Reasons for leaving yards

[pocket]

Does every yard have people who move their horse a few times a year or is it just in Kent? I have been at my yard now for a year, having been happy at my last yard for 17 years. I was settled and so were my boys.

I only left my yard due to the death of the YO and his wife was unable to maintain the yard on her own. Unfortunately, the yard was sold to a PIG and I was asked to leave when a building was demolished whilst my horses were in and I complained. I was given one weeks notice to leave with 3 horses?

Over the years, I have seen people come and go, moving their horses every few months. For me this is quite traumatic and I believe it must be for the horses. Two women at my yard are leaving next week as they have fallen out with the groom (as well as others). I've known them for donkeys and know that they've been round the bazaras.

Out of interest, whats everyone elses views on leaving yards and how many moves have your horses had? Just curious

 

[Dolphin]

Mine has had one move, from part-livery to DIY. Wouldn't have it any other way now, loads of turnout and she lives out all summer.
Hopefully will never have to move again!

 

[serena2005]

my pony has moved 3 times in 14 years, the 1st yard we got him at 18 mths and left when he was about 9, 2nd yard was there around 5 years had to move the yard was sold to development people. last 2 moves have been within the year, as we were kicked off one coz he kept jumping out the field.

new yard we all love and hope to spend years there!

 

[pocket]

Ponies not welsh is he? They're always good at escape! I'm hoping that we stay at our yard for good now. Ralph and I are really settled as was my pony Fly before he passed away at Christmas, sure it was all to do with the stress of moving him after 13 years

 

[serena2005]

yes he is welsh!! any hole in the fence is never to small, and a fence is never to high!

i hate moving yards

 

[henryhorn]

From a different view of moving yards we had some people who came and stayed 12 years, others just a few months, I think often it's a case of you can't please everyone all of the time.
Different things annoy different people, some people will move if they don't get 24/7 turn out, others because a horse is bullying theirs,others if they just don't like the bitchy atmosphere some yards have.
Genuine reasons such as nearer to home, can't afford current yard's prices etc all come into it too.
I tend to feel so sorry for the horses, if you equate your first day at school to their changing yards it's often quite frightening and unsettling for them.
Imagine being put in with the school bullies and left to learn how to cope..
I can understand owners wanting to move but sometimes I think they should put their horses first, if a horse is settled and secure that's more likely to lead to it behaving better in competition situations, and horses don't really care about fencing/big stables etc.
I've found it fascinating watching how different horses settle in to here, often they arrive stressed and scared, and I swear the others tell them what a cushy number it is because they settle so quickly.. because there are several mini herds within the large one they can choose who to hang around with, and sometimes you see new horses going from gang to gang until they decide which they prefer.
The only time I see thr retired ones get stressed is when their owners visit, in some it triggers off a worry about what will happen next, and you can see them attempt to rush off back to their friends which is tough on the owners!
There are also I think some owners who actually are always on the look out for a better yard, and who will rarely be satisfied no matter where they stable..
Nowadays with rest rooms, showers and coffee machines it's tempting to go to the plushest yard available, as again there's some snob value involved.
My liveries are mostly living far away and tend to leave their horses here until the end of their days, but when we did DIY we did have a high turnover occasionally, often one livery would start the others off and wind them up to a degree that several would follow X to their new yard..Most however drifted back a few months later!

 

[parsley]

I am moving my two next week as the travel time to the yard they are at is a real problem. They are effectively on part livery at the momment as I can't go and look after them everyday myself during work hours, which is difficult if they need care such as twice daily feeding or vetinary treatment. I am really looking forward to seeing them twice a day myself when they move but I hope that we settle there quickly as I don't want to be in the position of having to think about moving them again - I am sure that its really not good for them to keep getting shifted about.

 

[chestnut cob]

Mine has just moved for the third time, I've had him nearly 2.5 yrs. First move was when I bought him, second move about 7 months after when the yard closed down, and third move two weeks ago when I moved house (moved from the West Mids to the South).

This is the first time he's really settled straight away at a yard.

 

[dieseldog]

When we had a yard, people moved because their circumstances changed mainly, sold the horse, moved house, needed 24/7 turnout, or they moved because we got rid of them as they were complete morons

 

[lilym]

i left my last yard due to no grazing, my feed and hay being nicked, and being told it was cruel to ride my horse!!

 

[cariadssogreat]

I agree that it is unfair to constantly move horses. However I have noticed that there are some habitual "movers" around. I ghave only been at two yards in the 12 years of horse ownership, most problems with yards can be overcome with discussion and usually hard work

 

[Evadiva1514]

Mine have been stabled at home for the past 2 years, however before that i was based at 3 lovely livery yards. Each had there own problems but they weren't as bad as some you hear of. The first was on a working pig farm which was ok but had poor fencing and no facilities. I moved to my instructors yard about 2 years later which was great as she had nice internal stabling, individual paddocks and a large outdoor arena... i loved being there and i learnt a lot however after a few years things became quite sour and as i was the only livery it became very difficult.

I then moved to a yard which was a lot further away but was so friendly and stayed there until we got our own place a couple of years back.