What should I charge?

[samsaccount]

At the moment one person is keeping her horse on my land and is paying £20 per week. This is for the field (huuuuuuuge plus company from my horse) the horse is checked by myself at least twice a day, more if her owner(s) come to the yard, and my aunt sometimes comes down and will at least check they are still alive, not lame and have water, as will my dad during the day if he is not working. Their field is also overlooked by two houses and they are bount to ring if there is a problem! The owners also have the option of a stable and run of a small tack/feed room. We are both planning on having the horses stabled but I am not sure what she is wanting me to do as she is 8 months pregnant and i am not sure how much her husband is prepared to do as I don't think he is a horsey person. And due to the fact she doesn't return my calls or texts and doesn't always come to the yard i have left her a letter asking what she is wanting me to do. If she wants me to do everything (turn out feed bring in muck out etc) how much do you think i should be charging per week? I I have also told her i am willing and would like to do it all, as i have my own to do and because (i obviously didn't tell her this) i don't think their time keeping is reliable, when they both looked after the horses last winter as mine was in a seperate field, they didn't turn up until mid afternoon! So i would feel content knowing that both were mucked out and everything was ready for them to be put in when i get home.........i feel as though i am just going on and slighting ranting over nothing sorry about this i just feel up in arms about the whole thing, not just the money issue....opinions please!

 

[eohippus]

You are doing the right thing by wanting to know what is happening with the routine of the yard. If this lady is unreliable in getting back in touch with you, then I would suggest you make up a yard 'contract' to include what is to be done by you and what you expect from her in return.

Yard routine and agreement between liveries will ensure happy horses and owners.

Write up an agreement for full livery at first, include everything you will be doing with her horse and price this up individually. Then add cost of food, ect.

For starts, a basic price for DIY to cover the feild and stable, you have quoted £20 per week, which is more than reasonable.
So, rug change and turn out is usually between £1.50 and £2.50 per time, or a set amount of £3 per day, muck out - depending on how dirty the horse is- between £3-5 per day. Grooming and exercise is extra. Then if food and bedding is supplied this is according to what and how much the horse will eat.

By stating what you are prepared to do and what it will cost the owner you can then make an agreement between you.

best of luck and hope this helps
Dawn

 

[dressagecrazy]

Well, i had to put one of mine on full livery last year as one of my stables wasnt finnished at home. I was paying £80.00 a week, that included Haylage & shavings & use of the facillites. I provided feed, they mucked out, turned out, brought in & fed/watered.

So it depends what you would be providing?? Really if you are providing all the bedding & hay/haylage then you have to work out how much you will use roughly per horse & how much its costing to buy in. Really i can't do full livery for less than £65.00 per week there is use of a menage as well. Hope that give you some idea.

You've done right leaving her a letter at least your tackling the situation. It would do my head in having to chase someone about there own horse.
Do you have her home address maybe you could send her a letter to her home, make sure its recorded delivery just in case she denide having got it!!

I can't help any further than that good luck!!

 

[samsaccount]

No i don't as they have just moved house and i not 100% which road it is. What i will be providing is the following - haylage/stable/field/water/checks/turn out/bring in/feeding/rug change/mucking out/straw (my boy is on shavings but my dad is providing the straw for them unless they pay for alternative bedding themselves or give me money for shavings when i buy my own) and they buy their own feed or will again give me the full amount for when i buy my feed. The only facilities are stable, and tack/feed room which is big enough for their own stuff, no menage and neither are ridden over the winter.

 

[eohippus]

Going by what you have said, if she cannot even give you a contact, at all times, number and address and you have had to resort to leaving letters on the off chance she may turn up at some time, It really does sound then like you need to set up a contract of agreement, this covers yourself and your property.
If you price everything individually then this sets the standard with no misunderstandings in the end.
Include clauses that states that she must pay on certain days, have at least third party insurance and that she must give contact details incase of emergency. She must let you know in advance if she cannot do her turn. And that if there is any debt in payment you could, within your rights, take her horse.
Taking on liveries, even if you know the person well, can sometimes lead to fall outs if things are not set in black and white, with the yard owner usually coming off financially or reputationally worse.
Price it according to time, costs, usage and maintanance.
regards
Dawn

 

[samsaccount]

Dawn, what you have suggested seems like a great idea, i just wish i had thought of it or had someone suggest it to me sooner!! I don't think she has the insurance and I very much doubt that she will be willing to get it either, and i can imagin she will not want to move her horse to a real yard and pay a lot more for her horses keep and i can't afford for her not to be on my land at the moment.....I will certainly try and set a contract up as well as i can do, would it also be in everyones best interest if an outsider was witness to us both signing it, who is not related to either of us and has nothing to do with the running or participating of the yard? sorry i would just like to get as much insite to this as possible. I also doubt she will be very happy if i say i have rights to take her horse if payments are not made....

 

[WelshRareBit]

£70 per week down here for full livery, which is what you'll be providing her with it sounds like!
Jen xx

 

[samsaccount]

But would the fact I don't have great facilities apart from the few basics affect the price or not? Sorry stupid question

 

[samsaccount]

sorry more questions....should i still draw up a price list for the individual items (daily charge) even if they choose the diy option simply for the offchance they ask me to do it. Like i have previously stated i would consider them unreliable at the moment and don't see why it would change when there is actually work to be done regarding the keep of the horse! if so if i need them to do something for my horse (will only be bring in, and possibly change his rugs, nothing more) should i knock what i would charge them if i did that to their horse off what they would owe me for that week?? if you get me?

 

[filly190]

You mentioned she is difficult to contact and this is before the baby is born!! I wonder if she is going to wish to keep her horse with everything that is going on.

I think I would track her down and have a face to face chat about her future plans and what she wants to do.

If you underprice yourself you will be resentful because she may not show her face from one week to another and if you over charge you could loose her. I dont think there will be a lot of spare money in her house with a baby coming, and you may risk being out of pocket.

I would consider asking her to move on, which would be a good wake up call for her, she would then have to really consider the cost of keeping and looking after a horse.

I think you would be better finding a new livery, someone who can be there to give you a hand if necessary and a friend to ride out with and be good company.

Its not just the stable work, but the cost of maintaining the field (one horse poo picking) repairing fencing etc needs to be built in the cost. I know when ever I have acquired another horse, i have certainly noticed a difference when poo picking the field. Also the wear and tear on your stable, equipment etc. If the horse does damage you are immediately out of pocket. For these reasons I would be charging no less than £85.00 a week and would consider asking for more. You need to be in a decent profit as the horse is being left to your sole care. Professional yards would charge in the region of £120 (no riding)

 

[Salcey]

I think you're being very sensible in tackling the situation now. You sound a very reasonable person, and I think a lot of what has been said makes sense. It might just be worth considering, if you are the sole carer for the horse (which it sounds as though you will be) how easy is it going to be to get vet fees off her if shes so hard to contact, especially if its an emergancy. That would worry me if I were in your situation and you could end up being really out of pocket.
I think as filly190 said, it may just be easier to risk finding another livery that you can rely on and lay the ground rules down from the start.

 

[samsaccount]

Unfortunatly it is going to be extreamly hard to find another livery as i only live in an extreamly small village and the only liverys we have had is when people have bought the pub across from us and had a horse with them. the surrounding areas each have a small yard, so i don't think trying to find another livery is an option for me right now other wise i would strongly consider it! and i don't want to risk loosing her as i would be out of a small weekly income which i need right now and my boy would loose his field mate...but on the other hand i am becoming increasingly worried about the lack of contact! although she has come down to the yard this morning/last night as the letter has gone and her horse has been fed. but again it makes me wonder is she is getting fed every night or just occasionaly!

As i have mentioned i doubt she will want to move and find a place and have to pay alot more due to the fact she has a baby on the way, so money will be an issue. Therefore i just feel as though i am in a tough spot, as i totally agree with what you have all said and suggested on here! But yes i don't want to end up out of pocket, but i certainly will be if she moves her horse from me and i am unable to find someone else as no-one else local owns a horse. Sorry about all of this everyone and thank you for putting up with me moaning on!

and thank you salceysaddlery thinking that i sound a reasonable person

i just hope it is true haha

 

[Sparklet]

Just a though - this woman pays £20 per week for what is in effect grass livery. You say your field is huge so your reason for wanting to change the regime is presumably not down to the need to restrict turnout.

Plenty of my friends turned their horses away when pregnant and brought them back into work a few months after the birth of their baby. I doubt this woman is going to want to pay for what is in effect a 'full livery' service when she can turn her horse away somewhere else for a fraction of the cost so are quite likely to drive her away.

I am surprised she is difficult to contact because at 8 months pregnant you do not tend to gad about all over the place - do you think she could be hospitalised with a pregnancy related condition? It may explain why you cant contact her.

 

[samsaccount]

She is difficult to contact all the time though! She came down to the yard on saturday because I saw her from the house get in the car to leave if i had seen them arrive i would have gone to speak to her, money was also given to my brother on sunday yet no reply to the letter i wrote to her which was picked up by her or her husband. She is wanting to stable the horse, as she has told me she will be wanting her in this winter, she bought her a new stable rug and the mare is always stabled during the winter months so she is planning to have her inside so i am not trying to push her into stabling her horse, i just need to know if she is expecting me to do everything for her or if her husband is going to see to their horse....