What made you switch yards the last time you moved?

After being at the same yard for 10 years, I have moved my girls 3 times in 1 year! I moved from my old yard because they just kept building stables and when it got to 50+ horses in one field (injuries/vet visits were commonplace), I realised that despite having some fabulous friends there, I needed to move for the sake of the horses.

I then moved onto a lovely yard (great hacking/turnout etc.) which was populated by absolute bitches and also had a tiny very badly surfaced school (which horses regularly fell over in).

After 3 months (and all the time worrying people would think me a terrible owner) I decided to move, but due to yard politics had to move quickly. I moved to a fantstic yard lovely big school but the hacking was dreadful (yard was on a 60mph road). The owners had bought it a year previously to us moving there and had no knowledge whatsoever of horses. Because of this, I would never ever move to a yard where there wasnt a competent yard owner - they relied on the (non-qualified) staff to tell them how it should be done. When they put their prices up to a ridiculous amount of money I again decided I had to move.

I'm now at a lovely yard with fab facilities although it's probably not forever as it's a long way from home.

My eventful year has left me with something to think about, and I'd certainly never judge anyone who moves their horses about - you never know the reasons behind it.
 
My last yard has excellent facilities but was very BSJA/BSD and had very rigid rules. I had my Hanoverian X, I fit right in. When he was PTS as a result of a kick in the field there, I got a coloured cob and immediately felt out of place, especially when someone went past saying 'p***y horse'. Nice. I moved because of this and my boy is a fabulous horse who jumps like a stag, could do prelim dressage if I could be bothered. I was really upset by that attitude and some of the rules were just too restrictive.
 
ISHmad said:
We moved because of a hormonal YO who had one set of rules for her pet liveries and another set of rules for the rest of us. (Three favourite liveries out of 22). Yet those of us who paid on time, kept the yard tidy, obeyed all her rules etc were frequently used as a verbal whipping post to let out her frustrations and in the end enough was enough.
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I am another who moved due to a bully of a yard owner who used us as a whipping post!!

We lasted there years, god knows how. Now on the nicest yard ever, the YO is amazing, things are done when we ask and shes so approachable. LOVELY! :D
 
Only moved after 5 years on the last yard as they sold up, and have been on this one 11 years in April - been pretty lucky. :)
 
I moved her on Friday, innappropriate timing as was 2 days before christmas but needs must. We had no winter turnout and hadn't for the past 7 weeks (in livery contract it said we'd have winter turnout but fields were awful and YO is overstocked) and my horse was going nuts so moved her to the yard where my sister works and she's much happier and she can go out :) It's early days, but so far it's going well.
 
My horse didnt settle on the first yard - as a result kept colicing..... so moved

onto another yard for 1 week :o didnt feel comfortable at all so moved again


now on a yard where i will never move unless i move away! (unlikely for a few years) :)
 
I went from a big yard to a big yard (relocation).
Then from big yard to small yard (would have stayed but relocated back towards home and it meant could see pony every day due to a lot less travel).
From small yard to another small yard - because owners were playing musical fields with their horses and moving them so mine was by herself with no horses near her. She jumped out and landed on a gate. that was the last straw.
 
I left my last yard as i had moved to it on the promise it would be a small adults only yard with year round turnout and grazing.
Within a year it was 3 times bigger than yo had stated it would be, and grazing was to be a stubble field 4 months out of the year.
The yo moaned about us using electricity and water every day
The yard is now populated by teenagers who took over the empty stables as myself and others left.
Basically the yo was a lyin sack of it !!
 
I left last yard as YO who was known for being a grumpy old git that I just ignored for 6 years decided to become a very grumpy & rude git. I will add myself and 5 others left within a month and I was quite honest gave a months noticed and advised my horse was my leisure time and that I would not tolerate his rudeness when I was paying £400 a month to him. To he honest best move made my horse is much happier and I found out the yard manager who seemed really nice was actually a right two faced cow - change was good in my case : )
 
Old yard was grass livery. We were meant to be able to use a stable for emergencies & just pay extra as & when we did - there were 15 - 18 horses & 5 stables. But then a batty old woman, who had loads of shetlands & cobs that she just collects randomly, decided she needed all 5 of them even though she never brings hers in. They rented the lot to her & then when 1 of mine needed box rest for an infected leg (middle of winter & the fields were muddy) it was major aggro to be able to use 1. I was reminded on a daily basis what a huge favour it was to be allowed to use 1 of the 5 unused stables as you never know when she might buy A horse that needed to be kept in for a couple of days for worming. That & the fact that some of the makeshift repairs I had done to fencing were over 2 years old with no sign of being fixed properly & the feed room (brick) wall was so bowed it could have come down at any moment finally overcame the fact that it was only 200 yards from my house.
Batty old woman is the only one there now she has about 20 from shetlands to shires despite struggling to walk. She is the horsey version of a mad old cat lady.
 
I moved because I felt I wasnt able to even out a rug on without having to justify it with lengthy reasoning - the lady who rented the yard as a whole lived in a tiny van onsite, I didnt agree with her methods that were constantly enforced onto my horse without my consent.

I love my yard now though :) Not sure it could get much better really!
 
I was forced into a move just under a fortnight ago. It was going to happen sooner or later, there's only so long you can cope with weird behaviour and actions and as soon as it endangers the horse then it's time to go.

I love my new yard, just wish it was closer to home! It has fab YO and staff, lovely fellow liveries, a super school that isn't slippy or waterlogged and that I can actually access (not padlocked up), fields that are safely fenced and water available all the time, and what looks like great hacking close by (which we will try tomorrow!).
 
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To put it mildly I wasn't happy with the turnout situation, my horse had been kicked a few times and right before I moved a horse was fatally kicked.
Horses for you yes, but now I'm on a yard where introductions are managed carefully and actually my horse doesn't mix directly with others. Suits me much better :)
 
Mud, sharing fields with rug wreckers that seemed to target my horses and constant kicks and bites as mine came in earlier and the others were desparate to come in so took it out on mine!

Moved for less mud, individual turnout, better school surface, larger stables and far les bitching! The only thing I slightly miss from the old yard is the indoor school, it was small and had an awful surface but at least it was somewhere when everywhere else is frozen solid/snowed in!
 
Because my horse was on livery and they didn't notice her leg hanging off after being kicked by one of their horses... Delightful yard now has strangles yet still hacking out in
Public places . Abrs riding school. Disgusting.
 
little_critter said:
I'm thinking of moving...the yard is a RS and what liveries there are are mostly kids so I have no-one adult to ride with.
RS kids help themselves to my tools and never put them back.
Not sure I entirely trust YO & groom to look after my horse when I'm on holiday.
Winter t/o is limited (they're in today because of drizzle)
There's a growing list of little niggles that annoy me.
BUT it does have a school, is very close to home and has a little XC course to play on.
Not sure if I'm just being too picky.
No harm in looking I suppose......
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I am in a small yard, no adults to ride out with and the winter turnout is poor but the hacking is good. worse thing is they don't communicate. I try to avoid going up if the yard-man is there, as he is grumpy, and so are his family, it is their nature and I find them hard work!
I am now looking for a yard to rent so I can be the picky YO!
 
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How did you manage leaving- I know a lot of you had major issues but did any of you maintain a friendly relationship with your ex- yard owner and how did you do that?
 
Stilldreamin' said:
How did you manage leaving- I know a lot of you had major issues but did any of you maintain a friendly relationship with your ex- yard owner and how did you do that?
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A group of 5 people left my old yard (I won't include myself as I didn't have anything on livery there at the time..) in the summer because the facilities just weren't up to scratch.

One girl, who had been there for quite a while, 10 years or so, still has a pretty decent relationship with the old yard and goes up now and again to visit.

Another, who had kept horses there for 15+ years (her mum and her brother still keep their two happy hackers there) was told quite recently when she went up to clip her mum's horses, that she was banned from the yard for 'taking everyone away with her'- despite her mum being the longest-standing livery at present.

Hmm! Suppose it varies on the YO and their mood! My lot tried to leave on good terms but it can be difficult. The main issue I think is money: there isn't a lot of it around at the minute.
 
I moved with my YMs when they moved from one property to another one. However at the new one they wouldn't go home at night until everyone had finished (they used to leave keys) and as I was usually the only person who went down every evening and wanted to ride, I always felt guilty about them hanging around for me plus I hated riding by myself most of the time. I moved to a yard with similar "must haves" like safe turnout, school, sane staff, etc, but also catering more for liveries who use their horses and are real horsey people down every night riding and going off in lorries. I wasn't even allowed to keep my truck at the last place. Where I am now suits me perfectly and I've been there about six years.
 
Couple of years ago now, but I went through a patch of moving.

Moved from my first livery yard which was a large RS/dealer/livery place because I stopped working there and went somewhere else locally - I felt rather awkward going back to see my horse.

Second place was a standard DIY yard, YM turned out in the morning, we did the rest. No real facilities but good turnout. Didn't find it friendly though, very cliquey.

Jumped at a chance to move to another local private place with a friend. Owner didn't charge, she just wanted a few like minded horsey types around and we fit the bill. Except once I got there, it transpired that although she was lovely, the YO was also a bit mental about turning out and wouldn't put her horses out EVER, and didn't like me putting mine out. As I was 6months pregnant at the time, I couldn't ride much and I just didn't feel it was fair to pony to keep him in without exercise so I had to move again...

this time to a rented field, very basic, did the job for a few months until the baby came when I put him out on loan for 18months to a great family who looked after him really well.

Now have him in a rented field behind my parent's house with a companion pony that my daughter rides. Very basic, no facilities, but it does the job for the moment when I have a toddler and not a great deal of time or disposable income. Pony is happy but long-term I hope to move him back to a quiet livery yard with a school as I am not particularly keen on hacking and prefer schooling.
 
Stilldreamin' said:
How did you manage leaving- I know a lot of you had major issues but did any of you maintain a friendly relationship with your ex- yard owner and how did you do that?
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YO at Mollie's old yard helped me move her. I would never have got her loaded without his help.

I sent him and his wife a thank you card saying how much I will miss them , and he sent me a text wishing me and Moll happiness. :)
 
Last time I moved was purely financial - I had got another horse to bring on and sell in addition to my own horse - project horse got ill and I ended up having to keep her as well as the original horse so couldn't afford to keep both on full livery, so ended up at a DIY yard. The yard I left was probably the best yard I had ever been on - fabulous owners, massive stables, superb off road hacking and huge fields with very small numbers in. A real personal place.

I will be leaving the yard I am on currently, hopefully quite soon if things don't improve, due to grazing problems - basically 8 horses on 2 acres of mud - it's only a matter of time before something gets clobbered. I have no qualms about ever leaving yards. They are a business and if the business doesn't supply what I require, then I take my business elsewhere.
 
I moved yards in May for a number of reasons. The main one was the mud, as high as the tops of my wellies and just a small amount of rain needed to create a slip slidy dangerous daily turnout/bring in. Then there was the know it all liveries and the YO's favourites who got the best turnout/use of facilities. No end of backbiting and my mate, who made it all bearable moved away.

But the thing that made me want to leave was the terrible accidental thing i did to the YO's favourite person - not going to announce it on here as you never know whos around but it was terrible and i still feel incredibly guilty about it. (if you're interested i could PM you the details - its very sad)

So moved to a smaller more friendly place just up the road from my house, facilities aren't so good but i like it so much more. Horse introduced gradually but now in paddock on his own as hes a rug muncher!!
 
Stilldreamin' said:
How did you manage leaving- I know a lot of you had major issues but did any of you maintain a friendly relationship with your ex- yard owner and how did you do that?
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I've always maintained a friendly relationship with ex-yard owners. I left one yard and still go and see the owners and send texts, e-mails etc. It was difficult at the actual time, but I have never left because of yard problems, only because for instance the hacking was much better at the next yard and my horse at the time was mainly used for hacking. Why hack along roads when I could be cantering through parkland?
When I left the last yard, the owner knew that I had to do it for financial reasons. I already had a vastly reduced rate of livery but it would have gone up through winter and I had massive vets bills. It was a bit emotional and he told me that I was welcome take my horses back to the yard any time and as long as it was summer when they are living out, I could have my reduced rate of livery.
 
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