Yard change...but when?

[PinkvSantaboots]

He sounds like his got a good brain I like a clever horse that why I like Arab's never met a dumb one yet.

The Spanish horses are definitely a breed I like I rode a few stallions years ago and loved them.

What was your plans for him when his ridden?

 

[CanteringCarrot]

He sounds like his got a good brain I like a clever horse that why I like Arab's never met a dumb one yet.

The Spanish horses are definitely a breed I like I rode a few stallions years ago and loved them.

What was your plans for him when his ridden?

Dressage and working equitation. We'll dabble in some light jumping if he takes a liking to it. My last one found it interesting for variety. We'll of course hack quite a bit too.

In theory he should have strengths where my last one had weaknesses if I did this right as in, he naturally has an extended trot!

I'd have to see if I actually like him as a ridden horse though! If not, he will be marketable, I think.

 

[sport horse]

He is 2! He is a baby. He does not need to see more things going on. He does not need to be in a yard with more events - ie more horses coming and going & more germs for a young horse to pick up. Leave him be. Change next spring when yu are ready to back him.

I have bred horses for many decades and I have never had to feed minerals, vitamins etc etc. Just good grassand hay/haylage ad lib. My horses are out there competing at up to international level so they have matured OK?!

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I have bred horses for many decades and I have never had to feed minerals, vitamins etc etc. Just good grassand hay/haylage ad lib. My horses are out there competing at up to international level so they have matured OK?!

Honestly, it's probably just marketing from the equine feed/supplement industry that I'm feeling! Then you get all of the knowledge, opinions, and threads on various horse forums/boards. Then me over thinking about his development.

The hay is a good quality mix, and the grass here seems to test higher in protein too. He did receive some sort of young horse feed at the breeder until he was 1.5 years old and came over here. Current YO mainly feeds "grains" or feed as needed. If horses lose weight, a cold snap, or whatever. There's always hay 24/7. You'll never find a horse without hay at this yard, except if grass is very good and plentiful, even then though..

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Thanks again for being a sounding board guys. I am going to still visit this yard again soon to see if it's worth moving to/keeping in the running. If not, I will visit another that's 45 min away that's quite similar in what they offer, but oddly more expensive, which is fine, really, but I'd like to keep him as close to home as possible.

Some may have a wait list, or allow me to slide into a spot after a winter boarder leaves, so that's why I'm looking now.

 

[SEL]

It's good to plan for the future but your current place sounds ok for a baby. If you can't get there he'll be fed & someone will shout if there's a leg hanging off - both of which give me sleepless nights if I can't check on mine.

Stabling can make youngsters quite irritable so the longer you can leave that the better IMO

You're sounding more positive about horses & your location which is good. Not great ending up somewhere which isn't brilliant especially as it wasn't your choice....

 

[CanteringCarrot]

He's obviously miserable at his current place and starved

 

[Northern Hare]

Looking at the photo, I'd personally say to stay for the winter, he looks very happy there! It's a really good idea though to visit the other yard as you're planning to do, you never know you may discount it? Then you can plan for the spring, and look further afield at other yards if necessary.

Also ref yards being "full", I think once you've visited the yard, if the YO sees you as a potentially good livery owner - and someone they'll see fitting into the yard community, spaces do come available, even though it's technically "full" for others.

Ps. I'm fascinated about that giant lollypop on the horizon in the photo, is that a water tower?

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Looking at the photo, I'd personally say to stay for the winter, he looks very happy there! It's a really good idea though to visit the other yard as you're planning to do, you never know you may discount it? Then you can plan for the spring, and look further afield at other yards if necessary.

Also ref yards being "full", I think once you've visited the yard, if the YO sees you as a potentially good livery owner - and someone they'll see fitting into the yard community, spaces do come available, even though it's technically "full" for others.

Ps. I'm fascinated about that giant lollypop on the horizon in the photo, is that a water tower?

Yeah, that's a water tower.

Speaking of water, it's so incredibly dry here!

I'm visiting the new yard on Sunday.

 

[sportsmansB]

I wouldn't move to being stabled for a longer stretch until he is doing some proper work to tire out mind and body
He has a long enough life in front of him of stables and working
Also the less fresh he is when you start the work the better, until he understands

 

[CanteringCarrot]

He also looks obese in the photo he doesn't look soo bad in person. Everytime he looks fat, seemingly 2 days later he trims down and there's a growth spurt.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Came back here with a wee update. I visited the "new" yard yesterday. Had to delay my visit because I was ill.

So, I think it'd be a good fit. Their routine is solid in that the horses are out for 8 or more hours a day with one other horse in a field. In the summer they are usually on nighttime turnout. Their fencing is nice. There is hay in the fields in the winter and they're trying to manage the grazing well so that there will be enough grass in each field. Can be difficult because we are forever in a drought here.

Indoor and outdoor schools are suitable.

My only reservations are that they use so little bedding in the stables and when I asked if I could add or buy more they said no because then, "the poop and wet gets buried/hidden" and I'm like, well, that's why you do some sitting or turning with a pitchfork. It sounds like they just want to easily scoop, add a dusting of bedding, and move along. The barn, even with doors closed (cold and windy) did not smell of pee or poop though. She was possibly open to more bedding if a horse gets hock sores. I'm just bothered by it.

So many horses are on a variety of supplements which makes me wonder. However, people in the US can get a bit supplement happy. He might not have 24/7 access to hay, as he may runout by morning, but being an easy keeper type, it might not be the end of the world. He's spoiled now with hay 24/7 and he's also allowed to use it as a bed.

They're creating more fields, and an obstacle course, which is neat, and you can ride around the property a bit. It's a blend of different disciplines there. I even met someone from England that's keeping a horse there at the moment. Also another woman from Canada that has lived in Holland, so with the addition of myself, we can have a nice little international community. Barn company isn't a huge deal to me though, and I'm fine with my "loner" livery lifestyle I have now (I'm one of 2 liveries).

It's just that bedding thing.

They do rug changes. You have to buy your own feed (fine). The place is well kept.

No one lives on site, but that's not a deal breaker for me, personally.

I am going to look at one a bit further out, but these drive times kill me. Just not enough hours in the day!

 

[sportsmansB]

Are the stable floors super soft like cow mattresses rather than just matting?
If I'm honest that would bother me too, and I have been on enough yards to have had to have been flexible about various things. If i could pay for more and maybe dig it out myself a couple of times a week with them just skipping out and tidying up I might go for it? I like horses to be able to feel they can lie down in comfort

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Are the stable floors super soft like cow mattresses rather than just matting?
If I'm honest that would bother me too, and I have been on enough yards to have had to have been flexible about various things. If i could pay for more and maybe dig it out myself a couple of times a week with them just skipping out and tidying up I might go for it? I like horses to be able to feel they can lie down in comfort

From what I can see the floors are just mats over dirt, I think. She will not just "skip out" because she's fixated on all pee and poo being throughly removed...but they don't want to dig around in the stable to do it, I guess. They just seemed inflexible on me bringing in or paying for more bedding. Unless my horse was like bleeding from sleeping on the floor. I have no idea why they are so weird about that one thing. I think it's human convenience and cost, maybe. They did raise their board by $75ish, I think, since last year. Their price is still quite fair though, and it was understandable due to the price of hay.

It's just so hard here. Which is why I was and still am so strongly leaning toward selling him after he's backed.

 

[ihatework]

I’d leave him out where he is until spring. I wouldn’t want to be starting a 2 coming 3 year old over winter and stabled more. Do it in the nice weather and when grazing access is better

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I’d leave him out where he is until spring. I wouldn’t want to be starting a 2 coming 3 year old over winter and stabled more. Do it in the nice weather and when grazing access is better

Oh, I am leaving him. I'm just shopping for springtime. The YO at the place I looked at understood that. It's just that some places have a wait list, so it's best to start now or reserve a spot that will be free when a winter livery leaves.

 

[Michen]

FWIW None of the horses at my current barn have sores and they are on the same dusting of bedding (except Boggle of course).

Can you offer to pay extra for the extra time to muck out? Or deep clean yourself? I have laid a foundation of wood pellets with thick shavings on top so they only need to take out the poo and I do the rest once or twice a week... but I can see that it is more hassle for them. And also more on the "muck heap" which is actually a skip that gets removed once a week, doesn't seem common to spread it here or anything.

 

[Michen]

Sorry just read your above post. Damn.

Do the stalls have runs? As then he will most likely be in that the majority of the time anyway?

 

[ycbm]

Came back here with a wee update. I visited the "new" yard yesterday. Had to delay my visit because I was ill.

So, I think it'd be a good fit. Their routine is solid in that the horses are out for 8 or more hours a day with one other horse in a field. In the summer they are usually on nighttime turnout. Their fencing is nice. There is hay in the fields in the winter and they're trying to manage the grazing well so that there will be enough grass in each field. Can be difficult because we are forever in a drought here.

Indoor and outdoor schools are suitable.

My only reservations are that they use so little bedding in the stables and when I asked if I could add or buy more they said no because then, "the poop and wet gets buried/hidden" and I'm like, well, that's why you do some sitting or turning with a pitchfork. It sounds like they just want to easily scoop, add a dusting of bedding, and move along. The barn, even with doors closed (cold and windy) did not smell of pee or poop though. She was possibly open to more bedding if a horse gets hock sores. I'm just bothered by it.

So many horses are on a variety of supplements which makes me wonder. However, people in the US can get a bit supplement happy. He might not have 24/7 access to hay, as he may runout by morning, but being an easy keeper type, it might not be the end of the world. He's spoiled now with hay 24/7 and he's also allowed to use it as a bed.

They're creating more fields, and an obstacle course, which is neat, and you can ride around the property a bit. It's a blend of different disciplines there. I even met someone from England that's keeping a horse there at the moment. Also another woman from Canada that has lived in Holland, so with the addition of myself, we can have a nice little international community. Barn company isn't a huge deal to me though, and I'm fine with my "loner" livery lifestyle I have now (I'm one of 2 liveries).

It's just that bedding thing.

They do rug changes. You have to buy your own feed (fine). The place is well kept.

No one lives on site, but that's not a deal breaker for me, personally.

I am going to look at one a bit further out, but these drive times kill me. Just not enough hours in the day!

Will she let you buy a set of really thick EVA mats to go on top of the ones that are there? The EVA mats are the ones that are genuinely soft enough for the horse to lie on. I still don't like minimal bedding in a stable but those mats make it just about OK.
.

 

[Michen]

I think if it was me I'd say my horse got sores before blah blah blah and throw money at the situation, offer them an extra 100 a month or something.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Will she let you buy a set of really thick EVA mats to go on top of the ones that are there? The EVA mats are the ones that are genuinely soft enough for the horse to lie on. I still don't like minimal bedding in a stable but those mats make it just about OK.
.

Oh that's an interesting alternative solution. Thanks! I'll look into that.

I think if it was me I'd say my horse got sores before blah blah blah and throw money at the situation, offer them an extra 100 a month or something.

That's basically what I said, and she said no. She did say if we actually see that the horse is having a problem here, we will do what the horse needs then. I thought she was going to get into hock boots/guards for a min.

Just throwing money at some YO's really doesn't always work in my experience. I've had this experience once before with hay in the US.

 

[Bobthecob15]

Ugh sounds like a cost saving and convenience for them thing having no bedding… quicker to muck out for them that way. I really dislike it as it discourages horses from laying down at night. They sound pretty inflexible to me, sets of alarm bells for me personally

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I'm moving him this Friday and I'm stressin!

Just a lot of unknowns. How he will cope with being in a stable at night instead of out 24/7. How he will do with others handling him. What type of shenanigans will occur. What will his new fieldmate be like.

If this doesn't workout he can go back to where he is now (I'm welcome back at any time), or I can drive 50 min one way to another place I looked it. I'd love to keep my drive time down to 40 min though! It just adds up.

I do like that I'll have a little more control over his feeding now, so he will have some better nutrition. Although, he's done just fine on pretty much an exclusively grass and hay diet. I also like the prospect of being able to just handwalk on some trails right on the property.

I'm thinking I probably could've waited a few more months, but I've already committed. Of course there will be a clinic going on the day after I move him there. In general there will be more action at this place and where he is now is very quiet. So I am imagining a lot of "big eyes" from him.

It's actually a suitable progression for him as he moves closer to being a ridden horse and moves along in his training, and he might like more going on, who knows. He's a curious type.

He will be on Aloe Vera for this move for sure... And maybe I will be too

I'm just hoping that the move is good for us.

 

[ihatework]

I’m sure he will be fine, you’ve already said upthread he is a relatively adaptive/amenable type.

It’s good for them to be handled by others, life skills! Maybe it will show some gaps but that’s no bad thing. His life will go easier if he can do stuff for people other than you!

Have fun, I love the 3yo training phase

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I’m sure he will be fine, you’ve already said upthread he is a relatively adaptive/amenable type.

It’s good for them to be handled by others, life skills! Maybe it will show some gaps but that’s no bad thing. His life will go easier if he can do stuff for people other than you!

Have fun, I love the 3yo training phase

That's what I'm thinking too. It's pretty much been me, OH, and the BO's daughter (on occasion) as far as interaction goes for the past year or so.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Yard change complete. Caused me a lot of anxiety, probably for no good reason it's a big change though.

He's settling in pretty well all things considered. He's actually a good little horse. Most "issues" are due to greeness (he's hardly 3 years old) and I'm impressed with his bravery a lot of the time.

So my anxiety is still there, but it's eased just a bit.

 

[Michen]

He’s a dude