Some advice on Yards please. (Long sorry)

asommerville

asommerville

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Hi All, I am so upset atm with my yard. Horses are on Assisted DIY, therefore supposed to be fed, turned out AM.

People may have seen my post about a month ago where I was complaining that the fields had not been made for the summer therefore the horses were standing in (this went on for 2 weeks).

There have also been other (quite a lot) of occasions where it has been a lovely day and i have gone up after work to find my horses stood in their stable. In the past couple of days I have been putting them out myself (still paying fuill price tho and I yet again made the mistake of paying for the month up front) To top it off my two do not go out together (as gelding mounts mare) and the horses that they were out with have now left, leaving mine as the only 2 on the yard who go out. My young gelding has therefore become so attached to my mare it is difficult to do anything with her as he becomes upset, throws himself about the box etc.

I am planning to take my mare home until the end of August at least, we have 2 acres of land and a big stable and I will be borrowing a companion pony for her.

I need to keep my youngster on livery and the original plan was to keep him where he is until the end of August and then look for a yard for him, however I am not going to be able to stick the yard we're on until then.

I have found a fantastic yard - but its 30 mins away with no spaces. Ticks every box though including horses going out every day.

There are yards nearer to me which would obviously be easier with 2 in 2 different places but ultimately I would really like to go to the further yard eventually. I'm reluctant to move my young one then move him again if a space comes up at the nice one.


Opitions are - stick it out where I am/ move nearer and stay there or move somewhere and wait for a space at the nice one.

What would you do? Any advice is appreciated, unfortunately I don't have anyone that can give me an unbiased opinion and this is really stressing me out!
 
No offence, your yard sounds crap! That's not on, especially when people are paying!

Is it possible you could go onto just DIY and do everything yourself? If you could, I would do this until a space comes up at your preferred yard, or even move them both back home?

If not, move somewhere, and then move again to preferred yard.

Good luck x
 
If I were you I would move somewhere else, with a view to moving to the better yard when a space comes up. I did something very similar myself recently - not ideal as it meant moving twice in a month - but when I made the first move I had no idea how long it would be until I could move elsewhere so I took the view it was better to go for a small improvement in the meantime.

Haven't regretted it at all :)
 
Sounds like a nightmare. i think you can get too hung up about moving them. If they are young and only stay on one yard perhaps it will make it harder when you do want to move him. I would take them home so at least they can be out. perhaps stable one in the day and the other at night so they dont become too inseperable . Wait for a space on the prefered yard and hope it wont be too long. Good luck
 
I'd take them home as above and maybe use tape to split the field and stop the mounting problems. There's no point in paying for a service you aren't getting and the horses would presumably be happier out?
 
My worry about taking them.home.is that boy will be totally obaessed with my mare. also with this weather i cant ride in the field and cant hack him as hes not that experienced. my mare on the other hand would hack along a motorway!

Do you think he would settle without her if he had other horses to play with? Hes been great until his fieldmate left.

This would be his 3rd this year that y i'm so worried! Im not a serial yard mover btw! Left 1 as they did not deal well.with a strangles outbreak left the next cos my job changed and i needed to be able to get full livery if reqiired. I really looked into this yard and thoight i'd made a good decision (another reason i'm upset- feel like a crap mum)
 
what about moving the mare home as planned and putting the gelding at a yard nearer home and see what happens, you can move to the other when space is available if you still want to, but maybe the 'short-term' yard will work out better than you expect-not sure i would be happy on a yard 30mins away myself
 
If he's only young and had three homes this year I'm not surprised he has become a little obsessed with your mare.
I'd still move them home as it sounds more stable an environment and you may be surprised at how he settles. Yu may have to get a little companion if he is fretting when she is out but it may do him good to have another pony to bond with and he may leave your mare alone.
It is rubbish not having anywhere to school but could you fence off an area and let it grow longer to school in?
Good luck
 
Is there any reason in particular that you want your mare at home but not the gelding?

Having them at home could go either way - he might settle in a quiet, stable environment or he might become more attached making it difficult for you to work either or them.

I'd also be reluctant to do a lot of moving in a short space of time i.e. take your mare away, move him and then move your mare back - could that not unsettle them both even more.

Your current yard doesn't sound great tbh - I'd be inclinded to see if you can find somewhere that suits you better and that perhaps gives you the ability to split them up a bit i.e. putting them in separate fields so that he is comfortable being with different horses and not fixated on her.

Where exactly are you based? I'm near glasgow so might be able to recommend some places.
 
Thanks for your comments. i want to take my mare home as i only have one shelter that could fit her and a companion and i cant turn thrm out together as he mounts her. so if i had two bigs ones one wouldnt have enough shelter.

Also my mare hacks out briliantly, she can hack out alone and in traffic and he never has and we dont libe on a really quiet road.

We have not had much luck since last august with one thing and another and i am loath to move him.then have to move again, i would rather the next place he went to was permanent. I'm not so.worried about my mare as she is amazing and takes everything in her stride so i think provided im there she'll settle
Im in kilmaurs just outside glasgow, the yard i really want to go to is Lawmarnock, its full atm though.
 
Your horse won't thank you for leaving him where he is, without ANY friends as you'll be taking away your mare, on restricted or no turnout. I think, if he has turnout with other horses around, moving twice would be better for his mental health than staying at a yard with nobody out with him at all.
 
Um, I know I'm inviting the "yard taliban" to put me up against the wall here......... but I'm a YO and whilst I don't know the situation pertaining to YOUR yard, I know that with the recent awful weather a lot of yards are stuggling to get horses sorted for turnout every single day. That's not any fault of a yard, its just due to the weather. I know one yard where I had my boy on livery in the past (OK so I am poacher turned gamekeeper ;) ) where there was virtually NO turnout from November through to March. That was the way it was and liveries just had to deal with it.

Also, from what you say I think there's a bit of a problem with your horses in that the gelding will try to mount the mare and also there's a separation issue? So there would be a bit of an extra challenge for any YO to deal with this as well.

I'm not excusing anyone; and if you feel that the standard of care isn't what you either (a) expected (b) want or (c) have paid for, then I can understand your concerns.

But I'm just trying to suggest that there may be good reasons why, at the moment, turnout for yours just might present a bit of a challenge for any YO.

If you're unhappy; then hey its your choice, so move! You pays your money and takes your chance. Simples.
 
I keep 3 on 2 acres. Invest in some good electric fencing split the field and beg or borrow a companion for the youngster while you sort yourself out. Yes its raining but he will survive without a shelter. They may trash your paddack but you will have September to sort it out.
As they stood in you still have had to pay for hay so you will be saving your livery money and petrol even if you have to feed them.
 
I'm at a yard in Foxbar (Paisley) where there will be a space coming up shortly. There are 6 stables in "our barn") with big fields and daily turnout (24/7 at the moment and well in to the winter if you want). It's DIY livery and we work together taking turns with turnout etc. We have a big indoor school and good hacking. PM if you want to come and have a look...
 
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