Small rant!!

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BobbyMondeo

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I went to the yard today to ride my horse, and found him tearing around out in the field, screaming his head off and covered in sweat because he was all on his own!!
I couldnt ride him because he was in too much of a state
EVERYONE at the yard knows that he doesnt like being left alone and someone would have heard/ seen him in the field!! If it was anyone elses horse i would have got them in!

Is it unreasonable be annoyed about this and have a word with everyone about it? Im sure they wouldnt like it if it was there horse

Is there any way i can help him get over this fear of being left on his own?
 
A lot of horses don't like being out on their own (safety in numbers/herd instinct thing) so I wouldn't try too hard to get him used to it, unless you think this will happen more often.

I would be furious if this happened to my horses and every yard I've been on has had a rule that it never happens - if you are going to leave one out, then you bring them both in.

Don't really know how to approach this apart from scream and shout which won't help!
 
Is there not a yard rule re bringing in the last horse? My old place had it and the new place, people are so nice they would do it anyway.

I would have a word with a field mate and ask if they can bring him in and you will return the favour as necessary or talk to everyone and see if you can organise this as a general rule.
 
No i dont want to scream and shout about it...never helps anything...just would like it to be made a rule that you cant leave one on its own.

It took me half an hour to calm him down!! I was fuming and there was nobdy at the yard so god knows how long he had been on his own!!
 
Can you buddy up with someone so to speak? That way yours won't be left alone.

It's an unwritten rule at my yard that there is never a horse alone in the field.
 
We have a rule on our yard that no horse is to be left out in the field on its own, which stops just this sort of problem. I am so lucky that my girl really does not give a monkeys about being on her own, but others up there will scream and tear about like you have said which does not do them any good. Some horses with time do get better about being left on their own, you could start perhaps with just a few mins at a time, see how it goes and perhaps increase the time each day depending how it goes, but there are also horses that will never put up with being on their own. You have every right to be cross, as it would not have taken that long to have got him in. Perhaps you can have a polite word with the rest of the yard to see if they could do this for you., good luck with it x
 
Could you not just put a note up on the board asking that your horse not be left on his own? We sometimes get that problem up the farm (although I have two so its not a problem for me) I always inform farm worker that there will only be one left after mine are in and he comes down with me and gets the last one in.
I personally would not want the responsibility of bringing someone elses horse in incase something happened to it whilst I was leading it in from field. And likewise I wouldnt want anyone else bringing my horse in, but then if the horse is distressed from being on its own then its only common sense to go and fetch it.
 
Don't know whether your ground is dry and dusty like ours or wet and soggy - either way people get precious about the state of their turnout paddock, especially round the gate.
Therefore I'd go about it from an 'oops sorry about the dusty torn up gateway bereft of grass /soggy mudbath my horse has created by the gate but unfortunately he really hates being left on his own, so in the interests of preserving what grass we have/ preventing a complete soggy mudspot before winter would it please be possible for us to start a rule than no horse is left on it's own but is brought in with the last horse, in case someone elses's is like that too? '
 
I dont think your horse should be other peoples responcability, BUT, I do think it rather ignorant and bad mannered that others would do this knowing your horse doesn't like being alone, we had one a the last yard I was at and managed to sort it amiacably by bringing it in with your own, or phone the owner to let them know it was last in field.
 
It's not about providing a companion - it's about doing what's correct for the horses in your field. By leaving a horse in distress you are responsible. If someone saw your horse cast in it's stable and did nothing then I'm sure you'd have words.

I'm obviously lucky, there is no rule, but no horse in our field is left on it's own. Plus if we notice a problem we let each other know. Pick up removed fly-masks/shoes etc. It's called being human. It costs nothing but it's a nice thing to do and prevents injury and distress to the horses.
 
I think it's a difficult one tbh. Most yards have a rule in place about not leaving one out and it's common sense really BUT it can cheese you off a bit because a) I end up getting some 16hh + looney in that's treading all over me when I chose to have a quiet 13.2hh and b) there used to be a girl on our yard that knew her horse would not be left and would magically turn up the minute hers had been bought in - she also used to make comments like how she couldn't come down the yard without going home for a cup of tea first so some poor s** would be struggling in with her horse through the mud and rain whilst she went and put her feet up for a bit. I think this is where resentment starts building up.

However, you can't really have yours tearing round in case he hurts himself can you (I'm not saying you are the examples above) so I would have a quiet chat with the YO and sort something out. Is there a reason they didn't get yours in i.e. is he difficult or was it a case of them just not thinking? If it was a quiet horse that I knew the owner would want in I would do it no problem but I refuse to handle difficult horses and risk injury to myself because the owner works later than me etc although that may sound spiteful. I am very lucky too because my youngster just goes 'oh goody more grass for me' when everyone is bought in so I am not in same situation.
 
I have a notice on our tack room board asking that my horse is not left out on his own.

I'd be mighty p8ssed off if I were you.....
 
Would it make any difference if someone left a hand full of nuts in small bucket for him to tuck into if he was left on his own or a wad of hay perhaps?

I suppose most people don't want the responsibility of bringing a horse in, not always because they don't give dam or can't be bothered but other reasons, for example there is a mare on our yard, it not very often she's left on her own in the field but bringing her in would cause further problems, she's very bolshy and in the wrong hands she could escape from someone or cause them an injury, she's better off getting bit stressed in the field and having a run round than risking anything else and if anything was to happen to the mare, who's fault would it be then for moving her? but that's just an example of what I mean.

But if your horse is sensible and will settle ok in the stable there is no harm in asking or leaving a note.
 
aran said:
It's not about providing a companion - it's about doing what's correct for the horses in your field. By leaving a horse in distress you are responsible. If someone saw your horse cast in it's stable and did nothing then I'm sure you'd have words.

I'm obviously lucky, there is no rule, but no horse in our field is left on it's own. Plus if we notice a problem we let each other know. Pick up removed fly-masks/shoes etc. It's called being human. It costs nothing but it's a nice thing to do and prevents injury and distress to the horses.
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This - exactly!
 
I dislike leaving a horse on it's own but a few owners on my yard know their horse will be fine and prefer them left out, so it's a bit sticky.

If I suspect the more neurotic of my horses would be left alone, I would ensure I got there early or leave him in if I can't.

I have tried to bring in someone's ill mannered horse in distress and nearly got trampled because of it. In future I will leave it alone - I'm not getting hurt.

It is important to gently communicate to the other liveries that you are happy for them to bring your horse in, that it will not pose a danger to them in doing so OR that you are contactable by phone if they are unsure what to do. Superglue you phone number on your stable door.
 
I dislike leaving a horse on it's own but a few owners on my yard know their horse will be fine and prefer them left out
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Yes, if my horse didn't get so distressed, I would prefer him left out.
 
This is a difficult one – I have been on the other side of this where I have been expected by another livery to get their horse in every night as they couldn’t drag their ar*e down early enough. There wasn’t a rule about horse’s not being left on their own, but this livery confronted me with ‘not being funny or nuffin but DO NOT leave my horse in the field!’. This annoyed me as there was a YO on site who would have happily caught this horse every day….for a small fee of course. I on the other hand was free….

I am not disputing that it was unfair on the horse for he/she to be left in field, particularly if known to be stressy, but perhaps there should be an agreement whereby the YO gets notified if a certain horse is going to be the last one left out?? Obviously only possible if YO is on site though….
 
stilltrying said:
This is a difficult one – I have been on the other side of this where I have been expected by another livery to get their horse in every night as they couldn’t drag their ar*e down early enough. There wasn’t a rule about horse’s not being left on their own, but this livery confronted me with ‘not being funny or nuffin but DO NOT leave my horse in the field!’.
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IMO she had no right to say such a thing to you and you really should have asked your YO to sort her out.
 
Think its a tricky one depends on horse and were you are my boy dosnt mind so happy if there was someone bringing him in because he was the last one out....what if something happened, ie horse trampled person bringing him in or person was scared of the last horse?Think its really tricky one insurance, etc,,and how long this horse will be left in and is anyone going to water give hay and turn out..pretty much goes on...and on..
 
Well at my old yard the y/m kept changing the bringing in time. It went from 2pm -1pm all without telling me.

One day, sunny day I might add, I arrived at 1pm only to find my old arthritic horse galloping around and covered head to toe in white foam with the y/m and another livery watching him. When I caught him the poor fella was in alot of distress so I confronted the y/m, who I also considered to be a friend, and her reply was ' yeah well I've decided to get them in at 12 now' so I asked why she couldnt of txt/called me and let me know to which she just said 'well maybe it's easier if I just catch in from now on' (charging £2 per time)

I gave my notice and moved as I could'nt be on a yard where they had so little compassion for the horses and just wanted to make an extra tenner out of me per week!

I had always made sure that no horse was left out on there own as was supposed to be the yard rules.

One rule for one, one rule for another tho sometimes eh?

Needless to say my horse is now in a fab home :)
 
I would go ape, tell them that you'll send them the vets fees if it happens again and that you want a rule put in place. Not on.
 
I am no way saying that i expect the other liveries to leave there horses out to keep mine company or that i want them to bring him in all the time, i am MORE than happy to go up there, its just i dont want him getting stressed out about it. On this occasion i was there at 6pm...not late for summer in my opinion.

The YO house is on site so can easilly just go and knock on the door and ask her to help, or just ring me...id be there in 10 mins and be quite happy to get the other horse that is out in if needs be.

Also my horse is as quiet as a mouse to lead in so its not like he is going to trample all over you and be an idiot.

To be honest i was more worried about his legs on this hard ground we have at the moment and that he was clearly very stressed...dont like seeing any horse like that let alone my own.

I think i will have a word with the YO and ask for a rule to be in place
 
BobbyMondeo said:
How would i go about it? Im not good at confrontation
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You don't have to be good at confrontation, you're more likely to get what you want by not having a confrontation.

Just explain to the YO what happened calmly and without emotion, say to them that you would be sure that, if their horse reacted in that, you're sure they wouldn't want them to be left out alone. Say you're not sure if people were aware that he doesn't like to be left out on his own (even if they do) but you would like to ensure it doesn't happen again (to him or anyone else) and would they consider adding it to the yard rules?
 
marmalade76 said:
IMO she had no right to say such a thing to you and you really should have asked your YO to sort her out.
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Oh I did ....about her and another idiot livery...nothing was done and I left not long after as YO wasn't quick enough to act. They both got their marching orders eventually tho.

At the yard we are at now there isn't a rule about bringing in, but good ole common sense applies most of the time, i.e. we will call someone if their horse is going to be left on its own to see what they wanted to do. This thread just struck a nerve with me because of my previous experience with people who take the pi$$.
 
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