Spoilt DIYs??

[milliepops]

I wander round my paddocks at the yard regularly (daily in summer, weekly at the moment due to daylight) but YO manages the strip grazing so he's walking the fences every day and fixes anything that needs it.

I left a place I'd been at very long term (14 years) when the little DIY repair jobs started to way exceed what I was capable of. The straw that broke the camels back was when the external boundary got destroyed by the YOs horses leaving free access to the main road and wasn't fixed ?

I was quite surprised by how much free time I had when I moved to a yard where the basic maintenance was done by the YO ?

 

[spotty_pony]

Having ran a yard myself (part and full livery) I totally get where you are coming from. I don't miss the politics one bit. It sounds like the DIYs are being very rude and disrespectful. I would be giving them notice to leave in your situation and just rrpalcxe with full liveries. IME DIYs aren't worth the money or the headache they come with.

 

[babymare]

Having ran a yard myself (part and full livery) I totally get where you are coming from. I don't miss the politics one bit. It sounds like the DIYs are being very rude and disrespectful. I would be giving them notice to leave in your situation and just rrpalcxe with full liveries. IME DIYs aren't worth the money or the headache they come with.

Not all DIY'ers are bad ? Some of us take a lot pride in good horse management and are respectful. Honest ?

 

[AmyMay]

Any update DB?

Did you have your meeting?

 

[dominobrown]

Any update DB?

Did you have your meeting?

No not yet as one of them is away on holiday so when they get back I will.
Long term however I have discussed with my partner that we will probably give notice in May/ June time to find another yard for next winter.

 

[windand rain]

Remember not to give them too long or they will procrastinate until the last minute and expect you to carry them over another winter

 

[Tiddlypom]

Are you giving up the yard yourselves, or are you giving notice to the diy liveries to quit?

 

[spotty_pony]

Not all DIY'ers are bad ? Some of us take a lot pride in good horse management and are respectful. Honest ?

No, I agree not all are bad but there are some that give DIYs a bad name.

 

[AdorableAlice]

One point to be mindful of OP is the boundary fence. It is the landowners responsibility to ensure nothing can escape on to the highway. If your delightful liveries are damaging your boundary fence and their ponies escape you will be at fault not them in the eyes of the law, and you could face serious losses and prosecution. This has been tested in law.

I feel you and your ground would be better without the DIY clients you have at present. The winter started at least a month earlier than normal and has been exceedingly wet, nothing is going to improve anytime soon. Is the income the DIY clients provide going to meet your rectification costs as well as all the costs entailed in having them on your yard for the next 5/6 months ? being made to feel awkward or uncomfortable in your own home and premises is not acceptable in any format. There are some nice and responsible DIY owners but they are far outweighed by the 'I've paid my £20, I will do as I please' owners.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I also would give them notice right now give yourself a chance to get your land and fencing in order before readvertising

 

[JennBags]

I also would give them notice right now give yourself a chance to get your land and fencing in order before readvertising

Me too!
Sorry that so many of you have had issues with DIYers, I was previously on a yard with around 30 horses on DIY and I don't think anyone acted like this, the YO wouldn't have allowed anyone to get away with. We all poo picked and ragworted our fields, saw to our horses twice daily and kept the muck heap tidy.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Me too!
Sorry that so many of you have had issues with DIYers, I was previously on a yard with around 30 horses on DIY and I don't think anyone acted like this, the YO wouldn't have allowed anyone to get away with. We all poo picked and ragworted our fields, saw to our horses twice daily and kept the muck heap tidy.

I know your former yard and it was and is always well managed. I’ve also never been on a yard with such problems. Even the massive one I used to be on with around 80/100 horses was ruled with an iron fist. All maintenance such as fence mending was done by the YO. In summer they used to poo-pick using a tractor and hoover. In winter it was left. Fields were sprayed and fertilised. All horses had mandatory worming according to a yearly programme with wormers supplied by the yard and charged accordingly. Anyone who didn’t follow the rules was tackled with notice given to those that were the worst.

Current yard all maintenance is done by the YO. Fencing usually gets done the same day it breaks. We make temporary repairs. Often the deer have taken it out overnight and sadly a few times we’ve had to get the game-keeper down to deal with those that are completely entangled by their antlers in the electric fencing. Usually fence posts or rails that break are rotten and not due to any recklessness by liveries.

I think it’s unrealistic to expect a group of separate individuals to sort out who does what in a mixed field. Obviously no one is going to take responsibility.

I’ve had all sorts of levels of livery over the years and I’ve always been a responsible and conscientious owner and livery.

 

[crabbymare]

No not yet as one of them is away on holiday so when they get back I will.
Long term however I have discussed with my partner that we will probably give notice in May/ June time to find another yard for next winter.

It may be worth saying in the meeting that due to their behaviour you are having no DIY there next winter and to take that as a warning that they will be getting notice to that effect at the appropriate time, and I would give notice for them to leave well earlier than October as thats going towards winter when it will be harder for them to find somewhere and you can be guilt tripped into letting them stay. If you give notice that they need to leave in June or July it will be better weather for them to find somewhere and also to move.

 

[maisie06]

As title this following moan is somewhat self inflicted and I am aware of that...

We are currently having a DIY situation... basically it is winer, the weather is rubbish and therefore the fields are rubbish. We are on wet ground, its The Lake District, we get a lot of rain and the land is not good farmland/ pasture (we are almost a hill farm) and we get fairly extreme weather. In total there are 25 acres and 12 horses. Diy livieries are all fell ponies, a dales pony and a gypsy cob, 5 ponies/ small horse size. They get ad lib hay, stables with water drinkers, and at the moment a 5 acre paddock. I also feed and hay every horse on the yard in the morning.

Basically I have said that on wet days could the use the arena to turn out while they muck out etc for a bit. They can still turn out on frosty/ dry days or even for a limited time but at the moment the ponies are going out from 7am and not coming in until after 5pm.
The problem is the gateways are getting wrecked, the field is getting wrecked, no effort despite asking, charts etc to poo pick etc. Last year the wrecked this field, where moved onto a 4 acre field, destroyed that, moved onto a minimum 7 acre field which again they wrecked (yes that is over 15 acres in less than a year). Some of them can't be bothered to worm count or stick to the worming programme when asked, no one makes any effort to poo pick. Barley any of them are speaking to me or my partner, who live here btw, because it is ridiculous that they have to come up to do there horses twice a day. I was accused of being ridiculous when in the summer I said they must come up at least once a day to check their ponies. They have ignored my turn out request and just turnout whenever they want too. They did turnout in the arena once, left 13 poos in there... no effort made to clear up after themselves.
With the full liveries and my own horses we are being very careful with turnout. I know like last year, when their field is wrecked they will demand one of the other fields that has been rested and poo picked, meanwhile my horses are shoved somewhere else.

I was thinking of wording a group message to say roughly that its is diy livery, that they have a 5 acre filed which they are responsible for and they can't just move on and wreck somewhere else. Also as yard owner, who lives here, how horrible is it to have people refusing to speak to you, slam doors etc at you because you made a request at howmyoy want your own land managed.

Am I an evil dictator? Are my livieres spoilt brats? Is it a bit of both?
Problem is that they have been here longer than me as they were liviries before I bought the place and have come back. I do often get comments about how the old YO used to do things, before the poor women nearly bankrupt her self and became so disheartened she gave up and sold everything. Ideally I don't want to end up like that.

Thanks for reading my essay/ rant/ moan... Probably sound like most horse people approaching mid winter. Ideas please... even if ypu must want to call me an a-hole and to get over myself!

Give the lot of them notice - disrespectful bunch of brats.

 

[dominobrown]

I and my partner quite happily maintain boundry fences, though luckily even if they did manage to break through (most of the boundry fences are stone walls anyways) they couldn't get to a road. When they have got out, bursting and barging at the gateway when liveries are bringing them in we are down a track so either end up in our yard, a field, grazing the edges of the track or worse case in next doors farm yard if they really have gone on a jolly. The fenci g in question is their field boundries... not sure about you but I don't want them on the other paddocks/ hay field, especially those with lusher grass especially in spring as they are all fat natives! Main concern is them getting tangled trying to get through.
I think the large problem is that being a fairly small yard is that they don't pay their way. I think if you are going to do DIY it needs to be on a large scale or maybe a couple of diys if you have the space but you don't need the stables for income. I knoe you could just charge more but I don't think thry would pay it anyways. When Doris ran the place it was something silly like £18 a week assited livery, but there was NO maintenance as obviously there would be no money for it!
In the last 2 weeks I have had enquires for 3 schooling liveires...
I will feel awful giving them notice as i don't know here thry would go. In the last year 3 yards have closed in this area. There are not many left ?

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Not your problem, unfortunately with some people once their feet are on the carpet, they tend to ignore rules and create issues.
I still advise giving them notice more soon, even if its 2+ months, so they are gone by end Feb!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Please stop allowing your heart to rule your head. They are bloody awful DIY’ers and you need to show them the door with a months notice on the 31st December. That way your fields will have a good 3 months to recover before the grass really starts to grow properly and in that time you can fertilise, harrow and roll.

 

[pixie]

Honestly. They would not give a shit about how you would pay your bills if they were to leave. They treat you like crap. Do not hesitate to give them one month.
I promise you will feel so much better once they are gone.

 

[dorsetladette]

I'm a bit late to the party here and may have missed a few posts. My parents never had DIYer's when they ran their yard. Reasons being they ran a tight ship and wanted all horses in the same/similar routine on the yard. we didnt have a massive amount of land at the yard (many of our broodmares and youngsters were shipped out to graze elsewhere) so had to be managed carefully. They didn't want novice owners bobbing round the yard while the stallions and young colts were being handled or turning up to ride in the school while they were in the middle of breaking/schooling a young pony. Really the long term liveries were there as an extra to the business.

If DIY liveries don't/didn't feature in your plans when you took the yard over then I would hold your meeting armed with your plans for the yard going forward (doesn't have to be war and peace, they don't need to know everything just the bits that effect them)

Then tell them as of **** date I will no longer be offering DIY livery. I will how ever be offering ***** at ££££. If you do not wish to livery in this fashion then I am happy to except your notice now or within the next 7 days (give them chance to think about it) If I haven't received your notice within this time I will have contracts ready to sign out lining the routine your horses will be in and the expectations the yard has of you as owners.
Kill them with kindness - that way your not evicting them just streamlining your business and hey have chosen to no longer livery with you. win win. And they can't try and drag your name down and discredit your yard. As soon as one hands in their notice (they will) you can advertise for new liveries 'due to a change in business direction' which poo poo's anything negative they can say.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I and my partner quite happily maintain boundry fences, though luckily even if they did manage to break through (most of the boundry fences are stone walls anyways) they couldn't get to a road. When they have got out, bursting and barging at the gateway when liveries are bringing them in we are down a track so either end up in our yard, a field, grazing the edges of the track or worse case in next doors farm yard if they really have gone on a jolly. The fenci g in question is their field boundries... not sure about you but I don't want them on the other paddocks/ hay field, especially those with lusher grass especially in spring as they are all fat natives! Main concern is them getting tangled trying to get through.
I think the large problem is that being a fairly small yard is that they don't pay their way. I think if you are going to do DIY it needs to be on a large scale or maybe a couple of diys if you have the space but you don't need the stables for income. I knoe you could just charge more but I don't think thry would pay it anyways. When Doris ran the place it was something silly like £18 a week assited livery, but there was NO maintenance as obviously there would be no money for it!
In the last 2 weeks I have had enquires for 3 schooling liveires...
I will feel awful giving them notice as i don't know here thry would go. In the last year 3 yards have closed in this area. There are not many left ?

not your problem! Honestly being a bit of a bleeding heart is why you are in this predicament im afraid to say.

These people are NOT your friends. I fact you have inherited them and this mess. Get rid ASAP. Take on liveries that will respect you and your yard and make yourself some money without all this stress!

Honestly it feels horrid right now but once they are gone you will feel a sense of relief, you are thinking more about what they will think of you than you are about yourself, I do that as well but sometimes you just need to say feck it and do what you need to do for you

 

[Ranyhyn]

Yup come on, get it done. They HAVE been too spoilt for too long.

 

[Nasicus]

I will feel awful giving them notice as i don't know here thry would go. In the last year 3 yards have closed in this area. There are not many left ?

Tough sh**. Maybe then they'll learn not to take the absolute p*** out of their YO's in the future.

 

[Velcrobum]

Dear OP if you are going to run a business you have to get real. These DIY liveries are not paying their way, they are dis-respectful to you and your property. You do not owe them anything and the longer you procrastinate the worse things are going to get. You invited opinion which has been a fairly consistent GET RID so please act on it.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

tell them as of **** date I will no longer be offering DIY livery. I will how ever be offering ***** at ££££. If you do not wish to livery in this fashion then I am happy to except your notice now or within the next 7 days (give them chance to think about it) If I haven't received your notice within this time I will have contracts ready to sign out lining the routine your horses will be in and the expectations the yard has of you as owners.
Kill them with kindness - that way your not evicting them just streamlining your business and hey have chosen to no longer livery with you. win win. And they can't try and drag your name down and discredit your yard. As soon as one hands in their notice (they will) you can advertise for new liveries 'due to a change in business direction' which poo poo's anything negative they can say.

^^^ VERY well put indeed. Good clear wording, and setting down expectations and agreements, and as poster says, nothing unpleasant, the opposite in fact.

Just do it OP. You'll feel much better when its done, honest.

 

[ester]

Stop being so bloody nice!

 

[cavalier123]

Firstly... I have a need to please very one which is not helpful to me!

also although I have worked on many yards I have only been at YO myself for 3 years and I think they have taken advantage Of my in experience. Which I cannot totally blame them for for.
thank you for the suggestions so far.

I think they have taken advantage of your kindness and that you have been very accommodating. And yes, you can blame them for it!!! Any decent person would not take the mickey like that. Please do not blame yourself!

 

[sunnyone]

I'm another one to say "give them notice now". Where they go really is not your problem. I bet they wouldn't say to you "I shall be moving on in 6 months time". If there is no give and take from them e.g. doing tasks so you can go out for an evening or have some downtime, then do what YOU want to do, and not when its convenient to them e.g. I would give 14 days notice of your meeting and hold it, whether or not everybody can plan to attend. January is when people get ill, then you have half-term holidays etc. etc. Almost certainly you will have absentees with whom you will have to have a catch up session.
Not wanting to be harsh you now have 3 years experience of running the yard, in many businesses that would make you an experienced manager.

 

[PurBee]

Id love to put my 2 in full livery for the year at a really good yard close by, but i cant afford it and there isnt anything decent close to me. Its so i could work on the land, do the jobs i need to really get the land top notch, but while having horses on the land makes juggling these jobs impossibe. Design of this place is just one entrance to 4 fields....so have to go through a big field to get to the smaller paddocks. Its the entrance im overhauling and re-seeding main field which cant be walked through by horses while its growing.

When i looked at full livery prices for a week around 100 euros per horse i was thrilled and amazed...its definitely worth it, the various jobs of horsekeeping are very time consuming, so that price includes everything, hay , bedding, stable, turn out AND someone does all that for you!!...wow. What a deal, despite me not being able to afford it, i think its crazy-cheap considering the work theyre doing and facilities being provided.

Your DIYers have to go. Heck, even if a full livery had a bad attitude to a YO they should go too.
Remind them of the price of an acre of good grazing with stabling and hay barns and water/electricity! They should be grateful, not wrecking the place.
Youre going to have to turn into a mean dictator and sort them out!

 

[pixie]

Any update OP?

 

[Wizpop]

Simply no respect for you or the facilities! As others have said, warning then notice to leave if that doesn’t work- simples- you are being too nice!!