What do you HATE about your yard?

[hondatyper]

People put on here how they love their yards but what do you HATE about yours?

At mine apart from the usual, like mud, frozen pipes, frozen manage, things I can't do much about, what annoys me is the 1 livery that every yard seems to have who thinks her horses are above everyone elses and 'special' and need 'special' care,

the yard owner who flits from one dicipline to another from showjumping one week, when that goes wrong, hunting the next, when that does't work out parelli the next, but we all have to hear about it ALL THE TIME yawn,

the yard owner who makes up the rules to suit herself and her horses, like not being able to use the gate to the field her horses are in to get to mine, but having to use one that has tonnes of deep mud round it and now FROZEN mud potholes.

to the liveries that you just cringe at when you get to the yard to see their car there and know you will have to make stupid small talk to them when you just want to get on with your jobs and go home,

to the fact that no one else takes their turn to poo pick,

that there's no worming routine at the yard (yes it's true)

Why do I stay? sadly no other options locally, I am sure though that the above is nothing compared to what others have to put up with , tell me your issues, they may make me feel better!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[scrumpygus]

I only have irritations at mine;
1. The horrid bitchy woman next door to me - when i see her, her car, her mental horse that is constantly going crazy i cringe.
2.The bloomin twits that can barely manage to ride their own horse but stand in the middle of the school like they are instructors telling other people how to do what they cant do themselves.
That is all other than those two thing i love my yard.

 

[Persephone]

The only thing I hate is the couple of people who dump their wheelbarrow of waste right at the edge of the muckheap. Don't even pretend to try to keep it all together. But for my benefit I have to come along after and throw it up.

Lazy Barstewards!

ETS yes Sandg, hate is a strong word, more irritation!

 

[littlen]

I hate the fact that the YO is strict on which herd your horse is in. He wants specifically 2 mare and 2 gelding herds so that each herd has 3 fields to rotate in.

Great in theory, except for the fact I have a horrendusly wimpy gelding who gets the hell kicked out of him by both gelding herds every time he goes out with them. Silly YO wont allow me to section abit off or put him in a field with a less dominant horse because it upsets his rota. During the winter horse goes out with a shetland but this is only temporary and I am dreading being told in summer that wimp horse has to go back in with the big ones. To be fair this rule applies to all 50 liveries and there are other bullied horses not just mine who tend to stick together, but its not nice to watch is it!

 

[Lollii]

I have my own yard so I don't have anything to hate ... except the MUD! I HATE MUD

 

[Aniseed]

I hate:
The bitchyness, why can't people just be friendly rather than sniping and moaning all the time. I guess that is just what happens when you throw a load of horsey women together but it means that I just keep myself to myself and don't have a lot to do with people.
I get very annoyed by:
The family in my block of stables who have about 6 horses and are completely and utterly clueless. They don't ride so the animals are purely ornaments and they are terrified of all of them. They never sweep the yard and somehow manage to scatter lumps of poo outside my stable when they muck out. Grrrr!
Appart from that my yard is great.

 

[Kipandbud]

There are loads of things i hate about my yard....

I hate the fact that there is no mud to walk through, I hate the large indoor school, I hate the horse walker, I hate the heated horse solarium and shower room, I hate the fact that my ponio always has fresh shavings everyday....

I actually love my yard and dont hate a thing about it, even the other liveries are nice and no bitchiness!

The one thing I do hate though is the fact that I have had my horse for three years on livery at a fantastic yard with top facilities..... and I dont ride because she is is foal!

Wouldn't change it for the world though!

 

[Kenzo]

School is not big enough for anything over 13.2 lol and it doesnt get levelled unless I go over it with a pitch folk which takes forever and gives you a bad back the next day.

His electic jumps from the fencing to the gates, I keep getting 1000's volts running through me everytime I touch a metal gate...nobody else ever gets shocked, YO insists I'm statrically charged.

Thats all really.

 

[MerryMAL]

I rent a field with a stable in it. I HATE the mud and only a lean-to for hay and shavings. But MOST OF ALL I DESPISE THE LACK OF MENAGE!!! But it is about a 3rd of the price of livery so can't complain.

 

[Super_Kat]

Apart from the fact the roof in my stable block drips water on everything (think nice wet stable rugs) every morning there isn't really anything I really dislike at my yard.

 

[Enfys]

The location.

3000 miles across the country would suit me just fine. Other than that I have nothing major to moan about really, it's mine and I'm very lucky to have it.

If my liveries have problems they don't say anything to me, they don't have any say in where their horses go. I do as I see fit to keep the horses safe, healthy and happy. If an owner doesn't like the way I care for their horses (all inclusive, full board, mainly absentee owners) then they can pay up and go elsewhere.

 

[quirky]

I don't hate anything about my yard, but there are things that irk me now and then.

1. When I moved on in July, I specifically asked if the manege flooded (I moved from previous yard due to manege issues). I was told no. Well, it does and not only does it flood, it freezes as well. So, for the last 4-5 weeks, it has been worse than bad to ride in.
2. Turnout - In summer there were only 2 mares on the yard, who shared a paddock. They are turned out about 9am (part livery) and we bring them in. Fine, except other mares owner comes down at 2pm and brings mine in aswell, even though I said to leave her out. Summer is short enough without turnout being so short.
In winter, we turn them out and we have 1 paddock between 12 of us. It is a case of 1st come 1st served and some people are rather territorial over it, meaning she sometimes can't be tured out for days on end.

That's about it .... but those 2 irksome issues are enough for me to move on. My horse is miserable, so we are moving between Xmas and the New Year.

 

[tangoharvey]

the only thing i hate is leaving it when i have to go to work!!

 

[quirky]

[ QUOTE ]

If my liveries have problems they don't say anything to me, they don't have any say in where their horses go. I do as I see fit to keep the horses safe, healthy and happy. If an owner doesn't like the way I care for their horses (all inclusive, full board, mainly absentee owners) then they can pay up and go elsewhere.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the tye of yard I am moving to. I moved off there a year ago and it was the stupidest thing I did.
She looks after the horses as if they were her own, is very knowledgeable and likes to run a tight ship. As you say, horses go where she sees fit. If they don't get on, they get moved. If they get restless, they get brought in etc.

It is by far the best yard I've been on, both for horses and owners.

 

[MyLuckyStar]

The lack of a decent size, floodlit menage

The bitchiness

The fact that the horse next to me squeaks his door every time he cribs on it lol

The lack of grazing when its been raining lots

 

[finefeathers1]

I do love our yard on the whole, but these are my pet hates:

1 A very ambitious mummy. We have one on our yard who has purchased her two daughters two nice warmbloods and expect them to win every time out eventing etc. The kids are bigged up by the mother, but the laugh is that one of them had to give up doing BE100 as she could not get to grips with her horse. I am dreading next years season though. My daughter did well out eventing and won and got placed at a few BE100s and is going to do JRN next year. She would love to do a 1 star at the end of the season, but ambitious mummy gets upset if anyone mentions it, so we dont talk about it. It so sad really, and its sadder because she is a lovely lady. Our YO is great though and deals with it very well.

2 Our turnout is very hilly and the bloody mud is vile.

Apart from that I love it.

 

[happyhack]

[ QUOTE ]
The bloomin twits that can barely manage to ride their own horse but stand in the middle of the school like they are instructors telling other people how to do what they cant do themselves.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ummmm I do this? Only because I am much better at teaching someone else to ride than I am at riding myself?

 

[TequilaMist]

Ooodon't hate but don't like the sand school as unlevel and deep in bits,drainage is rubbish tho its better than nothing.It is also right next to a major road so heaps of scary lorries etc with their air breaks.
Do hate that we have 3 horses in our field whose owners never turn up to see them.Am sick of getting 'mugged' everytime go in for my boys
Apart from that its fine liveries as a rule get on and are helpful

 

[Chavhorse]

[ QUOTE ]


If my liveries have problems they don't say anything to me, they don't have any say in where their horses go. I do as I see fit to keep the horses safe, healthy and happy. If an owner doesn't like the way I care for their horses (all inclusive, full board, mainly absentee owners) then they can pay up and go elsewhere.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is exactly the type of yard that I have moved to.

YO has 3 or her own horses and takes in 3 liveries horses are looked after very very well but to her way and routine. if you don't like it bye bye, she is more than capable of asking people to leave (the woman for instance that wanted her to feed her horse 8 kilos of power feed a day is an example). As far as I can see no bitching what so ever we have 4 women in our forties (we all know what we are about but support each other) 1 teenage girl and 2 smaller girls who are 11 or so.

Only thing to moan about is the lack of coffee machine and that is coming next week.

 

[irish_only]

People who tell me they are leaving - on the day they are leaving!! No, I don't have contracts, but EVERYONE so far has been really nice, and if they are leaving (I accept that needs change and sometimes you move for that reason) they have always given me plenty of notice, but I have recently had two leave without warning. If anyone enquires about vacancies I always insist that they give their present yard plenty of notice to be fair. I'm only a small yard (max 9 diy liveries) and I like everyone and their horses to be chilled, happy, relaxed and for us to have impromptu bbq's in the summer, occasional girly nights out. Would be great if we could start a blacklist of yard-hoppers.

 

[jeanette0403]

Children!! There are children everywhere at our yard and they run around screaming. I wouldn't mind if they had ponies to ride or were doing something with a pony but they dont. The mums have even turned a stable into a play room and have a go at you if you put your horse on the yard as it might hurt a child!!!! It's close to my house and the cost is excellent if it wasn't for the kids it would be a great place!!!!

 

[irish_only]

Quote//: Children!! There are children everywhere at our yard and they run around screaming.
Dare you to put a sign up saying children welcome on leads

 

[agreenhalgh]

[ QUOTE ]
Children!! There are children everywhere at our yard and they run around screaming. I wouldn't mind if they had ponies to ride or were doing something with a pony but they dont. The mums have even turned a stable into a play room and have a go at you if you put your horse on the yard as it might hurt a child!!!! It's close to my house and the cost is excellent if it wasn't for the kids it would be a great place!!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

that would do my head in "dont tie your horse up on the yard cause it might kick a child....

how about keep your child undersupervision...or locked in the stable play pen

 

[jeanette0403]

Exactly it is a yard with horses and one left her baby in a buggy while she rode in the middle of the yard and horses were going mad trying to walk past!! I have now learnt to get there early morning and after the 'little darlings' go home to bed!!!!!!

 

[cptrayes]

I hated lots of things about being a livery and now I have my own place. Just to make you feel better about your yard I will tell you what I "hate" about mine (though hate is too strong a word, I love it and it's a privilege to live here most of the time) -

being on my own with no-one to talk to and grumble about the rain on a cold wet dark morning. I missed people a LOT at first, even the ones I didn't like.

having to get someone in for holidays and to ask friends to make a special visit just so I can have one night away. Never being able to be spontaneous about going away anywhere.

having to do the horses whether I feel like death warmed up or not.

not having anyone to bounce ideas off if I'm having schooling problems one day.

not having anyone to help me hack out on a young horse.

having to source good ragwort-free haylage for myself and arrange delivery and stacking of hundreds of bales.

other people not fencing their land properly and expecting me to feed their sheep with my grass.

managing grassland - to top or not to top, repairing fencing, stone walling, rabbit holes to fill in, to kill the moles or not to kill the moles, weeding thistles one by one and spraying dock with a spot spray

travelling to events on my own, never being able to share a lift.

repairing the yard - Over £8,000 12 years ago and there are holes in it again :-(

no-one to notice if you never got back from your hack, or your horse came home alone.

getting rid of the muck - a complete nightmare this one! Not enough to have taken away commercially. Muck spreading on own fields not good for worm control, and illegal on anyone else's land without a waste licence. It's an expensive problem to solve!

I hope it helps a bit to know the drawbacks of going it alone the next time your livery yard gets your goat.

 

[gingerthing]

Agree the one thing I miss most about being on livery is the company. I used to be part livery on a lovely yard with indoor/outdoor school and friends there, but it was the lack of turnout mainly that caused me to go back, and i felt that my horse at the time found the routine stressfull. I am on a farm now near my house where i have unlimited grazing, hay and straw on site which is inclusive of the price. The hacking is fantastic and off road, but i really wish I had a hacking buddy! The other horses down there are only ridden once in a blue moon so I feel abit restricted, plus being pregnant I am not really feeling confident enough to venture out anywhere on my own

 

[Lolo]

The person we share with! She's done her NVQ level 1, you know, and is therefore all-knowing. My mum has owned horses for 8/9 years, and is very knowledgeable. She doesn't stand for nonsence from horses and as a result our two are very well-mannered (most of the time!) despite both being quite sharp, big TBs who both raced. Her ponies have no manners, walk all over her and take the piss constantly, yet she still offers us advise, tells us how lucky we are to have such good horses and how amazing her daughter is (rides like a teenager). Both her ponies were useless before she got them, (still are), and she's had to teach them their diagonals...

 

[Snowysadude]

I was thinking and there is actually nothing i hate. Fields are well managed and not muddy, YO is really lovely and accomodating, school is a decent size/surface/lights, yard well maintained, instructor on-site and grooms are lovely and do what you ask/write on the board. I really cant think of anything

! But hey im really not complaining

 

[lucy1984]

Im on grazing only. The thing I hate is being on my own, especially in the dark with only a head torch for light!

I used to like it at my old yard - I liked keeping up with the Jones'

and believe it or not I do miss mucking out and smelling of horse wee

 

[spotty_pony]

- The fencing in the winter fields. It is basically one big field separated into three fields by electric tape attached to wooden and plastic posts. This would work fine if the electric was actually switched on!

So as you can imagine the fences get regularly trashed by the horses which are still living out at night and YO can't seem to see it would be much more sensible to sort the fencing out properly instead of having to fix it everyday!

- I hate how the staff 'miss bits' when mucking out... bits of poo hidden in the banks - that sort of thing... maybe I am just fussy but it does annoy me when I am paying for part livery!

- The outdoor school is too flooded to ride in at the moment.

- Some people on the yard are so bitchy and petty!

- And the mud... some of the fields are so boggy around the gateways... I fell over today when bringing some horses in. (I work at the yard where I keep my horses.)

- The novices every yard have who think they know everything!

- The YO's daughter who does nothing but ride all day... gets a bit annoying when the rest of us are working really hard!

Apart from that my yard is a lovely place, and I am happy there most of the time.