Thoughts about yard please

MrsMozartletoe

MrsMozartletoe

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Friend and I rent a yard. Owners bought it mid-'08, we moved on a couple of months later. We have six horses (two horses, four ponies). Around the six acres mark, plus stabling.

Nice owners. Have left us to it since we moved on. A lot of standing water that we can't shift (water table). Summer field has not had horses on it since last October-ish, but the grass is coming through very sparse
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. A lot of moss. In short, the field is not going to sustain six horses over the summer - all but one are very good doers (one is laminitic). We'll end up having to feed hay all year round
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.

We signed a one year agreement, but that was for grazing, which we're not getting
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. There's also an issue with water! How ironic
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. There's no mains water (or electric): we've bought more storage tanks, but I don't think the maximum capacity we could purchase will stand more than two weeks without rain. We have a small riding field/paddock, but again ironically, that goes rock hard when it's not fetlock deep in mud
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.

ot sure what to do for the best. My girl needs the spring grass and needs to be out due to her pelvis issue. The other horses are happiest out as much as possible as well, although they all like coming in one night or so a week to give them a rest form the mud/flies. There's little shelter in the fields so we'd have to buy a mobile field shelter as well.

All I can see is this yard being an on-going money pit for us, with little benefit. I have no issue at all with harrowing and rolling and fertilizing the fields, and fixing fences when the neds have battered something, but I'm thinking that they need all that, then all of it needs resting for a year and not having six neds on it.

The only alternative I can think of is keeping neds in half the time, but that isn't good for them (their temperaments dictate otherwise); plus, if I'm away on a contract, hubby and daughter have to look after three and muck out etc twice a day.

Oh blast. This was meant to be as relaxed an option as we could get with our neds, which we need due to the nature of all our jobs. We love the freedom and the location and the neighbours, etc..
 
I would agree that it's a never ending battle - I'm in a similar situation myself.

However, you have to weigh up the pro's and con's of being there as opposed to livery. Also, you need to figure out what this is costing you as opposed to being on a yard with good facilities - not just in monetary terms but in terms of the time you spend fixing things when you could just be enjoying your horses.

At the end of the day, you only have a 1 yr contract which is fast running out, is there any guarantee that you will be offered a further contract?

I think if you're going to stay then you need to either accept that any improvements you make are going to be done at your cost (unless you can persuade the owners to cough up for them).

Hugs though - not easy
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Hmmm - is a difficult one isn't it? I think you have lots of things to consider - after consulting my inner control freak I would do the following:
1) do a list of 'pro's' and 'con's' for current yard. Look at hard at all the improvements etc that you need to do to make it viable for your neds and cost them out.
2) At some point you need to approach owners about renewal of contract and see if they are prepared to do any of the appropriate maintenance.
3) Consider an appropriate contingency plan in the event of contract not being renewed/having a heart attack at how much it is all costing etc etc
4) Also consider the facilities that you need for your neds - have been on a similar set up myself and had serious sense of humour failure over no mains water in the end!! I decided that the best thing for me with the demands of my job (I have to go away a lot) was to find a yard that was DIY but with extras available if needed, a school (essential especially in the winter to use at night after work) and good hacking.

Whilst I loved being able to do my own thing the benefits of being on a yard with proper electric and water etc etc and the security of my horses being looked after in my absence far outweighed all the extra effort,work and money that the other yard entailed.

I think you just need to work through all the options - and cost it all realistically. Then drink a bottle of wine and eat a large bar of chocolate and go to bed!!
 
I would recommend been in charge of my parents land for 6 years (since I was 16/17) that you probably need to fertilize now with a quick release in summer paddock such as a 20 10 10 or 9 7 7, however if there not going on it for 2 -3 months you could do a slow release. this WILL get rid off moss as grass out competes moss in favourable conditions. Also I recommend an autumn slow release fertiliser too like sea weed. Our land is poor and mossy but with careful monitoring it is definately do able. The only thing I would say is if grazing is not good, you may have too many neds on it. I have three acres and can never have more than two horses on it, and is best with one ned and one pone. However I am not expert on this, just this is what my land copes best with.

As to water, I have no suggestions, Could you not put water pipes in or is it too expensive. Do you have agreement over grazing? did you take on yard in summer or winter? If in summer what was grazing like last year? Tis annoying when these things crop up, though I am sure they are all solvealbe. I hope I have not been pushy in what I have said, or annoyed you in any way.

Sending you virtual hugs and really hope you can sort something.
 
When were the fields last harrowed?

If you can get the fields that are currently rested harrowed now you may get lucky with grass coming through.

Do you ever have sheep on it at all? And do you have an annual maintenance routine generally?

It all sounds a bit horse sick at the moment.....
 
Thank you all
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. I knew many heads would be better than my sad and sorry excuse for one.

SM - I believe they would be interested in extending the contract... We have mooted it and they seemed keen: no discussion re rent though, and that's one thing I wouldn't accept a hike in unless they'll put in mains water
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SU - I like you am often away. Moving to a livery yard would have the advantage of a rider on site (hubby and daughter manage when I'm away); and a menage
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. Not being a drinker, I'll just warm up a vat of hot chocolate and go and have a bath, not necessarily in the vat...

BB - not annoyed at all hunny! Very pleased to get another view on things
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Thank you
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. Scuse my ignorance, but what is a '20 10 10'? We were aiming for the neds to move over next month, so I'm guessing it would be this one. Does is work where there are big wet/damp patches? We suggested sheep or goats, having heard they are good for the moss clear-up, but the owners of the land aren't keen.

AM - little is known about the land prior to our landing on it. I believe it had not had horses on it for about a year, but equally had not had anything done with it. The maintenance was due to start now as it were, with harrowing (and rolling where required). It's heavy clay 'soil'. When we viewed the land the field they are due to go in looked promising and it wasn't until we actaully trolled through it that we realised how sparse it was, but by then we'd signed up.

As you can tell, we're new to land management!
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Lol, oops, Sorry
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Its a quick release fertilizer, you put it on and it in the soil withing 3 days to 2 weeks depending on rain/dew levels, Unfortunately is a chemical one so does in fact come from the Haber process and therefore creates global warming and CO2 increase. Bad, but causes grass to take up more CO2 and grow more so possibly carbon neutral (don't quote me on that
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). You need 2 bags per acre and its about £25 a bag inc vat but worth it.
 
Ok. So we harrow, then fertilize with the 20 10 10 (and pray it's carbon neutral!). How soon after fertilizing can we put the neds on?

This sounds good, but still left with the issue of possibly too many neds (though one is a foal lol) on the land...
 
You could fertilize first then the harrow will spread it for you evenly, but doesn't matter which way you do it really. I would just see what happens, we used to have a lot of neds on our land, it was a trail and error thing with our land and know I now. You wait until you can't see the fertilizer on the surface any more, its little white balls so its quite obvious. But if there not going in there for 4 - 6 weeks you should be fine.
 
I'm afraid to say that I've been here and the outcome wasn't great in that I had to move in Janaury. We had a sweet little private yard that we rented from a friend with 4 acres (in theory!) and 3 stables. It was heavy clay which meant it was like the Battle of the Somme in winter and concrete in the summer. It was at the lowest point of the village and flooded repeatedly which meant the grazing gradually turned to buttercup and we would have had to have fed hay all year round. Horses were miserable. The worst thing for the grazing was having the horses on it. The fields needed proper drainage, liming and fertilizing plus harrowing and I just wasn't prepared to sink money into land that wasn't ours. So.. we moved. We love our new yard but it certainly alerted me to what NOT to buy if I buy my own land!!
 
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