached. Out of the 80 horses around 45 are liveries, the others are riding school horses, Shetlands, donkeys and a general assortment of 'rescues' that no doubt eat nicely into the YOs profits! The horses run in large groups of around 15 in huge fields. We are very fortunate to have of lots land :-)
 
The only time I havent found bitching on a yard is when there are only 1 or 2 other people to share the yard with. Other than that they have all been hugely bitchy. Will never go back to a bigger yard again!
 
FlyingCircus said:
I find it is more medium size yards that are the worst. I'm on a large (80 ish horses) yard and there's no bitching or gossiping that I've seen in the few months I've been there.
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Personally I think if you get two women or more together you will get bitching! The chances are it is going on, you just aren't aware of it yet. I fell victim to someone who was as nice as pie to my face but turned out to be calling me something rotten and telling nasty lies to several of the other people there, including the YO. I started to wonder about her when she was calling someone else and criticising her to me so I wasn't overly surprised when someone tipped me off.
 
It really does come down to the YO or YM. I had been on the same yard for 14 years. The first YO did need managing but knew her stuff - I could tell by how she walked if she was in a bad mood but bitchiness was rather kept to a minimum. 2nd YO - really lovely and would not tolerate gossip at all. Neither would she give anyone the time of day who would moan about another livery unless there was good reason and then she sorted it out face to face. Then we had the most peculiar man who actively incited and encouraged it. Same yard, same liveries, fell apart really quickly. Cliques and bitchiness. I left (having been on that yard for over 14 years) to follow 2nd YO to a much smaller yard and enjoyed her no nonsense approach again. She moved away so now on another yard which is again, small, but again YO does not tolerate whinging and nearly all the liveries are close friends of mine.. so perfect!
 
Ahh so glad I'm not on a big yard. Can't stand catty behaviour. For me horses is my escape, my 'me' time, I don't think I'd function well on a noisy, busy yard. I don't do small talk well (I don't see the point! I don't care about your holiday lol) and have little tolerance of idiots. :)
 
Sorry I have been quiet but I have finally moved house :D yay!!

Oh god I hate big b****y livery yards and this is definitely one of them! Wow! some of the things I have heard between them is unreal...and have recently had one person in particular make some catty comments towards myself now about riding one of my horses in spurs and how I jump one in a waterford!! I pulled her up about it and basically told her me and my horses are nothing to do with her and she should mind her own business as I don't care for how she does things with her horse and also told her she was the reason I hated livery yards!

It shut her up but she obviously went to have s 'b***h about it as one of the decent girls came up and told me lol! The thing that annoys me the most is I just keep myself to myself there's a couple of real nice girls that I go hacking with and I now try and get them schooled before work when it's quiet!

I don't want to have to move them as my stables will be ready end of January and it's got the best facilities in the area so will just have to grin and bear it for now!
 
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