Rules... livery yards

skint1

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I think having no rules can be as frustrating as too many rules and the worst is when rules are not applied fairly or are not fully communicated and change according to the social standing of the individual livery on the yard. Our yard is fairly relaxed, it's basically clear up after yourself/your horse/your dog/your child, always wear a hat when onboard, don't steal, if it's broken report it, don't waste haylage or straw, inform the yard of any visitors/sharers.

I think if it were me I'd like to add a few around ensuring horses were seen to at regular intervals but I accept these rules could be interpeted subjectively
 

Greylegs

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All of this makes my current yard sound like a haven of peace and tranquility. We have very few rules, but YM manages the place with a great balance of strictness and fairness so everyone knows where they stand. If she has any issues with anyone, she'll have a quiet word and things get sorted. Also, we're a group of responsible adults who respect each other's horses and property, so we don't really need any hefty rules to keep things orderly.
 

PapaverFollis

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I don't mind a slightly "over ruled" place... but soooooo many with lots of rules to start with are constantly changing the rules instead of just dealing with disrespectful liveries on a case by case basis. So someone doesn't clean up after tying horse on yard (breaking the rule about tidying up after yourself) and a new rule is introduced that you can't tie up on the yard... for example. Just deal with the primary rule breaker! Because guess what? Those people will still tie up on the yard and leave a mess and those of us who abide by rules are inconvenienced and pissed off! Also rule changes usually take place via passive aggressive notices that you are never sure are aimed at you or not.

I was on a yard where you were in danger of being actually hung, drawn and quartered if even a single drop of pee drained from your stable (this in stables that had quite slopey floors as the original design was clearly to allow good drainage. And turnout was also beyond limited). My horse knocked over his water bucket one day and I had a full on panic attack while cleaning it up out of pure fear that I had made the yard wet and what the consequences might be! You don't realise how mad some situations are until you're out of them! I spent a lot of money on bedding that winter!
 

ycbm

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So I am aware that livery yards need rules but what rules at your livery yard are good and are there any crazy weird rules?

The one at mine is that all jumps must be left up at 1m despite me never seeing them jumped at that height ... I’m sure there are people that do but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule!

I hire arenas at your yard and that rule drives me absolutely crazy. The vast majority of hirers don't want to jump a metre, and having to put them where you want to at the start and then back to a metre when you've finished is a total waste of arena hire time!

'All breakages must be paid for' also makes me cross. What about the people before me who have been whacking seven bells out of the stuff for years before I even got there? Yet if it happens to break during my session, I have to pay for a new one?
 

joosie

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Not allowed to soak hay.

I think that's become a more common one.
You are not allowed to just tip waste water wherever you fancy. There are Environment Agency rules about waste water disposal that some yards can't meet. The general rule is that

"Run-off from manure heaps, contaminated yards, stable washings and hay soaking should not be allowed to enter surface waters or watercourses unless a written authorisation (a discharge consent) has been received from your Environmental Regulator."

Some places can't get permission and some don't bother trying.
Other yards may have the rule because hay-soaking makes such a mess!
 

Snowfilly

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A yard in Devon my aunt kept her horse at had a blanket rugging rule. All horses on there had to be rugged from October 1st, regardless of age, type or clip.

She owned an Irish bog horse who looked as though he was sired by a yak, and she could only ride at weekend due to work so he wasn't clipped at all. After the third official warning about having a horse without a rug, she moved him to a farmers field where he stayed fat, happy and naked!
 

little_critter

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A yard in Devon my aunt kept her horse at had a blanket rugging rule. All horses on there had to be rugged from October 1st, regardless of age, type or clip.

She owned an Irish bog horse who looked as though he was sired by a yak, and she could only ride at weekend due to work so he wasn't clipped at all. After the third official warning about having a horse without a rug, she moved him to a farmers field where he stayed fat, happy and naked!

Wow, I’d struggle with that one. I have to clip my hairy retired pony because through October (unless it’s unseasonably cold) she is far too hot and I’ve found her clammy in her stable. She generally only gets rugged (even after clipping) if the temperature goes below freezing.
 

The-Bookworm

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Not a rule, but I did have one YO who got grumpy with me for keeping my hairy cob mare unrugged and with plaits in her mane. 'It looks like there is a gypsy pony in my fields' Err well that'll be because there is a gypsy cob pony in your fields :rolleyes:
The amount of people who would hog mine is unbelievable. To me if you want to clip it all off, get a pony without any hair. ;)
I think mine would look unfriendly hogged though she has a beefy neck.
 

Db312

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There's a yard on Cannock Chase where the rules run to something like 3 pages and include everyone must wear hi viz at all times, there is a one way system that everyone must abide by to walk round the yard and nobody is allowed to make eye contact with any horse other than their own

Funny when you recognise a yard without question!

In fairness the one way system is only for when you’re driving, but is completely unnecessary and an example of the YO’s massive control issues.

The best bit is that the huge number of rules was developed and it became compulsory for all liveries to meet with the YO to go through them, which took 2 hrs. The day after this, a whole load of amendments appeared and additional rules. This is in addition to the 2 compulsory tidy-up days a year and if you can’t go, you must send “a representative”. The place is truly bonkers.

One person got kicked off for parking in the wrong place and another for saying another yard was a good set up for her friend.

Recently a horse had sustained a kick in the field and had to be walked to the yard, taking 2 hrs, because no one was allowed to take their transport down the track, which incidentally contains broken glass and other nasties causing regular abscesses.

The yard looks like heaven, but the turnover of liveries is very high due to the bonkers YO and changing rules all the time. 60+ horses and one school (which if you want it private for a lesson you have to pay YO a tenner for the privilege), totally inadequate hay storage, 2 yards a 20 minute walk apart but paying the same prices for little storage and no loo, an acre a horse grazing policy but vastly underestimated acreage for most fields, ridiculous poo skips with dangerous ramps to access, all combined with a bi-polar YO who likes to refer to clients using the C word. Delightful!
 

LaurenBay

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Most yards I have been at have had sensible rules which makes sense.

I still cannot fathom out this rule where I keep my share Horse though. Big yard of 85 Horses, 1 indoor school and 2 outdoor schools. New Horses must go the quarantine stable block (fair enough) and can only be ridden in the outside schools, they are not allowed in the indoor school until they have been signed off by the YO. BUT the yard also has weekly dressage shows, loads of Horses travel from other yards to compete, they are mostly held in the indoor school. Makes zero sense.
 

Merrymoles

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Was on one yard where you were not allowed to tie up anywhere except in your stable, apart from for the farrier.

You also could only wash your horse in your stable which, when you have one whose tail needs at least ten buckets of water to get half clean, was slightly impractical for me.

You could only use the stinky water from the collecting butts for your water buckets as the yard was "on a meter" which was fine in the winter but absolutely minging in the summer.

No electric fencing allowed so bills for broken rails were common.

Now on a yard where the only real rules are to keep on top of the poo picking and tidy up after yourself. It's a small private yard with just seven horses so bliss in comparison.
 

ElectricChampagne

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I've just left a yard (thank FUP) where it wasn't a rule, moreso an unwritten one, where the YO's Dog was permitted to chase and nip the horses feet while in the arena.
If you complained, the rule was - you know where the gate is.

If your horse pooped, of course it was cleaned up. But said dog constantly went into your newly mucked out stables and promptly sh4t all over it. Not to mention all over the yard and arena.

YO laughed constantly at this.
 

rabatsa

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I know someone who got told to leave a yard because she told another livery that the yard owners dog was chasing their horse (the other livery's horse). Several people had seen the dog chasing the horse on more than one occaision.
 

Nayumi1

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We had one where the stable pig had to be fed in the morning or afternoon otherwise he would scream the place down.

Also you had to be at the yard 8am on a weekend for turning out but you had to wait for the pig to be fed and put away into his pen so stood around for a half hour.

Had to sweep all traces of hay up after stripping a bale of hay and bag it up - we ran out one weekend and had no choice but to do it on a windy day. We were told that we needed to plan better.
 

ElectricChampagne

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I know someone who got told to leave a yard because she told another livery that the yard owners dog was chasing their horse (the other livery's horse). Several people had seen the dog chasing the horse on more than one occaision.

the same happened at this yard. Go figure.
 

Tarragon

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After several years at various DIY liveries, some good and some bad, just trying to be that good livery who fits in and causes no fuss, I am just so glad I was brave enough to make the leap and now keep the ponies on a sheep farm to manage as I see fit.
 

9tails

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Some of these are quite eye opening. We have a temperamental YO who likes to make up rules depending on their mood that day. We found out that there was a rule that we couldn't canter a particular stretch of our farm ride, a stretch that had been cantered for 20 years previous. If one person is lazy and abuses equipment, that equipment is out of bounds to us all. If a poo is left in the school, the school gate is padlocked. Blanket messages are sent to all liveries if one field isn't poopicked, stating that fields will be shut if it's not done.
 

hopscotch bandit

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We don't have many rules at our yard as the Y.O doesn't much like them, she doesn't want to appear as a dictator which is understandable. But when there are rules its sweeping up after yourself and keeping the tack rooms locked after use which are the norm anyway.

On the one yard I was at years ago all the horse had to be fed at a certain time. If you were there you were expected to help with the other liveries feed preparation, i.e. add water and stir. Then we all had to march out of the feedroom to the stables on the given command from the Y.O with our own horses bucket and a neighbours bucket of feed. If you set off even a couple of seconds before everyone else had finished preparing the feeds you were promptly told to return to the feed table to wait for the command for everyone to 'go together' to feed. Used to drive me up the blo*dy wall, I used to find it so petty. It was only because the Y.O had a horse who used to kick the sh*t out of the stable door if it was fed a nano second before anything else! If it had of been my horse I would have clobbered it for kicking the door until it had learned some manners instead of making everyone feel about six inches tall :)
 

little_critter

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We don't have many rules at our yard as the Y.O doesn't much like them, she doesn't want to appear as a dictator which is understandable. But when there are rules its sweeping up after yourself and keeping the tack rooms locked after use which are the norm anyway.

On the one yard I was at years ago all the horse had to be fed at a certain time. If you were there you were expected to help with the other liveries feed preparation, i.e. add water and stir. Then we all had to march out of the feedroom to the stables on the given command from the Y.O with our own horses bucket and a neighbours bucket of feed. If you set off even a couple of seconds before everyone else had finished preparing the feeds you were promptly told to return to the feed table to wait for the command for everyone to 'go together' to feed. Used to drive me up the blo*dy wall, I used to find it so petty. It was only because the Y.O had a horse who used to kick the sh*t out of the stable door if it was fed a nano second before anything else! If it had of been my horse I would have clobbered it for kicking the door until it had learned some manners instead of making everyone feel about six inches tall :)
We are all DIY, we all feed at different times. We have one horse that door kicked when he first arrived but soon got the idea that only HIS person fed him and is now pretty quiet when anyone else carries feed past his door.
 

hopscotch bandit

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We are all DIY, we all feed at different times. We have one horse that door kicked when he first arrived but soon got the idea that only HIS person fed him and is now pretty quiet when anyone else carries feed past his door.
We all feed at different times too on this yard. :) The full liveries are mixed in with the DIY's and they are fed by staff at 5pm. None of our DIY's kick the door because horses thrive on routine and no that sooner or later they will be fed at THEIR special time. My horse wouldn't dream of being so rude! Even when I put mine on Full Day Care one day a week and she gets fed at the same time as the full liveries she won't then kick the door the following day when the staff walk past without stopping to give her a feed.
 

HappyHollyDays

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Private yard so no rules but we all sensible and keep the place neat and tidy. Winter fields are not poo picked because they are cross grazed with cattle but our summer field is done regularly. Last person out closes the gates, locks the tackroom and switches off the lights. I couldn't cope with a real DIY yard 🤣
 

Widgeon

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We had one where the stable pig had to be fed in the morning or afternoon otherwise he would scream the place down.

Also you had to be at the yard 8am on a weekend for turning out but you had to wait for the pig to be fed and put away into his pen so stood around for a half hour. .

My favourite so far, I have never heard this one before!
 

chaps89

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I can understand picking feet out in the school.
Also changing rugs in fields - I was once holding a horse in the field for a rug change, horse spooked and bolted. He literally ran over me and through 2 fences in blind panic. Spooky horse, windy day, rug change in the field was probably a bit of a bad idea really. On the yard which was sheltered and quiet we probably wouldn't have had a problem.
Not a rule as such but previous YO put livery up to cover the cost of a freelancer poo picking. Wouldn't have minded so much apart from me and the other livery were doing our poo picking, it was her who wasn't! She then had a hissy fit when the fields weren't clear - turned out she was only paying the freelancer for 8 barrows of muck a week - for 2 horses and 1 pony out 24/7 and another pony out 8 hours a day. But it became our problem. I was glad to leave there!
A friends yard no-one but the horses owner or yard staff can muck out. Found this out by mistake when I popped up to muck out for her after she helped me out one day. (I used to go to the yard to ride quite often anyway so was 'known' there as was effectively sharing the horses) Friend was DIY and would have done it herself had I not gone up so not like the yard missed out on £. I can see why the yard owner insists on it as it's an income for them but I do find not letting sharers muck out a bit bizarre when so many share arrangements ask for chores in return.
 

eggs

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I keep my horses at home but have some rules for myself including picking feet out before leaving the school. We put a new surface in so I know how much it cost and would rather keep it where it should be.

I do change rugs out in the field but my friend was changing her horses rug in the field some years ago (not at my yard fortunately) when the horse panicked and ended up running into and through the field gate breaking his leg in the process so I can see the sense in that rule.
 

Winters100

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I am not in the UK and there are no rules that I know of at the yard. On the most part everyone is considerate and sensible and cleans up after themselves. The exception is poo picking in the paddocks. I am the only one of about 25 who does this and I cannot fathom why. It is especially annoying when the paddock that you have used for a year and kept immaculate gets re-allocated to another horse and you get a new (I admit better) paddock, but one that looks as if no one has picked up anything in living memory. I am not kidding when I say that it took about 100 hours to get it to good shape, and I do slightly resent that the teenager whose pony is turned out with mine does not help at all! That having been said I like the pony so much as he is small, without back shoes and my mare is in love with him, so picking up his poo seems a small price to pay for a happy horse:)
 

WelshCManiac

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So my old yard used to be... Interesting. Definitely not much compared to others, though.
You were not allowed to do anything for other people, only the yard owner can throw feeds in/muck out( and you had to pay!!!)
Throw your horse out for 1 hour max - and only when you're mucking out
You're only allowed to lesson at 7:00pm, even if all the liveries had cleared out of the school, and my instructor arrived at 6:15pm!
Current yard has a few silly rules such as only 1 head collar and rug out side your stable (and you had to have a rug rack for it!)


Also I've got a question; how do you post a thread- joined today and I need to ask a question

Thanks!
 
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