Need help on a yard moving decision

[olop]

My boy really isnt happy at current yard, I posted a while back before summer about him not settling on the yard we moved to as there were only 3 horses on the yard & him feeling very isolated. I chucked him out over summer but YO has insisted he comes in at night & he just hates the box, he cannot see other horses & he is panicking in there so I really do need to move(he has been stabled before but only on larger yards & this box isnt the biggest either)

There is a serious lack of decent yards in my area but I went to view one yesterday that ticked all my boxes (all year turnout, indoor school, direct off road hacking & barn stabling so he can see the others)

There is just one little problem with it, they have a very odd way of paying the bill.
Basically the YO rents yard off farmer, you pay farmer every 2 weeks for stable. You have to buy hay & straw off them & that you pay for weekly when you order it from farmer. Then if you want services (which I will do as yard is quite far from house & I wouldnt be able to get there in the mornings) you pay the groom weekly as she is self employed.

This would mean 1 bill a week for the groom, 1 bill a week for hay/straw & a 2 weekly bill for stable. You also have to pay for the lights on the indoor (£1 a time) it has no natural light so you would have to pay so that is another £1 a day when I wanted to use it.

Does anyone think that they would be just constantly having to remember to pay this that & the other each week?! The yard is everything I want but it just seems that I would always have to have money on me & handing it over all the time!

I did ask YO if they would condense the bill so I could pay monthly (stabling & hay/straw) & the services weekly but she said the farmer has done it for years & wont change for 1 person.

Would that situation be a dealbreaker for you??

 

[claireandnadia]

I think in a way I'd prefer that to having to find a lump sum at the end of the month like normal.
If it ticks all your boxes and this is the only issue then I'd still say to go.

 

[Jingleballs]

While it may be a bit of a pain, it's a pretty minor issues compared to what you are dealing with at your current yard.

Just budget accordignly and put aside what you know it will cost in the month and pay it as you need to.

 

[Littlelegs]

It wouldn't bother me tbh. Our farmer isn't fussed how we pay. But I find it easier to pay 4weekly for stables, then weekly for hay & straw.

 

[alainax]

i think if everything else is perfect, and its just the money handling, then thats not a huge issue. You will get used to it im sure Or put in a little system for yourself.

Like...

Withdraw your horse money for each month ( or if you have the cash anyway much simpler). Put it in envelopes titled " groom" "rent" "lights" "hay+ staw" etc then keep it in your safe. Each time you need to pay you just dig into your envelope and it wont effect your bank account or cause you to have to go to the cash machine all the time.

 

[criso]

My last two yards were a bit like that

Yard 1

Basic livery charge for stable rent and turnout and use of facilities

YM self employed so paid her monthly for 5 day livery or services

Choice of a third charge to join the yard basic or deluxe hay, feed and bedding package or buy your own in and store or ask yard to order in for you and pay them for these, bill for what been used.

Yard 2
Everyone paid a basic livery charge to the farm except hay and straw was included in the price.

Then as I was on 5 day livery I paid a separate monthly charge to the YM who was self employed.

I paid for feed as when ordered and delivered

Then a charge for additional services as needed

It's not a problem as long as they keep on top of things and services and extras are billed regularly. What you don't want is getting an unexpectedly bill for services that have added up or trying to remember how many turnouts you've had 4 months previously.

Re lights you might find you are sharing the school and light charge with others anyway.

 

[SpottedCat]

Presumably you don't have to remember to pay anyone anything, you just get a bill and pay it accordingly? In which case I would be fine with that!

 

[WelshD]

Set reminder on your phone initially but I am sure that you will fall in to a routine very quickly.

 

[olop]

Thanks all - as I'm used to just paying a monthly bill & going out & paying for my own hay & bedding it was getting me a bit worried about having to pay lots of different at different times was all

 

[Chestnutmare]

For me personally I much prefer paying in one go at beginning of month to ensure nothing is left unpaid etc, all my hay is paid for in bulk too so that helps alot I tried the weekly payment to one person but with the extra's added on and found I got out of my depth very quickly with this method hence why I left the yard as nice as it was but am in better now where everything is so much cheaper and easier for me.

Sounds like yes you do need to move, is there really no other yards around at all? have you tried word of mouth been in and asked local tack, feed suppliers if they know of anything?.

I wish you all the best though in your decision

 

[PandorasJar]

I'd move, sounds fine.

Only query... YO rents from farmer, yet farmer gets paid stable... what does YO get paid? Unless YM and not renting but managing?

 

[SO1]

Do you need to pay everyone in cash?

Could you set up a standing order for every two weeks for the rent of the stable? If you are going to have the same services every morning could you also set up standing order for that too?

Could you think about how much hay/straw you need and buy four weeks worth off the farmer instead of ordering every week?

 

[emma.is]

Withdraw your horse money for each month ( or if you have the cash anyway much simpler). Put it in envelopes titled " groom" "rent" "lights" "hay+ staw" etc then keep it in your safe. Each time you need to pay you just dig into your envelope and it wont effect your bank account or cause you to have to go to the cash machine all the time.

I'd do this