Poo Picking on Livery

[3OldPonies]

The thread about the loo rolls/tea/coffee etc got me thinking. A friend of mine keeps her horse at livery on a small (5 horse) DIY yard. She quite often gets a strop on about being asked to poo pick (they have a rota system). She feels that as she pays to keep her horse there she shouldn't have to poo pick.

Just wondering - what happens about poo picking on other DIY yards? Is it normal for small yards to have a rota, does the YO do it or what?

 

[Doormouse]

Personally I think everyone should poo pick, you have to poo pick your stable when your horse is in so why not the field when the horse is out. Obviously it is much easier if the horses are on individual turnout because then each person is responsible for their own patch.

I think that a fairer way than rota's is that everyone picks up a wheelbarrow a day but then again I guess that is open to problems if everyone tries to get the front of the field and no one wants to go down to the bit at the end in the long grass!!!

 

[ester]

DIY = you poo pick your own fields as you would muck out your stable. Multiple horses in one field = rota. I do every other. Why does she think that her livery includes poo picking?

Now a friend was once asked to do it when she was on full livery because the staff didn't want to do it.....

 

[MuddyTB]

On DIY then it's down to the liveries, YO definitely shouldn't do it. We have individual turnout so do our own patch and must be cleaned at least once a week, (but do mine daily).

Those who share fields work it out between them but everyone does a share.

 

[CBFan]

DIY = Do EVERYTHING yourself, which means doing your share of poo picking. I find it easier to organise, the fewer horses in the field as you can keep track more easily as to who is, who isn't doing their share. I find strict rotas don't usually work as the very nature of having a horse on DIY means flexibility. If ever I get into a poo picking conversation I just say 'I can't promise to do it every day, or even a set day each week, but I will make sure I will clear all that my horse does' (which usually equals about a barrow full a day (if out 24/7) but often a bit less..)

 

[hoggedmane]

I would imagine the DIY price would go up sharply if pooh picking was included!!

On the yard I am at we have a system where the YO says each week how many buckets each livery needs to pick up. We fill the buckets (large trugs) and leave them in the field and the YO picks them up with the truck. Buckets are numbered and we record which ones we have done on a chart. Works really well, everyone does their fair share and the fields are clean.

 

[PorkChop]

I agree, DIY means do it yourself! Or bottom line is, whatever was agreed before you moved your horse.

 

[Hippona]

On DIY we had poo night....everyone had to do so many barrows per horse and clear the field so we could move into a new field the next day.

It was a nightmare....certain people did none, others pretended to (saw one bloke throw his wheel barrow over the hedge into the woods) whilst others ie yours truly slogged their guts out. YO threw loads of tantrums but never actually confronted those who we all knew damn well were not pulling their weight so there was lots of bad feeling.

 

[Hexx]

Our YO never poo-picks the fields - apart from the three at the front of the yard - these are for full liveries. The others don't get done unless she is p*ssed off at one of the staff and her favourite punishment is to send them out into the big fields and make them poo-pick for a couple of hours!!

 

[Moomin1]

Our YO never poo-picks the fields - apart from the three at the front of the yard - these are for full liveries. The others don't get done unless she is p*ssed off at one of the staff and her favourite punishment is to send them out into the big fields and make them poo-pick for a couple of hours!!

Surely that's not a good thing that the fields never get poo picked though?

I wouldn't expect a DIY yard to provide a poo picking service included. We all just poo pick our own paddocks.

 

[Hexx]

I know! But you try telling her that the field management is rubbish- you will get chucked off the yard faster than you can say "poo"!

 

[L&M]

When I ran a small diy yard I made it clear to prospective clients that they were expected to poo pick, and was also written into their contract.

A DIY yard is what it says, but regardless of that it should be done as routine for good grass management. I can't bear to see horses grazing amongst piles of manure.....

 

[pixie]

I run a small yard offering DIY and Part (5 day) livery. I ask liveries to poo-pick their own fields, to clear them at least once a week (I poo-pick for part liveries during the week). If they aren't cleared by Monday morning then I clear them myself and charge for it.
My current liveries are lovely, and between us the fields are done completely every day. It only takes about 15 mins, so much quicker than having to muck out! And I never have to remind them about doing it either, bliss!

 

[BethanT]

Surely that's not a good thing that the fields never get poo picked though?

I wouldn't expect a DIY yard to provide a poo picking service included. We all just poo pick our own paddocks.

Our fields never get poo picked and we have so much grass, has never done our fields any harm. That said, we have a good rotation and harrowing system in place.

We did try poo picking one year and it just didnt work. A rota of sorts was put in place, but hardly anyone abode by it. With excuses that they didn't have time. But we also had 5/6 horses in each field so unless it was done twice a day you never stayed on top of it.

 

[PolarSkye]

I've been on DIY yards where the fields were big enough that there was no poo picking, but fields were rested and harrowed . . . but that was the yard set up.

All of the other DIY yards I've been on have had poo picking of some description . . . and, I agree, that it's hard for YO's to enforce. Where we currently are, we have our own field . . . so poo picking is up to me, and me alone . . . at the moment I do it a couple of times a week (Kal is only out for a couple of hours a day), but when he's out all day (and Rog is out in his field 24/7) I do it every other day - takes about ten minutes.

I do know of one yard, however, that expects FULL liveries to poo pick - which I think is taking the mick a trifle.

P

 

[Ella19]

I'm on part livery, as in everything bar groom and ride. My pony is turned out in a postage stamp field. If part liveries don't poo pick its not done. That does fustrate me, especially as the other livery who shares the field won't poo pick. I pay £490 a month for the pleasure. I hate Surrey!

 

[AmyMay]

It depends on the size of the field, imo. If the horse is in a small paddock then yes of course I would poo pick. But generally the horses are in 5 acre plus fields, and I wouldn't even begin to start poo picking that. The fields simply get harrowed, rolled and then rested.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

When I had diy liveries this was discussed when they came to see the yard and were told it had to be done on regular basis. If they didn't like it, then no prob as they didn't come
those who slacked off were reminded of contract obligations.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I wont have the poo left in the fields, our fields are cleared daily and always will be We also do dee ragwort at the same time as we come across them. I hate looking across fields and see a sea of droppings, IMO in comes with owning a horse (clearing up after......... the stable or the field).

Our fields have way to much grass considering the amount of horses on it, one is up to their knees so they are on half of it as poo picking in that long grass is hard. And no I will not leave it even then.....................

If I had bigger fields than I have I would invest in a machine, but for now the tractor and trailer system works well.

 

[miss_c]

I'm another that clears the paddocks daily... but then I rent a yard privately and it's only my horses on it. I've divided it into 1/2 acre paddocks so it really is important for me to clear it regularly.

I have been on yards as a DIY where no poo picking was done whatsoever which was fine when the YO harrowed, but I think in 3 years it was only harrowed once... far from ideal!

On the other hand, I was on a DIY yard where poo picking was included - they had to do the RS fields and some DIY horses were out with the RS ponies, and they also had full and part liveries, so they just did the lot. However when they kindly let Genie have an individual paddock as she had been injured I did make sure I poo picked my own paddock every day as they didn't 'do' individual paddocks so had done me a massive favour.

 

[amandaco2]

I asked my liveries to poo pick unless on full livery. They had their own fields so it was obvious if they werent doing it

 

[McCauley]

I have no problem at all Poo Picking.. good management and all that. However a yard i was on expected you to poo pick not only for your
own horse, but the Full Liveries/Retirement Livery horses too....oh, and 4 of their own horses as well. I told them i've absolutely no quarms
with doing my bit, but cannot adhere to a rota as work commitments do not allow me to do this. I would gladly do my share of a barrow a
day, but may do 3 barrows one day and a couple of barrows another,..that kind of thing.

This YO took the preverbial piddle out of the assisted/part liveries and their good nature and expected them to do it all. Suffice to say there's
a very high turnover of 'clients' at this yard as when we first looked at the place and discussed the situation, we were told it wasn't
necessary (was done) and reflected in the price. This suited me initally as i would have (and subsequently did) struggle to find time to poo pick and
ride and have some TLC time with my horse and travel to the yard and back.

Summation....if this YO had been honest and upfront about the amount of poo picking expected, we would never ever have gone to this
yard.

 

[bliss87]

DIY as it implies do it yourself, if they were paying for full livery it would be different

 

[chestnut cob]

I've been on yards where you are told they don't poo pick, we roll and harrow.... except it never gets done and the fields were disgusting.

I'm on a small private yard (4 horses inc mine ATM). Through summer we are all DIY and we all poo pick. Provided we keep on top of it, YO doesn't really mind how often it is done (ie, no rules about every day). My horse shares a field with a friend's horse and she tends to only be around at weekends and maybe one day in the week. So usually I poo pick two or three times in the week, YO is paid to take one barrow off on behalf of friend if she's away, and friend does the weekend. Field rarely has much more than one barrow on it. I can't stand seeing dirty fields. Our current summer field is quite small so it looks worse, but we do the same when we're on one of the bigger fields.

Big yards where several horses share a field are a nightmare as there are always people who refuse to poo pick - one woman once told me that she wouldn't poo pick unless someone could identify exactly which droppings were done by her horse, as she flat refused to pick up any done by another horse. In those situation you need a rota really, strictly enforced by YO.

As for OP's friend, sounds to me like pure laziness in refusing to pick up after her own horse.

 

[wiglet]

On a DIY yard it is the liveries responsibility to poo pick.
That said, I'm DIY but don't have to poo pick as the YO harrows.
At my previous yard we all did it and with it came all the usual problems and bickering and as in a lot of cases, the YM/YO never got involved or sorted out any lazy ones that wouldn't pull their weight.

 

[skint1]

I've always been on DIY, always done my own poo picking. I've had rotas, sections of a field assigned to me, just dive in and do it whenever and one where the YO insisted that we all did it together every weekend, which suited no one, I would rather do a bit each day than be out there for ages on a weekend

 

[MileAMinute]

Our fields never get poo picked and we have so much grass, has never done our fields any harm. That said, we have a good rotation and harrowing system in place.

Same here. Our fields are huge so the YO will harrow once we rotate fields. On past yards that were smaller poo picking was mandatory and that was perfectly understandable.

 

[khalswitz]

My old yard the YO did the poo picking with a machine. It however was full grass livery.

Current yard the fields are huge so they get harrowed, rolled and rested instead (the couple of small fields for fatties the liveries have to poo pick themselves).

 

[mandwhy]

I would expect to pay more than the cost of DIY for poo picking to be included, unless fields were rested and harrowed which I would be thrilled with but alas I have only ever been on small plots of land, one day I will have a poo hoover!

 

[xgemmax]

Every DIY yard I've been at you've been responsible for a couple barrows a week or so, or if individual turn out then just keep the field clear! Wouldn't expect it to be done for me unless I paid extra or was on livery!