Worst livery yards?

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newboult51

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Just wondered if anyone wanted to share their experiences
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I know we can't name names but there ought to be some protection for us poor innocent horsie owners against being traumatised by maniac YOs!!

I was at one a couple of years ago now where the YO regularly had the liveries in tears. When people heard her strident tones on the yard they'd leap into their stables and hide
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She didn't allow you to have your own vet, farrier or dentist. She would tell you that you shouldn't be jumping/riding/competing/breathing on a regular basis.

The worst thing was that she would have favourites who she would send smutty or rascist jokes to by text several times a day to which you would have to pretend to be amused.

The day I escaped was the happiest of my life
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my horse was at someones hourse for the first month i had him. i was a nightmare.

we'll call the wife X and the daughter Y

the livery available was the only reason i was allowed to have a horse. seemed a lovely family etc etc. how wrong

the stables were in an old coach house to which they shut the door at night so it got to the point that my boy was refusing to go in his stable cos it became a nasty place to be. i was told off for giving him 'too much hay' even though he was seriously underweight and it is the best way to get weight on him, Y told me to 'empty the wheelbarrow because she was mucking out and couldnt be bothered to empty the wheelbarrow more than once'. the one and only time i asked them to turn him out or me they put him out in heavyweight turnout and thermatex and he was foamy and wet when i got him in. X and Y frequently left my horse in the field on his own and this is the one thing he cannot take, he goes insane and i had told them that if you are bringing in and im nto there call me and ill come, or bring him in too. but they thought he was dangerous (my 5 yr old stepbrother can hug his leg and he does nothing)

X told husband he was dangerous i was given 3 days to find somewhere else, buuuutt... in a funny fashion my boy obviously hated them as much as i did, because on the day we left, in the morning i went to get him from the field (he'd been left on his own again) i was walking to the field and i heard the latch on the gate go, cue my WONDERFUL horse comes through the gate across the garden and skids to a halt leaving 2m black muddy skid marks in their pristine grass.

heheh good boy, and jsut to prove he isnt dangerous i have had no problems with him or anyone else anywhere, hes just nervous and likes you to know what youre doing

x
 
For a brief time I used to keep a pony at a place that was cheap, convenient, but the owners knew nothing about horses. That didn't stop them keeping several as neglected field ornaments (never saw a farrier, had literally 2 foot of dung and nothing else in their stables) and in having a couple of kids there on livery that they'd sold ponies to and taught to ride.

I remember on my arrival the two kids went nuts when I fed my pony some pony nuts, saying my pony would die. They'd been 'taught' that they had to be mixed with water and were feeding their poor ponies a completely dissolved grey slush. I guess the owners had heard about sugar beet nuts needing to be soaked...and thought it applied to all of them. One kid had been taught to ride by someone running alongside reading instructions to them out of a book.

Some more experienced kids joined us soon after, and we managed to sort things out a bit. We complained so much they eventually paid us to muck out their horse's stables, and in fact soon sold the horses on (to a dealer, but there you go).
They kept one pony that was thin as a rake in the winter. Reason being 'hay makes him cough'. OK. Their answer wasn't to soak the hay but just not give him any. All our ponies were turned out together and we'd all put out hay for them. The owners still refused to give us any for their pony as 'he's not supposed to eat it'. Yeah, right, he just eats ours instead. Basically they wanted us to feed their pony for them. So we used to sneak round the back of the locked barn, bunk the smallest of us up through a window, and she used to throw some hay out to us. we had to steal their hay to feed their own animal!

We all left after a few months...
 
I was at a private yard where the YO used to make us mix new shavings with old. She charged for hay by the pound and told you how much you had to feed. The charge was equivalent to double the going rate at the time! She told you how much and what to feed in the way of short feed. She criticised peoples riding but rode like a sack of spuds herself.She complained if the horses had a canter in the field when they were turned out. She had such a tense personality that out docile horse transformed into a nervous, jumping out of her skin type. Needless to say we didn't stay there many months.
 
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You know what, one day I am going to start a thread about "the worst livery clients".
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Do it, do it
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Would be an interesting read ....
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I had a love hate relationship with an old YO- we were v good friends and i helped to run the yard with her in exchange for cheaper livery for my horses when i was in uni. Then she came into some money and turned demented- it was crazy how money changes people!!

She became unbearably snobby and if a livery client did something she didnt like she put them out. She wasnt too bothered about keeping clients because she wasnt as concerned about money so she was horrible to everyone! she also installed cctv everywhere and spent her days in the house spying on people in the yard on the cctv and coming runnng out of the hosue roaring and shouting if they did something she didnt like!! i found out she was telling terrible tales about me behind my back- none of which were true so decided to leave- when i went to collect horses she had changed locks on the tackroom door and thrown all my stuff in a pile in the barn!! there was a lot of stuff missing- back protector, rugs, etc but couldnt bear the thoughts of having an argument with her about it so just left them behind.

Moved to a great yard and put her to the back of mymind until it turned out she told everyone that she had to throw me out for not paying my livery bill and owing her money for months!! she was a complete mentalist!!
 
Last place i was at, Threatened to kill ted by bolt gun on the 27th of feb last year, at 8 at night, Ted was off the yard within 20 minutes, hacked 2 miles in the pitch black, and with no passport as they withheld it.
Weatherbys were informed and i was glad be outta there.
Now at the nicest bestest livery yard ever.

Lou x
 
The worst livery yard I've ever been on actually nearly made me give up riding. The yard was beautiful and had lovely facilities. The horses were well looked after but by god the woman who owned it was a psycho.

She constantly undermined everything you did and criticised EVERYTHING I did (initally this was done in a 'helping you' sort of manner but eventually became out and out bullying)

She was sponsered by a local master saddler when I needed a saddle reflocked she arranged for him to come and do it. It was only when he was there I realised he had no intention of reflocking my saddle and was selling me a made to measure saddle of his. When I politly told him that wasn't what I wanted he stormed off with my saddle in his van,for over 2 weeks he wouldn't answer me calls etc and the YO refused to get involved. eventually the saddle was dumped in the middle of the yard when I was at work, it was pissing with rain and it got absolutely soaked. The YO was there but didn't bring the saddle in as she didn't want to get involved.....after that I found out she was on commission for every saddle she sold from this saddler to one of her liveries.

She used to sit and watch me ride, constantly ripping my riding and my horse to pieces. Comments like 'I can't believe that horse has novice evented he's got the scope of 3 legged goat'
'...mind you with someone that could ride he probably would do ok at riding club level'

If I turned him out in a certain rug she would change it. If I left him in she would turn him out.

She told me I was imcompatent, the rudest person she had ever met etc etc. After 6 weeks I turned up back on my old yard in floods of tears my confidence shattered.
 
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Last place i was at, Threatened to kill ted by bolt gun on the 27th of feb last year, at 8 at night, Ted was off the yard within 20 minutes, hacked 2 miles in the pitch black, and with no passport as they withheld it.
Weatherbys were informed and i was glad be outta there.
Now at the nicest bestest livery yard ever.

Lou x

[/ QUOTE ]
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You win!

Mine were to do with shares, not livery so I didn't have much choice... put up or shut up style. But the yard I was on a few yards before now was awful for bitchiness!

When I got the mare to share, I should've read the warning signs from day one, when I turned up to the yard and couldn't get in because it was locked. We phoned the YO, who was quite nice and said that someone should be there (let's call her F!), and that we should phone her mobile to see where she was. Called Fs mobile and my poor mum got a mouthful about how she wasn't going to look after me, she would just make sure I didn't end up killing myself but wouldn't offer any help 'because she can't babysit me as well as her four kids' - I was 16!

Anyway, got there again a week later, went round and introduced myself, got a frosty reception from everyone on the yard apart from two other liveries (about 10 on the yard) who were in all honesty two of the nicest women I've met and I wish were still around! The others were just horrible. Ignored me or only spoke to me to have a go about something that I was meant to have done. Remember going and introducing myself to the new livery a few weeks before I left, she had a young colt and I went up and said Hi, I'm HG90, I share L, etc. etc. and she just stared at me. I asked her how old her horse was and she went 'Two.' I asked what she was planning to do with him when he was older and she just stared again! Eventually the really uncomfortable silence was just too much and I went back to Ls stable.

In the last weeks, it was the worst atmosphere, and the bitching escalated, couldn't do anything without someone having something to say! On my last week, I rode L in the school as normal, and I saw my RI and F stood by their stables talking and looking over at me. Next thing I know F is in the school shouting at me for my lower leg position and how I was going to get bucked off - Having never fallen off L in the entire time that I'd been riding her (twice/three times a week since May, this was in October). Finished up in the school as it was getting dark and got L ready for turn out, was walking her up to the field and F pounced on me from the shadows, and started asking me whether I'd done her rug up (Erm...), whether I'd taken her boots off (At this point I was about to laugh) and whether I'd shut her stable door (I burst out in giggles and walked off). Got back down from the field and she jumped on me again with 'Have you shut the gate?'
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I was so tempted to reply, no, actually, I thought the mares might enjoy the run of the yard tonight!

Not as bad as some of your stories and I laugh now but at the time I was having a rough time at home and at school, and the yard was meant to be my escape. Didn't happen that way!
 
I left the Yard from Hell after the yard owner had a mental episode and made the huge mistake of trying to threaten me.

I subsequently discovered that she had bad-mouthed me to lots of people, claiming I had left owing them money, then claiming that she'd thrown me off the yard, and several other fables that took her fancy.

I actually pity her now. She is a very sad individual, and obviously needs some counselling for her mental issues. From what I hear, the yard now resembles a run-down dump and struggles to attract and keep clients, which is a shame as it used to be pretty good.
 
After being very happy at my livery yard for over 5 years the owners decided to sell up and we all had to find new places. After much searching I thought I had found a good place. The YO was an ex riding school proprietor of the old school variety. ( Jute rugs and biggles style breeches)

Our stay lasted a month. The YO constantly went on and on at me about shutting gates ( I have had horses for 40 years now), how I should be tying up my haynets, that my horses should or shouldn't be doing such and such, why did I use this farrier and why did I need to call the vet when we found my gelding with a huge gash in his leg that required stitching etc etc. I left on good terms and went to livery at a private house near to where I had been previously. Now that was a place from Hell.

The owner was a middle aged divoorcee who would take young lads into the spare stable at night for 'sessions' we would find all sorts in the stable in the morning. The eldest daughter was doing drugs and would hang out of her bedroom window shouting and screaming with the loudest music I have ever heard. If the dog was in the garden it would bite my horse on the nose if she put her head over the stable door or it would run up and down the menage fence barking and growling at the horses if we were riding or lunging in there. We paid the YO extra for renting some more grazing down the lane. One day I went to turn my horses out to find the gate padlocked because the YO had paid the landowner! and so on.......Through necessity I was there for 18 months and It was very stressfull. When I eventually told the YO I was leaving she said she would drop the rent if I would stay as I had been such a good livery. I think I had managed to stick it out longer than anybody else had.

However we eventually found a nice place near to where I live and that was in september last year. All good so far!!
 
RonnieP - sounds exactly like my YO ! Once we'd left the yard we heard that apparently we owed her hundreds for livery and had taken 'her' pony with us. In fact a year previously we had taken the YO with us to buy the pony by way of a cunning tactic because if we didn't we knew she'd go round bad mouthing our choice. She then went round telling everyone how she'd found us the pony, and isn't she fantastic etc...Obviously that extended into her believing she was really hers!! Like you say, a mentalist
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This is the worst livery yard my friend was at!!!

The rules!!

1. You could only clip your horse if the YO agreed it needed clipping. She would then decide which clip you were to have for your horse. God help you if you did not have the clip the o mighty one said!!

2. No outside Instructors were allowed on yard none of them were good enough! ( although she had an outside Instructor) she did the lessons by the way.

3. You were not allowed to put a rug on your horse if it was raining unless it was verrrrrry cold. She decided when rugs went on horses coming into autum/winter.

4. Although paying for use of all facilities she decided who jumped and when! You had to ring her before using the school.

5. No horses were allowed grazing muzzles. No horses to be kept in stables in the summer.

6. You could only use her vet until he was struck off!!! she decided if your horse needed a vet or not!! If your horse was lame her famous words were " ride it through it it will be alright in a few minutes, get on with it "

7. All feed/shavings/haylage had to be bought of them - you had to buy haylage by the net!!

8. When going to shows if you got caught speaking to liveries who had had the sense to leave quicker than my friend you had got your priorities wrong and should seriously consider where your loyalties lie.

And she charged my good friend a decent amount of money for the sole privilage of being dictated to.! Thats what i call a livery yard from hell!!!!!!!
 
After having horses for the best part of my life, I am currently horseless - primarily because since my last horse had to be PTS (shattered leg due to being kicked in field by a known kicker), I am terrified of landing up in the livery yard from hell again.
At the moment, I fear I may never get back into horses ever again. ALL the descriptions I read on this forum ring SO TRUE. What, I wonder, is the problem with people - yard owners and other liveries alike? Horses are such wonderful creatures, but they are so often surrounded by complete psychos.
Of course, I have met some lovely people at livery yards and I am still in contact with a number of them, but yard owners, well, now they are another story. Without exception, the ones I have had 'dealings' with are really intimidating.
My theory is that their obsessive need for power and control has somethign to do with deep-rooted feelings of inadequacy and perhaps a history of personal failure in their own lives.
Other examples of my own horror stories include:
A YO giving her friends my just-broken 4 yr old to ride without my permission while I was at work.
A YO giving my horse her choice of feed against my wishes (including oats and barley)
A YO coming in the school with her nutter of a stallion whenever I'm doing some in-hand work with youngster
A YO telling me that I don't deserve to have a horse because I have a full-time job
A YO turning my horse out on its own when I have expressly requested that he should never be left on his own. He jumps the fence and YO phones to give me 24 hours to get my horse out.
A YO regularly offering my saddle and other tack to other liveries when I'm at work.

I could go on.......and on....and on......
 
Why are they all nutters?!!!
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I used to get told what to buy and what not to buy for my horse. I remember I bought him some brushing boots with navy straps , when Woof Club boots first came out in colours and I got told they were 'a waste of money and hideous, take them back'

Not near as bad as everyone else but I thought I'd add my experience
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Some of your stories have really made me laugh, I thought I had been on a nightmare yard but its no way near as bad as some of your experiences!

I was desperate for a horse when I was 16 and found a yard that had a stable, that I could cycle to, no other research done. The owners seemed nice enough at first but had a collection of field ornaments too-no idea why they had all these horses and I never saw them brought in for farrier or anything.

The only 2 they did ride were fittened up a bit in summer and then went out hunting with the owners once or twice a week, to be fair to them they did take me and the other liveries with them which was kind of them. There were always promises about a manege being built which never materialised whilst I was there, the yard was a bit of tractors dumping ground and they had a vicious collie who was tied up all day and used to jump out barking whenever a car went past. In the winter when I couldn't get down after school my horse was on full livery, if you can call it that. I'd turn up at the weekend to find her on a dirty bed, looking like it hadn't been mucked out all week. They were really funny about how much shavings and hay we used.

All culminated in me saying I was leaving after a year of being there, and that I would go in 2weeks time. I didn't have a written contract with them so didn't think this would be a problem. The wife just turned on me, calling me a 17 year old with an attitude problem, having a real rant at me. I'd never had anyone have a go at me before and was too stunned to say much back. I went round to my new yard and begged them to take us that day, an hour later they had a friend's trailer round to pick us up-I was so relieved. I had never seen the wife in the tack room for so long in all my time there whilst I was collecting my stuff-she was obviously thinking I was going to nick something to spite them. I did get accused of stealing a girth still-one which was way too big for my horse anyway!
 
I'll just add a quick one. My worst livery yard was own and run by alcoholics. One disagreement between a livery and the YM was going on as the YO arrived back from the pub. YO came over, turned PURPLE and starting screaming at the livery "I hate you, get your horses off my yard right now, if they're still here tonight I'm going to kill them", before chasing them down the yard with a PITCH FORK and throwing it across the yard at them! Fortunately he was so p!ssed he missed them by miles.
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Total psycho sometimes though. Why are so many YOs absolutely mental???
 
Ooh, I’ve got several:

Yard 1: I’d agreed to let YO ride my horse occasionally if hers were resting. Turned out she was schooling him for an hour every day even if I was also coming up to ride later – and I used to wonder why the horse was a bit lethargic and not keeping condition on!
Yard 2: Full livery only. YM was feeding the cheapest possible stuff – every horse the same – despite the owners all thinking their individual requests were being fulfilled. She also cut right down on overnight hay to the extent that horses were eating their beds, which she then didn’t top up. When I asked why my horse’s bed was soaking, filthy and almost non-existent, she told me it was because he kept knocking his waterbucket into it – odd, when the bucket was attached to the wall … In the end I was paying for full livery but coming up myself to feed and bed down.
Yard 3: DIY. Only one other livery apart from me. The hands-off YO asked me if I would be YM – which I refused as it seemed daft to have a manager for 2 DIY liveries! The other person was asked, accepted, and turned into the YM from hell! If I questioned anything she wrote to the YO, who then phoned me asking why I was being such a trouble-maker. The final straw was being asked to sign a 20 page stabling agreement AND a 20 page grazing agreement!
 
Blimey! I've been on a few yards run by slight odd bods but nothing like any of this, none of them were nasty, just sligtly eccentric!

I'm glad I don't stay at livery now and keep them at home!
 
These were the rules on my old yard:
No outside intructors
No feeding from the ground always in a haynet
Cant leave rugs in the stable
All horses out by 7 and in by 5
No rugs alowed on unless the YO said
No clipping your own horse had to pay YO to do it
Have to ride in navy/black/beige jods and leather boots/ gaiters
All clothing worn to be dark clolours
No brand names on clothing exept the yards name
Cant ride in the indoor unless its an "emergency"

Also she would moan at you for not riding everyday and if you did ride everyday she would moan at you for that. if you didnt muck out in the morning she would muck your stable out and charge you for it. she told me i was too inexperienced to have youngsters even though ive been dealind with them all my life. Told me i was a child because i have colourfull things for me horses (im only 18) the list could go on forever
 
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