Which would you sacrifice on a yard?

katie_southwest

katie_southwest

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 January 2008
Messages
2,510
Location
Devon
Visit site
Ok so narrowed it down to 2 yards to move my girl to.
Yard 1 - American barn type stabling. All year turnout but only 24/7 for 2 months in the summer. However , no time restrictions on bringing in, turning out etc. Think some people do turn out night and in during the day in hot months. Nice hacking.
Also this yard has an indoor school (imagining horrid windy rainy days in the winter ) :)
YO who can do extras if needed.

Yard 2 - All year turnout - pretty much do what you like. Can stay out 24/7 if needed.
No school but lovely hacking. Large Shelter/stable to be shared with 2 other ponies - kind of mooch in and out as they like type arrangement. YO's do not help with horses at all except in an emergency.

Reason of moving is due to mud fever. This is seriously making me think about yard 2, as in she wont actually be able to be stabled properly if needed. Also just thinking about winter time having to hack out as no where else to ride.

Yard 1 has the benefit of indoor school which iv never had so will be a novelty :) butttttt only 2 months of 24/7 turnout.

I just cant decide, do i sacrifice the 24/7 living for the school , its hard as now i think oh its fine Ill just hack out...but in a few months when its getting near to winter I think Ill be wishing I had a nice indoor place to ride in the dry :)

Pony is a 14.2 cob by the way, quite chilled and happy as larry long as she has food in front of her :) so probably couldnt give 2 s***s where she goes :)

God Iv rambled sorry...and burnt my tea! :) :)
 
I think I would go with Yard one as it still allows you to turn out but you have the added bonus of a School which will be invaluable over the winter :)
 
Personally I would go for yard 1.

If there's no time restrictions on turnout during warmer months you could leave him out for a long time early evening/night/early morning and only a few hours in during the day to snooze and keep out of the flies.
 
Depends what your aims are.
I moved to a yard similar to yard 1- excellent facilities but no 24/7 turnout throughout the year but it doesn't bother me as I have the facilities to continue training with my horse (spesh in the winter when an outdoor school is frozen and pony needs to stay competition fit.)

However, if you just want to have fun and do hacking etc then yard 2 would proabably be best as you get all the turnout your horse needs and in the winter if teh weather is rubbish its not too bad if you miss out on a few weeks riding. (Except for withdrawal symptoms) :p
 
For me, it would be yard 2 everytime. Fella wouldn't stand staying in all night for 10 months a year, he would be so depressed, thats if he didnt take the door off its hinges!
 
Thanks everyone for your replies.

Kokopelli really all I do is hack , but also Iv never had a school and no transport so never had the opportunity for lessons if I wanted them!

I have thought about different ways around it, such as riding early and leaving her in for a few hours, then back out again...
I dont know, Im also just thinking about her mud fever and that at yard 2 , I may not have the chance to actually stable her properly, and I know shel happily stand in the field rather than the shelter!!!
 
I'm a yard 1 girl... Indoor is difficult to trump and I'd sacrifice the 24/7 turn out. And also yard owner doing extras is great if you ever go on hols.

BnBX
 
Cost wise -
Yard 1 id £25 a week - obviously more for extras. Plus £5 a week for school or £3 a time if you use it less.

Yard 2 is £75 a month. No extras as YOs dont do them.

I would have to buy my own hay etc at both yards.
 
Personally I would choose yard 2, good hacking and all year turnout 24/7 365days are the most important attributes for me. An indoor school would ofcourse be nice, but i would sacrifice this. It really depends on what is good for your horse and you really....
 
I guess it depends on the horse doesnt it....
She is quite chilled, and food orientated! So Im sure with a haynet shed happily stay in as long as required. She was in from 4pm til 7am this winter due to her feet so I know she can cope with this. Its just on a nice sunny day, having her inside seems horrible :( But then by the time I get there after work, fuss about, ride, and put her in it will be probably about 8 anyway.

Ohhhhhh I dont know :(
 
You'd be surprised at how happy they are to stay in.
As all the others will be in they will be happy as long as they have food and company. Even my boy who loves to live out is fine being in at night, he's a bit eager to get out in the morning but nothing to serious.

If anything he likes having the routine of coming in at a set time and going out at a set time.
 
Yard one, although without the mud fever would consider yard two strongly. Yard one sounds more organised and so long as you have it written in that you will have x amount of hours winter turnout I wouldn't have a problem with it.
 
Yard 1 no question. Never mind the school which is a huge bonus but having a YO who can provide services is worth it.

I keep my horses at home so could have 24/7 turnout but in fact it is only the youngsters who are out 24/7.

The older horses come in at night in the winter and in the summer they are out at night and in during the day. This is to keep them away from the flies as wel as to stop them eating too much. Although at the moment they are out 23/7!
 
It would be nice to have the school but I personally wouldn't keep my horse in overnight for 10 months of the year. Some of the horses on our yard are still in overnight and it seems unecessary to keep them in when it's so warm when they'd clearly prefer to be out. I know most people are dictated by the yard rules and it's a nightmare trying to find the perfect place to keep your horse.

My place is like option 2. Really lovely people, small yard and nice hacking but no school. Luckily we have an arena just a 10 minute hack away which we can hire.

It's a difficult decision for you. Are there no other yards to choose from?
 
Thanks everyone. There are other yards but one has tiny winter grazing, one is renound for being bitchy etc etc . I just want a happy medium ! Somewhere with longer 24/7 turnout but where I know I can definately bring her in should I need to in the winter..
I have a friend at yard 1 , she is leaving in a few months though to move to Australia so :( I met a girl at yard 2 and seems very friendly also.
 
Oh dear Kate, I guess you went to SP today then!!!

I'd go with yard 1 - the school, the assistance and the hacking. You will have to tell me all about it tomorrow :D
 
Cant wait to see which you go for as i am having the same dilemma.

Yard 1... 24/7 turnout and free run for kids etc but winters are long and no facilities AT ALL just loads of mud!!

Yard 2.... no 24/7 turnout but loads of facilities (covered school) etc!

Which will you choose??????
 
Ok guys yard 1 it is!
Just had a chat with yo and she put my mind at ease,
in the summer I could get her in at 9 , back out at 4 and that would still count as not 24/7 turnout. That would obv be on my days off but much better than being in 12 hours a day!
Plus in winter shel turn out for me at 630 so mrs will have at least 12 hours turnout in winter which will be lovely .
Plus the indoor school kind of persuaded me :)
 
katie_southwest said:
Reason of moving is due to mud fever. This is seriously making me think about yard 2, as in she wont actually be able to be stabled properly if needed. Also just thinking about winter time having to hack out as no where else to ride.
Click to expand...

Unless you are on a yard with 3 acres or more per horse for 24/7 turnout then you are going to have mud fever. I would therefore go for the first yard where you have stabling available. Also, what happens if your horse ever has to have box rest?
 
It would also depend on the company. I'd want a fairly stable herd for turnout so others would needs to be doing similar to me. I'd not be happy with different horses every week.

The fact she could go out over night and only have to be in for couple hours during day would be acceptable for my horse and in fact prob quite a good thing for fatties.

But I would want absolute confirmation that they get at least 8hrs out during winter regardless of weather. I've found most yards who say 'no 24hr turnout' often enforce no turnout when weather's bad. Or won't put hay out in field so they've got nothing to eat.

It sounds like they're flexible and easy to keep the horse happy with turnout levels but I would question very closely their winter routines before deciding
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top