Our first 24hrs on the new yard

Llewellyn said:
Brace yourselves. Back in the nineties at pony club camp we were asked to take ponies back shoes off and for the week at camp they were all turned out together at night. No introductions, no quarantine. Very much doubt that happens now! But must have been happening decades without incident.
I've never known a livery to do quarentine or gradual introductions. I've been on one yard that had strangles we had no idea where it came from as there had been no introductions to the yard for months but everyone survived and apart from a heap of mucusy snot it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
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That's what our camps were like! Back shoes off, out in a field together.
You probably wouldn't get that nowadays!
 
Llewellyn said:
Brace yourselves. Back in the nineties at pony club camp we were asked to take ponies back shoes off and for the week at camp they were all turned out together at night. No introductions, no quarantine. Very much doubt that happens now! But must have been happening decades without incident.
I've never known a livery to do quarentine or gradual introductions. I've been on one yard that had strangles we had no idea where it came from as there had been no introductions to the yard for months but everyone survived and apart from a heap of mucusy snot it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
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I remember mixed herds back in the 80s. I also remember the injuries. as for the strangles, glad it didnt cause you too many problems but even if your horses are unnaffected on an infected yard, it can cost you a couple of hundred for testing these days. so bloody glad I dont use livery yards anymore.
 
yep same here, in 30 years never known any yard to quarantine horses (apart from charity ones) or do gradual turnout. Any yards i've been on have either requested shoes off, or else just used a common sense approach if there were dominant horses with issues. I've moved onto a few yards and most yo's tend to keep a watch for the first few hours and pull the horse out if it looks like there might be an issue.
 
I hope things settle for you soon OP and glad you managed to have a word with the lady who got kicked (def something to do either at the time if at all possible or soon afterwards). I've been on 5/6 commercial livery yards and they've all done some element of quarantine and slow gradual meet and greet.
 
Llewellyn said:
Brace yourselves. Back in the nineties at pony club camp we were asked to take ponies back shoes off and for the week at camp they were all turned out together at night. No introductions, no quarantine. Very much doubt that happens now! But must have been happening decades without incident.
I've never known a livery to do quarentine or gradual introductions. I've been on one yard that had strangles we had no idea where it came from as there had been no introductions to the yard for months but everyone survived and apart from a heap of mucusy snot it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Click to expand...

The key words are back shoes off. I always put horses out together, but they all have hinds off for the first few days.
When I went to camp the ponies were tied up in stalls. :-)
 
Llewellyn said:
Brace yourselves. Back in the nineties at pony club camp we were asked to take ponies back shoes off and for the week at camp they were all turned out together at night. No introductions, no quarantine. Very much doubt that happens now! But must have been happening decades without incident.
I've never known a livery to do quarentine or gradual introductions. I've been on one yard that had strangles we had no idea where it came from as there had been no introductions to the yard for months but everyone survived and apart from a heap of mucusy snot it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
Click to expand...

paddi22 said:
yep same here, in 30 years never known any yard to quarantine horses (apart from charity ones) or do gradual turnout. Any yards i've been on have either requested shoes off, or else just used a common sense approach if there were dominant horses with issues. I've moved onto a few yards and most yo's tend to keep a watch for the first few hours and pull the horse out if it looks like there might be an issue.
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I am shocked that many yards don't do this. I wouldn't dream of putting horses out together without turning out in an adjacent paddock for at least a week first. Sometimes it can be several months if I think there mat be problems.

Bernster said:
I hope things settle for you soon OP and glad you managed to have a word with the lady who got kicked (def something to do either at the time if at all possible or soon afterwards). I've been on 5/6 commercial livery yards and they've all done some element of quarantine and slow gradual meet and greet.
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Same here. I have been on two yards where they were just put out without introductions and the number of resulting injuries were shocking. Why should a livery client put up with that?

Clodagh said:
The key words are back shoes off. I always put horses out together, but they all have hinds off for the first few days.
When I went to camp the ponies were tied up in stalls. :-)
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Yes back shoes off. I would never turn a horse out with my mare if it had back shoes on.
 
glad your horse is settling, I can understand why you would want to hose legs after the first day's turnout, if my horse came in caked in mud I would want to check that there weren't any cuts/injuries. I don't hose legs daily. I would be horrified if my horse kicked someone but in turn I would also know that if it were a day that she was stressed/wired I'd be telling others to keep well out of the way, she can have a good old tantrum when she's unsettled...

I'm not sure I would want to turn out with others so soon, we are lucky on our yard that there is a "sick paddock" reserved for new arrivals or horses needing restricted turnout following injury, but you can only do what you can with the facilities available.
 
Thanks all for your thoughts and feedback, it has certainly given me a much-enhanced question list for our next yard, which from the looks of our house sale and offer on another, won't be that far away.
It's all a learning curve and I will be better equipt to choose our next livery yard.

By way of an update, another improvement today, my gelding seemed settled and happy this morning, he is settling into the routine and is happy and injury and scuff free (touch wood). This afternoon will be the first time he is brought in by YO so hopefully that all goes well, I managed to get him to come to call yesterday which I was grateful of as the mud is horrible and I nearly fell over a few times wading through it.

P.s any tips on how to teach him to not knock over his water bucket? He's happy to drink it from it, but sees it as a play thing and it's knocked over each morning. I've put it in a tyre so it might be that he's drinking it and then throwing the empty bucket about. He's previously had automatic water drinkers so hasn't had to drink from a bucket regularly.
 
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LHIS said:
Thanks all for your thoughts and feedback, it has certainly given me a much-enhanced question list for our next yard, which from the looks of our house sale and offer on another, won't be that far away.
It's all a learning curve and I will be better equipt to choose our next livery yard.

By way of an update, another improvement today, my gelding seemed settled and happy this morning, he is settling into the routine and is happy and injury and scuff free (touch wood). This afternoon will be the first time he is brought in by YO so hopefully that all goes well, I managed to get him to come to call yesterday which I was grateful of as the mud is horrible and I nearly fell over a few times wading through it.

P.s any tips on how to teach him to not knock over his water bucket? He's happy to drink it from it, but sees it as a play thing and it's knocked over each morning. I've put it in a tyre so it might be that he's drinking it and then throwing the empty bucket about. He's previously had automatic water drinkers so hasn't had to drink from a bucket regularly.
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I think you'd know if he was knocking it over while it still had water in as the floor would be wet. I would also want to ensure there is always some water left in the bucket in the morning so I know he's not drunk it all by (say) 3am and is then thirsty for several hours. If it's just a standard size bucket then I would think he may need another bucket, even my 14.1hh pony would drink a bucket dry if she is on unsoaked hay.
 
All those saying it is wrong to hose legs to remove mud, I totally disagree. I have been hosing legs through the winter on a daily basis for over ten years, both livery horses and my own horses. I haven't had a single case of mud fever in all that time. I use warm water and don't dry the legs afterwards. Not a single horse has had a problem. It means they are sparkling clean and I can check for injuries. By late night check the legs are dry and silky. I can't see how leaving mud all over horses' legs can be better for them than cleaning it off daily. Scrubbing off dried on mud, especially if it's clay based is more likely to cause soreness and give a way in for the bacteria that causes mud fever IMO.
 
shadeofshyness said:
Glad he's settling LHIS :) a shame you've not ended up on our yard though! Best of luck with the house move too.
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Thank you :) yes I'm sad a place didn't come up in time! We've just heard our offer on the new house has been accepted so I need to start looking for a new yard! You couldn't write it. ����
 
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