Would you stay at a yard if

[holeymoley]

…it suited your horse’s needs in terms of turnout but had a plethora of other issues?

Without writing war a peace, I knew this yard was quite a difficult yard mentally to cope with before I went to it. As an ‘older me’ I thought I would manage it. Which I can, in terms of direct actions and communication, but I think deep down mentally it is causing me a lot of stress. Each day I’m coming away with a problem that has occurred and a general headache. There are a LOT of issues with the yard and the main issues stem from it not being managed. It is well known that the bigger spoken liveries can dictate what happens. YO not interested unless they’re taking money. For the claimed experience, they have no idea on basic horse care and not willing to learn unless it’s their way of doing it. I’ve thought hard about even asking this on here incase I’m being ridiculous, each day i’ve had a phone call at work from YO asking basic questions re turnout which shouldn’t even be queried by someone reputable. Close friends feel the same but we have hardly any yards in the area which proves difficult to not feel stuck there. Part of me wishes I could’ve stayed at my old yard which was a lot quieter even though it had about 3 times more the liveries! But unfortunately their fields were amass with grass. I suppose it’s difficult to understand this post as I can’t list every detail that goes on. Thanks for reading x

 

[milliepops]

Nope i wouldn't.
I shell out all my spare cash on my horses and I need to not be stressed out by everything, it's my only downtime. If i'm stressed, the horses pick up on it so it doesn't work anyway. We all need to be happy.
If you went back there could you manage the grazing a different way?

 

[Surbie]

No I wouldn't stay, for the same reason as milliepops. It is supposed to be fun not stressful. Plus if it's badly managed I would never feel confident in going away so I would also never be able to have a break.

 

[Sleipnir]

Nope. It is simply not worth it and in the long run the toxicity really gets to you. Besides, you feeling stressed affects horses too, as they can and do pick up our tension and nerves.

 

[holeymoley]

Nope i wouldn't.
I shell out all my spare cash on my horses and I need to not be stressed out by everything, it's my only downtime. If i'm stressed, the horses pick up on it so it doesn't work anyway. We all need to be happy.
If you went back there could you manage the grazing a different way?

Thanks. That’s what I feel. My horse is in his older years now I don’t want to ever think that I spent the last of his years unhappy because of a yard. Unfortunately I pleaded with them before I left if they could give me a small part of a field but they couldn’t commit to that- they rotated the fields every 6 weeks and fertilised so it just wasn’t going to work.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I suppose it has to be a balancing act, which yard causes you more stress? As mp says horses will pick up on their owner's stress, so a happy owner is a benefit to the horse. I am not sure that having an incompetent YO handling the horse is a benefit, either, tbh.

 

[throwawayaccount]

no it's not worth it

 

[TPO]

A "not quite right" yard is even more stressful when you dont have any other options. The feeling of being trapped just compounds everything and makes it 10x worse.

I agree that yards should be our "happy" space but so often they arent. I've been in your position where I've been stuck on "not right" yards because there's no option. It is really hard going.

Is there anything left to try hunting for a new suitable place?

 

[holeymoley]

A "not quite right" yard is even more stressful when you dont have any other options. The feeling of being trapped just compounds everything and makes it 10x worse.

I agree that yards should be our "happy" space but so often they arent. I've been in your position where I've been stuck on "not right" yards because there's no option. It is really hard going.

Is there anything left to try hunting for a new suitable place?

There is one but it is a bit cut and shut in terms of stabling, I’m not 100% sure what it’s like or what they offer. They have a brand new arena though so perhaps they’re trying to improve. My other choice is a bit further out and full just now with a waiting list. One of my friend’s has the most envious set up- she rents a very small holding off someone and can set up the fields as she wishes. I wish there were more if these set ups about.

 

[Caol Ila]

You'll know I left a yard where I felt stuck for eight years because I didn't want to feel miserable and stressed for however many years my horse had left.

I know where I'm going to build my dream yard when I win the lottery.

 

[Baywonder]

No, I would not stay.

As others have said, horses are supposed to be fun and stress free. Whilst virtually every yard has its issues, it sounds like the one you are at is off the scale.

Both you and your horse need to be happy. This is not happening where you are, so I would look for an alternative.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

Is it possible to return to you old yard but manage the excess grass on offer by using a grazing muzzle? I certainly would not be staying where you are. Apart from anything else how can you feel your horse's welfare is safe when you are not there, if the YO and controlling liveries aren't up to scratch if there was some sort of emergency with your horse?

 

[holeymoley]

Is it possible to return to you old yard but manage the excess grass on offer by using a grazing muzzle? I certainly would not be staying where you are. Apart from anything else how can you feel your horse's welfare is safe when you are not there, if the YO and controlling liveries aren't up to scratch if there was some sort of emergency with your horse?

I doubt it as he had the muzzle on there and the grass was too rich for him. I think it’s grass quality over quantity as it’s fertilised and rested so much m.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

Ah I understand that completely - one of our fields had been fertilized over and over for cows by previous owner. Far too rich for my horses and we only took hay for several years while deliberately letting it revert to rough unfertilized grazing that we would dare let them on.

 

[skint1]

I've bean at my yard for around 12 years. There are periods of time when I have been greatly stressed and unhappy but what this yard has is increasingly rare to find in this area and my horses are happy so I stay put, and usually it sorts itself, the annoyance leaves or I just get over it and work on developing an understanding of the annoyance and find actually it's not so bad.

Right now things are challenging for me there, one of the newer liveries whilst being a lovely person is just too much for me, I feel the oxygen disappear from the air when they are around, and everything about them and their horse becomes an overly loud and dramatic 3-ring circus, no advice is heeded and things just get worse and I am just tired. I think it's built up over time but has reached a bit of a pitch for me recently, but I will get over it. So I suppose that is a lot of words for saying if the yard mostly suits you it might be worth toughing it out til the right one comes along. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[holeymoley]

I've bean at my yard for around 12 years. There are periods of time when I have been greatly stressed and unhappy but what this yard has is increasingly rare to find in this area and my horses are happy so I stay put, and usually it sorts itself, the annoyance leaves or I just get over it and work on developing an understanding of the annoyance and find actually it's not so bad.

Right now things are challenging for me there, one of the newer liveries whilst being a lovely person is just too much for me, I feel the oxygen disappear from the air when they are around, and everything about them and their horse becomes an overly loud and dramatic 3-ring circus, no advice is heeded and things just get worse and I am just tired. I think it's built up over time but has reached a bit of a pitch for me recently, but I will get over it. So I suppose that is a lot of words for saying if the yard mostly suits you it might be worth toughing it out til the right one comes along. Good luck with whatever you decide.

It’s really awful when something like that happens. We have a lot of them just now. There are a few periods in time when I go up late and it’s just me and my horse and it’s really bliss. I like my stable, i like my storage etc etc The arena’s knackered and the hacking has diminished over the years to being close to none. So I’m not sure if I can really say that it is really value for money and what I want. I hope it blows over soon for you too.

 

[Sir barnaby]

When you are shelling out loads of hard earned cash to keep your horses it has to be a pleasant experience and somewhere you can go and be yourself and happy unless you can keep yourself to yourself and be there when it’s quiet, I’m retired and tend to spend my time with Barney when everyone is at work and yes it’s bliss just me and him

 

[Merry neddy man]

HM have a look on www.*******.co.uk and www.*******.co.uk there might be one on there you dont know about. Personally I would move to have less stress, go and have a look at the cut and shut one it might be better than you've heard.

 

[my bfg]

Agree with the comments above and would say if you're not happy then 100% move
Sometimes as liveries, it takes moving to a good yard, to actually realise how many issues we've put up with at a bad one

 

[holeymoley]

Thanks guys, through some grace of whatever lies above, I’ve had a proposition by a friend today which may work out. It would work for both of us but it needs to be passed by the proprietor.

I think I’ve held on to this yard in the hope that it is what it used to be years ago. It was quiet tonight and I had a lovely canter around the neighbouring stubble fields. I will definitely miss that part of it.

 

[splashgirl45]

fingers crossed your proposition works out but if not i would be looking for somewhere else even if it was further away. i would rather spend an extra half hour in the car if the grazing etc was suitable for my horse and i felt the yard was well run and i could feel confident that the needs of my horse were met..

 

[skint1]

Hope it works out for you!

 

[snowangel5]

i hope you can move your horse to a different yard soon

 

[Lotsoflemons]

I've had this before. The yard we moved to every single livery left we never knew why and the owner just said they needed somewhere closer to home it became very clear why they moved as the weeks went on the yard had reduced turnout you were not allowed to ride on certain days etc and speaking to former liveries after they left it was never what it used to be there was always people leaving. the yard was not well run whatsoever by a very very novice owner who deemed lunging and free schooling 'dangerous' she offered her services to put horses out in the fields and bring in and deemed the younger horses 'dangerous' for spooking or getting excited some people really aren't fit to run a yard