What makes a yard a good yard?

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BlueberryPocket

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Following on from my other post what are you paying and for what? which was very useful.

Again just trying to weigh up my options...... so what makes a yard a good yard? was is most important to you?

Good turn out
Arena's indoor and outdoor (yes we can all wish)
Location
Social network
value for money

One great thing about my yard is that we have a floodlight outdoor school which means all year riding even if it does mean you need to get wet!!

So many factors to consider!

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Our yard has virtually everything we want, good sized arena with great surface, individual turnout all year round, nice stables, good storage area, secure tack room, good hacking & all at a really great price.

Most of all though I think it's the people that make the yard. If you can get on with most then it's a pleasure to be there with your horse. If there is back biting & bitchiness then I think that that is why most people move on.
 
A school of some sort (don't mind outdoor but needs to be floodlit if it is!)
Turnout as madam HATES being in, although she's in at night in the winter
Location, ideally with good hacking
Good people!
Value for money
Good secure storage
For me having someone on site is a must
Safe fencing

Fortunately where I am has all of that! I'd love to have a horsewalker and cross country jumps, but they're not the be-all and end-all
 
yep our yard is great the only let down are 3 people and I wish we had an in door school but thats no biggie
We have
- 1 sand school
- 1 rubber chipped school both out door
- All year turn out about 70acres
- 1 solarium at a charge
- 1 horse walker at a charge
- washing machine and tumble drying at a charge for rug cleaning
- securely locked large barn/tack room where everyone has their allocated spot to put all their tack/feed ect
- hay,starw,bedding and feed for sale on sight
- large and maintained stables outdoor
- horse box storage
- Help on sight should we need it Ie if we get up late or are ill someone will turn our horses out for us or look after them if were ill or if were unsure someone is always around to help out wil all problems. Very handy
I think im very lucky and one day I want a yard like this to
 
Definately need all year turn out
A good school that you can actually ride in (i.e. no good if lessons going on all the time!)
Proximity to home and work
Security
Good hacking
and most important of all....the people....i've just moved from a yard where noone actually spoke to me for a year...yes a YEAR!! Not because i had done anything, just because they were so wrapped up in their miserable problems they never had a decent conversation with anyone else AGHH! At a great yard no where everyone's happy and i LOVE it!
 
I'd rather have the basics stable, sand school and turn out with some decent hacking. The most imortant thing to me is that I know my horse is safe, for example other liveries will look at her when I am not there, people look out for each other, the field and stables are safe etc.
 
doesn't matter about having all singing, all dancing facilities - what's important to me is that what there is, is well maintained - no point having post & railed paddocks if the rails are chewed to lacework and fall off when a horse looks at them
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also, as said before, the people - both YO and other liveries. It's meant to be fun after all!!
 
The other people on it.

All the facilities in the world would not make up for nasty conniving thieving bitches using the same facilities as you.
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So overall the people? I agree, you spend so much time there and it's a huge part of my social life. Then cost (which also takes into account logistics) But in this current econimic climitate are we thinking more and more about expenses? There are certain things i would give up for less money but some things i coudn't live without!!!
 
Arena surface....
Have been on far too many yards where you'd torture your horse to ride it in summer/winter as the surface has been so deep/heavy/hard(frozen!!) that you'd probably cripple it because the arena surface is so bad O.o
Now on a yard where there are 2 lovely indoors and 2 outdoors, all with lighting and I love it!
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Turnout, nice people, good stabling, good storage and a good YO are equally important though xD (I just have issues with keeping my horse somewhere I can't ride it
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)
 
all year grazing
sheltered fields (trees etc)
water in fields so say self filling trough
no bitchiness(hate yards like this)
no RATS
schools (but no essential for me)
 
There's nothing worse than being on a yard where you can't get into the arena to ride for one reason or another - it is very frustrating
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Also - good people/YO are a must as one bad apple can make for a really unhappy environment
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For me - a good yard would be nice clean (fresh) stables - turnout (pref with a shelter or hedges/trees) - a good arena surface (and the ability to actually get in it when you need to!) and no rats!
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I hate them and can't abide seeing them running about all over the place! Also - a reliable YO is a must - not someone who says "yes" but actually resents being asked and therefore the request doesn't get done
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Kate x
 
my priority list is as follows;

good turnout
nice YO/liveries
good hacking
convenient from work/home
price
good location for shows/motorway links
facilities

i have everything on that list bar a school at my current yard and it is great- very experienced YO can hack horses for me weekdays in the winter and there is a floodlit indoor school 5 mins in the trailer i can use as well so not an issue
 
i thiink a good yard is omething that has a school, nice hacking, close by. but i think the most important thing is that everyone is happy and the horses are calm, settled an happy. it also helps if u get on with other liveries!
 
Definitely, the people are the most important factor. Personally I like yards where people are friendly but keep themselves to themselves and don't poke their noses in where they aren't wanted.

I'm not really fussed about facilities but the facilities that are there must be well maintained - its no good having year round turnout if said turnout is just a mud bath and its no good having a school thats dry and dusty in summer and flooded or frozen all winter! I'd rather just have the basics - field, stable, outdoor school if everything is looked after and well maintained.
 
A good yard to me woul have
- all year turnout preferably 24/7 in the summer
- good size stables which arent dusty
- Arena preferably with floodlights for the winter
- Safe and secure
- Hacking
- Storage
- Approachable YO/YM

Price has to be right too as does distance from where I live. I dont want to travel more than 30 minutes ideally.

If turnout in winter is restricted having a horsewalker is preferable. It became very useful last winter
 
Very close to home
good individual grazing
good fencing
flat
good arena bigger than 20 x 40m
large cosy warm dry stables
not in a barn
very few people
relaxed happy atmosphere
help each other
 
When I moved to my yard I was told yes, the fields are rotated and rested regularly, but turns out they are not. So I have a grumpy horse in winter who has no grass, and we can't put hay out in winter cos it makes the place look 'untidy'!!

My horse crib bites so for me metal stables are a must!

We have limited indoor storage, so hay and shavings are stored outside, but then they go mouldy (just had to throw 4 bales away even tho they were covered up) plus we get moaned at that the yard looks like a gypsy camp! A yard owner who is not obsessed with how the muck heap looks is a bonus too! (ours is and its a pain!)

All year turnout is good, but it must also be 24/7 in the summer, which ours isn't and I have to stable my horse at night even in the summer which I hate!

Everyone being treated equally. The full liveries on our yard are given priority on everything and the DIY's are treated like poor relations! So we can't use the school when we want, and all of the washrooms/solariums are out of bounds!

People wise, I like to do my own thing and not have any inteferance or be watched all the time, which we often get!
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But if I need advice there is always someone on hand to help.

We do have good security, which is a bonus, and fairly good hacking. But for what I pay (£35 p/w) we don't get much!
 
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