scary Yard Owners

Chestnuttymare

Chestnuttymare

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There are always posts on here about scary yard owner and people having issues and frightened to apporach them to rectify situations.
Why is this, I think it is the only business where I have come across this attitude.
It seems to be the wrong way round, it always seems like certain yard owners behave like they are doing you a favour, and forget that you are there because you are paying for the privilege and without you, they wouldn't have a business. I know quite a few yards like this. I do also know a few where the opposite is the case but there seems to be more of the former than the latter.
If you were staying in a hotel and something wasn't right, you wouldn't hesitate to speak to the manager.

It seems to be that quite often in the livery business, the cutomer is never right, the yo is.

Why do you think this is?
 
It is a strange one I agree, and I like to see it your way but I think although you are right we are all desperate to keep it to a quiet life and not to have to move our horses. For example I was close to moving yards not so long ago as I was fed up with doing everything but could not find anywhere suitable for my horse. So went and sorted it out calmly with YM. Luckily my YM is grown-up and see's the yard as a business and we moved on and things are alot better now thanks to a change in fields.
 
perhaps its because the YO is seen as the most experienced one and the source of the best knowledge so is more revered and 'worshipped' (not the right word but my brain is on strike!) therefore making it a 'big thing' to go talk to them?
 
I have experienced a YO who seemed to think she was doing everyone a favour despite being paid good money for it! For example after I had a grumble about something or other she said "I get up at 5 o clock every morning to put YOUR horse out." Ermmm yes along with everyone else's who are also paying you to do it! It's called 'going to work' and it's something we all have to do!!!!
Out of 6 yards I have been at 3 have had bitchy YOs and 3 have been lovely. So it's not every YO! It didn't bother me too much when I was younger but since I have reached my 30s and work bloody hard I am not willing to be treated in such a way during my leisure time, hence I now have my horse at a friend's farm.
The bad YOs were women - they would belittle you, bitch, complain about your horse, strop, make ridiculous demands etc. They are the boss so you have to do as you're told. However having worked in the public sector under a variety of male and female bosses, I actually don't think YOs are any different! There are good bosses and bad bosses. There are power hungry / jobsworth / bitchy people in all walks of life. Yards are in a little bubble, so you get the whole 'big fish, small pond' thing. Nobody will challenge them, and that's what needs to happen. We are all just way too conscientious about our horses - rightly so- which leaves us vulnerable to criticism/bullying.
 
This is something that has always baffled me :confused:

I don't think I'm a bad livery

Before I move to a yard, I ask all the questions that matter to me - times, turnout, space, facilities etc
I'm polite - ok, not someone who takes much BS before I get very direct:o
I pay my bill bang on time.
I observe the yard rules
I look after my animals
I don't interfere with anyone else but am happy to help if asked

So why then do I get either mega sulks or a strop when I politely request that I get what I pay for??? I'm not talking about a bad day or some unforeseen disaster........just simple requests like TO or asking how long it will take for fencing to be fixed.

I'm the customer here - a YO isn't doing me a favour allowing me on their yard! I'm paying for the privilege.....no, that doesn't mean it's all about me and my horses......but some (not all!) seem to forget that they have a business that they are meant to be running professionally.


Note to YO/YMs

It isn't my problem that you aren't making enough money (can I suggest that you do more work in those circs) if you have 8 horses of your own in a 12 box yard, it is very unlikely that the 4 DIY liveries are going to cover the rent, bills etc of your yard AND the cost of keeping your 8 horses in the lap of luxury.
If you have contracted (for extra money, mind) to offer full/part livery then please do not be surprised that your liveries will complain when you don't muck out, feed properly, exercise, turn out (delete as appropriate) on a daily basis.They will eventually catch on to this, leave and slate your reputation with good reason
Your liveries are your source of income. That doesn't mean that they are always right but it both good manners and good business to at least listen to them.
If you treat your liveries properly and fairly they will, 99% of the time stay. Treating them fairly includes being honest with them about both the pros and cons of the yard before they move their horses on, not changing the rules on a day by day basis without a good reason (cba to do something is NOT a good reason btw). Their horses are just as important as yours believe it or not and should not be treated as 2nd class occupants of the yard.
***** stirring and bitching about one customer to another is not professional and will not help the atmosphere on your yard.
Oh, and the horse belongs to the livery so unless their treatment of it is cruel or dangerous, maybe you should just bite your tongue when they do something you don't like?

I could go on :o but I'll stop now!
 
I think some YO take this attitude because they know they have you over a barrel as they are in charge of our precious horses and therefore you don't want to upset them. At a hotel you can just walk away and never go back. You don't want to have to move your horse because its stressful to do so and there is no guarantee the next YO will be any better. Also you have only got to read this forum to realise how strong and different peoples opinions are about horse care are and in some case never the twain shall meet.

I have to say though that many liveries are awful and abuse YO and their property and sometimes I think this has gradually worn them down over the years and this is probably when they should take stock of what they are doing and move onto something else.
 
Wellll, I'm throwing my hat into the foray here, as I'm a YO!!! Tho' I only do DIY livery. IF YO's are perceived as "scarey", then that's a pity, BUT I'm gonna say a few things in mitigation here, coz I think sometimes we get quite a bit of (undeserved) bad press. Of course, there are YO's that are in it just for the money, but the majority of us are horsey people ourselves who are trying to do our very best to keep everyone happy (plus ensure the maximum welfare of the horses in our care). Remember, that if the RSPCA do come sniffing around, its the YO who is deemed negligent if the horse is at livery and not the owner!

As a DIY yard owner: these are some of the issues I have had to deal with, just as an example:-

People who pay for DIY and THEN expect you to turn out/fetch in; be there to meet & greet farriers, vets etc; wash & mend their rugs (yes, honestly!); muck-out etc etc.

Liveries who (again, pay for DIY) and then ring up to say they're "stuck at work" or have a "meeting" after work, or whatever and can't get to see to their horse so would you as YO do it.

Liveries who leave gates open; climb on fences and gates which ruin them; leave the (metered) water tap running; leave all the lights blazing when they've left the yard; those who cut-up the field by schooling in the mud plus think its huge fun when their horses are turned out and tank around cutting up all the best grass, THEN whinge if you have to restrict turnout to daytime only!!!

Other grouses: liveries who's horses damage fencing and crib-bite stable doors, THEN either say it wasn't their horses OR gripe at being asked to pay for said damage.

Liveries who persistently lose keys given to them and then expect you to issue another set for nothing!

Liveries who let dogs and kids run around the yard; dogs turding everywhere and they're too idle to pick it up; kids thinking its great fun to trash the haybarn and use it as a play area.

Liveries who leave their horses in the stable for nearly 24 hrs without hay, water, or food - and you've no idea where they are or whether they've been involved in an accident, or what. When you DO contact them, it transpires that they've "asked a friend" to see to their horse, but friend has obviously got better things to do and so the YO has to see to horse.

People bringing a vast congregation of "friends", boyfriends, cousins and every Tom Dick & Harry plus every screaming brat on earth, and coming out to your yard to enjoy the countryside coz they've obviously got sweet FA else to do! And then people start smoking in your yard, and drinking, and using bad language, and the whole thing degenerates from there and you have to get unpleasant and tell them to clear off! Plus you have to introduce a whole lot of rules and regulations just so you don't get situations like this developing in future. Who'd be a YO??? We must all be stark raving mad!

And last but not least: liveries who disappear suddenly and you don't know they've gone until its got dark and you're wondering what's happened to their animal as it isn't in the stable. Then you get a text to say your yard is "too far to come" for them and they've spirited their horse away when you weren't looking, taking a bunch of keys with them.

And I'm sure that other YO's will have similar - and indeed more horrendous - tales to tell. I don't have a vast number of liveries here, only the one, so I don't get the problem of having to arbitrate and deal justly with everyone's squabbles and gripes. But I feel very sorry for anyone that does.

IF YO's are "scarey", and IF we do appear formidable, then there are reasons for it!! Most of us would far rather be nice, amenable, amicable people, but its a case of once bitten twice shy, and I know that having had my fingers burned with a recent bad livery I'd certainly be appearing far more of a dragon in future. Sorry, but that's the way it is. We don't want to be old hags!!! But some people unfortunately do take the P!ss and always will.
 
I've been leaving my horse in while the weather has been bad, my YO puts his feed and net in for me in the mornings. Yesterday I went up at about 2.30 to muck out etc, opened the stable door and my horse ran out breaking the chain.He ran to the next but one stable to the hay net, imagine my horror when I looked in my stable and no hay net had been put in. I went to find the YO who said he had forgotten to put the net in and feed him. My lad had nothing to eat for over 12hrs. Needless to say I was livid, but I was polite and didn't lose it but I told him it must never happen again.
 
OK, you mostly have a few fair points, but this bugged me.

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
those who cut-up the field by schooling in the mud plus think its huge fun when their horses are turned out and tank around cutting up all the best grass, THEN whinge if you have to restrict turnout to daytime only!!!
Click to expand...

Horses do run around and churn up fields, it is great fun. If you can't provide enough land to cope with this you don't have enough to claim to offer winter turnout. Liveries want to genuinely know how much turnout will be available, which does mean happy horses running about. If you don't have enough land to cope, say so so that we can look somewhere else!
 
My YO is a local farmer whose main farm is a mile or so away from the field we rent - he comes in/out of the field to check it, does fencing, fixes stuff and as long as we adhere to our contract, that's it. Bliss! We liked our last YO lots, but it was the other liveries that we don't miss at all. Usually they were nice, but not always, and there were times when I dreaded going up there for months until whoever it was had left.
 
The point I made is that for everyone's sake, there is sometimes a necessity to restrict grazing during the winter. Its not to do with lack of land or anything else, its just sheer commonsense and trying to preserve one's resources. I really resented this comment; some owners, I repeat, think its just a huge bl**dy joke when their horse chamms up pasture which the YO's have worked dammed hard at getting to be half decent and take a pride in it.

"Look for somewhere else"??? Yep, please feel free as far as I'm concerned!!! But please be aware that some of us DO take a pride in our pasture management and sweat our guts out to do it, and it does sometimes rankle when someone thinks its rather endearing when their horse goes tearing around out there and cuts up pasture that you'd figured would last well into the winter, in a few minutes. That was the point I was making. Of course horses will be horses and one expects that, that is not the issue.
 
I can never quite understand how people open their yards to horses then moan when they are churned up, don't have horses on them if you like lovely green pasture. I appreciate that liveries moan when the grazing is ruined, but at the same time so do YO. Mainly farmers who have gone from dairy farming to livery yards. They work very hard to maintain the fields when they were farming cattle, and I suppose its hard seeing the damage horses do to them.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Wellll, I'm throwing my hat into the foray here, as I'm a YO!!! Tho' I only do DIY livery. IF YO's are perceived as "scarey", then that's a pity, BUT I'm gonna say a few things in mitigation here, coz I think sometimes we get quite a bit of (undeserved) bad press. Of course, there are YO's that are in it just for the money, but the majority of us are horsey people ourselves who are trying to do our very best to keep everyone happy (plus ensure the maximum welfare of the horses in our care). Remember, that if the RSPCA do come sniffing around, its the YO who is deemed negligent if the horse is at livery and not the owner!

As a DIY yard owner: these are some of the issues I have had to deal with, just as an example:-

People who pay for DIY and THEN expect you to turn out/fetch in; be there to meet & greet farriers, vets etc; wash & mend their rugs (yes, honestly!); muck-out etc etc.

Liveries who (again, pay for DIY) and then ring up to say they're "stuck at work" or have a "meeting" after work, or whatever and can't get to see to their horse so would you as YO do it.

Liveries who leave gates open; climb on fences and gates which ruin them; leave the (metered) water tap running; leave all the lights blazing when they've left the yard; those who cut-up the field by schooling in the mud plus think its huge fun when their horses are turned out and tank around cutting up all the best grass, THEN whinge if you have to restrict turnout to daytime only!!!

Other grouses: liveries who's horses damage fencing and crib-bite stable doors, THEN either say it wasn't their horses OR gripe at being asked to pay for said damage.

Liveries who persistently lose keys given to them and then expect you to issue another set for nothing!

Liveries who let dogs and kids run around the yard; dogs turding everywhere and they're too idle to pick it up; kids thinking its great fun to trash the haybarn and use it as a play area.

Liveries who leave their horses in the stable for nearly 24 hrs without hay, water, or food - and you've no idea where they are or whether they've been involved in an accident, or what. When you DO contact them, it transpires that they've "asked a friend" to see to their horse, but friend has obviously got better things to do and so the YO has to see to horse.

People bringing a vast congregation of "friends", boyfriends, cousins and every Tom Dick & Harry plus every screaming brat on earth, and coming out to your yard to enjoy the countryside coz they've obviously got sweet FA else to do! And then people start smoking in your yard, and drinking, and using bad language, and the whole thing degenerates from there and you have to get unpleasant and tell them to clear off! Plus you have to introduce a whole lot of rules and regulations just so you don't get situations like this developing in future. Who'd be a YO??? We must all be stark raving mad!

And last but not least: liveries who disappear suddenly and you don't know they've gone until its got dark and you're wondering what's happened to their animal as it isn't in the stable. Then you get a text to say your yard is "too far to come" for them and they've spirited their horse away when you weren't looking, taking a bunch of keys with them.

And I'm sure that other YO's will have similar - and indeed more horrendous - tales to tell. I don't have a vast number of liveries here, only the one, so I don't get the problem of having to arbitrate and deal justly with everyone's squabbles and gripes. But I feel very sorry for anyone that does.

IF YO's are "scarey", and IF we do appear formidable, then there are reasons for it!! Most of us would far rather be nice, amenable, amicable people, but its a case of once bitten twice shy, and I know that having had my fingers burned with a recent bad livery I'd certainly be appearing far more of a dragon in future. Sorry, but that's the way it is. We don't want to be old hags!!! But some people unfortunately do take the P!ss and always will.
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^^^^^
This!
 
Alot of people at my yard are scared of the YO, im not shes providing a service and if i have a problem (luckily theres not been many) i tell her and she deals with it. I probaly have a better relasionship than the ones that are scared of her. At the end of the say shes there to provide a service but ive also got to respect that its her yard and home aswell. Im also stabled nest to her and do help her out aswell as she helps me out, as its a all DIY yard but shes got her kids(there grown up now) elderly pony.
 
Sooooo, I'm again throwing caution to the winds (sorry if I'm highjacking this thread, no offence intended if so .....), BUT what do people think about "regulation" of Livery yards, coz I think problems with YO's -v- liveries are the single most posted thread on here.

Sorry, am a computer numpty so don't know how to organise a "poll", but here are some thoughts I've had both for and against -

For:

uniform standard across the board, where liveries knowing exactly what service they'll get for their money, i.e. same service for same money you'd get in say Exeter, or Edinburgh, it would matter not

better regulation of standards within the livery business? So better horse welfare?

would provide a reporting system for yards/YO's which fell short of the required standard & provide owners with some redress/grievance scheme to address failings

would provide training and certification for all yards, based on perhaps service offered, so different criteria for say DIY yards -v- professional/full livery yards

Against:

small yard owners would not be able to offer livery services due to fear of litigation/costs involved

less choice for owners, particularly those who prefer small yards or want to rent pasture/stables independently

probably mean smaller YO's would go out of business

there will always be owners who simply don't want to go to a big yard

due to certification costs etc, much more costly for horse owners to keep their horses at livery, even DIY would become very expensive and would put horse-ownership out of the reach of many who now enjoy it

who would be the governing body? BHS? DEFRA? Do we want more government interference in our leisure?

I'm sure there will be many other pro's and con's, but I'm just throwing out a few thoughts .......

I can see this thread being labelled as a "sticky"!!!!!!
 
Sadly it seems to be a common theme!

I was actually discussing this with my friend the other day. I've been on a few yards over (too many!) years and several YOs over that time have been 'mini hitlers'. As mentioned earlier if livery is paying all the bills and adhering to the yard rules (the actual ones not the ones made up on the spot because YO is in a mood) then what is the problem? I cannot control how dirty my horse is in the stable, I cannot control if they roll in the field, I cannot control if they stand at the gate in winter and I'm sorry you don't like the colour of my numnah!! All of these have been actual complaints by YO whilst I've been paying substantial full livery money. Got to the stage I'd had a bellyfull!

Found a nice, normal yard now and i don't intend to leave!!
 
I must have been lucky because all my yard owners have been lovely. I know there are some Hitler-ish ones out there, but with a bit of amateur psychological profiling when viewing a new yard, you can usually walk away laughing hysterically before commiting your horse to being looked after by She-who-knows-best.

Mostly my sympathy goes to the YO's who have to deal with some outrageous demands from liveries, or get screamed at because they made a mistake and forgot something whilst bringing in 27 horses in a snow storm.
 
I wouldn't be a YO for all the tea in China. Everybody has a different way of looking after their animal(s) and there are some that just don't step up to the mark and expect the goodwill of others to cover the essentials. I have a totally non-horsey YO, I think his way is the best way as he can't get involved in another livery's management as he doesn't have a clue. Those of us that do have a clue would constantly be sticking our noses in if we were YOs, and probably be taken advantage of.
 
One of the main reasons my OH and I upped sticks out here was that it would allow us to save like crazy and buy a place with land when we get back and I would open a livery yard.

I have to say that reading some of the threads have REALLY got me thinking that it might not be such a great idea.

I've been at GREAT yards and some not so great and hope that were I to open one myself i'd be a totally non scary YO BUT... I'm hopeless at confrontation and know I am a bit of an easy target for those who are a bit..well er bossy so wonder if I should just content myself with my own at home and go off to work to pay for some help.

Can see both sides of the coin and will continue to read threads like these with interest. Just won't show the OH who is FAR less tolerant than I am in the fear of him changing his mind. HE would MUCH prefer a swanky pad in London UGH.
 
cbmcts said:
This is something that has always baffled me :confused:

I don't think I'm a bad livery

Before I move to a yard, I ask all the questions that matter to me - times, turnout, space, facilities etc
I'm polite - ok, not someone who takes much BS before I get very direct:o
I pay my bill bang on time.
I observe the yard rules
I look after my animals
I don't interfere with anyone else but am happy to help if asked

So why then do I get either mega sulks or a strop when I politely request that I get what I pay for??? I'm not talking about a bad day or some unforeseen disaster........just simple requests like TO or asking how long it will take for fencing to be fixed.

I'm the customer here - a YO isn't doing me a favour allowing me on their yard! I'm paying for the privilege.....no, that doesn't mean it's all about me and my horses......but some (not all!) seem to forget that they have a business that they are meant to be running professionally.


Note to YO/YMs

It isn't my problem that you aren't making enough money (can I suggest that you do more work in those circs) if you have 8 horses of your own in a 12 box yard, it is very unlikely that the 4 DIY liveries are going to cover the rent, bills etc of your yard AND the cost of keeping your 8 horses in the lap of luxury.
If you have contracted (for extra money, mind) to offer full/part livery then please do not be surprised that your liveries will complain when you don't muck out, feed properly, exercise, turn out (delete as appropriate) on a daily basis.They will eventually catch on to this, leave and slate your reputation with good reason
Your liveries are your source of income. That doesn't mean that they are always right but it both good manners and good business to at least listen to them.
If you treat your liveries properly and fairly they will, 99% of the time stay. Treating them fairly includes being honest with them about both the pros and cons of the yard before they move their horses on, not changing the rules on a day by day basis without a good reason (cba to do something is NOT a good reason btw). Their horses are just as important as yours believe it or not and should not be treated as 2nd class occupants of the yard.
***** stirring and bitching about one customer to another is not professional and will not help the atmosphere on your yard.
Oh, and the horse belongs to the livery so unless their treatment of it is cruel or dangerous, maybe you should just bite your tongue when they do something you don't like?

I could go on :o but I'll stop now!
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I too am a YO and actually take offense to what you have written here! You are slating ALL YO's with the same brush.

No, I dont make any money from the liveries which are all FULL liveries. What I have coming in covers the cost for caring for the liveries and maintaining the land. Have you any idea how much it costs to get fields sprayed, rolled, chain harrowed each year? Or how much it costs to completley replace fencing as one horse insists on continually going through the fencing no matter what you do. I treat the livery horses the same, if not BETTER than my own. I shouldnt be expected to try on a rug for the first time which the owner has bought for their horse only to find out it is 3 sizes too big so the horse has no rug to wear. You say YO's are interfering? Would you much prefer it then if I fed the horses all the same throughout the year no matter what work they are doing? If we question how much work is being done with the horse, its not because we're being nosey or bloody awkward, but because we need to know how much to feed your horse. I dont think it is acceptable for a horse not to be ridden for over 5 weeks then to go on a 4 hour hack and be blamed for the horse going lame due to the uneven ground in the field (which is caused by the horses galloping around like loons I hasten to add). I expect my land to get churned up, but when the liveries dont want to move their horse to another field which has more than enough grass because its too far to walk, I dont expect them then to complain that there is no grass for their horse to eat! I also dont expect to be told a horse doesnt kick and then only to find that when it arrives it does nothing but fight with other horses and lash out at us in the field and then when I talk to the owner on more than one occassion, she blames it on everyone but her horse.
Yes, I did choose to offer FULL livery, but that doesnt mean I, as YO deserve any less respect than my liveries! Just because they pay me money.
Please think next time before you tar everyone with the same brush.

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Wellll, I'm throwing my hat into the foray here, as I'm a YO!!! Tho' I only do DIY livery. IF YO's are perceived as "scarey", then that's a pity, BUT I'm gonna say a few things in mitigation here, coz I think sometimes we get quite a bit of (undeserved) bad press. Of course, there are YO's that are in it just for the money, but the majority of us are horsey people ourselves who are trying to do our very best to keep everyone happy (plus ensure the maximum welfare of the horses in our care). Remember, that if the RSPCA do come sniffing around, its the YO who is deemed negligent if the horse is at livery and not the owner!

As a DIY yard owner: these are some of the issues I have had to deal with, just as an example:-

People who pay for DIY and THEN expect you to turn out/fetch in; be there to meet & greet farriers, vets etc; wash & mend their rugs (yes, honestly!); muck-out etc etc.

Liveries who (again, pay for DIY) and then ring up to say they're "stuck at work" or have a "meeting" after work, or whatever and can't get to see to their horse so would you as YO do it.

Liveries who leave gates open; climb on fences and gates which ruin them; leave the (metered) water tap running; leave all the lights blazing when they've left the yard; those who cut-up the field by schooling in the mud plus think its huge fun when their horses are turned out and tank around cutting up all the best grass, THEN whinge if you have to restrict turnout to daytime only!!!

Other grouses: liveries who's horses damage fencing and crib-bite stable doors, THEN either say it wasn't their horses OR gripe at being asked to pay for said damage.

Liveries who persistently lose keys given to them and then expect you to issue another set for nothing!

Liveries who let dogs and kids run around the yard; dogs turding everywhere and they're too idle to pick it up; kids thinking its great fun to trash the haybarn and use it as a play area.

Liveries who leave their horses in the stable for nearly 24 hrs without hay, water, or food - and you've no idea where they are or whether they've been involved in an accident, or what. When you DO contact them, it transpires that they've "asked a friend" to see to their horse, but friend has obviously got better things to do and so the YO has to see to horse.

People bringing a vast congregation of "friends", boyfriends, cousins and every Tom Dick & Harry plus every screaming brat on earth, and coming out to your yard to enjoy the countryside coz they've obviously got sweet FA else to do! And then people start smoking in your yard, and drinking, and using bad language, and the whole thing degenerates from there and you have to get unpleasant and tell them to clear off! Plus you have to introduce a whole lot of rules and regulations just so you don't get situations like this developing in future. Who'd be a YO??? We must all be stark raving mad!

And last but not least: liveries who disappear suddenly and you don't know they've gone until its got dark and you're wondering what's happened to their animal as it isn't in the stable. Then you get a text to say your yard is "too far to come" for them and they've spirited their horse away when you weren't looking, taking a bunch of keys with them.

And I'm sure that other YO's will have similar - and indeed more horrendous - tales to tell. I don't have a vast number of liveries here, only the one, so I don't get the problem of having to arbitrate and deal justly with everyone's squabbles and gripes. But I feel very sorry for anyone that does.

IF YO's are "scarey", and IF we do appear formidable, then there are reasons for it!! Most of us would far rather be nice, amenable, amicable people, but its a case of once bitten twice shy, and I know that having had my fingers burned with a recent bad livery I'd certainly be appearing far more of a dragon in future. Sorry, but that's the way it is. We don't want to be old hags!!! But some people unfortunately do take the P!ss and always will.
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Couldnt agree with this more.
 
My YO is nice and professional... but many yard owners are not. Personally I find it easier with people who run a yard as a professional business and who have a strong equestrian background themselves.

I also think that many UK yards are a bit of a nightmare because people have this thing about everyone doing their horse their own way on DiY, rather than full/part livery. Surely it must be easier for the YO to keep everything running smoothly if everyone is on the same routine. It must be like herding cats sometimes.
 
I can see both sides, having been both a livery customer for years, then a yard owner.
There's a reason why I only have a small yard, and turn away requests to do livery! I've had some super liveries over the years, and also some utter nightmares. The horses were very rarely the problem, even if they were obstreperous gits here and there!

I second the comments by YO's above, have been there and done that.

The simple answer is respect and fairness going both ways. Both parties should do what they have said they'll do, and if - in exceptional circumstances - they can't, give as much notice as possible, and be prepared to pay for someone to do the work, not just expect it to be done for nothing, again and again. This sort of thing breeds resentment, which is the beginning of the end...
 
suzyqet said:
I too am a YO and actually take offense to what you have written here! You are slating ALL YO's with the same brush.

No, I dont make any money from the liveries which are all FULL liveries. What I have coming in covers the cost for caring for the liveries and maintaining the land.
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I'm a YO and I do resent the idea that I shouldn't be in it for the money - it's not the most profitable business in the world, but still, it's a business. Of course I care for the horses (and their owners to some extent), but I, like anybody else, have every right to earn a decent wage, seeing as a capital investment return is a bit of a wishful thinking in this trade ;)
I price my livery packages accordingly and frankly, would rather have the stables empty than subsidise somebody's hobby and get a load of bother and abuse to boot.
 
I'm not on a yard anymore...I have my own place (does that make me YO?Ace!:D)

The last yard I was on, I was there for 5 years. I got on well with YO and if I had an issue I would speak to her about it.....and she would do her best to sort it. This got me the label of 'favourite'....it wasn't that- it was simply that everyone else just bitched and moaned and didn't take any issues to her- they expected her to be psychic:confused:

The main problems on the yard were, in all honesty- other liveries.
 
I can see both sides too - I'm lucky that I've mainly had my horses at home, and worked on small yards. I have had my horse on full livery for a while. I currently want to leave my job, and keep thinking of doing full livery, but it really won't make me much at all, and will be a seven day workload. Its not the easy, moneypit that lots of people think it is...

When I moved to where I am now, and we build our yard, we thought we'd have a couple of DIYs to help with the costs. How wrong could I be! Our horses are all very easy going, and will go out alone or in company, suddenly there were other horses there that churned the fields like you wouldn't believe, or mooching around gateways, or chewing the stables... One horse ripped the ponie's rugs at every opportunity, and ripped the ponies if they didn't have rugs, yet the owner swore blind it wasn't her horse, even when it did it in front of us (just an accident, it didn't mean it..) and got all upset when we were "cruel" and put the horse in the next field, where it could only touch the others over the fence. Another one never came when it was snowing, yet managed to drive past on her way to work! People wasted haylage, which was included, like you wouldn't believe. When they left, we never bothered - it was actually costing us money!

I always smile when people on here go on about YO's not managing their land correctly if the fields are getting muddy. People who say that should get a field, and see just how much it takes to keep it looking good! Also you can see by this forum that people are very precise about how they want their horses kept - some wrap them up and keep them in in winter, others want them to live out... How can you possibly please everyone! There are endless threads on here where people are scared of telling their YO that they want to leave etc, and everyone eggs them on to leave without saying anything - yet quite often the thread ends with the person speaking to the YO and having no problems. If everyone (on both sides!) was polite, and respectful of each other, there wouldn't be half the problems. Nowadays most people only think about themselves, and thats the trouble.
 
I have been on many yards and more recently rented my own 4 stable yard so can see it from both sides.

For me personally I loved the yard on my own BUT I dont miss the grief of managing the land and waste etc. When I had to leave the private yard I was dreading going back to livery....however...

A year and a half on our lady YO is magic. Abrupt on occasion yes, BUT bear in mind she is overseeing over 40-50 horses on large DIY....(clue is in the name!!...>DIY) yard, has a LIFE too and assists everyone who asks!!.

She does provide ad hoc services as we require them, some have full livery, she is totally flexible, wholly knowledgeable and I would trust her in any situation with my horses, which goes a long way.

I hear what people are saying, as I said, from both sides. However, I think before any DIY/Full or Part Livery customer whines, they should run their own yard of at least 3 stables and the land associated with it. It's expensive and hard work, and yes whilst it is YO choice, try and respect the fact they have a lot to do!

Yes you are paying for service, or not as the case may be, but I think voting with your feet still counts. Rather than moan about things, if you dont like it move or find your own place to rent.....easier said then done...but it is possible....

Our YO is so laid back she is horizontal, however, if you ignore the basic rules and abuse the place, she runs a tight ship. It works well and she is a true horsewoman, a massive factor which means on a yard of our size we don't ever get silly bitchyness factors as well.

:D
 
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