Rant: Livery keeps leaving my horse out

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littlen

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Long story short very selfish and rude lady who I share a field with refuses to bring my horse in when she rides hers, depsite it being a yard rule and in the contract.
3 times now I have been called up as he is sweating, rearing and galloping the fence line. The last he nearly came over the fence and she couldnt care less and started shouting abuse at me.

I have spoken to her nicely, shouted and also asked why. Her reasons are that my horse is "dangerous" (only because she leaves him and he can not be left alone) and secondly that its "too far to walk twice and she hasnt time" (the field is down the lane not even 200 yards)

I am so angry, YO has spoken to her but says he cant do more?

All other liveries bring in at night so hers is the only one out with mine.
I have tried leaving hers out of spite, but frustratingly it dosent care

Any ideas before I explode :(
 
As it is in the contract I would speak to YO/YM


Too be honest I would not like to be on a yard where you had to bring in someone else's horse s I suffer Rheumatoid arthritis and it would be difficult for me. BUT rules are rules and I would do it rather than upset the horse or break the rules.


I know I am lucky that none of my horses have ever been a problem left alone.
 
This woman sounds scared of your horse. She needs to speak to the YO, and if she doesn't feel capable of bringing him in, then it is up to your YO to sort it out. Either put her horse out in a different group of horses and give your horse a new buddy, put a 3rd horse out with your 2 (seems easiest option) or tell her to leave.

I wouldn't be trying to resolve this yourself. Tell your YO firmly she needs to sort it out. It is her job!
 
SF I am very tempted but I have a lot of friends there and horse is very settled and I also cant find anywhere as good for the price (£60 month including haylage, box and 24/7 turnout)

I am just so annoyed. The woman in question is also very rude and has no qualms about upsetting others as long as she gets her own way, she even had the check to shout in my face saying its my fault as he is dangerous (he is ridden by a novice and lead by children all the time, has even been in a riding school!)

YO needs to grow a pair but is a typical man avoiding loosing her business I suspect!
 
Playing devils advocate here, I wouldn't want someone else bringing in my horse, I do have people I trust doing it sometimes but if this lady is a nervous type, and your horse is playing up I can't say I blame her for not wanting to bring him in. It's got legal implications all over it I'd have thought?

I've not yet come across a yard with a rule like this either, I'd of thought if your horse isn't happy being left alone you need to sort a rota that ensures he's already in before she wants to ride..it's not her fault your horse is stressy alone cos obviously her's is okay.

I do however agree the YO needs to help sort this out with you, it's their rules so if they want all rules enforced they must help with this situation..if she can break this rule then who's to say what else can be broken??
 
jsr said:
Playing devils advocate here, I wouldn't want someone else bringing in my horse, I do have people I trust doing it sometimes but if this lady is a nervous type, and your horse is playing up I can't say I blame her for not wanting to bring him in. It's got legal implications all over it I'd have thought?

I've not yet come across a yard with a rule like this either, I'd of thought if your horse isn't happy being left alone you need to sort a rota that ensures he's already in before she wants to ride..it's not her fault your horse is stressy alone cos obviously her's is okay.

I do however agree the YO needs to help sort this out with you, it's their rules so if they want all rules enforced they must help with this situation..if she can break this rule then who's to say what else can be broken??
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Well our horses are out 24/7 are the only two on the yard. There are 6 in the field all together so that leaves just 2 at night. All liveries horses come in about 6 but sometimes this person may ride later, I have told her to ring me and I will get him. She wont. She never rides at the same time and I cant be there 24/7incase she shows up. I have also looked after her horse many a time when its been left out at her request.

I will stress that my horse is in no way dangerous to lead, comes to call and will follow you up the path to the yard. Everyone on my yard loves him and he is exceptionally well behaved. There are also always people to help her if she was to ask for it, shes too ignorant. Shes using it as an excuse. He only stresses once left and works himself into a frenzy, if he wasnt left he wouldnt do it!

Its a yard rule as there were problems with people leaving stressy horses out and one ended up going through a fence, hence the rule is if its the last in the field bring it in. No exceptions.
This 'lady' is an exception to herself though.
 
The problem is, if she brings her horse in first, then yours is on his own, gets his knickers in a knot and then probably really is a bit hard to handle. So she either needs to agree to fetch yours in first or bring them both in together (or ask someone else to help her). 200 yards down the lane doesn't sound all that much, but that's presumably 200 yards each way, so two horses is 800 yards = half a mile and that's a good 15 minutes walking. You have to bear in mind that it is her free time to ride her horse, not deal with other peoples', although I totally understand your concern. Ultimately your yard owner needs to enforce the rules, otherwise what is the point of having them? But if the other owner gets the hump and leaves, wouldn't that mean yours horse would be on his own all the time? And although you say you are a good deal, if your horse then runs the fence and incurs a veterinary bill, suddenly you are £250 down and it isn't such a cheap place to keep your horse after all.
 
littlen said:
Well our horses are out 24/7 are the only two on the yard. There are 6 in the field all together so that leaves just 2 at night. All liveries horses come in about 6 but sometimes this person may ride later, I have told her to ring me and I will get him. She wont. She never rides at the same time and I cant be there 24/7incase she shows up. I have also looked after her horse many a time when its been left out at her request.

I will stress that my horse is in no way dangerous to lead, comes to call and will follow you up the path to the yard. Everyone on my yard loves him and he is exceptionally well behaved. There are also always people to help her if she was to ask for it, shes too ignorant. Shes using it as an excuse. He only stresses once left and works himself into a frenzy, if he wasnt left he wouldnt do it!

Its a yard rule as there were problems with people leaving stressy horses out and one ended up going through a fence, hence the rule is if its the last in the field bring it in. No exceptions.
This 'lady' is an exception to herself though.
Click to expand...


In which case she just sounds like a stroppy b**** and I'd be having strong words with the YO to sort her out. Sounds like she's a pain in the butt and the YO obviously can't be bothered with the row but that's what a yard manager is paid for so time to earn their keep. Guess I'm very lucky at our yard we don't have any stress heads and usually if one paddock has only one horse in they can still see other horses in the other paddocks. My lad loves being alone..more food for him!!:rolleyes:
 
Your YO needs to put her foot down with the livery, or arrange to bring your horse in if it is out on its own. What's the point of having a yard rule like that (which we have, although unwritten) and then watch a horse turn itself inside out in the field because the rule has been broken??
 
We have this rule at our yard - no horses are allowed to be left out alone. So people regularly bring others in over winter. In the summer pretty much everything is out, so not a problem luckily. My boy is fine out by himself, he doesn't particularly like it but doesn't make a fuss.

I can understand her not wanting to bring him in - but the fact she won't even send a simple text to give you a heads up is her just being difficult IMO.
 
If the rule is set then its up to the YO to get it in if she won't

Another option would be when the others bring in theirs at 6, would one of them bring yours in, then you could turn him out when you go up in the evening, I find if I turn mine out on his own he is fine, but if you bring someone in that he's already out with that's when he gets upset.
 
Its a difficult one. I can understand why she doesn't want to bring yours in. She sounds scared of it. I work as cabin crew, and 95% of aggressive people are scared, but too embarrassed to say. Its easy to say that your horse is an angel to handle - I would say that about mine, but I know that she is a pain in the backside for other people - mostly because she picks up on their nervousness. I've also had liverys that were convinced that their horses were angels, to who's face other liveries would agree, but behind their backs they wouldn't touch them. The fact that you offered for her to ring you and you'd come is lovely of you, but not always practical. From her point of view, your horse is a pain in the a, and she too probably wishes there was some other solution.

The YM needs to sort this out. Your horses need to be put in fields nearer to the yard, so that its not such a big deal for someone else to get your horse. If it were my yard, and there were such problems, I would stop the 24hr turnout, and insist that the horses join the others in their routine. I'd have a minimum of three in a field to prevent this happening. Its easy to say "the YM should sort it out, but if she told the other livery to leave your horse would be alone ALL the time, so you'd still have the problems.

If my horse was so upset on its own, and I wanted it to be out 24/7, then putting it at a yard where there is only one other out 24/7 is bound to cause problems, not only in your horse being left, but also that two humans who don't seem to get on are lumped together and having to do more together than they wanted to! So I would seriously think of looking for another yard, or changing its livery type.
 
We have this rule at our yard, but it is only in winter as in summer they are nearly all out 24/7 and never seems to be a problem as everyones happy to help each other out.

Could you keep him in at night like the other 4? I would rather do this then be worried about him getting injured, going through the fence etc and dealing with the funny livery. Although I know this isn't an option for everyone.
 
I could not be on a yard with this rule I'm afraid. It would drive me bonkers. If your horse were my horse I'd chuck him in a field on his own then he'd be used to being alone but then I have little tolerance with herdbound horses.

As it is the rules of this livery yard then perhaps you could pay the owner of the livery yard as an extra to bring your horse in every time this lady rides?
 
My daughter's mare is a real stress head and can not be left on her own in the stable or field. It isn't too much of a problem for me as my mare is always there as company for her. If I ride mine then I borrow a friend's Shetland to go in the next stable. I just have to work round it.
I have also been in the other position where we shared a field with a very stressy mare who fenced walked etc as soon as mine went out of the field. I did help out during the first month (still winter so bringing in at night) and brought this mare in every night so not left out on own however I did feel really taken for granted. I wouldn't have minded so much for the the odd bottle of wine but was given nothing! I soon stopped doing it as I felt it was completely taking the p*** when I was saving her £1 a day instead of yard owner to bringin in. We then started leaving them out 24/7 so of course mare was left on her own for a couple of hours each day while we rode. It did surprise me that the owner didn't seem that bothered that her horse was dripping in sweat and fence walking.
My attitude is that as an owner of a stressy horse that can't be left on her own, it is up to me to organise her routine so that she isn't on her own or pay someone to do it! I would never expect someone to bring my horse in unless I paid, did a favour back or paid in wine.
 
If it is in the contract then in theory this other horse owner is breaking her contract and action should be taken by the YO/YM. I would point out clearly to the YO the detrimental effect and stress it has on your horse, the state he gets in and point out to the YO that this (in effect) and any associated injuried are as a direct result of the horse being left out alone and by not making the other horse owner adhere to the rules it is ultimately there responsibility.

Is it a possibility that this other horse owner is (underlying reason) scared of your horse hence why she does not want to bring him in, or is it just laziness?
 
What's the path up to the stables like. Would it be safe to let your horse bring himself in? Then all he needs to do is walk himself into his stable, and her close the door (if she can be trusted to do so.
 
There are 2 sides to this. I fit riding into a busy life, so I wouldnt be happy with a rule which meant I had to bring your horse in every time I wanted to ride. 200 yards doesnt sound far, but it all adds up when you have to do it twice. I assume she is expected to put him back out when shes finished. If he doesnt like being alone, then YOU need to manage YOUR horses needs. If he needs permanant company, and thats not available, then you need to change how you manage him. Why not bring him in at night like the other liveries. I appreciate its more work, but his issues are your issues and you should manage them.

On the other hand, if its a yard rule that she signed up to, the yard owner needs to enforce it. I just wouldnt have signed upto it in the first place.
 
How about putting your horse in the field with the horses that only go out in the daytime and then just popping him back in with hers for the overnight bit. Would avoid the stress. (Also would probably p*ss off the livery who won't get yours in which would be quite gratifying!)
 
Does your horse walk with another? Surely if so then it is no hardship to bring them both in together and then leave yours in until you get there to turn him back out, especially if her horse isn't bothered about being out on his own.

Most of the livery yards I have been involved with have this rule, and I would actually be less inclined to move to a yard that doesn't. I would also tell this livery that if your horse injures itself due to her leaving him out on his own to stress then you will be handing her the vets bill.

Presumably she knew the rules when she signed her contract so she should abide by these rules and the YO should inforce them if she (the livery) is not.
 
We have this rule on our yard and people are generally really good even though ti can be difficult co-ordinating bring in times in winter.

If I were in your position and I really didn't want to move yards I would be bringing mine in overnight like the others. As hers is happy on it's own that should be fine. I know the mucking out/bedding is a pain and an expense but if the yard really is cheaper/better than others its worth it for peace of mind knowing your horse is safe.
 
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