Yard Owners. Your turn. Gripes about liveries.

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the same 'fairy' that jumps off the xmas tree and does all the horses on xmas day whilst the rest of the world that has horses on full livery are getting pissed

i.e. me - who ironically doens't close the yard on xmas day !!

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Presumably you have full liveries by choice and they pay you for this service? If you object to doing it so much why not only have DIY and then you can have days off?
 
nope I do like them a lot

but I do find it interesting that people don't seem to consider in any way that YOs are humans that can get sick, need to goto doctors, dentist, whatever and do actually care about the horses in their care (or at lesat this one does).

I don't 'tar full liveries' at all - what I was surprised at was the reaction to a YO having 4 days 'off' a year (as it happens to goto hospital) - very illuminating tbh when most people these days think nothing of having horses and still going off for weeks and weekends of holidays, etc, i.e. leaving their horses for weeks on end and then throwing toys out of pram for being not allowed up for about 5 hours in my case

most illuminating tbh and following on from another poster above about liveries not respecting a 9pm closure time I think it does show that there are an awful lot of liveries out there of all sorts that fail to consider that their YOs are human beings as well...........

When I was a livery - like you by the sounds of it - I was there every day - except my yard was shut on xmas day when I most wanted to give my horses their xmas pressies - so my yard is now always open on xmas day
 
When I worked in a riding school/livery yard, we would never have DIY , did try it, said horses are given breakfast between 6.30/7am the DIY'ers would turn up at ten am to me that is far to long considering they bedded them down for night at 4.30pm ended up replenishing hay water etc when checked ours at 9.30pm, we did part livery where we did everything apart from exercise and groom, horses were turned out at 8/8.30am , on weekends we didn't mind owners ringing to say they were comin to ride at 9 could we leave horse in, what was annoying is that they would then turn up at 11.30 am by the time they groomed and rode they be back at around 1.30 with the horse to hot to go out, the horses used to come in at two pm in winter (they didn't want to stay out longer) tehn complain cos their horse didn't go out that day! another annoying thing was they would book the vet to come and do injections etc and ring you in the morning to tell you even though they had known for a week before hand, they didn't seem to think you might have other plans and it wasn't convient at that particular time (if we had known the week before it could be sorted!) plus they never were there when vet came, I did sometimes wonder why they had horses in the first place,
They were also the most untidy lot going, leave their tack room looking like a pigsty! clean feet out on yard (after it had ben swept) and not pick up the mess
 
Hi Airedale, I think that people may be confussed, not with you having a day off but more that Why cant they visit their horse if you not there? i.e. Do you not allow people onto your yard if your not there?
 
I go to my horse everyday, except of course when I am on holiday when I pay the YO to look after him for that time. I would not go to a yard where there were any restrictions as toy the times and days I could go and ride, that said I would not expect the YO to be there every minute of everyday and I would be surprised if other people do expect that.
 
if you read the post above you would find that the 'days off' are actually to goto hospital and the horses are done both before and after my appt. however as it is tiring and the times are never kept to under our wonderful nhs i have no choice but to shut the yard

now if I could get the NHS to guarantee and appt. time and actually stick to it...........

..........and how many pigs was that I saw flying past the window...!!

and I don't 'object' - I'm merely stating a fact - that whilst the world parties on xmas day - some people are still working - including all the emergency servie people, the nurses, etc etc etc and these
 
nope - yard is totally locked and alarmed and the dogs let loose as there would be no-one on site - part of yard security - and no-one is ever given keys

also I have livereis who are office workers mon-friday - so a monday is a working day for them and my hospital appt. are not going to be on bank holiday mondays

I do find it interesting this 'fuss' though - as if YOs are not people themselves and that horse owners are apparently down every day to see their horses - I've seen plenty of posts on here from DIYers who are supposed to be down every day wanting holiday livery cover

so what I'm saying is I'm surprised at the reaction to someone having a yard closed 4 days a year on a monday (when most horses are ridden on a sunda and sat. so aren't going to be mad fresh on tuesday) for a medical reason when the horse owners themselves are quite happy to have long weekends away and 2 and 3 week holidays abroad

interesting phychologically
 
i know, a complete nightmare! I have had some DIY liveries that just didn't turn up AT ALL to do their horse on Xmas day! What on earth makes them think that they don't need to go up on that day unlike all the others?? Obviously a YO's day off is not the same as a livery's day off because we still have to do all the horses am and pm but are just not at their beck and call in between!
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That's where your yard rules can step in. I state to all that if they are not down 8am and haven't informed me otherwise, then I will turn their horse out and charge them for it. Again, I can't stand seeing horses standing in poo with nothing to pick on so someone can have a lie in. They can have a lie in by all means - just as long as they have organised their horse to be done!
 
Poo picking the arena.
Paying late.
Knocking on the door when they can obviously see you eating your evening meal as a family.
Not sweeping up their own mess.
Asking for help when their horse goes potty, you fixing it and explaining why it happened, then them ignoring the advice totally and getting in exactly the same mess again..
Stealing hay.
Stealing feed.
Borrowing items of tack and then forgetting to ever give them back.
Oh I could go on for ever, but many of mine stayed with me for over 10 years so obviously I can't have been that bad a YO!!
Now my all liveries bar one all live miles away and are no trouble.
The one we have knows how things work and always pays on the dot, clears up after herself 90% of the time and is always around in a crisis..
The days of having 15 of them fighting and argueing amongst themselves are thankfully long gone..
I think many livery clients should spend a week as a YO, then they would realise why we have to have some rules and can't produce perfect green fields for everyone all of the time..
The best advice I would give a YO starting out is be firm but fair, state what is espected of the clients and what they get in return, and don't have favourites.
Ignore any gossip however tempting, and allocate grazing equally to all liveries.
(then go and buy a large bottle of brandy, some earplugs, a huge vet kit to supply the liveries who don't have one in a crisis, and be prepared to be a combination of wise Aunt, Samaritan, mediator and friend...
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At my yard, Xmas day and boxing day is the complete opposite !! Yard is open shortened hours (I think last was 8 - 2 or 3pm) they get fed and turned out as normal by YO but DIYs and Full Liveries alike have to muck out their own horses on that day ! So YO actually encourages more people onto yard (weird but good I guess) I'm Assisted DIY so have to muck out 365 days anyway - is noval seeing Full Liveries mucking out their own !!!
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(and theres a queue for the wheelbarrows!! ............
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yeah and then they moan when you charge them/come up with an excuse why they are late/moan because you turn their horse out and they want to ride!! I obviously wasn't hard enough!
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When we ran livery I had no good points to put forwards about them, apart from one woman who used to be a YO so understood it. In the end the liveries used to get to me when mum wasnt around, which was a lot of the time after she sold Bincs, so after one particularly awful day when the barrows were left full, hay blown all over yard, straw abandoned in yard and one woman turning her horse out into the area WHILST I was riding in it I blew my top. I got off the horse calmly, put it into its stable and rugged it up, got the barrow of muck and emptied it into her stable, fetched the horse from the arena and turned it into the field where it should have been turned, picked all the rugs slumped on the floor, disgarded crap, headcollars, empty feed bags etc and dumped then in the middle of the yard. Mum could see I was mad and I then said quite calmly:
"Very very very last straw, you treat this place like a doss house."
And the next week they all left. I was 15 and at the time quite mature but we didnt need the agro any more, living on a livery yard is hell, people coming back from shows late at night and waking the family up..they dont realise you have a life of your own to live.
 
some would insist on knocking on the door (which would set the the dogs off) when they could plainly see I would be cooking dinner/sitting down eating (they could see into the kitchen through the window), and then proceed to have a "quick word" which lasted around 1/2 hour while the evening meal burnt! admittedly this wasn't everyone just the odd pain the neck!! (and was also when I had been outside 10 minutes earlier and was obviously around for a "quick word.") I don't do it anymore. Hurrah!!
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This topic IS interesting! Mainly in that alot of YOs are really, the owners! Have been used to alot of yards where the owners are never to be seen, and the head girl/slave does most of the work (ie me and co-workers!) I can understand from both points of view. My last yard was a DIY yard where the owners and their family lived on site , lovely really except for some certain people -ADULTS! who think that the world revolves around them..especially when it comes down to little things..gah.
Can understand Airedale's point of days off, current yard is run solely by the YO but I do odd mornings/days/entire fortnight stretches to run the yard as she cannot get away from it, I like to think that its because I keep her sane that she sneaks me in to her full livery yard on DIY lol..
I know of your yard Airedale, is it just you on your own or do you have some form of help?
 
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so what I'm saying is I'm surprised at the reaction to someone having a yard closed 4 days a year on a monday (when most horses are ridden on a sunda and sat. so aren't going to be mad fresh on tuesday) for a medical reason when the horse owners themselves are quite happy to have long weekends away and 2 and 3 week holidays abroad

interesting phychologically

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Well your 1st post is clear to me now that you've said your liveries are all "Full liveries" and that your yard is locked up so they cant visit when your not there!
It got a bit confussing with not knowing if you had all types of liveries, and as to why they couldn't visit if your not there!
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All cleared up now and I agree with you!!
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precisely why I won't have DIYers - because I care for the horses as if they are all mine so I'd get stressed and upset about them being neglected and I don't like arguments full stop (not just about horses) so I'd hate the hassle of nagging the DIYer - so I just don't have them

I also like to have all the horses fed at the same time or at least given a part feed so they 'think they've had a meal' even if they've only had a couple of handfuls 'cos they're being worked.

this diy idea of horses fed at all hours is wrong for the horses - both those fed and those not fed

when I was diy - it was a rule that all the horses were fed by the YO at the same time and you HAD to pay for that - and if you didn't leave the feed out she'd know what your horse had and make it up from your own feed supply - that was another condition - you left a list of what feed your horse had with the YO

she wouldn't turn out - but then if the horse has been fed and had some hay then it's not suffereing by being in until the owner turns up
 
Can I say as a livery that our YO is absolutely fantastic, as is her husband and children. No complaints whatsoever from us with them - and hopefully they don't have any gripes with us liveries either. It is such a great fun atmosphere, with the emphasis on the horses being well and everyone enjoying them that it truly is home from home. Would be devastated to upset our YO in any way as they do so much for all of the liveries, and more importantly for the horses. We are all DIY but can have part or full livery for a day, a week, a month or forever if we wanted. Also YO will help out and do allsorts with no charge purely for the love of horses - and because of that nobody takes advantage and we all do the same for her and their horses.
 
Oh and I forgot to mention, you could guarantee if it was raining you would get half a dozen phone calls at about 4.30 saying i'm going to be delayed at work can you get my horse in for me please? Then they turn up no more than 5 minutes later than they usually would!

A funnier story of liveries: My mum got out of bed at 11pm once to go to the toilet and she was sat on the loo and she could see the menage lights were on, she thought bloomin liveries have left the lights on again, then she looked out the window and saw one particularly dotty (but quite harmless livery) riding in there!
 
yep - that's the sort of livery atmosphere that most YOs would like to have
I do lots for my liveries FOC including a lot with the PClub kids - including plaiting foc, course walking, entries, etc because the kids parents are not horsey at all and don't know what to do. I groom at the PC shows for the kids as well and that sort of atmosphere is what is nice to have around - where having fun, doing well at whatever the horses and riders are good at, healthy happy horses and a bit of a laugh is the norm

tbh my hate with yards is when I see them charging x and y for doing what should be part of the livery - like changing rugs or bringing in from field - should be part of the service
 
I ONCE had 8 liverys. It was absolute hell on earth! They were DIY which worked out fine for the first couple of months, then they all fell out! I always feel that the horses don't care who owns them - they want to get out/be fed with their pals. So I ended up feeding, turning out ect for no extra money - just because I was there and I love animals. There was one who used to turn up around 3pm on a saturday, she had left her ned at 4pm the previous day with a tiny haynet! Chucked them all out in the end, and much happier for it!
 
ohhhhh.....

as all the other have said
- not poo picking the arena, general untidyness and mess/crap left about
- liveries who feel the need to keep every rug/boot/brush and bucket outside their stable
- 'borrowing' tack/feed/bedding etc
- borrowing things from the first-aid cupboard (in the end i kept it locked and told all liveries they MUST have their own basic supplies!
- liveries that dont cut YM/Grooms slack for being human
- silly pedantic 'lists' and instructions left when people go away for a day or 2 - if i can run a yard im pretty sure i can look after your horse for a day! useful info YES, rug lists NO!
- liveries who treat me like dirt beacuse i 'work with horses' - just 'cos i dont work in the city doesnt mean im thick!! we are all good at different things! i ciouldnt do your job and you sure as hell couldnt do mine!!
- people who rock up at 2pm on a saturday when the horse has been left in all morning 'cos their to lazy to get up and turn it out.
- badly mannered horses all due to owners ignorance/pandering
- liveries asking for help and then ignoring suggestions - if you dont want the truth dont ask!

i could go on and on!!

that said the majority of my liveries were fab and i think as long as there are rules laid down from day one everyone can be kept happy and at the end of the day the horses come first!
 
Hmmm, well I had my horse on DIY for years but then got a full time job and had to go onto part livery. I'm at a wonderful yard that is absolutely immaculate and the rest of the liveries are lovely (massive waiting list so YO can pick and choose).

Anyway, while I realise not all liveries are capable of looking after their horses I thought I'd speak up for those of us that are. I rode rough dealing horses when I was growing up and have competed to a fairly high level on my own competition horses.

I think that some of the comments made by YO on here are fairly patronising towards their clients. A large proportion of my salary goes towards keeping my horse and I expect (and receive) a good service in return. I'm sure there are irritating liveries out there but surely if you talk to people when they do something wrong, a lot of these problems would disappear??? If not then just tell them to leave, problem solved. Good yards will never have empty boxes.
 
As some of you know I used to run a livery yard, most of my clients were very fair and nice people, I only had one DIY and she was great as she did help me a lot but wouldn't have had any more from my own experiences of DIY. The ILPH once said something about the level of neglect on those sorts of yards being a lot higher than on none DIY yards and it is easy to see why, people can be so lazy.
I always made sure that I saw the owners when they came up, told them if anything had gone on during the day, say if their horse came in with a cut and what I'd done about it etc etc. I always had cover if I was sick. To avoid the issue of late payment most were on standing orders with extras billed seperately, atleast this way I always got the bulk of the rent owed. However my main gripes were....
Being treated like a slave and feeling like I should not have a day off (this was partially due to groom who was not always 100% trustworthy to do all the work) or go competing. I did not see the problem if I gave notice and did the horses before I left and when I got back. And they were free to come up when they wanted to ride or see their horses.
Knocking on my door after I'd gone up for my dinner, hence burnt or no dinner those nights.
Mess - the yard was rented and the landlords lived next door and kept some of their horses on the yard so would get b*ollockings for that. I did try to tidy up but not much use is you've finished at 7 to go out to dinner and come back at 9 to see the yard in a state.
In general my liveries where a great bunch of people just spoilt by one or two that were unreasonable. Including one that despite all my efforts decided that I wasn't good enough, had left a long list of complaints most of which were not true and concocted by the people I shared the yard with that wanted to poach her. She left me to go to them and it hurt to see her horse left in his stable for hours on end with no hay and fed cow nuts, was not groomed for her (as I did) and often not around if she wanted to see them (she'd ask me where they were and had they exercised he horse, which they hadn't). They were into high class dressage horses and hence more appealing than me as I was a nobody just trying to care for my horses.
I was sad at the way I had to end it and would have done things differently, it was telling that those that were the best did understand when I had to close. But it did hurt when they were all stood round saying what about their horses, who I knew would be taken over by the other people on the yard when I had the prospect of no job, no house, no business, no money and no partner. Then to hear them laughing and joking with the other people who were just around the corner when they'd gone to ask them about moving livery.
TBH the best liveries I had were the full liveries and schooling liveries, they just left me to get on with my job and were always really pleased to see what I'd done with their horses.
 
QR - I totally agree with HH.

Airedale - Understand 100% and yes, you do deserve time off.

I think the problems YO have are due to them not making rules clear from day 1. If the liveries dont know where they stand or where the boundaries are, there will always be the ones who will over step the mark. By being firm (but nice) from the onset, hopefully the trouble makers and gossips will tread carefully and show respect.

My yard is mainly DIY, with part and a couple of full's. Its mainly the kids who leave crisp packets/bags/coke cans lying around. I walk through the yard each morning and anything lying on the floor gets chucked into their stables (all horses out 24/7 atm).

It took a while and drawing a few pictures on the notice board but they know how to manage a muck heap now. We even have one of the liveries policing it
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We have a great deal of comeraderie here as Sunnymum, Charliesmum and Bigscareyhaynet will tell you. There is absolutely no bitching at all and we all support each other with riding/horsey issues and competitions. At the moment we are trying to raise £1000 to pay a girls vet bill by doing a huge car boot, gymkhana, car wash and, one of our trainers has offered her services FoC for the day.

I truely believe that the most important job of the YO is PR, encouraging everyone and sponsoring good feeling. This may sound all pink and fluffy and idealist to some of you die-hard people, but it works well.

Airedale - your clients wouldnt be liveried with you if they were not happy with your service. Sounds like you work bloody hard, as do most of us with very little thanks. Most liveries dont know that we are out at all times of the day and night checking, worrying and careing. If ever I find myself looking for a livery yard, I hope its one like mine, or yours.
 
Actually I have to say that on the whole my liveries are rather nice people. I get on really well with them, I rarely have to tell them not to do things (mind you at my farm, pretty much anything goes as I am very laid back). Mine are a really good bunch.....


.......however on the other hand, they say that I am a really good yard owner. My farm is never closed; we are open to our horse owners 24/7, 365 days a year. No way would I ever tell my customers that they couldn't come and visit their horses (sorry Airedale; seems one of the most peculiar rules to me
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). My lot can do what they like, when they like and how they like.....and they do, however they are mostly considerate, but then they don't really have to do a whole lot. I hold for the farrier, I hold for the vet, I feed all horses, I groom all horses, I help them with any problems they have and I'll help teach them how to train their horse; they don't even have to come and see their horses from one week till the next if they don't want to or can't, as every horse on my yard is on Full Care. Once in a while they may take the odd liberty; this I don't mind too much so long as it isn't the same person taking the liberties all the time.

The only big gripe I have about a few of mine is that they hardly ever bloody pay on time!
 
god i must be lucky-i have my own section of field,stable and hay and bedding included.we also have a small sandschool which is shared between me and two other people!!! its a small diy yard and its very quiet, no one to argue with, we look out for each others horses.no rules,retrictions and the YO is very laid back. its open 24/7 ive been up at 4 am and 11pm to check on the horses no problem!
 
I don't get why people are so worked up about Airdale having to close four mondays a year. I am sure you would all get worked up if she left the place unlocked and it no one on it. It's four days a year - hardly a drama at all.

What people forget is:
When i have the flu - i do the horses
When i have a broken bone - i do the horses
When i came out of hospital the previous day - i did the horses
On bank holidays such as christmas and new years day - i do the horses
When it is pouring down with rain and freezeing cold - I do the horses
When it is over 40 degrees - i do the horses

People forget that everyday rain or shine no matter how you are you still do their horses. I know yards that are shut EVERY monday of the year as the yard makes it horses / coaches rest day.

I am sure not all of you see your horses EVERY SINGLE DAY. I enjoy doing what i do but it does get frustrating when i get left notes saying "Why is so and so wearing such and such a rug"
When the owner asked for that specific rug to be on.
 
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I think that some of the comments made by YO on here are fairly patronising towards their clients.

[/ QUOTE ] I agree! I had my horse on full livery for some years, not because I didn't want to look after it or didn't know how to, but because I had a demanding job in London and had to commute. So I thought it was much better for the horse to have a consistent routine with people around during the day than try to do it all myself and have the horse hanging around waiting to come in when I had to work late or a train was cancelled.

I now have my horses at home and do all the work myself, which I much prefer!
 
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