What's the strangest yard rule you've come across?

[pixie]

I honestly don't see the problem with introducing all visitors to the YO. Surely its better that they know who should be there, rather than not question visitors and potententially having thieves wandering about, scoping the place out or stealing things.

 

[Caol Ila]

Pixie, I just want to say I love your signature.

 

[pixie]

Thankyou

 

[PonyRiders]

These were at a RS/DIY
most have probably already been mentioned but;

1) No visitors to the yard, including my own sister! only me or my mum aloud.
2) no wasting water- this included emptying water buckets, horses had to drink it all! including dirty water!
3) No use of the hose ever! including medical emergencies.
4) No using the tap, collect water from the water drums. this was fine until there was none left or it was filthy.
5) no riding in the school inbetween lessons
6) no use of the lights- even when we offered £5 for half an hour
7) horses must wear rugs from October-april- not good when i have a hairy native!
8) no taking pictures of your horse on the premises
9) no instructors allowed
10) no hacking with anyone from a different yard

I can see why they said most of these rules, but in reality they just aren't all possible.

the water rules and lights were the ones that got me... but we didn't have to poo pick or brush up

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

These were at a RS/DIY
most have probably already been mentioned but;

1) No visitors to the yard, including my own sister! only me or my mum aloud.
2) no wasting water- this included emptying water buckets, horses had to drink it all! including dirty water!
3) No use of the hose ever! including medical emergencies.
4) No using the tap, collect water from the water drums. this was fine until there was none left or it was filthy.
5) no riding in the school inbetween lessons
6) no use of the lights- even when we offered £5 for half an hour
7) horses must wear rugs from October-april- not good when i have a hairy native!
8) no taking pictures of your horse on the premises
9) no instructors allowed
10) no hacking with anyone from a different yard

I can see why they said most of these rules, but in reality they just aren't all possible.

the water rules and lights were the ones that got me... but we didn't have to poo pick or brush up

Mmmm, as a YO I CAN see some wisdom to some of these...... No. (1) might appear a bit draconian BUT I've been in the situation where a livery went away for the weekend without telling me and her pony was shut in the stable, and I didn't have a clue who was coming to see it - and then when someone eventually DID, they had a cigarette hanging out of their mouth and a beer can in hand!!! So yes this rule would make sense. My current livery makes sure that she either texts me or introduces me personally to anyone coming into the yard (we live on site); and I do the same if its anyone connected with me.

Re. (3) and (4) use of the hosepipe/water drums/tap etc (presumably this is rainwater storage??). We're on metered water here as will be most places, so yes that makes perfect sense. We do have rainwater butts which can be used for most situations, but in an emergency situation then that would be different. Unfortunately some people don't realise water is on a meter and costs and arm and a leg, and are very wasteful indeed with it.

Re. riding in the school between lessons, agree this is a bit draconian, BUT maybe there was a situation where someone turned up for a lesson (plus had paid for the instructor) and they found the school already in use, and were not just inconvenienced but out of pocket as well??? So presumably there's a reason for this rule.

Re. taking piccies. A difficult one if there are children around ......... nowadays its all soooo very difficuilt with this sort of thing, so maybe this is the origin of this? Someone just doesn't want all the hassle of child protection issues to raise its ugly head???

"No instructors allowed" means presumably you have to have THEIR instructor? Very limiting and annoying IMO, but again it just might be that in the past someone who calls themselves an "instructor" but has diddly squat qualifications (or insurance) has come onto the yard and a situation has gone a bit t!ts up???

Re. no hacking with someone from another yard. Might appear limiting, yes, BUT makes perfect sense if you're trying to maintain bio-security ........ its all too easy to bring something onto a yard, albeit unintentionally. But still, I guess horses would be going out of the yard to shows/hunting/events etc.

 

[Seahorse]

some of these are utterly barmy, but honestly, until you've seen how weird and unreasonable some liveries can be... i used to have a few liveries, and hardly any rules. until i had a livery who thought it was absolutely fine to turn up at 10.30pm at night, put all the lights on (big internal barn) and the radio on loud, and groom her horse...
or the one who brought up some friends who had kids, and the boys ran around like lunatics screaming the place down before getting their willies out and playing "i can pee more accurately than you can into the tractor tyre tracks". i am not kidding. you couldn't make that up.
or the one who asked if she could borrow my tiny quiet clippers to hog her horse, i said yes and went out for a hack, came back an hour later to find a half-clipped horse which she insisted on finishing with my clippers because the blades were finer than hers.
i think at that point i decided that maybe a couple of rules might be necessary after all...

I was just thinking that these livery yards probably had no rules or were quite relaxed until they had liveries there that took the piss!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I was just thinking that these livery yards probably had no rules or were quite relaxed until they had liveries there that took the piss!

Yup, this is the problem. It only takes one, and then YO has to turn into the Gestapo in order to manage a difficuilt situation.

In twenty years of doing DIY we've really only had one rotton egg, and thank god she only stayed for a month, but in that time I had to turn into a Gestapo YO and it was awful, I hated it, was a nervous wreck coz you didn't know what she was gonna do next, plus the welfare of her pony was a huge concern.

Thankfully we've got a super livery at the mo who is considerate to a fault almost, bless her!

 

[Seahorse]

I used to work in a yard where you had to pick out the horses feet before bringing them out of their stables, quite a good rule I thought after having to sweep up a load of shavings every time someone forgot!
Can't think of any silly livery yard rules but my old boss was a bloody nightmare for silly rules.
1, You couldn't ride if you were the only person on the yard, fair enough I suppose because if you fell off and injured yourself you would be laying there for ages and nobody would know.

2, If her GP dressage horse was out in the field you couldn't clean tack and have the radio on because then you wouldn't be able to hear him galloping about. I literally used to have to sit and watch him and if he so much as looked up I had to get him in. One day she came running out of her house shouting at me to get him in because he was walking along (to get a drink of water from the trough)

3, if you put clean shavings in a horses bed you had to mix them in so they didn't roll, apparently rolling in their stables puts their backs out.

4, you had to trot up every horse every day before it was ridden.

5, the yard was shut on mondays, nobody was allowed in there at all. It was our day off too so even we weren't allowed in there. Her husband used to just hay round 4 times a day. They didn't get out of their stables or get mucked out at all. Really nice beds they had on a tuesday morning, not!

Luckily she only had 2 liveries!

 

[I*HM]

I generally have my horse at home so don't have to worry about these things, however I do sometimes put him on livery. Thankfully there's not too much bonkers rules, though it's very much a case of common sense. There's a big you scratch my back, I scratch yours type ethos which actually works out lovely in the sense that if I were turning my horse out I would bring in another and then maybe the next day someone else would do the same for me, it does come in handy when you're away or something as you know that everyone keeps an eye out for everyone and won't see you stuck. However there's an unwritten rule that if you're there for the day that you help - not stand in the way or waste peoples time. Now, your own horse is your priority and you're there for as long or as little as you want. But it does work out to give a hand, like I would head out early during the hunting season and get money off my livery in return for plaiting or whatnot.

In terms of rules though there's simple things like if you're the last person on the yard (YO lives on sight) then close the gates at the bottom of the lane, same if you're first there in the morning, open them.
If you're in the arena, use it - don't stand next to the fence chatting for half an hour.
If you want to borrow something/a change of plan/need a favour ask or let the YO know in advance.
Your extra things are there at your own risk so if you leave a grooming kit (or similar) lying on the ground and a dog nicks something, though.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We have just one rule on my yard;

NO LIVERIES!!

(and there are certainly good reasons for this rule).

 

[padderpaws]

If your on a yard where you can't use a hose or have lights on then what are you paying for. I presume the YO would use hose and have lights on and fill her/his haynet full for their own horse??

I would never ever pay anyone my hard earned money for restrictions like that. If they open their premises up to the public then they need to provide. Can't have it both ways, take money and do/provide diddlyl.

 

[kerilli]

no hoses even for medical emergencies? wtf? that is just ridiculous. cost of water more important than horse welfare??!
okay, how's this for a reverse one... when i had a livery or two ages ago, one went to a RC talk and the old boy who gave it answered lad's question about his boxwalker, how to stop it from marching round and wrecking the bed (horse was out a lot but hated being in).
the recommendation, which i must admit i became Gestapo-YO and really put my foot down about banning, was to leave pitchforks flat in the bed so the horse bashed its legs on the handles and learnt to pick its legs up and not disturb the bedding as it walked around.
ermmmm...

 

[sarelis]

leave pitchforks flat in the bed so the horse bashed its legs on the handles and learnt to pick its legs up and not disturb the bedding as it walked around.
ermmmm...

Lol that sounds like something straight out of Papa Frita's epically hilarious thread!

 

[Littlelegs]

That's shocking. Mine are on cheap farm livery, one of the women had enough nerve to ask the farmer if he could put in an all weather arena for her for free!

 

[Honey08]

We have just one rule on my yard;

NO LIVERIES!!

(and there are certainly good reasons for this rule).

Lol! Yes us too. Tried it, hated it, love it just being us!

 

[kerilli]

Lol! Yes us too. Tried it, hated it, love it just being us!

I almost agree... except i now have 1 lovely livery who keeps her gorgeous ancient pony here, as a nanny to my yearling, and she's an absolute godsend - the pony and the owner, actually! some liveries are mickey-taking nutcases who expect everything for nothing, but some are totally decent brilliant people and an absolute pleasure to have around. very lucky to have the latter!

 

[charleysummer]

been speaking to some horsey friends who have some to share via myself!

-NO mounted games whatsoever- apparently it is not a refined enough sport, this was not a prestigious yard- just a low standard DIY place...
-No grey horses/cremello/perlino etc.. they get too dirty and make the stables look a mess!
-No brown tack- all had to be matching black
-All horses to wear the same style and colour turnout rugs (impractical but im sure it looked quite smart lol)

Think there was another one but can only remember these..

 

[sarelis]

been speaking to some horsey friends who have some to share via myself!

-NO mounted games whatsoever- apparently it is not a refined enough sport, this was not a prestigious yard- just a low standard DIY place...
-No grey horses/cremello/perlino etc.. they get too dirty and make the stables look a mess!
-No brown tack- all had to be matching black
-All horses to wear the same style and colour turnout rugs (impractical but im sure it looked quite smart lol)

Think there was another one but can only remember these..

Wow, superficial much? They would love my Romeo, most of the time he is so minging you would never guess he was a grey!

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

We don't have liveries (just have a field, a few barns, a simple set up) but my MIL stitched us up, as in 'oh they'd love to have you, of course your horse can go their' etc - family politics! Anyway, we'd see the person about once a week, so were poo picking for three instead of two, and she had two obnoxious young boys who she just let out of the car and let loose. So when we saw one of them sat on the recently installed permanent electric fencing, swinging on it and stretching it loads... we just turned it on. It was battery, mains would have been excessive, but it did the job, and that kid was such a whinging little creep that his mother never even realised! Deep sigh of relief when she finally found a loan home for the mare and disappeared.

 

[Ollie's Mum]

Re. (3) and (4) use of the hosepipe/water drums/tap etc (presumably this is rainwater storage??). We're on metered water here as will be most places, so yes that makes perfect sense. We do have rainwater butts which can be used for most situations, but in an emergency situation then that would be different. Unfortunately some people don't realise water is on a meter and costs and arm and a leg, and are very wasteful indeed with it.

If a yard's on metered water I would think that they'd have factored that into their livery costs? Yes, no need to be wasteful with water but it's not on to expect horses to drink it dirty. I remember being told at college that you should always empty the water bucket that had been in a stable overnight as it will have been tainted by the fumes of the horse's urine. Not fair to make it drink that!

 

[Fransurrey]

Ive heard from friends at a yard close by that if your horse poos on the way out to be ridden/ turned out/ anything, you have to stop/get off if riding, tie horse up/ put back in stable, pick the poo up and hose and scrub the concrete before continuing because if you left the poo until you were back it might have stained the concrete! .

Ooh this reminds me! I mentioned on another thread the YO making up a 2 month notice rule when I said I wanted to leave...on the same yard, I'd been there a couple of days and had ridden out with one of the girls there. Henry pooed on the way out, on tarmac drive. Thought not a lot of it and the girl didn't say anything (she managed the yard). Got a phone call later that day to ask if I could go and clean the drive of his poo. I thought it really strange - the girl must have known and furthermore, must have told the YO who it was, as there were only us two and the house was out of sight. Anyway, I was told same as the above, only the reason was to prevent cars from getting poo on their tyres!!

 

[Archie73]

Errrm.....here goes

Can't accept any commercial deliveries

Can't ride your own horse bareback on your own insurance

Must have names on every thing or it goes to prison and u have to beg it back with a paint brush

Can't put a pole in the sand school big enough and with decent enough surface to jump

Remind me why I love it there?

But you can

Leave mess everywhere

 

[LaurenBay]

Some of these are stupid! I would be off like a shot!

Picking out feet and returning mud ?! madness!
No mud at all on the yard!
Only being able to ride, if there are others around (I can see why, however if this were a rule at my yard, I would never be able to ride!!)

We don't have many rules at our yard. It is a small yard (YO, Me and another livery)

- Our areas must be kept clean and tidy
- Main gates must be shut at all times
- Chuck muck up, at the muckheap
- Be polite to others
- Pick up poo in the school and put away jumps, if we have used them.
- Poo pick our fields
- Look after our Horses

I take whoever I want with me, I do introduce to YO, but out of politness, not because it is a rule!

We do keep the yard as tidy as can be, but YO accepts Horses are Horses and mud and Poop is part of the package!

 

[NooNoo59]

i can understand that you have to have rules, ran my own yard for a while and it was hard, people do not understand the term DIY!!
The worst yard i was at was run by someone who had no real previous experience of horses, so put all instructions up on a white board, the best one was no farriers vans on the stable yard, horses to be shod in the car park which was also a right of way because the concrete in the stable yard wasnt strong enough to park a van on!! Also the day i saw the YO sweeping the grass was the day i decided to leave. I have heard that they have now installed CCTV in the yard to keep an eye people, get a life!! Surprised they are still in business to be honest.

 

[stormyDcup]

Not my yard but someone told me that they couldnt lunge their horse in their school becuase their surface was expensive and the YO wouldn't allow it!

That's quite normal at some establishments. Though I've heard that some yards allow certain fpeople to lunge their horses!

The two rules of livery yards that I always agree with are:

1. That most yards are full of people you wouldn't associate with anywhere else!
2. However nice you think they all are when you arrive... the Yard Nutter will always out

:lol:

 

[Charla]

Yard I was at, you could only buy hay and bedding from the yard manager but she would buy from a farmer and add an extra £10-£15 on a reel and then sell to the liveries!

No thoroughbreds allowed as they are too lively in the fields!!

No one could do favours for each other, you had to pay the yard manager, but she would get a young girl to do everything for her and still pocket all the money!

Beds would randomly be checked once mucked out, and if any dirt was found you would be in for it!
And this was a DIY livery yard!!

Some grass liveries were allowed their horses on the yard and some were told they were nothing to do with the yard so had to pay to bring your horse in or to use the school, yet all paid the same price for grass livery!

No bitching or you would be given your notice. yet everyday the yard manager would call individuals over to have a nasty bitch about others!

 

[mandwhy]

Our yard is really different as we are a charity riding school with horses on working livery, don't have any weird rules but the yard is closed on a monday. With the amount of people we get here one day a week is needed for the horses and staff to rest. Unless we are on foal watch which we have been for a bloody long time now!

Our liveries don't complain as they pay £25pw and that includes everything except shoes and vets bills, they get their horses exercised, wormed, rugged, all bedding, hay and feed included and trips to shows and so on... Think they can cope without riding on mondays if they get all of that!

That sounds amazing! Where do you live??

 

[Morgan123]

This is my favourite threead in ages, esp for a Friday afternoon and ESPECIALLY as I've just moved from a crazy yard. Bearing in mind this is just a small farm wiht hardly any facilities at all (it has a 'school' but it's basically just a 20x 20 lunging pen, wiht woodchip filled with stones anyway so too horrible for anyone to actually use) - but other than that just tumbledown rattly stables, barbed wire fencing on the fields, a generator for electric etc:

1) All new mares must be scanned before being allowed onto the yard, to prove they are not in foal (my absolute favourite).

2) Bins are provided for grooming. When your brush is full of hair, you must walk to the bin, collect the ahir, place in the bin, resume grooming.

3) The yard owner and yard owners' friends and farrier are all allowed loose dogs on the yard. Nobody else is allowed a dog on the yard.

4) Bedding MUST be swept up to the edges AT ALL TIMES when your horse is not in the stable (no turning out in the morning and mucking out in the evening, or even just after riding ).

5) nobody to ride the horse except the owner

6) No 16 year olds are allowed in the fields to catch or turn out their horses, wihtout an adult (really annoying for the team of poor 15 year olds when this one came out!!)

7) The woodchip school must be raked by hand after use (takes longer to rake it than to bloody ride!)

8) the farmer reserves the right to use all manner of tractors, blowers, teleporters, and other machinery at all times, even (especially!) when the yard is absoutlely full of horses, especially in the summer between 3:30-8pm when everyone is doing thier horses and riding ( this one is an unwritten rule :-D!)

9) Nobody is allowed to have any fun. No yard shows, joint lessons, putting the jumps out is to be strictly avoided at all times, group hacks frowned upon, and yard activities in general are to be restricted (basically a written rule!)

10) Oh God I almost forgot this one - no rugs to be placed on stable doors or the brick walls of the stables becuase the walls and doors are TOO WEAK!!!!! This includes fleece rugs BTW. hahahaha. God i miss this place.

11) No horses that weave allowed on the yard (even if they are just at grass and will never be in a stable anyway)

12) No use of starvation paddocks unless your horse is ALREADY a laminitic (even if you are already doing everything possible in your power to reduce weight loss and horse is still obese).


I am sure there are more...hmmm why did i move again?! Apparently just after i left another four pages got drafted.....

 

[Bright_Spark]

One of the oddest ones was when I was looking a few years ago. I was told that all horses had to be excercised daily so that they didn't gallop round the fields and mess them up

 

[Get to the point]

been speaking to some horsey friends who have some to share via myself!

-NO mounted games whatsoever- apparently it is not a refined enough sport, this was not a prestigious yard- just a low standard DIY place...
-No grey horses/cremello/perlino etc.. they get too dirty and make the stables look a mess!
-No brown tack- all had to be matching black
-All horses to wear the same style and colour turnout rugs (impractical but im sure it looked quite smart lol)

Think there was another one but can only remember these..

Is this for real?!