What is expected of you to do in the fields at livery yards ?

[m3gan]

I am new to livery yards and confused as to how much help is expected from me with regard to the fields that my horse shares with YO's 3 horses another livery and my horse.
I pay £20 a week and just wanted opinions on if it is usual to have to help pull out ragwort out of fields, which I did not know was there until the horses were to be moved into today and there is still some in the field which we were unable to remove.
It is obviusly essential to do this and I dont have a problem with doing it, just was rather concerned that it was left this late for it be done.
Does this sort of thing happen normally ?

 

[Tia]

It depends on the livery yard and the owner, to be honest.

At my yards, no-one except me deals with the fields/repairs etc. I have never expected any of my boarders to help, however if they wish to then that is great and usually I will do something extra to help them in return.

My belief is, if a customer pays to rent space at a livery yard then that is what they get, good quality space; they should not be expected to have to do anything other than keep their tack areas tidy and care for the horse correctly. If they rent a field from a farmer, then that is all they get and then they would be responsible for the maintenance.

I am responsible for harrowing, spraying, topping and all other field management to make sure my fields are in good order - not my liveries.

 

[bex777]

Yes I would say this is normal, however if there was a major problem with it I would expect it to be dealt with by the YO and would not be happy to put my horse in there if it was mainly ragwort. (not suggesting your is that severe)

Things like muck removal, ragwort removal along with any other things needing to come out are no problem for me as long as a field is not plagued with issues.

For example I check ours for Rag/buttercup etc and will pull up any I find but we were getting over run with Docs earlier in the year so I asked YO nicely if he would be so good as to spray them and then top the field which he did no problem.

I believe it is all a bit of give and take.

 

[scotsmare]

Depends on your agreement and how DIY it is - if it's totally DIY then it wouldn't be unusual to have to help out with some maintenance.

 

[palomino_pony]

All our DIY liveries have to do their own water (fill up their container from the taps around the fields) remove ragwort as soon as it appears, remove muck from fields, section off their own fields if they wish to. Full liveries are done for them. Major fence repairs, topping, harrowing, rolling done by the farmer.

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

sounds normal to me, we fix fences to best our ability and do managemet of pooh and ragwort.

Although harrowing and large repairs and ragwort, YM takes care of

 

[Coffee_Bean]

We are allocated fields to pull up ragwort as we have a bit of infestation in one field thanks to the council who own the field next door (not a paddock) and its full of the blasted stuff.

Harrowing, fencing YO does.

 

[luckilotti]

At my yard, as the YO's we do it all and dont expect liveries to help, however, we love it when they do help

TBH, you cant force liveries as such to help as some just dont have the time(/desire!)
When i used to be a livery at a riding school, they did nothing in the fields at all, it was very annoying that only a few of us liveries could be bothered to pull up ragwort etc.
Maybe next year you can suggest a rota or something so that the ragwort gets pulled up sooner?

 

[Fantasy_World]

QR I have just moved yards for one of these reasons as I felt that liveries or certain liveries were being a bit too responsible for doing jobs etc while the YO and other liveries were not. This was not my only reason for moving but was one of just a few gripes I did have. Now I am at a place where it is just me and my lads and that suits me fine. I don't mind doing jobs/repairs etc as it is a lot cheaper than my last two places and also whatever jobs I do are for the benefit of me, my horses and the really nice landowner. There is no one to take advantage of others. It is just me and I am liking it already and it has only been a few days.
I would suggest to OP if you are not totally happy with current arrangements then have a good look around at other yards or consider going it alone as I and other people I know have done.
Today I have been poo picking for example now at the last two yards I have been at, despite the number of horses in the fields and available hands no-one except me has even suggested poo picking at all. That is just one instance that I have not been happy about. It is all well and good have worming programmes in place but over grazing and horse shite being left all over the place is not going to do the grass or the horses any good in the long term especially when there was poor field rotation as well.
Rant over lol. But good luck to OP and if you ain't happy then seek other places.

 

[Chex]

I clean the field, do the fencing, water etc. I prefer doing things myself though, then at least its done how I want it!

 

[the watcher]

I am DIY and therefore expect to take a high degree of responsibility for the fields and facilities I use. If I was full livery I wouldn't expect to have to do any of those things.

 

[RachelB]

When I was on a "proper" DIY yard I was expected to pitch in with everything I could - skipping the field HAD to be done at least every few days, topping up waters, ragworting, reporting any fencing issues to YO, filling in rabbit holes (and divots

) etc. All the real maintenance was done by YO/her husband such as cutting for hay, topping, fertilising, fence repairs etc.
I then moved to a place where I literally rented a single field and stuck three horses on it. It was eight acres so I couldn't poo pick even if I wanted to! Fence repairs were done and I had an auto trough, but everything else was up to me. This was reflected in the livery price.
Now I have my one horse at a friend's field, and myself and the other livery basically "run" the place. We organise fence repairs etc. to be done, and do everything we can ourselves to keep costs down.
So it definitely depends on what sort of yard you are at, but don't be surprised if it is "expected" of you to help!

 

[clipclop]

It depends on your yard etc. You pay £20 a week which could be cheap or pricey depending on what your yard offers.

If it is out there and it concerns you then dig it up and dispose of it correctly