Small and friendly or larger .......

Ive been on a very large one and a smaller one, larger one had 50 plus horses smaller had 20 horses. Large one you had groups of people ganging up and there way was always right. Small yard less bitchy however yard owner had no clue at all about horses or anything. Only positives was always people to ride out with.

Im on my own now and much more happier as are my horses.
 
was at a smaller one and found it very cliquey because there was quite a few young girls who made life quite hard there! am now at a much larger yard and i love it! there's no pressure to be friends with everyone or know everything and you can just get on with what you want to do. bad side is still only one small menage but if you have the time to go up there at certain times it isnt too bad and there are a fair amount of happy hackers so not that many people using menage. i think mine has the right balance, its big without being too pressured to be professional and very experienced as some large yards can be. you can be friends with a few people who are there when you are without seeming cliquey and theres only one or two people causing problems, with the rest diluting it so its not as bad as it would be at a small yard :)

yours?
 
Been on small yard of approx 12 horses and found it very cliquey and although the horses were lovely and my horse settled in straight away, it took me longer to penetrate in to become "one of he gang"!!! It was full of people who thought they were better than everyone else and I felt like i was being judged by them...It was the sort of yard where nobody did anything unless one of the other girls said it was ok to do it!!!! Even though it was a majority an adult yard it was very childish and almost like being at school!!!

Moved to an even smaller yard of about 5 horses and the people were lovely and just got on with doing their thing but were around when you needed them.

I'm now on a yard of 80 horses and l love it, although sometimes i think it's a bit busy for my horse and that's the only reason i would move back to a smaller yard again.

Must admit i have an end stable at the other end of the yard so nobody goes down there, which is good as it means i don't have to socialize unless i feel like it...makes me sound like a right miserable cow, but sometimes your just want to do your thing with your horse and go?!!?
But if you fancy a chat in the brew room there are always people around to hack out with, have a chat with or ask questions.
You still get groups of people who stick together...the sort that go on holiday together etc but i found that as long as you are friendly and polite you'll get on with (almost) everyone.
On a larger yard, because everyone does there own thing ranging from happy hackers, show jumpers, dressage to retired old friends i don't feel like I'm being pigeon holed in to a particular group.
Yes, you have your yard cow bags, so does every yard, but at least you have the space to stay away from them!!!
I love having the facilities like the XC, Jumping paddock, monthly shows, Indoor & Outdoor schools and i prefer to be on the larger yard I'm on now rather than a small yard...although sometimes it would be nice to have peace and quiet!!!
 
I didn't mind it on a large yard ( 150 horses +) but I hated the 'borrowing' and constant bitching.
I like small yards but I love having people to talk to and ride with all the time, which sadly is not the case ATM as I have been on my own for the last 5 years so haven't been able to chat with or ride with anyone since - And it's driving me insane!
 
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Small

I'm on a yard of 12 horses and it's plenty big enough, at "peak times" it gives me a headache! I'm only 17 so not exactly a grumpy old woman ... yet! :o

niagaraduval - 150+ - how big was the muck heap?!?! :eek:
 
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Small and friendly!

I have only ever been on large yards and every single one is bitchy and just horrible place to go. I tend to go up when there are least people around and everything has to be locked up, even haynets as everything just gets stolen!

Last winter someone at my yard broke into my friends trailer to get to her hay because she was apparently taking too much! Its petty and horrible I would never recommend anyone to go on a large yard because of some of the experiences I have had.
 
monkeybum13 said:
Small

I'm on a yard of 12 horses and it's plenty big enough, at "peak times" it gives me a headache! I'm only 17 so not exactly a grumpy old woman ... yet! :o

niagaraduval - 150+ - how big was the muck heap?!?! :eek:
Click to expand...

Probably the biggest heap of *****e one could imagine :D It got taken away weekly- Thankfully ! But still took up and entire field - or almost!
 
I have been on large and small yards and i have now got my own land. I would never like to go back to livery but if i had to i would choose a small yard everytime. Im sure large yards can be friendly but personally i have never come across one!
 
We are on a small yard, with 9 owners and 14 horses. Have to say I tend to prefer smaller, having been on both, but there are pro's and con's to both. Big one was a nightmare for turnout, storage, parking,using the school (1 40 by 60, and 42 liveries). Also if people used your stuff it tended to travel farther and then nobody would claim to know who it belonged to and someone would "adopt" it. I remember the day we left, having to go round and collect our rugs off the backs of horses in fields, as the people who turned out for the yard never knew what belonged to who. The good side was being able to be sociable (when can be bothered!), always someone around to help, ask second opinion. People to hack with. Never seemed to have a bitchy atmosphere for it's size.
Smaller yard is much quieter, the school is nearly always available when you want it. There is plenty of room for storage. We can have the dog out on a lead, as he is the only one.
The grazing is managed well. But everyone feels obliged to know your business, but I think that is yards in general a lot of the time.
 
Small and friendly - it's just us and the YO atm, though a new livery with 4 horses might be coming soon. I don't think i'd like being on a big yard, apart from having lots of experienced people to ask for help and stuff, which we currently dont have as the YO is a first time pony owner this year too (i don't mean that to sound harsh, but it would be nice to have some properly experienced people about if you get me)
(:
 
Well my pony lives on a farm with only 2 other horses and the only "liveries" are my friend and myself... we have total autonomy over the horses' routines and that is very nice indeed, it is where I call my horsey home if you like... so that is micro-small and friendly because only myself and my friend (and associated pony riders etc are there!)

On the other hand, my horse lives on a large, varied and busy livery yard which she really seems to love, and it suits my daughter down to the ground. Althought it is large it is still quite informal and you still have a large amount of autonomy over your horse's routine.

Of course in a large group of horse people everyone is going to have an opinion about what you do with your horse and you may not see eye to eye with everyone all the time but no one person or view dominates the scene, and it is very easy to avoid people and for them to avoid you. Despite the number of people and horses though it is quite a friendly place.

Before moving to this yard the horse spent some time on a private yard which had a well meaning but very controlling YO, their view totally dominated everything and if you didn't respond accordingly the atmosphere could be really unpleasant and because it was a small yard there was no getting away from it so easily. So, it was small and was only friendly if you were in the YO's good books that week, otherwise forget it!
 
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