Yard owners

alligator40 said:
TBH, Liveries are a pain in the arse.
Want everything for nothing, bad mouth all and sundry, think they are always in the right, treat the yard like shyte, think that what they pay covers EVERYTHING and cannot really grasp the concept of DIY..and alledgedly know their rights..laughable really.
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I couldn't agree more! NEVER again!!!
I don't care who is desperate, how desperate they are, or how much they plead. And if I need a companion for my own horse that won't stay at home on its own, I'll bl**dy well buy one!
 
wow what a horrible post against liveries - some of us do respect our yards, our yos, other liveries - pay on time and try to be as non intrusive as possible - wow from reading these posts i realise im really really lucky i am where i am x
 
miss_bird said:
I have to say my ex-YO was a witch with a capital B, she did not have the balls to ask people anything so she would go around saying another livery had been saying this that and whatever else and it caused immense friction amonst liveries.
I had a horse in the field with PLE and instead of coming and asking me why i had one extremely skinny horse and all the rest had a good covering se rang the RSPCA, who came out and i happily showed them the horse (ok so they did not know what PLE was either) but they were more than happy with all the horse.
Yes after one too many blazing rows i left and it was not a day to blinking soon
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Lol, sounds like her! she wouldnt confront anyone, but if she had an issue (made one up in her head which was a molehill she had single handedly turned into a mountain) she would single someone out and tell them there had been complaints from 'other liveries'

She even caused a row between two liveries because livery A's tb used to rub his neck against the post outside livery B's stable and YM thought it was out of order behaviour because it might rub the paintwork off!

i reckon thats the only reason she did employ the polish girl, she could hardly speak english so wouldnt get fed up of all the bolax YM waffled on about.

No, YM thought she was god, YO was just a plank who only knew horsecare as being handed a perfectly groomed and tacked up horse ready to jump on and go, and handing said horse back over to groom at the end of the day. She would take 40 minutes to muck out a stable and there would still be crap everywhere!!!
 
For the most part, liveries have no idea how much maintenance a yard an grazing takes, nor probably do they notice the minor damage which horses do to property.

I have been a YO and whilst there are definitely thoughtful and responsible people with whom it is a pleasure to share your time and facilities, many are 'serial liveries', always moving and not always paying. Often, it's a blessing when they leave and take with them their wood-chewing, field trashing, door-banging horses.

Let's hear it for the YO's - though I have heard 'stuff' about the furriner and that crocodile bloke.
 
alligator40 said:
one thing i have learnt on here, is what a drunken crackpot you are sweetness..so as i said, they are Saints
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what????
oh is this the rosie and pastie show????

I just think you are very very heard hearted, ive read a few of your posts and find you quite cold tbh - end of because im not arguing with a non entity -

As said and in purpose for this post - im very happy with my nice yos - ive heard so many horror stories of nasty yos - makes me shudder :)
 
Ah at least you YO pink pony was in to horse mine was just married into it and the land came with the marriage so liveries was a good way of making money.
When i told her the stables leaked, her reply its diy you have to fix them, your fence posts have rotted in the ground, its diy you have to fix them, you paid your rent and basically you got a stable and a field and god for bid anything needed fixing as you had to do everything your self as it was diy.
I would not mind that if it was cheap but i was paying a hell of a lot of money

Any before anyone says do you know how much is it to run a yard yes i do have had my own yard for many years
 
to be honest my YO is completely unhorsey but in the last few months has been rather fab!

he seems to have fallen in love with captain my elderly TB and i often catch him having a stroke and smuggling him an apple in the mornings.

We are DIY. but ive had full livery nightmares in the past. Especially the ones that are less expensive. i have had arguments where the fact that i am paying less than everywhere else is an excuse for shoddy work. at the end of the day you are claiming to provide a service at a certain quality, regardless of what i pay.

I'll never do full livery again. when some people refer to horsey women being bitchy, up themselves, toffee nosed, knowitall and ignorant, id have to say they were summing up the collective at the last full livery yard i was at. When you arrive at your yard immaculate, and leave with not a hair out of place or mud on your boots you have no right to tell me what i should be doing with my horse. especially when your horse is rugged up to the nines so much it can hardly move.

I find some YO's forget that at the end of the day, their liveries are paying them, effectively employing them. They seem to hold the idea that you are desperate for their service and you should be happy with what you get.

As for the bitchyness, confrontation, prefarably publicly is key. the only way to get round a PITA YO. because 9 times out of 10 someone will chip in ''well actually, i asked you to do this and it wasnt done'' or ''that tap/light/gate has been faulty for ages and you havent had it fixed' and it becomes more of a group effort.

Im sure there are lots on pain in the bum liveries. im sure i was annoying, i did pick faults in certain things, like the security light being on the blink for 3 of the winter months, very dangerous!!! and a tap which leaked through one of the stables, both IMO things that should not be happening and arent acceptable.
 
I think its hard when it comes to livery and horses as people have their own way of doing things/wanting things done. Im a YM, my opinions differ from my YO. But we come to some agreement usually.
Also, im lucky, i have a good friendship with my YO, im on a cheap livery i am lucky my horse is looked after when im not there even though i dont pay an awful lot. (he is used for the riding school though, so really he is on working livery)

As for bitching and stuff, ignore it. I know its hard, but at the end of the day, your horse = your responsibility and as long as he/she is well looked after and you are happy, it doesnt matter what others think. Its a shame people do need to stir crap, but if it keeps them happy, let them get on with it!
 
Have read all the replys but it would take to long to quote and reply to each one. For those who were saying am i sure its not just liveries stirring stuff, its definatly not. Ive heard the yard owner talking about me many times. Although im not the only one she slags off. And the reason she does this is because i stood up for myself and told her i would look after my horse the way i wanted to, and if i need her help i would ask for it. What i got in return was a load of abuse and was told 'if i didnt like it, i knew where to go'

I can also understand that they have a duty of care and should step in if a horse is not being treated properly but in this womans case, its if youre not doing it her way then youre doing it wrong. You cant win with her! It doesnt matter what you do! For example if your horse is turned out and its raining then youre cruel for letting your horse get wet, but if you keep your horse inside during the rain then youre also cruel cos a bit of rain isnt going to hurt.

I know that some liveries can be whiney and expect the yard owner to do everything for them, but im not like that. I pay my money on time every month, tidy up after myself etc.
 
alligator40 said:
Yard Owners/Livery Yard Managers have what is known as "duty of care"
and if the way your look after your horse isn't up to standard, then something has to said/done.
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I agree, yard owners should mention any concerns about any horse, only to the owners.
Should also give information on how to improve the issue and possible costs, kit gloves.
Yard owners can only do so much.
 
At our yard (I'm manager) we have liveries, and loaners who pay a monthly amount to 'own' one of our horses.
It seems to work well for the majority, and the YO, myself, and the rest of the staff, work bloody hard to look after the 60 plus horses we have.

However we are getting a few people, and it seems to be the loaners, who are moaning and finding everything negative to say. Nothing is ever good news, it's always bad.

For exampl, they say that their field has no water, so can we sort it out. Yes, of course we can immediately - they've obviously drunk it all as it was full earlier when we checked. No, they say, you obviously haven't done it at all today, and who knows if you did it yesterday, WTF!
We do waters, hay the fields, hard feed for all, and generally check fields, horses etc 3-4 times daily!!

We are very grateful to the liveries/loaners coming to us if the water is down, or they've finished their hay, or fences are down, rugs undone etc, but please, please don't assume we don't do anything but drink coffee all day.

We work damned hard all day and will continue to do so, but aaarrrggg!

Sorry, rant over, and breathe!
 
Wow, I think I must be lucky then! My liveries are all lovely! I only have full and part liveries though. I have been a livery myself on DIY and I have to say that you do expect quite a lot for what you pay. I had no idea of the expense and hassle my YOs were experiencing. I only just broke even this year and that is charging almost £100 per week livery. Narkymare, you sound like a nice livery to have from your posts.
 
I've been on a yard where the YO gets quite involved with the care of your horse, so far as double checking what you've done after you are away, then texting you if she felt it was wrong. Prob being over sensitive but I felt like I had someone standing over my shoulder all the time, did my confidence no good at all. The YO had a fair bit of criticism for quite a few liveries on the yard which led to an atmosphere :( If you aren't happy OP, you should look into moving, there might be other yards in the area that you aren't aware of, I was surprised when I started looking anyway.

My current yard is brilliant, the YO is great, only getting involved if there is a welfare issue.
Having worked on a yard I do have some appreciation the hard work and effort that goes into running a good yard and I always try and do my bit to make sure I'm being a well behaved DIY grass livery bod. If either me or my boys broke something I'd own up and have my cheque(sp?) book in hand.

Maybe we need a sticky on 'How to be a good DIY livery bod??' :)
 
I've been on a yard like this.
Constant snotty comments about my riding, how I rarely hacked out.. (I worked weekend mornings which is when everyone went hacking and my mare would point blank refuse to hack out alone). My mare was branded as psychotic and dangerous etc.
The yard owner would be waiting for me to get to the yard afterschool with something else to say to me. (I was 16 and wouldn't say boo to a goose.)
The best moment there was when a lady came up to do my horses back, spotted the YO and said "This mare is NOT psychotic, this girl is MORE then capable of riding her and OBVIOUSLY has more nerver and patience then you!!" (the back lady was ex army!)
The YO backed off for a few weeks but started again. When I stood up to her she demanded a meeting with my parents. We moved yards within a week I was sick of it!
Funnily enough the mare calmed right down at the new yard and was fine. Its funny how they pick up on those negative vibes..
 
Thought I would also add I worked on a Stud and Livery yard with Part liveries.
I had one woman threaten to slap me because I gently told her off! Oh and she rang me at 7.30 at night yelling at me over a haynet!! No joke!
I have learnt from this to be a considerate livery. If I ask for extras I pay, I always ask nicely. Keep my area clean, my horse is well looked after and mucked out. Hence why I moved from the yard above! I got on with things, paid ontime, horse looked healty and was fed, stable immaculate, what more could she want?!!
 
Livery yards can do no end of damage to horses. A couple of years ago a livery arrived at my yard with a horse that came with a bad reputation. The horse world is a small one and several people approached me after I took on this horse wanting to know if I was ‘having problems’. His owner also warned me that he would probably be ‘a bit of a handful’ for the first week or so. My farrier looked rather disappointed when I told him that the horse was arriving on the yard (he was his farrier at the old yard), and from what I could piece together, the yard owner at the previous yard disliked the horse. Often, this would prevent me from taking on a client. I will not have unfriendly or dangerous horses on the yard. But something told me this one would be all right. All the behaviour I was hearing about sounded like a fear or stress response, rather than a temperament problem to me.

I went to fetch the horse along with another livery client. The yard he was on was tidy and seemed pleasant, though the stable he was in was a tucked away and rather dark. He did however, have another gelding next to him.

When his owner fetched him, he jogged out of his stable, and I have never seen a horse leap into a lorry with such gusto and enthusiasm.

That was two years ago. From day one, I have not had a moment of trouble from this horse. His owner and farrier say he has completely changed and all this happened immediately. I have since heard stories of him rearing at people and pacing around his stable at his last yard, and the farrier said he was terrible to shoe. Shortly after leaving his old yard his owner discovered that he had been made to wait until last to go out into the field, and then they would chase him to the back of his stable with a whip and only allow him to go out once he stood at the back quietly. Why? We have no idea. I expect the previous yard owners felt he was unruly and needed dominating. Me? I think he’s a big teddy bear and probably the safest horse on the yard.

However, stories like this, and others that I have come across since starting up my own yard, means that I would never leave any of my horses in livery again. I pride myself in running the kind of yard that I would want if I were a livery and I know there are many other YOs out there like me. But it is often hard to tell from the outside.
 
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I keep my horses at home and a few years ago I had 4 empty stables so decided to rent them out, a husband and wife had 2 and a girl & her mum had the other 2.
The husband & wife had constant shouting matches which would lead to one or both of them storming off often leaving horses tied up, ring me on a winters evening to say they miraculously were both stuck in traffic and could I go out and get their soaking wet muddy nags in.
I overheard the girl & her Mum saying that when the grass was gone they were moving one very dry summer, they too would turn up at 10pm to "do" the horses setting my dogs off barking and the security lights going on and off all for £20 per horse per week its really not worth the hassle all I was left with was a massive muck heap.
So now I only have my own and occasionally friends mares come when they are weaning the foals.
 
there's a lovely girl at my yard now who's horse was branded impossible to deal with at her old yard (which i happened to be on as well). i had heard stories about how dangerous and difficult he was to manage. i switched yards, shes on my new yard and horse is lovely. more turn out and better feed have transformed him and he is fine now.

agree with the other poster, farriers are a great source of info about horses in the area!
 
I have just had to move horse from a yard which was theoretically perfect. Lovely smart internal stabling. Great all year grazing. Perfect off road private hacking with easy access to miles of bridleways. Sadly, run my an absolute moron. :( I am hoping the owner of the farm will see sense soon and terminate her contract but its easier said than done.
She charges for a service which she doesn'r provide and she lies on a daily basis - from things such as the time horse turned out to whether its fed etc.
She also preaches how she doesnt want bitching between liveries, when in fact she creates it! She was blessed with lovely tidy respectful liveries and she is losing them slowly one by one.
We finally gave up last week after it all started to get nasty and I was beginning to worry about my horses safety.
My answer would be..no you shouldnt have to put up with it. If she can't act in a professional adult manner, then she shouldnt be running the place. I am so pleased we bit the bullet and moved as both myself and my horse are going to be much happier.
Having said that you should hear the rumours being spread about us since we left - its amazing how childish some adults can be!
 
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