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Neversaydie

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I have a horse on a livery yard and the yard manager keeps changing the herd dynamics constantly and now my horse has been kicked. The herd was stable all winter then they took the mares out to graze another paddock despite mine needing grass as well and left the two geldings in the winter field.

My gelding is the boss of the field and a bit of a ladies man, he does rule with an iron fist but the mares are usually fine and have been since last summer. So they took the other gelding out and shoved two mares in and now one of the mares is lame and my horse is lame and came as if he has done battle. Apparently he stared chasing and dominating the moment they put the mares in.

Now I understand horses are horses, mine has always been like this but when the herd was kept together from beginning of last summer until now there has been no issues, suddenly horses are coming and going right left and centre and apparently it was all kicking off in the other field where they put the other gelding. There is no choice give. With these moves and being honest they don't need to be made we it a bale of hay into the field for the boys and they were fine. This is a DiY yard but this person is trying to run it like a full livery and it's beginning to get a load of people's backs up, all the horses are being treated like they belong to the Ym and we are being dictated to. We had to fight to get a bale of hay put into a bare field that had been grazed all winter even though my horse isn't a good doer.

I'm tempted to move but the yard suits where I am, we used to get left alone by recently this is getting worse and worse, I pay for DIY livery not for someone to try and tell me how much grass or hay or what feeds I should glbe giving my horse.
 

be positive

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Good management should mean that horses are settled in groups, pairs or whatever and once they are settled any moving should be for a good reason not on a whim, I hate seeing horses fighting and will change them about if anything serious looks like kicking off, whether they are on DIY or full livery but my aim is to find the most suitable arrangement that works for the horses and their owners.
I suppose I am risking something going wrong now but I really cannot remember the last time I had a field injury, the last was a minor cut, no veterinary treatment required for that which was over 2 years ago, settled horses do not fight, when adding a new one if done sensibly will be a reasonably calm non event.
If the YM is going to continue messing about even if the yard suits it may be best to look elsewhere before your horse ends up more seriously injured, winter will potentially be worse if there is no grass and hay is restricted.
 

Greylegs

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Have you spoken to the YM to try to find out what's going on? Remind this person that you are paying customers and should have your preferences and concerns at least listened to. Why not get together with the other owners and just re-arrange the herd so it works for the horses, rather than the whims of this person ...?
 

Neversaydie

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They are saying its to manage their feet, very barefoot fanatical. However the owners who are being dictated to aren't as fanatical and wish to manage their own horses. My horse has no shoes and is perfectly fine, we have no lush grass intact all the grazing was grazed all winter, some bY horses and the rest by sheep. The gras is barely longer than a cut back garden in my opinion and this to me poses more of a threat than slightly longer grass IME.

When I was asked what was wrong with me as I will admit to having a face like fizz on I said I was annoyed my horse had been kicked and this situation brought about because the herd dynamics were being messed up. I was snapped back that she was doing her best etc and that his crest was getting hard, might I add that none of these horses have had laminitis and we are all DIY and capable. It's the fact that there is no discussion it's this way or no way and we had to go over her head to the farmer to get a bale in the field, who had suggested leaving hem and putting hay in the field.

Owners aren't getting the options to manage their own horses. My horse is what he is and I fully admit that he is bossy but knowing this there shouldn't be drastic changes if they know there is going to me problems, it feels to me that there is no consideration for my horse because he has not foot issues and due to the careful management and care I give him I do have very few issues with him, and for this reason his well being isn't being considered.
 
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Antw23uk

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Ask for individual turn out? if your horse is a bit of a brut someone else might be trying to get there horse away from yours and YO is stuck between a rock and a hard place and trying to keep the peace?! Failing that move!
 

Neversaydie

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No one has any issues with him, I was open when I walked onto the yard and us owners all talk, if it was the case that people wanted away from him then why would their horses be removed then put back in with their full knowledge? Two actually asked to be in that field and the geldings owner prefers him there?

If I can find a suitable yard then I may move, I have to say up until about four months ago I was perfectly happy on this yard, been here for two and a half years but the YM has just gotten very in your business lately and After having a good think and a chat with my other half I'm going to have a word and explain to her that she is causing my horse stress as well as he and other horses injury with all the chopping and changing.
 

Neversaydie

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Good management should mean that horses are settled in groups, pairs or whatever and once they are settled any moving should be for a good reason not on a whim, I hate seeing horses fighting and will change them about if anything serious looks like kicking off, whether they are on DIY or full livery but my aim is to find the most suitable arrangement that works for the horses and their owners.
I suppose I am risking something going wrong now but I really cannot remember the last time I had a field injury, the last was a minor cut, no veterinary treatment required for that which was over 2 years ago, settled horses do not fight, when adding a new one if done sensibly will be a reasonably calm non event.
If the YM is going to continue messing about even if the yard suits it may be best to look elsewhere before your horse ends up more seriously injured, winter will potentially be worse if there is no grass and hay is restricted.

Sounds very sensible, I don't like chopping and changing as I do think that I can cause issues and the horses only do what's natural in regards to a pecking order.
 

Merlod

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On my yard we only have two large fields, it's geldings only because it always has been, and I think throwing a mare in may cause total havoc and I am not prepared to split up the turnout so we just don't take mares. It's in the liveries contract that I require 24 hours notice of any new horses so that other liveries can take their horses out the field/boot up if necessary. And then the new horse always goes in the other field so they can meet over the fence line first. I don't think your YO is running your yard very well and I would be annoyed if that happened to my horse, however it has happened, so perhaps have a calm talk with the YO and request that they notify you of any pending changes/new additions to turnout so you have the option to remove your horse/boot him up/ or request an alternative next time or if it happens again they will be paying the vets bill.
 

rachk89

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Maybe you should all try and get a meeting with the YM and tell her to put it back to how it was or she can start paying for vet bills. Failing that maybe get everyone together and move the horses back to how they were. You are all diy after all so can do what you want with the horses. Will take her a while to put it back to how she wants it so might not bother.

Only changes to the geldings field where i am lately is to add a couple of ponies to it. The only horse this affected was mine and all he did was get way too excited and nosy and ended up i think kicking himself. Only a small cut and no lameness so no issue. Those two ponies have been completely ignored by the main herd too feel a bit sorry for them.

To be honest too my horse is the only one that ever comes in with injuries but i have to place most of the blame on him for that because if he didn't wander around irritating the other horses he wouldn't be bitten so much. Think he did get kicked once as he has a lump on his leg now that refuses to go away. But again no lameness and no more soreness to it after treating.
 
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ironhorse

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Most yards that I have been associated with recently graze mares and geldings separately because it causes less arguments - I know this can be an inconvenient if one owner has a mare and a gelding (as we had for a while) but would far rather they are safe and avoid uneccessary vets bills. Maintaining the herd dynamics is important too as you say - at a RS where we were on livery they had a young pony who was turned out just once or twice a week whereas the others went out every other day (winter on clay soil hence the slightly odd system) and understandably she caused havoc! We didn't stay there long...
 

zaminda

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You say yard manager rather than owner so is there an owner you can talk to? I would talk to the other owners and then go to her and say as you are all diy that you would rather she left you to do it yourself. If she keeps interfering I would move.
 

Makemineacob

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Maybe you should all try and get a meeting with the YM and tell her to put it back to how it was or she can start paying for vet bills. Failing that maybe get everyone together and move the horses back to how they were. You are all diy after all so can do what you want with the horses. Will take her a while to put it back to how she wants it so might not bother.

Only changes to the geldings field where i am lately is to add a couple of ponies to it. The only horse this affected was mine and all he did was get way too excited and nosy and ended up i think kicking himself. Only a small cut and no lameness so no issue. Those two ponies have been completely ignored by the main herd too feel a bit sorry for them.

To be honest too my horse is the only one that ever comes in with injuries but i have to place most of the blame on him for that because if he didn't wander around irritating the other horses he wouldn't be bitten so much. Think he did get kicked once as he has a lump on his leg now that refuses to go away. But again no lameness and no more soreness to it after treating.

It would be very unlikely that a conversation with the YM to "put things back how they were or she starts paying the vets bill" would be a clever thing to do, poor advice to the OP!

OP, you need to decide whether you feel a polite conversation with the YM will work, perhaps you could come up with a suggestion to have your boy put in with a stable herd as it's obviously causing issues with the current setup. Otherwise, if you feel that things are unlikely to change (which it does sound like from your post) then you may need to consider looking for a different yard that manages their turnout in a way that would be more appropriate to your boy.
 
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