Yard Dilema

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LovesBayPonies

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Hi there, :)
I have recently moved my pony to a new yard, have been there for a month now. The yard is really nice the people are lovely, horses too :) YO is a treasure and my pony is very happy and chilled out. There is just one problem. The arena is terrible, very deep and pony hates it! It has been driven over with tractor in an attempt to flatten it but it has only got worse. I am aiming to compete my pony in dressage and jumping but now i have nowhere to jump at all and schooling is just as bad. Riding him means a lot to me :o and i am missing jumping and properly schooling terribly. He also is getting rather portly as I am not riding him enough :( So now I don't know what to do, I really like the yard but cant hack not riding anymore. Have thought about hiring another nearby arena, but we pay in our livery costs for use of arena and really cant afford to pay to use another one. Should I leave and find another yard, when pony is so happy?? I'm a bit lost at the mo :(
 
Is the Y/O approachable - could you maybe broach the subject with them? Does anyone else ride - it may be that others have similar issues and you could, as a group, speak to the Y/O.

I guess it depends what else is available in your area? Could you find a yard that has a better arena but still ticks all the other boxes?

It's a tricky situation - ultimately, you need to be somewhere that meets both yours and the horses needs or is a good compromise!

Hope you get something sorted!
 
With so many things sounding perfect at the yard, I would probably stay and pay to hire an arena locally....if there is one close enough. Hopefully at some point the yard will improve theirs, its so expensive to replace the surface they might be saving up. When we bought our place the arena was unuseable and it took a few years to save up for a new surface...I hacked to a local riding school and hired theirs once a week, theirs was cheaper than most of the other livery yards. Not great but if you've got nice fellow liveries, good turnout and a helpful YO and horse is happy I think that is too much to give up.
 
It sounds as if the drainage is very poor.

Could you all not get together with the YO and ask if a trench could be dug all around the arena and back filled with stone to take a lot of the water away. It could easily be done with a small digger in a couple of days.
 
Thank you for your replies, :) we have all complained about the arena and driving over it with a tractor seemed to be the solution. The drainage is quite good and its quite dry in there but the surface is made up of some sort of mulch stuff, a bit like ground up wood chippings ( please excuse my terrible description I really don't know what it is :o ) There is a lot in there too, making it really deep, even my little pony sinks about three or four inches with every step. :eek: Also I am a nervous hacker (working on it :o ) and and having to hack to an arena every time I would like to ride bothers me a little, an awful excuse I know. :D But he is mostly stabled 24/7 at the moment as he has completely trashed his field ( It is not very big) He doesn't mind being stabled as long as he is worked every day. Hence my dilemma, not having useable turnout AND no arena is getting a bit difficult. :confused:
:)
 
Can they take some surface off? A ton or two? We had to remove surface (rubber&fibresand) off ours when we first bought the place,as it was v deep and hadn't had much use up to then.
 
Awkward :( I can completely see your point of view and understand your dilemma, however, looking at it as a YO s/he has a dilemma too.

Repairing/resurfacing an arena will, in all likelihood, cost thousands, and quite often YO's live from hand to mouth covering running costs and normal maintenance, and simply do not have that sort of ready cash floating about (as someone said) It may be that they would love to do this work for you but just can't afford to.
 
I completely understand that it would cost a lot to resurface and am not expecting them to have to do this, apparently the arena has been like it for years. I do not expect it to suddenly be fixed, but I have to think of whether it is suitable for me and my pony. The more I think about it the more I don't think long term it will be the right place, but have no plans to up sticks tomorrow and shall perhaps take it as an opportunity to work on other areas. I appreciate very much everyone's advice on here it is very nice to hear impartial views. :)
 
Although the yard and people are lovely, it isn't providing two important functions. Your pony doesn't have grazing at the moment and therefore has to be stabled- and the school is dangerous.
I was at a similar yard, it was really lovely, owners were great and facilities were perfect except the lack of winter turnout and prolonged periods of 24/7 stabling - and the menages were so badly surfaced that there were many injuries - some quite serious and more than a few required emergency vet treatment.

As you aren't a confident hacker, the school is even more important for you both. My advice would be to look somewhere else, you could be enjoying your pony and actually riding safely without worrying about tendons and falls.
I still remember fondly my old yard and the people but I'm so very glad I didn't stay.
 
LovesBayPonies said:
Hi there, :)
I have recently moved my pony to a new yard, have been there for a month now. The yard is really nice the people are lovely, horses too :) YO is a treasure and my pony is very happy and chilled out. There is just one problem. The arena is terrible, very deep and pony hates it! It has been driven over with tractor in an attempt to flatten it but it has only got worse. I am aiming to compete my pony in dressage and jumping but now i have nowhere to jump at all and schooling is just as bad. Riding him means a lot to me :o and i am missing jumping and properly schooling terribly. He also is getting rather portly as I am not riding him enough :( So now I don't know what to do, I really like the yard but cant hack not riding anymore. Have thought about hiring another nearby arena, but we pay in our livery costs for use of arena and really cant afford to pay to use another one. Should I leave and find another yard, when pony is so happy?? I'm a bit lost at the mo :(
Click to expand...

you could suggest to her to take the a layer off the school surface and place it over a stony area or unbalanced grounds.


or in fact she could make a round pen with the surface she takes up.

or move yards its your choice
 
Its is a shame but if you cant ride your pony then find another yard.

maybe speak to yard owner about your problem, do other liveries feel the same?

If they could sort the surface problem out then you could stay but it obviously will cost the yard owner money that they may not want to spend!
 
Hi, well tomorrow the farmer is going to take out some of the surface from round the edge to see if it works, farmer thinks its so bad it might not work, but worth a try. So we will see! If it works then great, I will stay, but if not then I think it shall be time to look for another yard. Thanks again for your input :) :) fingers crossed :D
 
From what you say the only way to sort out this arena as to completely remove it and start from scratch again.
If owner not preparted to do it then move.
 
Riding on a deep and uneven surface is not good for the horse:eek:It can cause lots of problems. Better to have a sound horse than a field ornament. If I was in your situation, especially as you want to keep the horse fit and to compete, I would move yards.
 
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