Those of you on full livery

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not_with_it

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Are you happy with the way your horse is looked after? If not do you feel you can mention it to the YO?
Ive just gone from DIY to full livery and im finding the change really difficult.
 
I'm not fortunate to have mine on full livery too much expense for 2 now, but after looking after mine DIY my whole life I would find it very difficult to trust someone else to look after my horses the way I do, no matter how much they are paid!
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i have mine on full livery now and have had many problems with them - 'not' looking after my horse, I have mentioned things and written notes but nothing is ever done. Apart from having a complete hissy fit and screaming the walls down - not that they would even listen! There is nothing i can do, I don't feel like they want to listen to me and it goes in one ear and out the other, you should however be able to talk these things through with YO or YM but it doesn't always work - thus is why I am moving yards in a week and going back on DIY!! Good luck
 
I trust the people at the yard to look after my girl perfectly however I have found it difficult to adjust to not having much to do when I go to the yard as I've always had my horses on DIY and am therefore used to having to do everything instead of just grooming and riding.
 
I am on full livery now and I am really happy, but should I need to I would be happy to speak to the YM. I still feel bad watching someone muck my horse out or pick up his poo when I'm in the stable brushing him! Not because I want to do it, it just feels weird!
 
Generally yes. The staff are fully trained and know what theyre doing. I have no problem approaching the owner when theres a problem. I had to do this the other day when the grooms had started feeding him hard feed again when he wasnt meant to be having any.

She called the stable manager instantly to tell him to remove all hard feed from his diet and give him extra forage.

They have a lot of horses where Jack is kept but the only time hes been sick since we move here, they had noticed very very fast and called the vets for me. By the time i arrived, the vet was 5 minutes away and he was already being walked round outside by a groom.
 
Im not going to go into the problems Im having as you never know whos reading
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but at the moment I really dont trust the groom to see to my horse. The YO is lovely but at the mo I feel like im always moaning. My horse has only been on full livery a week! I really dont want to move as my horse has been there for 6 years and its only 5 minutes from my house, but due to my job Im not always there to make sure everything has been done and my horse has food and water.
 
I went on to full livery after many years of DIY and found it incredibly difficult to let go! The yard where my two are is great and the YO is very approachable, so I'm lucky in that respect. They do some things differently from how I did them, but not to the extent that it causes problems - and of course my way isn't the only way! My horses are well fed, well bedded, turned out every day (unless there is monsoons/hurricanes/blizzards!!), so I am happy!
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No problems at all, I could not go for months and I know my horse would be fit well and happy. I really couldn't ask for more.

They're also quite happy to change and do things differently should I want. But generally they know far more than me anyway.
 
Does he get too much, too little or the wrong sort of feed?

I had a problem with what my gelding was being fed as it was making him hyper, but he had lost loads of weight so we were trying to put that back on (long story). My YO was open to suggestions and put a lot of work into getting the balance right and it has worked. I'm sure if you had a chat and expressed your concerns they would be addressed - after all it is your horse and you are their client.
 
Full livery monday-friday. Pickle is looked after brilliantly, completely trust them and have never had a HUGE problem in the whole time. Had the occasional problem but quickly resolved when spoke to YO.
 
Last week she got far too much and became obese in a week! I asked the YO to reduce her haylege on friday. Since then as I have been down every day I have filled the night nets so I can control the amount she has been getting. When I got there this afternoon she had been sticking her head through the fence to get the grass out of the farmers field which is so unlike her. When I got into the yard she had no hay at all and was starving. I also had to re-do her night nets.
Its the little things that are annoying me like not using her stuff on her. I have spoken to the YO about a couple of things and as everyone is new I dont expect miracles overnight.
 
I can see why you're concerned. To go from getting too much haylege to not enough hay is a bit odd. It's not on to leave your horse with nothing to munch on in the stable!

I think I would have a "cards on the table" chat with your YO, saying you want your horse to have whatever amount of hay or haylege and that you want her stuff used on her (and her alone!). Or maybe put your concerns in writing? If things don't improve, then maybe check out another yard?
 
I have always done DIY until I bought my younsgter 4 years ago (I still have my retired horse on DIY). I'm on full livery with my youngster and really enjoy it as it suits me and her (she can be a bit sharp and needs more work than I have time!). I still go and groom her etc... and do have the odd muck out! and just put in the diary when I am going to ride and they always make sure she is in a clean ready for me.

I never struggle to tell them if I am not happy with things they have 1 girl who works for them that I didnt like the way she rode so i asked for her not to ever ride mine and they were perfectly ok with it. Its a tough chance trusting someone else with your horse but it does get easier with time I promise
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I'm very happy on full livery!! The previous yard I was at was a little frustrating as the YM always thought she knew best and wasn't open to discussing issues....if I had a problem I had to word it so it ended up sounding like her idea!!!
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I moved yards at the beginning of Feb and am 100% happy, the YO is a very good friend of mine and I thought I would find it awkward if things weren't done as I'd like but she's been an absolute doll and nothing is too much trouble
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(I'd like to think I'm fairly low maintenance
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!!). I've been away a lot with work lately and he's been looked after superbly, she exercises when I need it and I know it'll get done properly (not a 20min potter around the village which happened a lot at last yard
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), I can honestly say I don't think he's been as fit at this time of year since I've had him!!
So if anyone is looking for fab livery in Northants........!!!
If you're not happy with how things are done you should speak up, and YM should take on board any reasonable requests.....you're paying enough for the service
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I used to be on full livery, and was happy with the standard of care, and I felt I could talk to the YO.

Just remember you are paying them for a service and you should be 100% happy with the service. Don't feel bad for mentioning something that's bothering you.
 
Im on rest days until friday so I think I will go down first thing and do her myself for the next 2 days. On friday I will have a chat with the YO, hes at work until then, and express my concerns.
 
I'm on full livery 7 days a week and I found it really hard initially. It may sound strange but I love mucking out my horse and doing general yard jobs etc. I found it so strange going up and he would be mucked out and brought him from the field etc. I would prefer to my my horse on DIY but it's just not practical at the moment and I think I would worry more if I was at work and he was waiting at the gate for me to bring him in etc. The yard only does full livery so part livery is not an option unless I moved. However it's such a small friendly yard that the pros' definately out weigh the cons. I do feel awkward about bringing things up - like I thought he had lost weight recently etc but once I had a chat, he's now getting extra haylage and feed and I wish I would have brought it up a bit earlier. I made the decision that if I wasn't happy with anything than just to say something, I don't have to be awkward or anything but he's my horse and it's my responsbility to make sure he is happy etc. I would still definately prefer my horse to be on DIY but have to accept that it's not practical at the moment. Where about's in Yorkshire are you ?
 
I wouldn't do that, I would ask the YO if she would mind if the groom shadowed you whilst you are doing your horse. Most decent YO's would agree to this and surely it would be helpful to the groom to actually see what you expect for your horse?
 

"Just remember you are paying them for a service and you should be 100% happy with the service. Don't feel bad for mentioning something that's bothering you. "

Ha, you should have tried telling the YO that where I used to be! She'd never heard of the "customer is always right". Fortunately the other liveries were great and we all used to check on each others horses at night (and refill water & hay). It got to the point where I was paying for full livery and going up every night anyway to make sure she was looked after properly.

I've since moved (and the yard's closed) and now I 100% trust where I am and feel I can say anything which is such a nice change! Helps that I'm the only livery though I suppose!
 
On full livery here but no other alternative in France anyway. No DIY.
I visited every single yard in the area before moving my boy to where he's been now for 6 years after getting back from UK and have never regretted it since. He's being looked after like I would if I had all my time to myself. Must admit he's being treated like a star and very spoiled by YO who loves him
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He and I are very lucky.
 
I am not on full livery myself but my friend when she first moved to my old livery yard was. Seeing the full livery treatment her horse got made me realise I could never put mine on full livery there. She had a lot of problems and things progressively got worse until last month she asked to change her horse onto DIY and is now much happier for it.

Problems she had were horse being given too little hay at night (YO was allowing 2 standard bales of hay per week for 16hh cob in from 3pm to 9am). Stable was not mucked out properly - droppings taken out everyday but wet only once a week and very little bedding in the stable in general (1 bale a week). The mix her horse was fed went from cool mix to competition mix without her being told. Her horse generally got bargy in and out of the stable because he was hungry. Horse didn't have his rug changed from turnout to stable, feet picked etc etc.

Unfortunately like someone else found YO was not very approachable about any of these issues and at the end even locked away the hay and straw so my friend couldn't give her horse any extra. Friend asked to change to DIY stating she missed doing her own horse - which she did - but this wasn't the main problem.
 
I put one of mine on working livery at the local college. He was on full livery there so i didnt need to go up at all, I really didn't like not having the control over my horse. Enjoyed it in the hols tho when he wenr bac on DIY - I did speak to the yard manager about how he was being looked after and things did change. He is back on DIY now and I love having the control back.
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I personally can't cope with having my horses looked after one day, let alone everyday, and even when they are, I could count the number of people I would trust on one hand and still have fingers spare! Theres only one person in the world I would allow to ride my horses without my supervision...

But I worked on a full livery for awhile, and the owners wishes were the yards every command, yard owner seemed to be very approcahble, with messages frequently being passed on from ideas/wishes the owners have, and I was more than happy to stop and discuss stuff with the owners too if required.
 
I've had my horses on DIY all my life but when I got my new youngster in April last year and my job stepped up, I decided to make the move to full livery. I viewed several yards and the one I am at is absolutely wonderful.

The staff are brilliant and I would be happy to go away on holiday and leave them to look after him. They don't "namby pamby" the horses (like a lot of owners would - cuddle them etc) but they're not paid to. The horses are fantastically looked after and if you have a problem, you can talk to the YM about it. They will do what they can to meet your/your horses' needs.

It's sad that there are "full livery" yards where the service is pretty crap. But they are not all like that and I know I'm definitely very lucky to have found a great one
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I have been on full livery or part livery...never really had a problem...if there was something I wasn't sure about I would say and never got a bad response. If things were going wrong or a resolution could not be reached to suit my horse then I knew it was time to go. Also I would still be down the yard quite a lot anyway but that is my choice.

My horse is on part livery now...but she is now retired so full is not required...I have complete faith in my YO as she is brilliant and incredibly knowledgeable and really understands my horse (who is not the easiest!). I still go down nearly every day and sometimes twice but am totally confident that if I don't or I can't my mare is absolutely taken care of. I know I can ask my YO any question, however silly it may be and we can talk easily about anything. She is also fantastic in times of injury or illness and specialises in rehab.
 
It's taken me a year to get used to being on livery having always been DIY/kept at home. I have 5 days livery - mainly because when I got Ronnie I worked in London and just couldn't predict what nights I'd be able to see him. Now, I could actually go DIY but he's in a good routine and has a nice stable so I don't want to move him. Feeding is the hardest part. YO is very knowledgeable and acts on her own initiative with the feeding, which I really appreciate. But, I would far rather do his feeds myself as I'd change his diet entirely. And, I'd give him smaller more frequent feeds - and much more hay!

It does take a while to get used to things being done differently, but I've learnt new and better ways of doing things too so it works both ways.
 
Thanks for your replys guys. I will speak to YO tomorrow and see if things improve. Ive been down this morning and will go back again later to ride if it stops raining. I was quite relieved to see someone else is having a few minor issues too. Hopefully it will all get sorted.
 
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