Yard Environment for a Youngster - Advice

[asterid]

I have a 4 year old ex racer that I re-trained over the summer and has a 2 months off due to my knee op. So need to start again. However......

The yard I am at is very very busy. 50+ horses and always something going on, tractors, horses in and out all hours of the day. The outdoor school is very spooky for even the oldest well behaved horses. It is right next to a busy road with heavy vehicles and cars going past. Also has a shingle track of big stones that horses are lead over and people walk over. The fencing is too high too see over, but not high enough for the horses to behave. The indoor school is ok, but we can't use it very often as it is booked from 3pm-9pm. During the morning I sneak in where I can.

The yard itself is always bustling with people, tractors, clipping throughout the day and general hubub. The yard is busy from 07.30-9pm everyday. I can never seem to find a quiet time unless I go up at 5am!

I have had youngsters before and been on quiet yards and they have always worked well and the days they didn't I put down to being 4 or 5 years old. They all went on to compete sucessfully.

So.......getting to my point, is it good to train them with all this noise going on so they get used to it, but it takes longer for any good work. Or move to a quiet yard where I can train my horse is peace and quiet then gradually add in more goings on?

Yard a (current yard)
- Indoor school - limited use and if we book it we have to pay £20 (still noises outside as next to outdoor school)
- Spooky outdoor that is no good to man nor beast.
-Ok ish hacking
- All year turnout but have to be in for 6 hours in summer.
- 3 miles from home.
- Fairly cheap (115) and friend does one end of the day.

Yard b (a yard I used to be at a couple of years ago, but left as horse sold)
- Large outdoor, not spooky and floodlit
- Large stables
- only 16 horses
-24/7 turnout in summer
- 11 miles from home
- ok ish hacking
- Costs slightly more (120) But will have to pay someone one end of the day so extra 70?)
- Quiet and noone around during the day.

Help, I am going mad! I really liked my old yard (yard b), so have put my name down for a stable, but it is weighing up extra cost and travel against being able to work my horse in quietness.

Mince pies for those that help me sort out my head. Thank you

 

[MerrySherryRider]

I moved from a lovely 50 + horse yard with great facilities to a small yard with 24 TO and 11 horses. Its quiet and horses are much more settled and seem so much happier and easier to ride.
Busy yards are great for exposing horses to lots of activity but sometimes constant bustle is a stressful environment in which to live.
The downside of a quiet yard is that often I'm alone and when riding my youngster, there's no one around if things go pear shaped, or when hacking alone, no one knows that I'm out. Still prefer the quiet yard because the horses are so much more chilled.

 

[peanut]

Busy yards are great for exposing horses to lots of activity but sometimes constant bustle is a stressful environment in which to live.

My horse has purposefully been raised from the age of 3 on a busy yard and she has thrived on it.

She now doesn't bat an eyelid to tractors/machinery/children/noise etc etc.

The down side is that I think she'd be unhappy anywhere too quiet as she adores company - both human and equine.

 

[FairyLights]

From reading your post it seems that you would prefer to go to the quieter yard. The problem seems to be the distance from home and extra costs involved because of this.
Can you afford it? Personally I find it useful to have someone else to do the horses so I can do other things, eg work, go out , so if you can afford it I'd say go for it.

 

[fidleyspromise]

If the horse was older/tended to be calmer then I'd be happy in a big yard (like my 8yr old horse) however, with my youngster, I think I'd continually go backwards with her if she was on a big, noisy yard as she is very nervy. I'm on a small yard and getting her confidence up so that when she is intorduced to new things etc, we already have a bond.

I was on a yard that had 50+ horses, people around all the time, but it was away from any road and youngsters did very well on this yard. I would hesitate to go to a yard like the first one you have described, though this is just my humble opinion. If you can afford to go for the old yard, then I would!

One of the girls on my current yard has found her ex-racehorse chilled much more once moved to the quiter yard.

Hoe you get sorted out x

 

[millitiger]

i would go to Yard 2.

I think i have the best of both worlds- there are only 6 liveries at the yard but as we are at a UK Chasers course we get lots of people coming to use the facilities, a working farm 100m away and also get PC camps with horses staying over for the week.

it is the perfect mix as i can decide when i want to start to introduce the youngsters to things on home turf and it has done them the world of good.

 

[asterid]

Thanks, I think I had already made my mind up to move, just need reassurance. Your thoughts and advice are always appreciated, it helps when making important decisions.

Although my mare is quite chilled, I have a nagging feeling all the time. I can't quite put my finger on it. She is fine in her stable and in the field and good with all the tractors and other odd vehicles that are about (tanks!) apart from when in school. I just get the feeling that overall she isn't quite settled and I have put it down to the fact that there is always something going on and they never get any peace!

Thanks guys, as soon as my old yard has a space, Im off!In the meantime, I will use the indoor when free and some hacking.

Phew! I can sleep easy now.

 

[Spyda]

Just wanted to say I'd probably move to yard 2 too, even if you planned to move back to yard A at a later date. Sounds like your mare needs to recoup and be able to concentrate on establishing a relationship with you. The quieter yard would enable this to happen more readily. Once you know each other and have things established, maybe move back again if you still wanted to.

Good luck with her