Most ridiculous things you've seen on livery contracts....

[Pinkvboots]

I worked for a show producer for holiday cover once and they had a rule that all horses had to have a rug on all year round in the stable

 

[lynz88]

My experience on being on large local livery yard and watching many different members of staff mixing feeds, was the only way to guarantee supplements all got into the feed daily was to provide single premixed Tupperware pots for each day. Even better if write day of week on pot. Else it’s a bit pot luck if all supplements added to feed. Especially if asking them to add multiple things.

If they’ve asked you to combine supplements I’d think be sensible, as indicates are finding lots of tubs to open and measure hassle. Which probably means less conscientious might not add all supplements.

I combine for them and have done for quite some time now so that stuff isn't missed as is easy to do and then provide the correct sized scoop and instructions taped to the lid. As I measure everything out, I know how long it should last and makes it easier. I had it out a bit with them recently about feeding and everything seems to be back on track as it should. Otherwise I've not really had too much of an issue. The feed seems to be consolidated to only 2 people now which is good as well.

 

[Melody Grey]

I was on a DIY yard with a jobs rota which meant you needed to attend to a bit of yard absolutely nowhere near your own stable or storage, so you’d be berated for others making a mess and you not clearing it up immediately.

Same rota expected you to manually dig the arena track, even if you didn’t use the arena. It was back breaking and in dire need of a top up.

I had donated soap and toilet rolls and the yard owner decided to then chain and padlock the cupboard locking my things inside to release as she saw fit….my protests in the group chat that I’d had my toilet rolls clamped, though hilarious to everyone else, were not well received!

There was a mass walk out of liveries (10 of us left on one day) due to the rules and the way they were being enforced. We’d asked for a yard meeting with the owner, but were refused and asked to see her one at a time - no doubt to avoid mutiny. On my turn, the yard owner rather patronisingly asked me to “think about how we like things here, I don’t like to think of the yard as a business, more of my home”…..I reminded her that a 40 box DIY yard was clearly a business and asked her to ‘think about’ how the Inland revenue viewed it! my ‘turn’ then ended very abruptly!

I could write a book about that yard!

 

[KatieDM]

I was on a DIY yard with a jobs rota which meant you needed to attend to a bit of yard absolutely nowhere near your own stable or storage, so you’d be berated for others making a mess and you not clearing it up immediately.

Same rota expected you to manually dig the arena track, even if you didn’t use the arena. It was back breaking and in dire need of a top up.

I had donated soap and toilet rolls and the yard owner decided to then chain and padlock the cupboard locking my things inside to release as she saw fit….my protests in the group chat that I’d had my toilet rolls clamped, though hilarious to everyone else, were not well received!

There was a mass walk out of liveries (10 of us left on one day) due to the rules and the way they were being enforced. We’d asked for a yard meeting with the owner, but were refused and asked to see her one at a time - no doubt to avoid mutiny. On my turn, the yard owner rather patronisingly asked me to “think about how we like things here, I don’t like to think of the yard as a business, more of my home”…..I reminded her that a 40 box DIY yard was clearly a business and asked her to ‘think about’ how the Inland revenue viewed it! my ‘turn’ then ended very abruptly!

I could write a book about that yard!

I’d read that book!

 

[Ceifer]

‘We no longer provide a livery service on Bank Holidays ‘. So, you are DIY those days but we won’t adjust the monthly charge.

I had this at a full livery yard at Christmas. I had booked a holiday over Christmas and YO was aware months in advance- hell she’d recommended the location.
Then 3 weeks before Christmas she sent an email saying all liveries were expected to do their own horses on Christmas Day. When I said I couldn’t and didn’t really know the other owners she said she’d do my horse for an extra £100.
£100 for one days care.

Same yard owner used to add all sorts of extra charges on my bill at the end of the month that were infuriating. If it weren’t for the fact it was the only yard in the area that had decent turnout and hacking I would have walked out.

 

[Fieldlife]

I combine for them and have done for quite some time now so that stuff isn't missed as is easy to do and then provide the correct sized scoop and instructions taped to the lid. As I measure everything out, I know how long it should last and makes it easier. I had it out a bit with them recently about feeding and everything seems to be back on track as it should. Otherwise I've not really had too much of an issue. The feed seems to be consolidated to only 2 people now which is good as well.

Sounds good. Sorry not realised was all consolidated, that sounds very reasonable.

 

[Jojo2go]

I looked at a yard once and was told that if the horse wasn’t in the stable at tea time it went without. This was around the time I would be arriving and wanting to ride so my horse would never get their tea. My horses were used to being fed later than others and never kicked up a fuss. I didn’t move to that yard.

What the heck! Couldn't they just put the horse's feed in the stable and tell you were responsible to make sure your horse was cooled out properly? That's the way things worked at the yard I managed. Worked wonderfully.

 

[Beausmate]

I’d read that book!

Me too!

 

[Ambers Echo]

I left my last yard because the owner was loopy. You had to poo pick by 3:30 because she didn’t like seeing messy fields - never mind that most people worked! So she’d randomly do it for you and charge extra. She banned walking from stables to arena on the smooth tarmac to the left. You had to take a long-cut on rough stones to the right. When my horse was transitioning to barefoot he was sore so I asked for permission to use tarmac temporarily and was told no.

She was always looking for ways to make more money and didn’t care if that affected her liveries.

She charged extra for an indoor that she then filled with parked up caravans all winter - precisely when people wanted it most - and didn’t adjust the fee. She opened the yard up to the local shoot every other Saturday through the season and you weren’t allowed to turn out, use yard facilities like the brew room or ride that day. If your horse was away overnight for any reason (camp, horsepital) she’d hire out your stable by the night to randomers - including using your bedding.

I could write a book on that yard too.

 

[lar]

Surely you just avoid the poo until you have finished... that's what we do at our yard

Well you'd think so wouldn't you but after multiple incidents of muck spread across the arena I think YO got fed up of her surface getting ruined.

 

[Melody Grey]

I’d read that book!

The cost of keeping horses (and just living!) nowadays, I may have to write it! watch this space!

 

[Pinkvboots]

I worked on a yard once and the yo was obsessed with the muck heap it had to have 3 steps and be completely flat, I wouldn't mind but it was the size of a 3 bedroom house

One livery had a small digger and he used to try and help us chuck the muck up with it, she caught him once and went mental and told him not to do it as the staff had to do it by hand.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I'm a YO (DIY, small yard, I live on-site) and all I would say that however bizarre the "ruling" seems to be, there's probably some YO somewhere who's been taken the mickey out of.

At my place I had a numpty girl once who had "all the gear but no idea" and was a huge NH fan. She'd play around with her spoiled-rotten youngsters and had a trainer here to try and sort the blessed things out. She then started riding them out: without a riding hat - she'd wear this huge Western hat thing like a flying saucer. A lot of YO's would have taken her to task about "no riding hat" I'm aware of that. When this unconventional individual left my yard, she'd deep-littered her spoiled darlings, but hadn't bothered to clear it all out. It was absolutely solid. Two large stables of it. And it took me the best part of a week to get it done. This is why I absolutely forbid any deep-littering now! Because I've been caught.

I live on-site, and don't have any prohibitions about time. Have had people who're in the police in the past who I was happy for them to come and go at whatever time they needed. Currently one tends to come before 6am in the termtime as she drives a school bus. They always tell me if this is what's happening in case my dogs kick off and bark & wake me up.

I am on metered water here and every single drop costs, so yes I am a fuss-@rse about wasting water. Electricity and lights left on isn't a problem as we are on solar power.

I work part time at a local agricultural college, which has an equine BHS training yard attached to it. My old boy was on working livery there and you certainly couldn't turn up when it suited you! OR to be wearing ANY jewellery at all. Zilch! Only a wrist-watch acceptable. There was a dress code which you had to adhere to which was jods in a "muted colour" of e.g. fawn, brown, navy or black. And "no denim jods". When riding or leading you had to be wearing hat, body protector, gloves, and joddy boots or long-boots. For poo-picking it was/is hat & BP. If hacking-out you had to have hi-viz. No exceptions to any of it.

 

[Fransurrey]

I am on metered water here and every single drop costs, so yes I am a fuss-@rse about wasting water. Electricity and lights left on isn't a problem as we are on solar power.

Our YO goes beyond this. There is no rule list when you move on, but I know of a couple of people who have been told off for cleaning out their field trough (one recently and she did stand her ground, as it had NEVER been cleaned). I do mine once a year at most, but even that is frowned upon. Another livery was prohibited from hosing her horse's injured leg after a tendon injury (vet's instructions, so not on a whim). YO would have done her nut if she'd found me hosing my broken ankle a few years ago...yet she wouldn't allow me to fit a water butt to my shelter downpipe, which would have saved her 1000s of litres a year!

 

[equinerebel]

I think my favourite was the YO who had a one medium sized haynet per horse rule. We all paid equally for round bales, but you were absolutely not allowed to use more than that. If your horse finished their net early, too bad.

I like to have three haynets around the stable to encourage movement, and always want to see some left over, so I bought my own extra hay in. I was berated for it but left soon after.

 

[Melody Grey]

I worked on a yard once and the yo was obsessed with the muck heap it had to have 3 steps and be completely flat, I wouldn't mind but it was the size of a 3 bedroom house

One livery had a small digger and he used to try and help us chuck the muck up with it, she caught him once and went mental and told him not to do it as the staff had to do it by hand.

My fellow livery and I spent 20 mins sorting out the steps on the muck heap, tiering it nicely, flattening etc to be followed then by a manitou that just came and scraped the whole thing up in about 10 seconds!

 

[Jambarissa]

I had my own place until I was 22 and have been at current yard for 20 odd years but the few years in between were a whirlwind of yards which didn't suit usually due to odd rules.

One where your horse had to eat the (expensive) hay before going out in the morning, mine would just be desperate to go out and getting more and more stressed and obviously less inclined to eat. I stayed there 6 days.

One where the yo announced no t/o from October to July because they were going to have a wedding marquee in the field in June and didn't want it trashed.

One where the horses and surroundings had to be spotless at all times, yo waiting to tell you off in the morning because your horse had dropped hay over the stable door or laid in poo (she was bonkers).

One where I got into trouble because my horse wouldn't finish his mouthful of grass before drinking from the water trough and so made it dirty.

One deciding no turnout on bank hols and weekends 'because you can ride then', regardless of people's working patterns.

And tbh just loads of yards where they either don't tell you the rules or rewrite them on a whim - drastically changing opening times, starting to sell feed and insisting everyone buys it, changing turnout rules or forever changing herd make up (mares/geldings, old/young, big/small, early/late just argghhh!).

 

[nikkimariet]

I also didn’t allow hay on my muck heap. It doesn’t rot down quick enough and it wasn’t in my best interest to have the muck heap removed at my own cost more regularly than it should have been.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I'm a YO (DIY, small yard, I live on-site) and all I would say that however bizarre the "ruling" seems to be, there's probably some YO somewhere who's been taken the mickey out of.

At my place I had a numpty girl once who had "all the gear but no idea" and was a huge NH fan. She'd play around with her spoiled-rotten youngsters and had a trainer here to try and sort the blessed things out. She then started riding them out: without a riding hat - she'd wear this huge Western hat thing like a flying saucer. A lot of YO's would have taken her to task about "no riding hat" I'm aware of that. When this unconventional individual left my yard, she'd deep-littered her spoiled darlings, but hadn't bothered to clear it all out. It was absolutely solid. Two large stables of it. And it took me the best part of a week to get it done. This is why I absolutely forbid any deep-littering now! Because I've been caught.

I live on-site, and don't have any prohibitions about time. Have had people who're in the police in the past who I was happy for them to come and go at whatever time they needed. Currently one tends to come before 6am in the termtime as she drives a school bus. They always tell me if this is what's happening in case my dogs kick off and bark & wake me up.

I am on metered water here and every single drop costs, so yes I am a fuss-@rse about wasting water. Electricity and lights left on isn't a problem as we are on solar power.

I work part time at a local agricultural college, which has an equine BHS training yard attached to it. My old boy was on working livery there and you certainly couldn't turn up when it suited you! OR to be wearing ANY jewellery at all. Zilch! Only a wrist-watch acceptable. There was a dress code which you had to adhere to which was jods in a "muted colour" of e.g. fawn, brown, navy or black. And "no denim jods". When riding or leading you had to be wearing hat, body protector, gloves, and joddy boots or long-boots. For poo-picking it was/is hat & BP. If hacking-out you had to have hi-viz. No exceptions to any of it.

I get the water thing yards I've been on charge for bathing your horse and using the solarium afterwards, otherwise you some people that are obsessed with washing the horse everyday and putting on the solarium afterwards if everyone did that it would be a fortune.

 

[dorsetladette]

I worked on a yard once and the yo was obsessed with the muck heap it had to have 3 steps and be completely flat, I wouldn't mind but it was the size of a 3 bedroom house

One livery had a small digger and he used to try and help us chuck the muck up with it, she caught him once and went mental and told him not to do it as the staff had to do it by hand.

My dad was obsessed with our muck heap. it was like his castle. all the walls were built up round the edges and the ramp up the middle to push the barrow to the top. It was an engineering masterpiece! He'd be on there all morning while we were mucking out.

He wasn't daft -it was the warmest place on the yard! We all had chill blains on our toes but dad never did!

My parents yard was a working stud so there were a few rules for obvious reasons. Liveries (full only) were asked not to arrive before 10am so morning routines could be carried out before the yard got busy and the liveries required time from mum or dad. Also the stallions were 'on duty' in a morning so the indoor school wasn't available for liveries to ride in until later in the day when the boys had finished 'work' and were out in their paddocks. If anyone needed to be on the yard before 10am it was always accommodated but by prior discussion.

The stallion block was out of bounds to liveries (unless one of the boys was yours) - this became a rule after a livery decided they wanted to tie up on the stallion yard as it was quieter than the main yard - with their in season mare in spring! As you can imagine the boys were incredibly interested.

Mum had a picky rule which I didn't really get until me and dad had to keep the yard clean while her and the YTS girl were away showing. No haynets on the yard. Hay racks were at the back of each stable and a passage way down the back to throw the hay into the racks with out going on the yard. This meant horses didn't stand dropping hay over the door on to the yard. after mucking out in a morning the yard was swept and it stayed tidy all day. You let a livery leave a haynet tied while they go for a hack and one gust of wind and the whole yard needs sweeping again.

Usually crazy or petty rules are the result of someones idiotic behavior. IE - don't walk mares through stallion paddocks when they are occupied - surely this goes without saying but apparently if you don't say people will!!

 

[Birker2020]

Many years ago between yards I enquired about one yard for DIY and it was that when you went down the driveway you had to switch your main beam off.

In the same yard, there were no menage lights so if you wanted you could use a torch to ride!

Thank God I found the yard where I'm having my stable held. Moved on in 2004. No crazy rules!

 

[Dave's Mam]

Many years ago between yards I enquired about one yard for DIY and it was that when you went down the driveway you had to switch your main beam off.

Maybe it shone into their living room or bedroom?

 

[Pinkvboots]

My dad was obsessed with our muck heap. it was like his castle. all the walls were built up round the edges and the ramp up the middle to push the barrow to the top. It was an engineering masterpiece! He'd be on there all morning while we were mucking out.

He wasn't daft -it was the warmest place on the yard! We all had chill blains on our toes but dad never did!

My parents yard was a working stud so there were a few rules for obvious reasons. Liveries (full only) were asked not to arrive before 10am so morning routines could be carried out before the yard got busy and the liveries required time from mum or dad. Also the stallions were 'on duty' in a morning so the indoor school wasn't available for liveries to ride in until later in the day when the boys had finished 'work' and were out in their paddocks. If anyone needed to be on the yard before 10am it was always accommodated but by prior discussion.

The stallion block was out of bounds to liveries (unless one of the boys was yours) - this became a rule after a livery decided they wanted to tie up on the stallion yard as it was quieter than the main yard - with their in season mare in spring! As you can imagine the boys were incredibly interested.

Mum had a picky rule which I didn't really get until me and dad had to keep the yard clean while her and the YTS girl were away showing. No haynets on the yard. Hay racks were at the back of each stable and a passage way down the back to throw the hay into the racks with out going on the yard. This meant horses didn't stand dropping hay over the door on to the yard. are mucking out in a morning the yard was swept and it stayed tidy all day. You let a livery leave a haynet tied while they go for a hack and one gust of wind and the whole yard needs sweeping again.

Usually crazy or petty rules are the result of someones idiotic behavior. IE - don't walk mares through stallion paddocks when they are occupied - surely this goes without saying but apparently if you don't say people will!!

I have nothing against muck heap obsession if you are doing it yourself I don't want it inflicted on me so I break my back everyday satisfying someone's addiction so your Dad is allowed his obsession.

I get the stallion thing I kept Arabi entire until he was nearly 5 and we were on a few yards and honestly some liveries did the most stupid things around him, he was such a good boy never did anything horrible or dangerous was stabled near mares without any issue.

Someone tied there mare right outside his stable once then complained he was being noisy and trying to bite her

 

[dorsetladette]

I have nothing against muck heap obsession if you are doing it yourself I don't want it inflicted on me so I break my back everyday satisfying someone's addiction so your Dad is allowed his obsession.

I get the stallion thing I kept Arabi entire until he was nearly 5 and we were on a few yards and honestly some liveries did the most stupid things around him, he was such a good boy never did anything horrible or dangerous was stabled near mares without any issue.

Someone tied there mare right outside his stable once then complained he was being noisy and trying to bite her

common sense is very uncommon!

 

[Birker2020]

Maybe it shone into their living room or bedroom?

It was so the neighbours couldn't know that different vehicles were coming and going due to lack of planning permission actually

 

[DeliaRides]

Sometimes it's not so much the actual rules, as the complete lack of communication about them or why they have been necessary. We moved to a new yard and had a real panic when they announced everything had to be brought in before 3.30 in winter and most were in before 2pm. We both work and there was no way I could do this mid-afternoon. I managed to buddy up with somebody and I turned out and they brought in for me, but nothing about this had been said when we were viewing the yard and it could have been a complete dealbreaker for me!

Smaller one, but there were 4 taps with hoses on the same yard, and I got told off for washing off at one of them. I was supposed to magically know which were the wash off taps and which were only for filling buckets. I realise there would have been a reason for this (like where it drained to), but you should tell people where or how to do something before telling them off for getting it wrong!

 

[maisie06]

Have you thought about why that rule may be there?

Years ago I was on a yard where Hay and straw were included in the livery fee and tye amount of hay tossed on the muckheap was spectacular and I used to have to pop some straw on my barrow in the morning as when I got down after work I would be left with nothing to top up with after a muck out as several liveries who could get there early would use the lot on a full clean out each day....YO got fed upwith the wastage and cost so gave everyone a storage space in a barn that was no longer used when the cattle went and we had to buy our own large hay and straw bales - I loved this, several others didn't and funnily enough stopped using the huge amounts that thy had previously been doing.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Some of these ' rules' are mind bogling!!

The only rule that hasn't suited be was the visiting times at a yard I viewed. No earlier than 8am, I start work at 8.30am and not after 7pm. If you were competing you had to let YO know if you were going to be late back. Wouldn't have minded that but I couldn't accommodate the visiting times. Also, YO slated liveries that were already there because they only wanted to ride out in walk! She couldn't understand why they didn't want to gallop every where like her son!!

A yard that my friends were on required them, at the end of the day, when their horses were in, to go and stamp in the divets the horses had made with their feet in the field!!

 

[Alibear]

The one that will always have me walk away is the rule that no liveries are allowed in the feed room. I've only been to one yard myself that had this rule, but I have friends who were at other places. Strangely enough, the horses started to drop weight in every instance.

 

[Sugar Plum]

Hah. Same US yard mentioned above ordained that all supplements must be given via Smartpak. You don't have this in the UK, but it's basically a US company that packages horse supplements into wee blister pack thingmies, like human medication, and all the owner/yard staff need to do is rip off the top of the packaging and voila, horse gets whatever supplements you want, all nice and measured out. No thinking required. I understand why the yard management was into it -- it is easier and more efficient for the staff -- but it is hugely wasteful, since you are throwing out vast amounts of plastic and cardboard every single day, and supplements are much more expensive if bought through Smartpak than bought in bulk from the companies who produce them.

Can't understand the baggies, but can understand the faff of a horse having more than one supplement. Mine has 5 supplements - I have bought small plastic lidded containers that I add all supplements to every week, so just need an open and tip and reuse afterwards.