To stay or go wwyd???

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miss_wilson

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I've been at my current yard for over a year now! My horse is happy but I'm not 100% happy!
Current yard has off road hacking, although very stoney to get to bridle path, horses can be out as much as you like no restriction on turnout, but ménage is poor! Very dry and dusty in th summer and a bog in the rain, not to mention a little unsafe to ride in at the moment due to a head height wire along the long side!
Other yard I'm considering is a little up the road where my friends are.... Lovely new yard with fantastic massive ménage... Downsides are turnout in winter is 4 hours a day, and its on a main ish road with a double decker bus service!
My horse is not 100% in traffic, ok with cars but not great with bigger vehicles! Although hadn't seen much traffic, doesn't bolt just tends to panic on the spot!
I spend a lot of time on this yard due to my friends being there are really like it!
Just wish I could combine the two!!

I can always trailer up to use the ménage but obviously this costs me extra money to hire!

What would you do?? Thanks!
 
Er move? if your horse is not great with large traffic at mo surely no better way to accustomise him/her yes turnout may not be great but write you're pro con list and see what that tells u ? X
 
That's a tricky one as I've been on yards where turnout is restrictred, and I definitely wouldn't do it again.

I think I'd stay put, especially as your horse is happy and you can trailer up to the other yard easily enough to see your friends etc anyway.
 
my main concern would be the only 4 hour turnout in the winter, i know a lot of places have restricted winter turn out, but that is very little and you horse may not be happy.
however, if it has a good menage and your friends are there you will be happier. also depends on price difference.
traffic wise: they will get used to double deckers if they see them all the time
 
Is the 4 hours in the morning, IE 8-12? If it can be 10-2 can you give him a quick lunge in the morning, then turn him out and then ride in the evening? With regards to the traffic does the yard have a field next to the road? Or a friend at the yard have a traffic proof horse? If so then this could be the perfect opportunity to get him used to bigger traffic - I feel your pain though, anything larger than a transit and mine panics a bit!
 
Where i used to keep my horses there was a really busy main road going past the yard. CM is very, very good in traffic and she coped with it fine, but I didn't. I hated it when cars squeezed past, or lorries were so close that I could have reached out and touched them. It really was horrible. I don't think that I could have coped at all with a horse that wasn't so good in traffic in that situation.

Think carefully, you have to decide which is best for you and your horse. Maybe write a list of pros and cons for each yard to help you decide?
 
Other than the main road, what is the hacking like at the potential new place? And is the 4 hours actually that in practice or are there weeks when it becomes 'not today'? Is the turnout limited to 4 hours because the land gets very wet and if so how is 4 hours in a mud paddock going to compare to your current turnout? Do you do more hacking or schooling?

From your description I think I'd stay put and box/hack to use a better school if/when I needed to, but your priorities are probably different to mine.
 
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