People on full livery - what do you miss about DIY?

[wiglet]

I'm on a lovely full livery yard. My girl is really settled there and so am I. This is my second year of full livery. The first year has been brilliant but... going into my second winter, I'm beginning to miss things.

I miss deciding which bedding to use and which feeds to buy. I miss being there early and hearing her greet me with a whinny. I guess I miss being in complete control.

I don't miss the mucking out - killed my back. I don't miss the yard politics either!

What about everyone else?

 

[Shooting Star]

When I was on full / part I missed the company of fellow liveries, they just turned up, rode and went so there was absolutely no atmosphere at the yard.
Happily back on diy now where I can natter away and accidentally loose hours at the yard

 

[Micropony]

Don't miss anything! I do my own feeds, and YO knocks a tenner a week off my livery bill in consideration of that, which is great as I know many wouldn't. If I feel like turning out or catching in or mucking out, I've never known the staff to complain about me saving them a job! But I like being able to pick and choose when it suits me rather than having to do everything myself. The only thing I never do is make up haynets, as that would just mess up their routine (and it's dull).

 

[claret09]

i have to say that however much money i had i would not have my boy on full livery. it is very much personal choice but i really enjoy spending time with him and doing his bed as i want it (although there are mornings where it is upside down with a hole in the middle and no poo in evidence that i think "why?"). i do totally understand why people use full livery services if you have family and a very demanding job something has to give and it has to be time with the horse. i don't have those issues so i can enjoy spending as much time as i like with my boy. i don't want to look back in years to come and think i wish i had done more with him or spent more time with him

 

[PapaverFollis]

I miss my horses beds being perfect. I don't miss the stupid amount of time I spent making them perfect!

 

[jojo5]

I am on full livery not by choice but because the yard I found when we moved only does full. They are absolutely great but I miss ........of all things........ mucking out (!) simply because, as the owner of an oldie, the monitoring of all things poo and wee related gave me a good way to keep an eye on general health. As it is, I do his box at weekends so still get a chance to do this briefly ..........

 

[Luci07]

Done both. Both have been dictated by work and lifestyle. The hardest thing for me when moving to part from DIY is losing control over feeding. I always have big blood horses who need monitoring to keep looking well and I have had run in's when a YO cuts corners or try's to feed like my horse is a laminitic Shetland. It was so extreme at one yard, then when I left and moved, forage was trebled and hard feed doubled "just" to meet basic requirements. Best yard didn't feed overly complicated feeds..YO worked from a position of forage first, then hard feed after. Horse looked brilliant.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

I honestly don't think there's anything I miss from my DIY days. The yard I'm on now is only part and full and there's a good mix of liveries that go up in the day/those of us that head up after work so I don't feel I'm missing the social side of things with the added bonus that the school is rarely busy. I also feel I have a better relationship with my horse as the time I spend with him is purely focused on him rather than the million and one chores I have to get done.

Work dictates being on full/part livery but even if that changed I can't ever imagine going back on DIY.

 

[wiglet]

I miss my horses beds being perfect. I don't miss the stupid amount of time I spent making them perfect!

I'm with you on that one
I used to have a shavings bed on DIY and it was so deep and clean and beautiful. The banks were really high and the shavings were swept back from the front in a perfect straight line (I had rubber mats underneath) so the shavings didn't get mixed in with hay. Took a good half hour every morning to keep it looking good though

My girl is now on straw though. Its kept clean and is nice and deep… but it's not the same.

I'm toying with the idea of DIY again. Not sure what to do. My work is not as busy now so time wise, I could do it but, my girl is so settled where she is and it's a lovely place to be, it's just the little things...

 

[Kat]

Nothing, I wouldn't swap. I have limited time to spend on horsey stuff and I would rather spend it riding, grooming and enjoying my horse than mucking out and filling hay nets.

I still have control over her diet and care but don't have to worry that she will be waiting to come in/be fed if I am late leaving work. Neither do I have to worry about vet appointments etc as the yard can bring her in and hold her for me.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I've been on both on and off over the years. Sadly I've never really found a livery yard that really caters for individual needs. I mainly missed that my horses bed was never very clean, the amount of forage fed was poor and the feeds available limited. I was never sure that any supplements were correctly fed. I did enjoy not mucking out as it aggravates my back and not worrying about bringing in time.

The yard where I am is particularly well situated and has all that I need so I really don't want to move and it changed from part-livery to only DIY after I moved there. I think I have the best of both worlds now as I have him on DIY and I order all his feed, bedding and hay and can feed as much or as little as I like. I pay a fellow livery extra to provide services Mon-Fri because I need flexibility for work travel and just do him at weekends although I do do hers on a Sunday in exchange for one of the days. She is like his favourite auntie and she cares for him like her own which is lovely.

It still works out about the same as an average part livery deal around here. Most of the part / full livery yards around here would not suit me.

 

[vam]

I've tried to get on with part but I just couldn't get on with it. I did part for a few days a week then diy the other days which was even worse. Mine is mucky in the stable so I know I have to keep on top of her bed or it would be grim, the days the yard did her would undo my work which was frustrating. Plus I would pay for part but then end up paying more for extra bedding (one bag of shavings a week for a wet mucky mare was never going to work) only allowed one haynet a night, more was extra (big horse fed adlib) then anything other than basic nut and chaff extra, fine but even alfalfa was extra, very frustrating.
Assisted works best for me, horse turned out and bought in everyday so in a routine and hay included, it means I can feed what I want and do the bed how I want. I don't have to be up at silly o'clock nor both ends of the day means its a nice balance for me with control and still a routine for the horse. Seems to work for us so far.

 

[rosiesowner]

The first pony I owned was on full livery as that was all the yard offered at the time. I never remember having any problems with the service; to be honest I was a kid who enjoyed going to spend time with and spoil her pony. I myself was very spoiled in that way!

Fast forward to the present, I now have a job at the same yard and we now offer part livery packages alongside full. Given I now have to pay for my own horse, I have her on part livery as it saves me £35 per week!

Just for the past nigh on week, I've had to rely on others doing my horse as I tore my Talus ligament and couldn't walk, let alone do jobs. It has been one of the hardest weeks of my time with the current pony. Not being in total control has killed me, and while I really appreciate the help I've just felt like a useless, anxious idiot. I was finally able to muck out for myself again yesterday and the relief was immense. I like knowing everything is done just how I want it. I'm a control freak when it comes to my horse, through and through!!

 

[Hanno Verian]

Absolutely nothing.....apart from wondering what it would be like to have the time to enjoy ,my horse and do other things as well!

 

[Embo]

Nothing, I wouldn't swap. I have limited time to spend on horsey stuff and I would rather spend it riding, grooming and enjoying my horse than mucking out and filling hay nets.

I still have control over her diet and care but don't have to worry that she will be waiting to come in/be fed if I am late leaving work. Neither do I have to worry about vet appointments etc as the yard can bring her in and hold her for me.

This, for me, exactly. Wouldn't go back to DIY.

I still do odd jobs when I feel like it. I skip out his stable each evening as I am there after staff gone home. I have a grey, so I like to minimise the risk of stable stains!! I buy my own chaff as the yard only gets Alfa-A, which doesn't agree with him. But I don't care, everything else is fine.

I also fill extra hay nets anytime I feel he needs more. I will do a full muck out if I feel like it. What I love though, is that I don't have to. It will all get done. I just do the fun stuff.

 

[Beth206]

This thread is making me jealous I can only afford DIY

But in fairness I have a really good work/life balance so have plenty of time to spend with my girl. I am on a really small yard (3 of us) which works well in that if I have plans on a weekend or go on holiday one of the other girls will sort her for me and I know she will receive the same quality of care I would give her. Plus she is turned out 24/7 with open access to her stable so it works perfect for the both of us.

 

[JFTDWS]

I loved having mine on full for a couple of months - the break was very welcome. But the lack of control and having to fit around their idea of horse management really bothered me - much as the previous poster who wanted her sports horses not treated like laminitic shetlands, I did not want my highlands fed like sports horses - nor do I want them fed sugary crap but barely any hay (or other forage substitutes). I also didn't like their creative excuses for not turning out - round here land is expensive and yards invariably overstock.

I also hated that to get my tack to actually ride my horses, I had to squeeze through people lollygagging and slobbing around on sofas chatting. Personally, I go to the yard to be with my horses and actually work them - not fanny around chatting and drinking endless cups of tea. I hate getting caught in conversation when I'm busy as I'm generally too polite to not be held up by them.

Anyway, over it winter it was actually more work than having them on DIY as I ended up spending so much time walking out and riding and leading just to get them moving slowly, because they'd been stuck in for days on end, and I don't consider it sensible - or even acceptable - to stand a horse in a box for days, just dragging it out to canter round an arena for half an hour.

 

[wiglet]

Nothing, I wouldn't swap. I have limited time to spend on horsey stuff and I would rather spend it riding, grooming and enjoying my horse than mucking out and filling hay nets.

I still have control over her diet and care but don't have to worry that she will be waiting to come in/be fed if I am late leaving work. Neither do I have to worry about vet appointments etc as the yard can bring her in and hold her for me.

This, for me, exactly. Wouldn't go back to DIY.

I still do odd jobs when I feel like it. I skip out his stable each evening as I am there after staff gone home. I have a grey, so I like to minimise the risk of stable stains!! I buy my own chaff as the yard only gets Alfa-A, which doesn't agree with him. But I don't care, everything else is fine.

I also fill extra hay nets anytime I feel he needs more. I will do a full muck out if I feel like it. What I love though, is that I don't have to. It will all get done. I just do the fun stuff.

Yep, I totally agree with both of you - I do still have control over her diet - If I want something adding or taking away then it's done without fail. Supplements are fed correctly and you will be told when you need to replenish them. I just used to really like making the feeds up myself :saddo:

I too do the odd jobs when I'm there - I skip out (she's a poo magnet) then again, if I'm not there, the staff will skip out. The hay and haylage is plentiful and you can help yourself if you want more or a net to tie up while you groom etc.

It's lovely not having to rush back from a day out because you've got to bring in. I guess I'm just suffering from 'the grass is always greener' syndrome when I say I'm considering DIY again

 

[Greylegs]

I've done both at different yards over the years, for various reasons and am currently on full livery at a yard just a few hundred yards from my home, which is great (house to stable is a 5 minute walk). At my current yard I can honestly say I don't miss anything about DIY. The yard buys in the feed I specify for my lad - a highland who is a very good doer (they have a couple of others on the same thing, which helps), their mucking out and general stable management is as I would do it and his turn out routine is perfect. I can't even say I miss the extra money, to be honest, because when I was last on DIY, at a lovely private yard, whilst the yard was great, it was fair way from home, so i'm saving around £100.00 per month not driving over there daily, which has to be factored in when making choices. There's also the time factor of all the work involved to be considered ...

So, all in all, at the moment I don't really miss anything about DIY. Full livery is more expensive but not that much more when travelling and time are taken into account. And I love it that I can have a "day off" from my horse if I need to be elsewhere doing other things, so the freedom also has to be taken into consideration.

 

[WelshD]

I loved having mine on full for a couple of months - the break was very welcome. But the lack of control and having to fit around their idea of horse management really bothered me .

I felt the same when one of mine went on full schooling livery for the summer, luckily they did treat every equine as an individual and feed and turnout regimes were tailored to suit which was good

In the end for me the lack of control ate away at my confidence and despite having ponies for five years I found myself asking them what rug to put on my pony after a bath - lots of questions that made me look like a right numpty!