What happens with livery if you go away to a show/ training for 1 or 2 weeks?

[Aimeek]

I currently have my horse all full livery at a yard, however, I am planning on going for 2 weeks intensive training on a dressage yard next year (COVID permitting). What occurs with livery during this period? I will be paying for livery and training at the stable I am going for training, however, I don't think I should have to pay full livery on my yard for the 2 weeks I will be gone. Additionally, I already have a deposit on the stable which is meant to hold that box for me and there is nothing in our contract regarding this. What are your thoughts?

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

They can't fill your box for those two weeks to make up the income lost, they still have contracted and rota'd staff - you could possibly ask for a negligible reduction based on feed and bedding usage, but this isn't something I would do. You have signed up to a contracted period of time, I don't think it's fair to expect a reduction based on your training choices.

Could you continue on the retainer and go for a couple weeks intensive training before you go to this yard?

 

[milliepops]

I had my horse on assisted DIY when she became injured and I took her home for her 10 weeks box rest. i carried on paying the normal weekly rate to retain my stable.
for a couple of weeks I don't think I'd expect any different tbh. there's another thread on this started yesterday which may give you more viewpoints.

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/...f-your-horse-isnt-there.797173/#post-14450491

 

[ihatework]

There is a thread just below on this.

I like the following two analogies:

If you are renting a house but go on holiday, do you stop paying rent to the landlord or council tax to the local authority?

If you book a fully inclusive holiday but choose to dine outside the hotel, do you demand a refund for the meal you haven’t eaten?

 

[Michen]

Again there’s a similar thread. I’ve moved my horses indefinitely. I am still paying my livery which includes hay and bedding and wouldn’t have dreamt of asking for a discount.

 

[doodle]

I was on diy but after I sold Tom I carried on paying as normal to keep my stable. Think it was 2 months. I guess I could have asked before a reduction as not using hay and straw but wouldn’t have thought about that.

 

[stormox]

I wouldnt expect not to pay if I wasnt using my stable- in fact I would be glad to know I could come back if an emergency occurred.....

 

[SOS]

I slightly disagree with other posters. I get the analogy’s but I have been lucky to have some very fair YOs. My previous full livery YO broke the livery charge into per day. If you weren’t there you didn’t get charged. Whether that was a show or horsepital or holiday. Her reasoning was she owns the land and stables so no rent to pay, the majority of horses were hers so staff would be there regardless and the horse wasn’t using the facilities or bedding or feed, even though sometimes she would do me bags of feed to take. The liveries funded her competing horses fees so weren’t her bread money. Also she said before she would rather an owner didn’t worry about paying double livery whilst at horsepital etc. She was one of a kind and very fair though! She also charged less for box rested horses despite the hand walking and icing.

Previous to that another full livery YO would discount by about a third when the horse wasn’t there for more than a few days as no facility use, no staff use and no bedding/feed. Again they owned the place and liveries weren’t the main income the farm was.


Current YO is fixed rate all the time no matter whether your horse is there or not. Recently asked what would happen if during his rehab he was moved temporarily (4-6 weeks) to a yard with rehab facilities i.e water treadmill etc. Would I be able to pay a holding fee as can’t afford both for that period of time. Answer was move the horse and lose your space. YO has 40+ full liveries and is much more business like.

 

[doodle]

Actually thinking of it I was still paying livery while soli was in hospital. Never thought about a reduction then either.

 

[Leandy]

As a legal matter, you have contracted to pay the full livery amount unless and until you terminate the livery arrangement having given the notice period specified in the contract, whether or not you make use of the services. That said, there is no reason you cannot have a friendly conversation with the yard about the bedding and feed you won't be using for that period and see whether they will offer a reduction for those costs. The vast majority of the costs they incur in providing the service will however be incurred whether you are there for the 2 weeks or not and they are of course entitled to any profit margin. Also agree that you want the service to remain available to you should you not be able to go at the last minute or need to come back early!

 

[eggs]

I would not expect not to pay for livery if I temporarily moved my horse off the yard. You could try talking to the YM to see if you could get a slight reduction for hay/feed/bedding not being used but they wouldn't be obliged to grant one.

I have my horses at home now but when I was on livery I never questioned paying my normal livery bill when my mare was up at the RVC for three weeks.

 

[criso]

I've usually been in situations where the livery services go to the ym but the basic stable rent goes to the yo.

When my horse went away for a few months, I didn't pay for services, it was the same as if I'd switched to DIY and no longer needed the services. I carried on paying my stable rent to the yard owner but negotiated a small discount as that included hay and straw that wouldn't be needed. However it was a much longer period than a couple of weeks. For short periods up to a week, I've just paid though on one yard, we were billed for services as used so there was no daily cover charge on my monthly bill.

I think up a month would be my cut off point, up to that I would expect to pay. Over that I would try and negotiate.

 

[RHM]

For a couple of weeks I wouldn’t be looking for a reduction. I temporarily moved my horse for two months in the past and my yard at the time gave me a third reduction in fee as I wasn’t using hay. A bit easier to work out though when your bills are itemised, difficult line to tread with full livery as it’s more of an “all inclusive” arrangement.

 

[Scotsbadboy]

Hilarious OP, what a joker you are, thanks for cheering me up

 

[dogatemysalad]

I wouldn't expect a reduction. The YO is offering a service with associated costs included, such as buying in fodder, bedding and staffing. If owners choose not to pay for those services, the YO loses money. The only way to recoup those losses would be to increase livery prices to offset the loss.

 

[IrishMilo]

It wouldn't cross my mind to ask for a discount. Ask yourself this:

Is it my fault they're going to lose out on business? If yes, you keep paying.

The only time I'd expect to not pay is if the yard has an issue which means you'd need to temporarily relocate/they shut the yard off.

 

[AmyMay]

What are your thoughts?

It will be an expensive two weeks ?

 

[Hexx]

My youngster went away for 2 months to be backed - I paid for my stable and field (DIY) during that period. The YO in return did not put anything in his field so it grew some lovely grass and didn't use my stable either.

 

[Zero00000]

It wasn't your YO choice for you to move away for 2 weeks.

The only thing I would potentially ask, if, I was on good terms with YO would be for the hay/shavings/feed cost to be deducted as horse wouldn't be there using it, but I would not be offended if I was told no.