To move or not to move? I cannot decide!!

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NicoleS_007

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Im debating moving my mare yards for the second time :o but i am really rather undecided!! So i shall make a pro/con list and if anyone wishes to help with this matter feel free :D

Current yard;
Pros;
Awesome indoor stables with hay rack, water drinker and slidey door.
Awesome haylage - use as much as your horse can eat (price is a set price with the livery).
Top class arenas (all outdoor) - 2 large SJ arenas with full set of jumps all the time, and 2 warm up arenas. Surfaces watered and rolled everyday.
Lovely scenic hacking around the lakes.
Who ever is down to yard first feeds breaky and lunch is always fed.
Owners and staff are lovely.
Only a 5-10 minute journey depending on traffic.
Lots of SJAI and training shows every week.
Cons;
No arena lights as its right beside motorway (their not allowed to put them in as it would shine on the Motorway or something along those lines!), So how am i suppose to ride in winter!!
Not alot of turnout - There is a tiny (about 60x40) field in the yard but it gets really muddy with the slightest bit of rain so we cant really turnout if weather is horrible. And as far as iv been told theres no turnout in winter. Tbh i dont want her standing in the stable for 22hr a day :(
Must lunge in lunging pen - My horse is gangly and its far to small for my unbalaced baby.
Other yard (pros and cons combined);
Awesome indoor stables with hay rack, water drinker and slidey door again.
Hay - so would be better for soaking and keeping weight down.
One decent sized outdoor with nice soft surface and lights.
Owners seem friendly.
Off road hacking through fields etc
It has one of those heat lamp thingys you put your horse under to dry/warm up. Is it a solarium?
Gallops
15-20 mins from my house.
Horses feed and mucked out in morning and feed lunch (They only do part/full livery but it would only work out £5 more than what im paying now!! But im undecided wheather this is a good or bad thing as i dont like people mucking my horse out as im very particular!!)
I know a good few people already at the yard.
All weather turnout. (I think they turnout your horse as part of the livery).

I just cant decide! Our yard is very busy which is good for my mare who is only 4 but tbh she takes to it like a duck to water so it wouldnt matter if she was on a quiter yard. She settles very easily (litterally as soon as shes off the box) but she does do a bit of box walking if left in 24/7 which is one of the main reasons behind my thinking. I really dont want her standing in a stable for 22hrs day in day out, it wouldnt be fair on her. And then how am i even suppose to get her exercised with no lights!! She gets fizzy in the winter and if i have her standing in then it means exuberent unwanted behavour!! But i so do love the yard and she seems content but thats with being out for 6hrs a day. Theres quite alot of liveries who dont get out of there stables never mind turnout but i like mine to be out mooching around like a normal horse. And then you have some people who wont turnout there gelding with my mare because she is a mare :rolleyes: although it is mixed turnout, which really bugs me! Hmmmm i just dont know :confused:

ETS wow thats long sorry!!
 
Hi, the turnout would def decide it for me. If your mare already boxwalks she is going to be a nightmare shut in through the winter.
 
Turnout would decide it for me too, I couldn't be at a yard that didn't do all year turnout, it just wouldn't suit my horses and would cost a fortune in bedding as both of mine are messy bu**ars!!! Newyard sounds good, plus if they've got lights you could ride in the winter. You have to think, could you not turn out or ride all winter?
 
still baffles me that people think that their horse would rather be in a stable with a haynet over a pasture. horses don't care about nice stables and cozy rugs and slidey doors nearly as much as we do.

definitely has to be the regular turn out option!
 
For your horses sake, the other yard sounds better.

From the way you talk about it you would much prefer it!

You could always ask then not to muck out for you, aslong as you are paying they wont mind not doing it!
Or let them muck out, see it as a quick tidy up and you can still do it yourself later!
 
I'd say move. The whole being stuck in a stable and no lights are a major downside.
The £5 extra u would pay would be worth it if she is being turnedout and able to be exercised I think!
 
If you want the turnout over winter then the decision would have to be move, there's nothing to stop you also mucking out when you're there. I'm on full livery where I am but I regulary lift the bed and put it back down and go through it as I would, no one bothers, probably makes it slightly easier for them the next day.
 
Move, 22 hours in 24/7 for a healthy horse is bad, they are "meant" to be out in the open air, ours do stay in for a fair few hours overnight, but this is balanced against that it's a large open barn style, with roomy stable, and they are out all day everyday mixed herd and large grass area turnout.

Funny about the motorway *******s, so it's ok for people to have retina destroying headlights on roads, but your not allowed some arena lights that could possibly be turned towards the arena away from the motorway so not cause a problem !!
 
I only read upto the point where you said, no turnout. It as sounding a lovely place till then.

Get shifted ASAP. Don't mess about as your horse is living there, your just the visitor.
 
Move. No turnout and you can't ride in winter during the week. Why would you stay?!!! I'm sure its really lovely just now(which is prob why your having questions about leaving) but the minute the turnout goes and the clocks change it will be a nightmare. For another £5 a week (plus extra fuel if its further) you font have to muck out if ur knackered but if ur not then you can redo it if you want. The only question I have about full and part livery is can you take more hay and bedding if you feel your horse doesn't have enough?

With regards to staying at the current yard, I really think you'd have to be working your horse twice a day if turnout is unavailable. Can you turn ur horde loose in any of the schools for a buck and a roll? Could u park ur can near a school for some light? Is it really the dark if right next to a motorway? Can you rent a field around the yard from another land owner?

But really in all honesty I think for your horses sake you should move.
 
I would be moving too. Turnout is very important and as already said you can always skip out when you go down later in the day :D
 
The turnout malarky was actually the reason i didnt move my last horse here a few years ago :rolleyes: The yard which we moved from had all weather turnout and outdoor lights, but the reason i finally moved was because the surfaces were dreadful, we had to wait around until 9pm sometimes to use the arena due to lessons and fencing in the field was barbwire so we frequently had cuts etc!! Tbh when i first moved i did say to myself it was only temporary as the no turnout in winter is not fair on the horse. And no we are not allowed to turnout in arena either, only in lunge pen which my horse cant even canter in as its to small. Ok i have thought quite alot about this over the past couple of hours and .... the face below made the decision ...
"FIELDDDDDDDDDD" ...
DSC01155.jpg
 
Yep, defo move!!

You HAVE to allow your horse turnout. you will have a fiesty youngster on your hands in winter if you are unable to turnout OR use excerise in the school because it is dark.

I too am really particular about how my horse's stable is mucked out and if I were paying for the service I would have little hessitation in telling the person doing it exactly how I expected it to be done (after all you are paying for the bedding aren't you? either through livery or directly.)

good luck with the move!!
 
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