Need to make a decision re moving livery yards - need help/advice!

sandrawebzell

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22 November 2006
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I need to move yards and have looked at a few but I'm finding the decision so hard as I'm so scared of making a mistake - just keep thinking that it's my horse's life & happiness I'm dealing with. We just hack and rarely use a school.

I know everywhere will have its negative points, but I am starting to feel a bit panicked and keep doubting my own judgement. Saw somewhere the other day which had perfect hacking, ideal location to keep current farrier (needed!) & vet, but the large fields weren't maintained well -droppings, some ragwort, deer grazing in the field, broken fence etc. School had some grass growing through it. Nice 12x12 stable though and horses looked fine but wouldn't be allowed to have shavings, which I prefer, as the yard uses another form of bedding.

The other choice was run very professionally, well maintained poo-picked fields (although had wood with barbed wire fence), maintained school, bedding of choice, lovely hacking, but the stables were small - 10x12 - dark and not well ventilated and possibly too far for farrier.

Can't keep dithering as the two yards will need a decision and have already discounted 4 others, due to very busy road, price, lack of ayto.

Just don't know what to do for the best - keep looking which has already taken months and risk losing a place on the above 2 or just choose from the above 2. Your sane opinions needed as this is dragging me down and making my brain hurt! Thank you.
 
10x12 isnt really that small, depending on size of the horse and how long they were out.

agree with AmyMay though - safe turnout is always the priority for me. As long as there is plenty of grazing the horses should stay away from the fences/not try to jump out etc which would be my concern with wire.
 
Why do you need to keep the same farrier? I totally understand how hard it is to find a good/reliable farrier - have you asked at the second yard who they use? if they are as professional as they sound I'm sure they will be able to talk to you about the farriers they use. To be honest if they could reassure me about a good farrier I would probably go there. For me and my horses the most important thing is good well maintained turn out as mine are out 24/7 for as much of the year as I can manage and are only stabled over night through the worst of the winter. Well maintained yards/fields would indicate that things are well looked after - just ask about the barbed wire to put your mind at rest - is it on the outside of the fencing to keep people out rather than the horse in? How big is you horse - would have thought a 10x12 would be enough for most horses just for overnight stabling.
 
10X12 is a standard size stable, what size is your horse?

My very large warmblood, prefers the 10x12 to the 10x16 that is hers!!!!
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Don't quite understand the deer grazing in the field bit either!! We have deer that come across our land, very hard to do anything about that!! Wild deer don't usually live in large herds!
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The concern for me would be the barbed wire, that is awful stuff, and the badly maintained grazing. Grazing is very important to us as some of mine don't like to come in, and therefore are only inside in the worst of the weather.
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I would go for second yard and find new farrier. Funnily enough I had to make this decision very recently - my horse was extremely happy on a lovely yard but it was over 25min drive away and I kept getting down there and would struggle to ride etc. I have moved her to a yard which maybe is not quite as nice everything is good and well kept, and though it has its down points it has all the main things I need for my horse to be happy. I have also found a very good farrier now who will travel out to her.
I have been amazed at how quickly my girl has settled and is happy and I get to ride her every day!
It is worrying moving yards but well worth it IMO if you need to.
 
Second sounds much more professional, and I wouldn't want to be told what bedding to use, thats the owners business and no-one elses! Also if the fields and school aren't maintained in the first one, you may well find nothing is, eg leaking stables. You may have to change farrier, but I'm sure like others have said you could find a good farrier at the new yard. Best of luck!
 
Thank you all for your replies - great help. Yes, the professionally run yard would be the best out of the two and maybe we could rig up some electric fencing inside the barbed wire one.

In the meantime there are two more possibilities to see this week - will let you all know what happens! The deer in the first one were in herds of about 15 and were probably not helping the fencing situation as they scrambled under it from one field to another!

Thanks again everyone.
 
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