Time limit to visit horses in DIY livery

Oh dear jirist, hope it works out for you, if you otherwise like the yard.
I've been lucky never to be anywhere with time restrictions, or where I would bother the YO by going to see my horses at any time of the day or night (and I have called on them all through the night if they've had a health issue)
 
I hope it will be OK ...

I work hard to have them near me in UK, but if i cannot take care of them, during the small free time i have ...
it sounds like a nightmare.

It is a country with more facilities and space for horses, but very expensive and so strict, compared from where i come from.
I thought it will be easier, but finally ...
 
My current yard has no limits, can be there at 4am till midnight if I wanted! Owner doesn't live on site and as long as the last person to leave checks doors and gates are locked we have no issues, we also have 24hr cctv which he accesses via his mobile so its not like he has to be there to know what's going off at the yard.
My old place, the owner lived on site (not horsey people, retired farmers) on a totally diy yard of about 40 horses. No time limits there either, people were there from 4.30am up until 9ish. He did his late night checks at 9pm and if you were still about, he would just make sure you and the horses were ok and ask you to finish locking up before you went home. If you had a poorly horse and were on watch, his wife would come out a few times in the night and keep you supplied with coffee and biscuits. Lovely yard, it was a shame when it closed down.
 
I only do full livery and like to feed the horses in the morning before the yard opens and again n the evening after the yard closes so that feeding times are not disrupted by people coming and going. Yard is open 8.30 am - 9 pm week days and 9.30 am - 7 pm weekends. If I was doing DIY I would change this to 6.45 am - 9 pm week days and 7.45 - 8 pm weekends. But this is only because our house is directly onto the yard. If the house was more separate, I would not have strict times.
 
I'll be honest I've never had a chat about opening times - there are people on our yard at 5am and I know the YO does checks at around 9-9.30pm, so personally I'd try to always be away by then, and would tell him if I needed to be around later for any reason so as not to be surprised by lights etc. His 'office' opening hours for speaking to him about things are IIRC 8-8, which is very fair. Our yard is DIY.

However the old yard I was at, she started feeding etc at 6am, and would be finishing up in the evening at 5.30 in winter and 7 in summer. She had no problems with me being around later/ earlier, but I wouldn't have been around after 8.30 out of respect.

If work finishes so late I'd be up earlier than 11pm tbh - horse people expect earlier hours in the morning than later hours at night, which I think is more unsociable. Try going up before work instead?
 
ihatework said:
It's more about being sensible/considerate that a blanket non access.
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^ This ^ You wouldn't turn up at 6am every day, put all the lights on, radio on at full blast while you muck out etc. But, for some people it is important to be able to go up early on the odd morning, or be there later sometimes.

I think if you don't finish work until 10pm, as the OP said, that would be too late to go to someone else's property. Also, it is too late to be putting horses to bed. If you can't get there until that late, I would pay to have my horses on full livery those days. It is too late, IMHO, to be disturbing horses who are in bed already and certainly too late for things like fetching in from the field!
 
We have no set times either but it is a small private yard and I am first up in the morning and usually last to leave in the evening but as my work times are similar to that of the YO it is never a problem.
We do try to be quiet in the morning if we know it's her day for a lie in (we take turns to turn out at the weekend).
Jirist, it may be that your YO is able to offer additional services if you do have to work late and is going to talk to you about whether that would help - look on the bright side! Good luck.
 
One yard I was on was sort of 8pm in winter please go away (nicely)! But 9-10pm summer!

Same yard I appeared at feeding time at 6.30am and the owner thought my horse was being nicked ;) but he didn't mind in the slightest.
Lovely guy :)


Anther yard was 5pm in a weekday and hinting that its time to go...! That didn't go down well with me

Current one has lessons till 8pm, not that I will be there at that time but still good that I can go that time!

I personally won't go on a yard that's someone's house anymore,
Just a business.
In my experience the private yards are more strict on times and in general as its their home, which I get BUT I'm paying for it? So if you want my cash I don't think being there at 5-6 pm is unreasonable :)
:)
 
The yard I'm on is attached to YO home. We can get there between the alarm times - i.e. it goes off at about 5am and on again at about 9.30 so need to be gone by 9.15ish. YO would accommodate any need to be there outside those times on an occasional basis.
 
agree Noddle, even if it is their home, the fact they have made it a business and their liveries need to be working people to be financially viable unless they are rich, in which case they would have their own property, so they need to work around times when owners can get to their horses - all within reason, but not allowing owners to be there before 7am is crazy, after 8pm I agree.

In fact how many horse owners actually make a noise when they are doing their horses, so why should it disturb the owners unless they want to be nosy.
 
putasocinit said:
agree Noddle, even if it is their home, the fact they have made it a business and their liveries need to be working people to be financially viable unless they are rich, in which case they would have their own property, so they need to work around times when owners can get to their horses - all within reason, but not allowing owners to be there before 7am is crazy, after 8pm I agree.

In fact how many horse owners actually make a noise when they are doing their horses, so why should it disturb the owners unless they want to be nosy.
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A couple of yards I've been on actually stand there while I've done my jobs and escort us of locking the gates after. This is 6pm in summer!

I totally get the family Time but if you want the money then tuff! If you don't then hae your horses on there only. People work and when I finish at 5pm how can I do my jobs as ride in an hour?! Some owners I can't get!

At weekends most people are off (not me)! I can understand earlier closing times as people have all day to do jobs.


:)
 
No time limit is on current yard but have to respect the land owners house as its pretty close so wouldn't go up turning all the floodlights on at 10pm etc
Previous yard gates were opened at 7 am and closed at 9pm but could be there out of hours if emergencies etc
First yard i was on .. Well we did a stake out one night to catch the person mucking about with the horses, owner lived on site. We very unsuccessfully tried to leave quietly at about midnight and i ended up tripping out the gate knocking all the wheelbarrows over and we both cracked up laughing. Apologised to YO the next day about the noise and he hadn't even noticed .. So much for security!
 
When I was on livery it was 6am til 9pm....although YO lived on site she was fairly relaxed. If you needed to go outside of these hours for competing or if you needed to check on poorly horses you just had to text her so she could make sure the guard dogs didn't get you:)
 
While I would not like restrictive opening hours, I do think in this case the yo has a point.

The op has said they finish work regularly between 8:30 and 10pm and needs approx 2 hours to finish their chores. That would mean very late times finishing, not as a one off but all the time.

Between 10:30 and midnight when the yo lives on site is very late.
 
What happens when you have an ill horse but the yard is closed? When my mare was really ill, she was checked every two hours overnight.
 
9 am opening, or even 8 am opening would not work for me! i need to leave the yard by 7.30 am to get home and changed and off to work on time, so often get to the yard at 6.15 in the winter when i am mucking out. but i rent land so no restrictions. land lord lives on site, but not that near my barn so any noise (which is minimal any way) would not disturb his family.

my old yard was properly open 8 am, YM and staff arrived then , and usually shut by 6pm winter, and later in summer. but if i needed to get done early i could unlock one gate (combination) and get to my horses. just could not unlock the yard kitchen or tack room areas. if back late from a show would always call YM (mostly as she would be worrying if everything was ok!)

i understand not allowing crazy hours, but even if they live on site it is not fair to massively restrict access- they chose to open up their land/facilities to liveries. less of a problem if part/full livery, as you don't have to fit in early and late mucking out, but they may also want to fit in riding their horses, around possibly long hours in order to afford it!

i would be worried someone up at the yard at 11 pm! although some people doing odd hours is actually good for security.
 
Don't worry OP, most DIY yards don't have opening hours. Most of the yards I've been on have been large liveries attached to a farm, catering for full and diy owners. People come and go at any time. Perhaps farmers are so used to unsocial hours when dealing with livestock that they are more laid back than YO's from an equestrian background ?

Only once found myself on a yard with opening and closing times. It wasn't mentioned until I'd moved my 3 horses in. It was summer and the YO wanted to close the yard at 8.30pm. Crazy YO. We left quickly.
 
I can't believe how tight some of these restrictions are!! We have no opening times at our yard despite the yard owner's house being directly (pretty much) onto the yard and having rented farm cottages also. I spoke to the yard owner and asked about opening times as I sometimes can't make it until very late and he was very relaxed about it. Last night i didn't arrive until 9.30pm and left at around 11pm. My horses are on full livery but this is the only time in my crazy schedule I have for riding and I like to be on the yard when it's quiet as it gets very busy at "peak times" - I couldn't cope with being on a yard that restricts the times I can see my horses. I pay a lot of money for them and expect to be able to enjoy them whenever I want. However, I am very careful to keep noise down and switch off lights etc. OP I'm sure you can have some kind of arrangement with your YO about what times you choose to beat the yard. Maybe your YO only wants to chat to have some notice about when you will be there so he/she isn't worried about who is on the property so late considering how much theft is happening in places recently?
 
No restrictions at either end of the day for us, but it is a very small DIY yard and all the stables are 1 paddock away from the yard. To get to and from the stables to the fields we have to walk past the owners house but again there is a large garden and orchard between us. There is a CCTV camera in the yard so we can be seen coming and going but they are pretty relaxed. As a matter of courtesy we always let them know if we are going to be very early or late or if anything unusual is happening.
 
our yard gate locks down at 9:30pm and unlocks at 6 am. the whole place is alarmed and it goes off next to the YO bed!!!

If anyone needs to leave early for a comp or one of the horses is ill all we have to do is tell them and they will turn it off etc.
 
No set times as such but have to respect the YO privacy as they live on site. Normally everyone is gone by 8pm ish in winter and 9pm in summer
 
We are allowed at the yard between 5am and 11pm. There didn't use to be any restrictions but there was a livery who came up and schooled her horses at 2 - 4 am and the school is right next to the YO house and she had just had her first baby at the time. The livery left as soon as the restrictions were given as she said that she had to do them before work.

If we do need to come down due to competitions or ill horse then they are completely flexible.
 
I can't believe how many people are saying that their yards don't open until 9am, I've been at work for two hours by then and never ever leave my horse until that time of day even on my day off. I've never been on a yard with a opening hours, even when I ran my own place I didn't do it. I had full/part liveries (by which I mean I did everything but ride the parts and rode the fulls) so the owners didn't tend to come up in the morning during the week. In this area, those sorts of opening times would be unworkable, a lot of us work with racehorses or on studs. First up in the morning is usually 5am and as we don't have lights on the school, people don't stay much past 6 or 7pm in the evening in the winter. In the summer, I can be out riding until gone 9pm and not leave the yard until 10pm. Our YM lives next door so it not fussed, as long as we shut the gate and she wanders out at around 9pm to check them anyway.
 
Wagtail said:
I only do full livery and like to feed the horses in the morning before the yard opens and again n the evening after the yard closes so that feeding times are not disrupted by people coming and going. Yard is open 8.30 am - 9 pm week days and 9.30 am - 7 pm weekends. If I was doing DIY I would change this to 6.45 am - 9 pm week days and 7.45 - 8 pm weekends. But this is only because our house is directly onto the yard. If the house was more separate, I would not have strict times.
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Wagtail, when do your liveries ride? Just evenings weekdays maybe.
 
Every yard I have ever been on there has been no restriction. Obviously you have to respect the YO privacy and not be a nuisance but horses are and always will be a 24 hr commitment and if you have to work you only have limited time to do the horses as well. Best option has always been combination locks on things so people can come and go as they please. I must admit that and alarmed yard or guard dogs would soon put me off. I am normally been and gone sometime between 10am and 1 pm. Competition days can be anytime from 3.30am to midnight or more depending on how far we have to go. As we compete almost every weekend at something restricted hours just wouldnt work as we would be forever asking for favours
 
We have no restrictions, as others have said really what noise do you make when doing a horse? I arrive at 6am and have been there until 9.30pm it's good to have the option of doing what you need when you need to?
 
My yard doesn't have any restrictions either. If I need to do the horses before work I am often up there just after 6am and can be there at about 8pm after work and later in the summer if I am riding as well. If I was going to be any earlier than 6am I would mention it to the YO but they are fairly relaxed.
 
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