Working Livery- how does it work?

Livery is fairly cheap but the riding school/college/etc get your horse some days a week and you dont really get a say in how many hours it is used each day unless stated in contract.
 
MillieMoo101 said:
So if I got a contract sorted I could say how many hours she is used for?
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You would have to come to agreement with the riding school, in some the ponies are used for up to 4 hours a day which is quite a lot. it just depends really if you dont mind only being able to ride her once or twice a week!
 
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At the riding school I used to go to, if you kept your horse on working livery it was used 5hours per week and if you wanted to ride/take them to a show you had to write in the book where all the lessons were planned so that they knew not to use them.
 
Slightly different but my pony is on loan to a riding school, he is on full loan but as they don't run lessons on Sundays or Mondays I can get a ride in once a week ifI want to. I can also visit him whenever I jjust pay for insurance and farrier as I wanted to keep using his usual farrier. He has been at the yard when the school is with me for 4 years so it's home to him and he is really well looked after.

I have a standard loan contract with the riding school with a few amendments but as he's on full loan there is no stipulation as to how many lessons he does etc, I trust them completely. Although I can see and ride him, the school always takes priority so I always ask permission and if they ever say no that to me riding that would be fine.

Pony is happy and keeping fit, I'm happy and by all accounts he's working well in the school.
 
MillieMoo - becarful where you go - i have know a horse be schedulled for 4 hours a day - the agreement was for an hour - they just banked on the owner not knowing. She did - very quickly as the horse could not stand up to the amount of work and within 10 days was stressed to death, had lost most of its weight.

A tip off from someone - meant she came up and took the "sheet" into the office - the horse was removed the same day.

poor thing - it really made him a sour ride - he was a really willing horse when he went but within this time he went very tack shy and was never quite the same again.

The working livery was Wrexham way
 
Lots of things will vary from yard to yard.

Check:
How many hours your horse will be used?
How do you arrange for your own riding time, and is it fixed days or times or can you be flexible?
Are there any checks on who rides your horse? (Some horses might be best suited to advanced lessons, others to beginner lessons - but a horse that does nothing but beginner lessons is going to take a lot more work to keep its schooling up to a reasonable level!)
What happens if neddy gets poorly? How many weeks do you get before the full livery charge kicks in?
What happens if neddy is injured by a RS client?
How do they break down shares in shoes, worming, etc as well as livery and feed?
Will they guarantee not to start mucking about with tack, etc without telling you?

I had the absolutely best working livery deal in the world, but there are some absolute shockers out there - so I'd tread carefully, but it's great if it works for you!
 
I loan the horse already, she is kept at a riding school but I was bringing her on, she was never meant to be a school horse and now all of a sudden she is- my mum cant afford her so I was thinking working livery might be a good option as I can choose when and who rides her, but now I'm seeing this isnt how I thought haha! :o
 
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