What would you do??? Sorry - quite long!!

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Dirtymare

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I'm going to look at a new yard tommorow with view to moving my mare there.
At present, horsey is at a yard where she is on 5 day full livery. However, I turn her out in the mornings after having fed (I ride in the mornings weather and time permitting). I fill haynets and make up feeds (this is my choice, yard would do it for me).
The yard muck out and bring her in and feed and also poopick twice a week during the winter and three times during the summer when she lives out 24/7. I do her at weekends. There is individual turnout. I have to pay to use the outdoor school, field maintainence (rolling), also pay extra for shavings and hay. I guess, in total, a typical monthly bill comes to £300 +. Oh and forgot to say, the round trip to the yard is approx 20miles.
Yard I'm looking at is DIY (not really a problem), charging £60 per calander month. They can supply (at extra cost) very cheap shavings (£3 per bale), and hay. There is both summer and winter grazing, but not individual turnout. I know all this sounds tempting, but the only drawback is there is no school. There is a field that is used as a bit of a make-shift outdoor school. But, There is possible use of an indoor and outdoor menage approx half a mile's hack over a little footbridge. Also, this yard is 3 miles down the road to where I live.
I guess what I'm asking is do you think I would miss terribly an all weather menage??. At present yard there is a booking system to use the school, and since the good weather (??), it has been near on impossible to use it at weekends as everyone wants to use it. I get on with all the liveries at present yard, so would miss them if I moved. There is excellent hacking at present yard, and there will be excellent hacking at new yard.
I would very much appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks in advance - Cappucino and choccy hobnobs for those who have got this far.
 
will you be able to get to the menages, even in the dark/bad weather? if so, id go for new yard-the hack there and back will warm her up and cool her down.
will you have to pay for that use and how does that stack up cost wise?

i personally couldnt have my horse somewhere without a true year round all weather arena, but i am competition driven and hate hacking so.......
 
If you are mainly a hacker then it sounds like the new yard is worth a try.If you are always in the school then you will miss it more than you think..3rd option is could you get livery at the nearer yard that has the indoor/outdoor schools?
 
I would certainly go to the closer yard, having the horse nearer will allow you to spend more time, riding ect and as you already do the morning chores diy shouldn't be too much extra hassle for you.
In summer schooling in a field wouldn't be a problem you could just buy dressage markers and in winter when its too wet you can hack down the road to use the school.
 
New yard is only a half mile away from indoor/outdoor schools, but wouldnt be able to get there during the dark nights/mornings. And I havent as yet approached the owner of the menages to find out how much he would charge. but I figure if I'm saving money on livery, then paying for use of a school nearby wont hurt the bank balance too much.
During last summer we mostly hacked anyway, only going into present yard's school for lessons. I had thought I would be able to carry on lessons at new yard pending the use of the nearby indoor/outdoor school.
Thank you for your thoughts.
 
Go for it - time is precious, if it's closer and a lot cheaper, it's a no-brainer for me!
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My first thought was you are not on true full livery, full livery means FULL everything included and you should not have to pay out for extra such as hay, shaving, contributing to the field costs etc, this is extortion.

On that alone I would leave rather than be taken advantage of.

I'd go for the other yard, it has good hacking, is very close to home, and there is anarena oyu can hire, Even if you hirses it for an hour 3 x a week it would still work out cheaper and like say it is hard to get to use teh arena where you are at now anyways,

On the downside its DIY but oyu could always make friends and set up an arangement where one does mornings and the other does afternoons.

When you have a good rapport with people that makes it harder to leave as you may not get this on a new yard and beign new you have to work to fit in.

What I'd be do is make a list of pro's and cons for each yard and see what the comparisons are.

Ask yourself

Are you happy at present yard
Do you mind paying full livery at such an expense
Do you mind the travelling each day
Do you mind having an arena you may not always be able to use when you want

Where I am at we don't have an arena and yes I miss it but I can always box my horse and hire an arena.
 
I have one huge concern for you - and a good resaon for that concern. I always go for individual turnout. I bought an ex event mare a few years ago at great expense and many months of searching. She was at livery close by and turned out with other horses in a very big field. She was bullied and kicked badly. She shattered her shoulder and died under anaesthetic whilst being operated on to remove bone fragments.

Please think long and hard about shared turnout. My 2 girls are turned out next to each other but split by electric fencing. They can groom each other and often stand together but importantly as my older mare is a bully - they can also get away from each other.

Sorry to sound negative but it's a cautionary tale - I'd hate anyone to go through the time I had to go through with my horse.
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[ QUOTE ]
I have one huge concern for you - and a good resaon for that concern. I always go for individual turnout. I bought an ex event mare a few years ago at great expense and many months of searching. She was at livery close by and turned out with other horses in a very big field. She was bullied and kicked badly. She shattered her shoulder and died under anaesthetic whilst being operated on to remove bone fragments.

Please think long and hard about shared turnout. My 2 girls are turned out next to each other but split by electric fencing. They can groom each other and often stand together but importantly as my older mare is a bully - they can also get away from each other.

Sorry to sound negative but it's a cautionary tale - I'd hate anyone to go through the time I had to go through with my horse.
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[/ QUOTE ]

How very sad for you, I am so sorry you had to endure that
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I must admit thought that I am with you 100%, as whilst reading this post, my thought was with losing the individual turnout too. The extra cost, in my opinion, is worth it's weight in gold.

I have not been a livery for over 15 years and what caused me most concern when I was, is the fact that you have to turn your horse out with others, which could end up being a new and problem horse.

A very good friend lost her lovely Mare, when a known kicker, kicked her horse and another over a 2 day period .... for all we know this horse is still going round yards doing the same thing
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My 2 are separated, mainly due to ristricting Motor's grazing, however tbo as they can groom each other over the fence and stand cuddled up most of the day next to each other at the moment, as they have adjoining Field Shelters. This is as good as being in with each other, but the added bonus is they cannot even accidently hurt each other, as TB can get a bit too silly every now and then and Motor is not as quick as he used to be
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So to finish, I would stay where you are, as you like the other liveries and do not seem to have any complaints apart from cost and distance
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Good luck with whatever choice you make
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We recently made a decision to move yards from a very nice small but expensive yard which looked very professional to a larger cheaper dare I say tatty yard. Our mare went from a small field shared with one other mare for three hours a day as long as the weather was good to a reallyhuge field which she shares with 5 other ponies/horses. She is now out for all day unless the weather is REALLY bad - only one day over the snow recently. Yes she has been kicked once the first week, and we got the vet out for the cut that was caused but she is so much happier, she is calmer and has now made really good friends with the ponies/horses she shares with. I have gone from paying nearly 300 a month to about 100 a month. Yes the stable and yard isn't pristine with lots of facilities, but I am with people who are good fun, have loads of knowledge and will always help out without it costing me a small fortune. I say go for it.
 
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