Novice riding my GP horse without permission?!

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Skewbald1

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I've just come back from a lovely relaxed two week holiday, I've been having a very intense time at work and me and hubby wanted to escape for a bit of winter sun. I left my pride and joy, my 17hh Hanoverian grand prix dressage horse on full livery at my yard with the understanding that his normal routine would be kept to (it's taken years of very careful management to get him to where he is now). This consists of being ridden in the morning with either turnout or time on the horse walker, weather depending, in the afternoon.
I'll admit that I'm the type of owner to wrap my horse up in cotton wool and I make sure his every need is catered for but, to be honest, I'm generally pretty chilled out most of the time!!
Anyway I came home very late last night and went straight to bed. My boy is on full livery so he's been seen to today as well as I have had a lot to sort out, although I did drive up to the yard very quickly before making Sunday dinner to give him a love. I had a quick check on Facebook when I got home to find pictures of a girl on the yard riding him!!! A girl who, although I know on first name basis, don't actually speak to or associate with. I called the yard owner and she has totally flipped it on me, had a total paddy saying that I'm pretty much overreacting and that she can't ride all the horses she has on livery!! To top it off this girl who was pictured riding him has four of her own to ride anyway, and while she is by no means a bad rider, she is a very LW teenager. My boy is a typical sensitive warmblood (and has to be to compete at the level he is at) and if she had pressed the wrong buttons, I dread to think what might have happened.
The thing is, if someone had approached me when I was at the yard and asked if they could have a ride on Ernie I would probably have agreed to it! Obviously under my permission, but I feel a little betrayed that I was the last one to know? I wasn't even asked?
I adore the yard the rest of the time but this just isn't sitting right with me.
 
If the YO cannot ride all the horses she is committed to she should have said so before you went away, you could then have made other arrangements to have the horse ridden by someone you trust. I am not surprised you are angry.
 
Is this another livery or an employee?

If its an employee, the YO, should have made it clear a member of staff might be doing the riding.

If its a livery then I'd be going spare! Bang out of order without your express permission.
 
It depends.

Did you have a specific agreement with YO that only she/he is allowed to ride your horse? If so, then YO is definitely in the wrong and you are right to be upset.

If not, I don't think you can complain. If the girl works for the YO, then she will be insured under the yard insurance and has 4 horses of her own so assume a competent rider.
 
Who normally rides your horse when you don't ?
I would be a bit taken aback to find another livery had been on my horse unless it was normal practise on the yard for other liverys to exercise them.
So no I don't think you are unreasonable to be a bit upset by this.
But is a worth spoiling a situation that's suits you is another question but next time you are away I would leave very clear instructions about what you expect.
 
Girl doesn't work for her, she is quite new on the yard, her and her brother are PC riders and have 4 between them (nothing bigger than 15.2). She is a livery just like me! However it is yard owner that hubby and I are paying to ride my boy when I can't get to the yard
 
I do understand what you are saying ... To a point but then you get to the bit where you say - if they had asked then you would have said yes.... So no harm done then? If this is another livery then I would go bonkers. If an employee then probably right to assume that more than the YO would exercise him.
 
So you pay her to ride your horse but you are worried she's been pressing the wrong buttons when you are on holiday what Iam I missing here.
 
So you pay her to ride your horse but you are worried she's been pressing the wrong buttons when you are on holiday what am I missing here.

Ok read it again get it now ,if you pay the YO the YO should ride the horse.
 
Sorry - it is the yard owner I pay to ride Ernie and no one else- she is a beautiful sympathetic rider and she gets him going very well. The girl who I discovered has been riding him I generally don't have anything to do with and she hasn't ridden him before. Sorry not coming across too well I'm just a bit wound up!!
 
Is the riding part of your livery agreement or do you pay extra for the riding? If so I would be mad that they allowed someone else to do something I was paying them for more than anything.

ETA Sorry other posts have clarified - I would be livid that I was paying one person to exercise/ride my horse and she was getting another person to ride.
 
Skewbald1 said:
Girl doesn't work for her, she is quite new on the yard, her and her brother are PC riders and have 4 between them (nothing bigger than 15.2). She is a livery just like me! However it is yard owner that hubby and I are paying to ride my boy when I can't get to the yard
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In this case I'd be spitting massive nails of fire! The number of horses she has means nothing, I have two, doesn't mean under any circumstances I'd jump on a GP horse, I'd break it within seconds.

My advice, find a yard that respects you and your horses.
 
If you have paid for a service then you should get it, and since the girl is not employed then I can see why you are angry. The girl wouldn't have been paid for it would she, maybe you should check that...I'd entirely blame the YO by the way, not the girl. If YO has taken money for a service and knowingly not done it then that is out of order!
 
Hevs said:
Is the riding part of your livery agreement or do you pay extra for the riding? If so I would be mad that they allowed someone else to do something I was paying them for more than anything.
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I pay extra (by quite a margin) for him to be professionally schooled, which is what he normally gets when I can't make it to the yard, on top of my usual livery. I occasionally pay for him to be hacked too but if I can't get to the yard and I don't want him schooling I usually just let him have the day off.
 
Skewbald1 said:
Sorry - it is the yard owner I pay to ride Ernie and no one else- she is a beautiful sympathetic rider and she gets him going very well. The girl who I discovered has been riding him I generally don't have anything to do with and she hasn't ridden him before. Sorry not coming across too well I'm just a bit wound up!!
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Deep breath hot bath go to bed go and ride your horse tomorrow and have a calm disscussion with the YO I don't think you should let it pass without letting the YO know you are deeply unhappy there's no way I would allow even my mokes to be ridden by someone I had not seen ride them when I was not there.
 
Tbh I don't think it matters how big the horse is, what he is etc, your paying the YO to ride him and no one else. She doesn't have the right to offer someone else the ride.
 
Skewbald1 said:
Sorry - it is the yard owner I pay to ride Ernie and no one else- she is a beautiful sympathetic rider and she gets him going very well. The girl who I discovered has been riding him I generally don't have anything to do with and she hasn't ridden him before. Sorry not coming across too well I'm just a bit wound up!!
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Thanks for clarification - then you have every right to be furious. Not sure whether I would stay at that yard in your position as YO has broken your trust & acted fraudulently by agreeing to be paid for a service she has not supplied.
 
If it was me who had a GP horse I would make sure they both new I was not happy about it. I would question about taking my money back from there service as its was not followed through with the yard own riding him. And I would consider moving yards as I would find it will create a atmosphere not sure for you but I would go somewhere where I knew I could trust them with my very expensive pride and joy! Sorry I feel a little annoyed for you lol
 
Copperpot said:
Tbh I don't think it matters how big the horse is, what he is etc, your paying the YO to ride him and no one else. She doesn't have the right to offer someone else the ride.
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This, I'd have been very unhappy if someone rode my wee coblet or my old ID without my express permission when they were in work.
 
I would also be livid!

It would make me question YO tbh. If you hadn't seen the pictures would she have even told you, or just accepted payment for a service she hasn't supplied.

I would be having a rather heated convo with yo and I would prob be looking at new yards.
 
I would be absolutely LIVID. My horse has retired from competition, but is the remains of a very nice dressage horse, with all the advanced buttons installed. There is NO WAY that I would allow anyone to ride him in the school without me present, unless I had seen them ride him, and knew that they were as competent, or more competent than me. I have no issue with putting people who want to learn the advanced stuff on him, with me there to oversee, but if I found out that someone I hadn't pre-approved had been riding him in my absence, I would be beyond furious. Hacking him wouldn't be such a problem, as he's well behaved, but I'd still want to be asked first.

And I'm talking about a horse who isn't competing any more...one who's still actively out there on the circuit...Jesus!!
 
Thank you for the response. It was the fact that I am the last to know what is going on with my own horse, I don't even know if she is insured or not. From the looks of the pictures the girl has hacked him on the road too. It takes some guts for even me to hack him round the roads as he is, like I said, very very sensitive and can find the whole ordeal mind blowing. Yard owner is now acting as though I should be thankful for it, like she was doing me a favour!! I guess this is the downside of having a horse on full livery, you don't know the ins and outs like you do when you're on DIY
 
I think if the YO does not understand why you are angry, it also seems that this was not just a one off as she was too busy, I would look to move, the trust you had will never be there again and the fact that you are meant to be grateful for this young girl riding your special horse is beyond belief.
 
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