Yard Politics - Advice please

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Speckleification

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Hi,

I am having trouble with my yard owner and would like some suggestions on how to deal with my current situation.

My new mare has settled in superbly until in high winds the other week one of the fence posts was knocked down by a fallen branch and the electric fencing across the field, which was functional but getting towards the end of its life span, has frayed and snapped in several different places, my poor mare was the only one turned out that night in that section, (she could still see others but they were the other side of the walk way). She understandably was very upset and ended up jumping out and into a field with another horse in and stayed there overnight with no drama.

My yard owner says that it is my responsibility to not only have the fallen branch removed but to replace all the broken fencing and tape and to get the field sorted. The two ladies who have the fields either side of mine are in two minds, the lady who's shares the broken side with me is adamant that it is all my responsibility to fix and is refusing to even speak to me until I do, whereas the lady on the other side thinks it's the yard owners responsibility.

My yard owner also put up our livery charge in November as he had promised to replace all the electric fencing on our strip with post and rail but has yet to do so.

I have since repaired the fence as best I can and removed the branch, however my mare has twice since jumped out. The lady who shared the broken side with me has since had her other side snap, and tells me this is my responsibility to fix, as does my yard owner, I have pleaded my case as this was over a week after the first incident and my mare had not been out that night (in a calm and adult manner) and he is not happy and has said that it is my first warning, one more and I will be asked to leave.

I have asked if I can put large plastic posts inside my field, out of my own pocket to help deter my mare from jumping (as she has since settled and she seems to be making a game out of it) but he has refused and told me if I do put them up, with my own wire and posts, I will get a second warning and will be asked to leave.

Is he being unreasonable or am I being over sensitive? I really like the yard and the people are the nicest set I have come across, it is ideally located to where I live with fantastic hacking and fairly good schooling facilities, my mare has been so settled here that I am really not keen to move her unless I have to, any advice would be great,
Many thanks
Speckleification
 
Fencing is the responsibility of the YO, especially in this case, was it your fault the tree fell down as well! I would leave before you are either pushed or end up paying for any other repairs that you are deemed to be responsible for.
It may be a nice place but the atmosphere is likely to get worse.
 
Whose fence is it? If its yours you repair it, if it is his, and it ought to be his fence at his yard anyway, then he should repair it. As for the branch falling, that is his responsibilty, and had it damaged your property (or horse) or you, he would have been responsible. I also don't see why you can't be allowed to buy your own higher electric fence posts to prevent your horse jumping out. I don't understand why another livery would fall out with you over this, is this all that has gone on to upset them?

Has something else happened? It almost sounds as though YO is trying to push you out of the yard by not being fair.
 
I used to be on livery yards and I have never once had a contract. I don't see how you can be responsible for the fencing tbh.
 
It sounds like they're trying to blame you for everything and like they're going out of their way to be difficult.
I think I'd want to see if there was any other yards I could move to because the list of what they blame you for might just go on and on.

I don't know how it was your fault that the tree fell down :/
 
If it's his fencing, it should be his responsibility to fix it. Especially since it was damaged by the fallen branch, not your horse (or that's the impression I've got anyway).
 
You shouldn't be responsible for fencing. The livery money he gets from clients should be used for yard maintenance as well as everything else in my opinion.
Plus, if this lady is sharing a field with you its also just as much her problem as yours. If your horse had broken the fence there may be an issue, but its natural causes and there was nothing you could do!

Sounds like the yard isn't all that great, lots of tension, Has anything else happened? Sounds like YO and this lady are trying to avoid expense to me. Just remember, if you do replace the fencing and then decide to move yards its yours to take with you!:D
 
Sadly, we don't have a contract, all DIY customers at this yard do not(so that's about 28 DIYers) but any who are full or assisted do as they are managed by someone else.


The fencing was there when I arrived at this yard nearly two years ago and all who I ask say that it is his fence. Judging by the marks in the ground at the time and the state of the fencing, which we have remarked about since we arrived over a year ago my mare wasn't involved but as it happened overnight i can't be 100% sure how it happened

The only major thing that has happened recently with my YO was in very early January my lovely boy was put down and unfortunately he was in the sand school at the time of the final injection and the YO's children could not ride that day as his body was not removed for a few hours and it happened in the early afternoon, he was very cross about that, but did not speak to us but spoke directly to our vets who handled getting the necessary people to move my poor boys body. From what I understand he was trying to get his money back from the vets for the cancelled lesson for his children (Only £30, which I would have been happy to pay if he had explained)

Until this time he has been a great YO and no one else on our yard has ever had a problem, most of the ladies there have been there for more then 5 years.

I am really at a loss on what to do and would really like to avoid moving her, she is not one to stay in all day so reducing her turnout time is not really an option and there are no other fields available at the moment
 
Sorry hun agree with others on what youre contract says BUT onmy yard our livery fees pay for the like of day today fencing fieldmangement. i personally would quietly look for another yard :)
 
In my contract it states if my horse causes the damage then I have to fix it, if something breaks due to age, bad weather etc then the yard owners sort it.
 
He was cross that your loss was inconvenient to him and caused the waste of £30 in a missed lesson:(, that is most likely still an annoyance to him, I would not want to stay and give anymore money to someone that could be so uncaring.

There must be somewhere else with good turnout and a better atmosphere if you really look around.
 
If I was in your situation I would try and have a good talk with the YO to understand whats going on. It sounds unreasonable to expect you to replace the fencing which suggests there are some unresolved issues driving his unfairness towards you. It could be about the situation that you mentioned, I am sorry to hear about your horse..or it might be something else which you are unaware of. I would tell him that you would like to stay and work things out but that you might have to consider moving if you are made to feel unwelcome at the yard and will be unfairly treated in the future.

I think its best to get to the bottom of these things rather than keep having minor conflicts cropping up all the time due to underlying resentments which keep causing trouble. The risk is that you buy your own fencing to resolve this one and then he finds something else to be difficult over...that's what I would worry about.

Good luck, hope you manage to sort it out so you can look forward to spending time with your horse and not worrying about bad feelings at the yard.
 
I'd move. You say the people are nice... Yet one woman refused to speak to you until you did what they wanted... Bit childish IMHO. If your horse is settled then I can see why you don't want to leave. But looking in from the outside it seems bizarre. Especially that all the YO can think of is his £30 when your poor lad has just been pts. Hope you get it sorted! :)
 
Your YO sounds hard work, I'd be moving off for that reason alone.
I'd also give him some suggestions where to stick his fence posts ;)
 
Love said:
I'd move. You say the people are nice... Yet one woman refused to speak to you until you did what they wanted... Bit childish IMHO. If your horse is settled then I can see why you don't want to leave. But looking in from the outside it seems bizarre. Especially that all the YO can think of is his £30 when your poor lad has just been pts. Hope you get it sorted! :)
Click to expand...

^^^ This

I would be looking to move too if possible

Good luck x
 
Haha quirky, my thoughts exactly!!!
I'd be looking to move. The fencing really isn't your responsibility, especially if your horse hasn't damaged it.
 
Normally unless specified otherwise in a contract, the basic field fencing would be supplied by a YO (the opposite would apply if it was just a bare field rented).

I would tell the YO that since it was the tree falling and not your horse that caused the damage, you are happy to repair the fencing but will be bringing in a man and chainsaw to remove the tree in logs which you will sell to recoup the loss, since it now appears to be your responsibility......:-DD

If they don't give their liveries a contract, they can't insist they mend fences etc, and I would be looking to move.
 
Move as soon as you can. Your mare will settle somewhere else and you wont have to put up with this terrible treatment. I'm sorry but it's completely out of order to expect you to fix a fence because of tree damage, and the way your YO is treating you means he wants rid of you anyway!
 
I suggest that you go and have a chat with the YO as though he is being unreasonable there may very well be bad feeling over the lost lesson.

I'd go with the money and say to him that you would have appreciated him speaking to you about it at the time - though he may have found it hard because you had just lost your horse.

Perimeter fencing is the responsibility of the YO to maintain in a safe manner. If the tree in the course of falling took down the fence then it is his responsibility to fix. AS you pointed out earlier that you all had a rent increase to cover the cost of the replacement then he has basically said that the fencing is his to maintain.

If your horse crashed the fence and brought it down then it would be your responsibility to repair it.

You've been there a couple of years and been happy so I would firstly try and resolve the problem in a calm manner. If the owner is still stroppy then leave.
 
I'd be out of there quicker than a dose of salts. He sounds a very controlling character, and the way he treated you over a paltry £30 when your poor horse was pts was inexcusable. The fencing issue would be the icing on the cake for me ........
 
As a YO myself I'm amazed at your story. The fence is your YO's resonsibility, and so incidentally is the tree, unless it actually stands on someone else's property. the branch could have fallen on your mare!

Get out a.s.a.p. There are obviously underlying problems (at least in his mind) and as others have said, I think things will only get worse.
 
I would look for somewhere else. He sounds quite unreasonable and unwilling to compromise. If you can't even put higher posts in to deter her jumping out what are you supposed to do? Keeping paying to repair everyone else's fencing???
Sure you would find a nicer yard without the childish "I'm not speaking to you" type liveries!!
 
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