Retirement Livery - What Do You Get?

[Fieldlife]

surely you can have whatever you want. Different liveries provide different services.

I guess many people with retired horses work M- F so may well go down to the livery on a Sunday say. What if you have a field of 20 horses and half of the owners do the same. Is the owner supposed to provide a yard and or stable? for everyone who wants to come. Some of the horses will be pair bonded. If an owner removes their horse for the afternoon the YO may well end up with the pair getting upset at being left.

The YO is responsible for those 20 horses. They may feel they are taking responsibility for that herd of 20 in retirement, not people traipsing in and out of their field/yard and having to provide facilities for them.
Not everyone is experienced in taking a horse out of a herd of 20 or any number. There are posts on here of people getting hurt, can't get the horse out of the gate etc. Is the YO suppose to supervise,


I think it would be reasonable to assume that if the YO saw them twice a day to check they would be capable of removing one if they needed to.
I'm sure you are right. Some people don't want owners constantly on their property.
As long as the boundaries are set out clearly in the livery agreement then no problem.

It simply boils down to if someone wants retirement livery or assisted livery and being able visit as and when they chose.

I think from some of the comments that some people are perhaps looking more for assisted grass livery. ie checking, feeding and 24/7 TO but the liberty to visit as and remove the horse as and when they want. Nothing wrong with that.

I agree with most of your post but I don’t think wanting to take horse out of herd a few times a month to groom necessarily means you’d chose assisted DIY. I’d want a retirement herd, where the yard owner oversaw everything- feeding / trimming / vaccinations / fly spray / dentist / day to day welfare / poo picking etc etc.

BUT I’d also want the ability to visit, and assess horse outside field / herd and groom / massage / feed treats etc.

That isn’t mutually exclusive to retirement livery.

And totally get yard might need to assess safety and competence of owner removing horses from an herd situation and might need to set limits eg only 2 of hers can come in at any one time.

 

[sport horse]

Good grief, and people pay not to be permitted to catch their own horse in when they visit ? Not on your nelly would I put any horse of mine somewhere like that.

Retirement livery is sometimes offered by control freaks who want the income but not the inconvenience of dealing with the owners. Or the oversight of knowledgeable owners...

Even retired horses often love to be brushed off. There's no rule that states that retired horse = no more grooming.

How arrogantly rude to dismiss someone as a 'control freak' unless you actually know them.

A yard owner can offer whatever they like and put in whatever rules they like. It is up to the person buying the service to decide whether they wish to purchase that service. That does not make either side a control freak!

I am beginning to understand why so many yards are closing. Why would anyone wish to open a yard with a massive capital outlay, a pitifully small return, and all the agro such as this?

 

[Clodagh]

I’m surrounded by a large retirement livery here. There’s about 80 horses in all. I very, very rarely see anyone visit them.
They are happy and settled and there is a long waiting list. There are horses from all over the country.
They live out in naturally sheltered paddocks in small age/size/feed sorted groups. They wear rugs as and when needed, fly masks and fly rugs ditto. They are fed if they need medication or extra calories. Most of them are plump, they have ad lib big bale hay or haylage as suits the group.
They are got in together, in field groups, for trimming, working etc.
it seems to be a winning formula.

eta they are rotated with sheep and fields harrowed/rested/ treated as required but as they have plenty of land per horse they never look horse sick.

eta (again!) the livery yard owner checks them all twice daily.

 

[paddy555]

I’m surrounded by a large retirement livery here. There’s about 80 horses in all. I very, very rarely see anyone visit them.
They are happy and settled and there is a long waiting list. There are horses from all over the country.
They live out in naturally sheltered paddocks in small age/size/feed sorted groups. They wear rugs as and when needed, fly masks and fly rugs ditto. They are fed if they need medication or extra calories. Most of them are plump, they have ad lib big bale hay or haylage as suits the group.
They are got in together, in field groups, for trimming, working etc.
it seems to be a winning formula.

eta they are rotated with sheep and fields harrowed/rested/ treated as required but as they have plenty of land per horse they never look horse sick.

eta (again!) the livery yard owner checks them all twice daily.

that's how I think of what a retirement livery is. Sounds perfect for an establishment with the land to do it. would be interested in the name of the place if you are prepared to put it on here. Don't need it but always good to have somewhere reputable to refer people.

 

[Sossigpoker]

I’m surrounded by a large retirement livery here. There’s about 80 horses in all. I very, very rarely see anyone visit them.
They are happy and settled and there is a long waiting list. There are horses from all over the country.
They live out in naturally sheltered paddocks in small age/size/feed sorted groups. They wear rugs as and when needed, fly masks and fly rugs ditto. They are fed if they need medication or extra calories. Most of them are plump, they have ad lib big bale hay or haylage as suits the group.
They are got in together, in field groups, for trimming, working etc.
it seems to be a winning formula.

eta they are rotated with sheep and fields harrowed/rested/ treated as required but as they have plenty of land per horse they never look horse sick.

eta (again!) the livery yard owner checks them all twice daily.

This sounds just like my friend's retirement/grass livery only she has only about 10. Some of her owners don't even live in this country but their horses are living their twilight years happily and get regular photo updates.
In terms of people saying it isn't possible to feed horses in a field- it absolutely is if the herd dynamic is established. My friend brings in any that have meds or a specific diet to eat in a penned off area , otherwise they eat together at the same time.

 

[Auslander]

In terms of people saying it isn't possible to feed horses in a field- it absolutely is if the herd dynamic is established.

Agree. Mine are all fed in the field, and I rarely have to split them up, despite having some very dominant ones. i feed in order of herd position, feed tactical chaff/slop to the alpha ones, so their feed takes them longer to eat, and they all know damn well that if I am standing between them and another horse, that they come near us at their peril. I'm usually toting a water pistol, and my aim is impeccable.

It takes a bit longer than just chucking a bucket at each horse, but a lot less time than separating every horse (16) on the property to eat!

Found this pic of one of mine in time out - total respect for the pointy finger!

 

[Sossigpoker]

Agree. Mine are all fed in the field, and I rarely have to split them up, despite having some very dominant ones. i feed in order of herd position, feed tactical chaff/slop to the alpha ones, so their feed takes them longer to eat, and they all know damn well that if I am standing between them and another horse, that they come near us at their peril. I'm usually toting a water pistol, and my aim is impeccable.

It takes a bit longer than just chucking a bucket at each horse, but a lot less time than separating every horse (16) on the property to eat!

Found this pic of one of mine in time out - total respect for the pointy finger!
View attachment 109591

Yes the pointy finger does help. I've sometimes helped at the yard and been told to stand between Jack and Jim and growl at Jack if he moves toward Jim's bowl