Taking responsibility for your own horse

B

browbrow

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 April 2007
Messages
673
Location
West Yorkshire
Visit site
Hello

After reading a recent post (which I think has been deleted) - it often amazes me how so many people on livery yards feel that they are not SOLEY responsible for the care of their friend - esp on full livery.

I am on a yard that does full and part and thank god they are a good yard as quite alot of people just turn up, ride and then buggar off!! They have no idea about what the horse is getting up to and as soon as something goes wrong the poor yard seem to get it in the neck!!! some of these people dont know what feed there horse is on - who his field buddies are etc.... It appalls me that people even consider that a livery yard is responsible for the well being of their horse - surely if you were not 100% happy with a yard you would not even be there!? Even on Full Livery - The OWNER is still responsible for their horse?! I know there exceptions mind but ......

I feel for yard owners - I think they are the scapegoats for some very poor owners.

What do others think?
grin.gif
blush.gif
grin.gif
blush.gif
 
I agree!

I think if all you are going to do is come up and ride, show no interest in your horse, or spend any time with him other than on his back, then you shouldnt have a horse.

They are not objects and a lot of people, like in the post that was deleted, seem to think they are machines and once they are no longer fit for purpose then on the scrap heap they go.

The idea of full livery is so your horse gets everything he needs if you dont have enough time to do it all yourself, which is great.
The idea of full livery is NOT to think you dont need to show any interest in your horse's care or welfare until something goes wrong.
 
couldnt agree more.... what bugs me the most is some peoples attitudes of "my horse/pony is broken lets put it to sleep"... they are not robots.

There are some idiots out there there obviously dont give 2 craps of the welfare of their horses.... rah
mad.gif
 
Completely agree with you. The YO has a duty to report anything which may be amiss to the owner, such as injuries etc, but ultimately the horse is the owners responsibilty. Fortunately I am on a very good yard where the full liveries take a really active role in their horses day to day care and know exactly what goes on. If the yard knowingly goes against direct care instructions without a valid reason then fine - it's their fault, but 99% of the time, the horse owner should be held responsible.
 
As a YO myself, I reckon YOs often get a bad press on here (although I know there are some very bad ones out there!)

My best owners care about their horses, and show consideration to them, and to me as the person who looks after them.
grin.gif


Bad owners don't last long around here! As I said to one of them last week, my concern is for the welfare of these horses, not the sensibilities of their owners!!

I think I am a horse-person, not a people-person
blush.gif
 
I have to agree with you there, we have some full liveries, that have there horse brought in for them, and one that even gets them tacked up for her. They ride then go and usually forget to feed the horse before they put it back in the field
 
Well I have my horse at home and would have it no other way because I know what is best for my horse and have a 'feel' of him so know immediately when something is not right. I know someone who have recently bought a horse and put her on full livery because they are new to riding and have never had a horse...I can understand that as the yard will help and ensure that the horse is well looked after. But they have the attitude of not wanting to muck out or get involved in the horses routine and requirements. So as a consequence they are learning nothing because they feel that 'someone else does that and we can just concentrate on riding'...I do not agree with this at all and it annoys me that they can't be bothered to learn and get involved. They have no relationship with the horse as it is all done for them and do not seem interested in the caring bit at all.
 
I started the previous post for my friend who has since found out and gone mad at me. I was trying to help

She is a caring owner, the type who visits the yard 2 times a day and is very involved in the care and mangement of her horse. She put her horse in to full livery because she works like the rest of us and some times has to work away. He needs a consistent routine with regular work and access to controlled exercise ie horse walker etc. His condition is widely recognised and the vet who treats him administers the same treatment to 2 horses that ran at Badminton this year. The down side is the high risk of laminitis but it can and has been avoided if managed correctly. Laminitis can come on very slowly over a period of time and also come on suddenly as it did in this case. The yard owners also have an obligation to keep an eye out for the signs as well as the owners. They also agreed to the special care conditions required for the animal. They could have said NO and asked her to take him elsewhere. BUT if you leave instructions and details of what you want to happen and challenge these when things are not as they should be, who should take responsibility? She has 3 retired horses at home 2 of which have developed Lami over the years she is well aware of how to care and control this condition. I agree that yard owners sometimes get a rough deal but there are also some who take no notice of what the animal needs or what the owner wants, and just take the money. She was trying to make other arrangements when this happened.

This horse means the world to her as like the rest of us on this forum. She had to kiss a hell of a lot of frogs before she found this beautiful beautiful prince.
 
Yeah and people like this also normally tend to only ride twice a week as they cant be arsed!! And then wonder why they have problems with their horses!! One woman I know says 'I wasnt born to muck out' has a sharer as she is scared stiff of horse - the sharer has done more in two weeks with him than she has in 2 years!! She hasnt a clue about lameness or types of poo etc and she thinks when he is licking her its 'affectionate' when I can see that he is just begging for another mint - which her gets in huge amounts!! She never cleans her tack - the last time it was done was feb when I was ill so I did it for her at home!! Plus I washed his numnah - she doesnt understand that she needs to keep leather supple although her reins snapped last year whilst riding!! Crazy!!
confused.gif
blush.gif
confused.gif
blush.gif
 
I didn't see the previous post but I would like to put forward my point of view regarding full livery. I chose full livery for my horses because I don't have enough land at home, I also work full time but, above all, I am a novice owner and I need to know that someone more capable than me is looking out for my horses. Unfortunately, my first experience of full livery was not entirely positive. My ex YO promised to do certain things and took the money in advance for them but did not do them. Because I wasn't there standing over her shoulder all the time and I was an inexperienced owner, I didn't realise at first what was happening or rather not happening. So there are some bad YOs out there who will take advantage of their liveries I'm afraid.
 
Thank YOU Clementine,

It does not only happen to Novice owners. And 4 cases of LAMI in one day on the same yard is a bit strange in my opinion and it is only my opinion. When my friend was away her husband would go down in the evenings to check him. and give him his final haynet. THIS HAPPENED EVERY DAY she is not the type to turn up and not take part.
 
Turnover - Lammi is not contagious so its not suspicious that they all went down.
Its a freak of nature sometimes and to blame the yard owner on a public forum is deflamatory.

It seems to me like you are now back tracking on your first post - give up.
 
Some livery owners are awful, I do wonder why they bother having a horse, with what they pay for livery/shoeing/worming etc and only turn up to ride once/twice a week they would be better off having a lesson once or twice a week it would be cheaper for them .. I think some people have a horse as a status symbol
 
sorry just wanted to add another thing here... if she/you knew he was at risk of Lammi - surely your vet (and you/friend as you know so much about it) would take every precaution to make sure they were not at risk (ie muzzle,strip grazing etx).... was this explained to the YO?
 
Well come give be a nice big slap then as I have one retired horse in full livery and I last saw him oooh about a month ago and the time before that was several months previous.

He's away from the yard on the retirement fields and having been on the yard a number of years I know he is well cared for.

New horse is at same yard and I visit 2 to 3 times a week, as a single mum who works full time that's all I can manage.

Yes I turn up to ride .

My horses are very well cared for have great lives and a really good routine.
I'd say they're happy.
 
I see my horse once, maybe twice a week. I work full time, have a young child, and trust the YO (who happens to be my sister) to do what is best for my horse at ALL times. I tack my horse up myself (having been tacking horses up for 35 years it is not that hard), but if I am in a hurry and only have 20 minutes to ride (sometimes I work nearby and can run in quickly and ride), then I have someone else tack him up whilst I am getting changed. I don't feed him. All the horses get fed at the same time.

Please don't criticise people just because they don't do things the way YOU think they should be done. Some of us on here have been "doing" our horses ourselves for longer than you have been alive, and if our situations change, then we just have to be more adaptable and take all the help we are offered.
 
not making any accusations or back tracking just stating the facts. I am just responding to this post that some YO do not follow instructions and that not all owners put their horses in to full livery so that they are not responsible for them.
Put yourself in her position for minute how would you feel? So far she has said nothing and accused no one. Its me as a friend (or Not now) that wanted to get some opinions
 
[ QUOTE ]
not making any accusations or back tracking just stating the facts. I am just responding to this post that some YO do not follow instructions and that not all owners put their horses in to full livery so that they are not responsible for them.
Put yourself in her position for minute how would you feel? So far she has said nothing and accused no one. Its me as a friend (or Not now) that wanted to get some opinions

[/ QUOTE ]

If the YO had ignored what i had asked then yes i would be a bit angry - but your friend still need to take RESPONSIBILITY for HER horse.


I have nothing against full livery - im not slating anyone for that... each to their own - everyones circumstances are different.
 
I am not sure that it is B***hing. Its interesting to see the responses that YO have no responsibilities to the animals that they are paid to look after. Also label the people who keep there horses in full livery for just turning up to ride
 
OK so where does ignoring special requests for care that result in making the animal poorly make the owner totally responsible? The YO agreed to the special requests and ignored or failed to carry them out who is responsible?
 
What a load of rubbish. If I am paying for full livery I expect the livery yard to fully look after my horse and be responsible for it. I really wouldn't care what it was being fed as long as its energy levels were right and it didn't look thin - why would you need to know? I also wouldn't expect to have to go there every single day if I didn't feel like it. If I could afford the luxury of full livery I would fully exploit it.
 
Ok fair enough, there's been enough of that already. But I think the truth is that you wouldn't have said all this if you didn't believe that to be the case, so the benefit of the doubt is with you.

I'm going to take my muddy oar out of this mess and say that I hope your friend's horse has a very speedy recovery.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top