Yard Rules

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Amys_Babies

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I have been looking for a different farrier and was talking to one then men last night who has horse on yard and he told me....

1. We are only allowed to use YO farrier

Which is really annoying and am tempted to go and break the rules. Apparently she has her horses shoes done for free if she gets him so much business. Problem is he is £5 extra than old farrier for trimming and doesn't even do a good job of it! Plus when i do eventually get Buddy shoed will cost £25 more than with old farrier. Would you be ok paying extra for a less good job?


2. Only allowed to use shavings she provides

She makes a 50p profit from all bags of shavings so could save myself some money. As she charges £6.50 a bag and can get better quality shaving for £6 down the road.


3. Only allowed to use hay she provides

Not a big problem shes making 50p profit again charging £3.50 when she gets it for £3.00 but saves us the mess of getting our own. But i do soon want the large round bails on hay when having to feed double as will save me alot of money.



Would you be tempted to still go and get another farrier and shavings? As the money isnt really too much of a problem but i don't like paying extra for less quality.
 
Unfortunately you should stick to yard rules even if they annoy you. I suspect the best thing to do would be to move yards if you are unhappy with teh farrier and quality of shavings and want to buy your own hay in.
 
There is no contract though and she hasn't said anything about it but the man told me yesterday that she doesn't allow people to go elsewhere. The yard just seems to be going downhill really. Found out yesterday she isn't rotating fields either nor putting hay in it at winter. Theres hardly any grass already and the track going to field is already so muddy, will be a nightmare in the winter. She is refusing to turn in now and she is a lot better because she was ill before and that why everyone thought she had asked for us to bring horses back in. It doesn't bother me too much but i am paying for a turn in and out service and she is refusing now to bring in horses because no one is there to help her bring in. Which confuses me because if everyone is paying for her to bring them so unless i just happen to be up there and am not doing anything then surely i wasnt doing anything wrong not going down to yard earlier to bring buddy in because she was payed to do it for me. Right?
 
Lots of yards will only allow you to use their hay or haylage, and shavings. Which can be a blessing or a pain - depends on the charges etc. and quality of the forrage.

However, I would not allow anyone to dictate who shod my horse. I would speak to the YO and find out what the rules are, and make a decision based on that.
 
All the rules are fair enough IMO although I would NOT be happy about being dictated to who shoes my horse - agree with amymay there - speak to yard owner and just tell her you want to stick to using your own farrier and thats that - if you dont like it you can leave - but she may be decent about it in the end and just let you have your own farrier

Shavings and hay - too right she should make a profit on it - I would do the same - and all the DIY in my area do this - I like it this way as it save me having to source my own - it is a pain as amy may says if the hay is crap though.

:-)
 
Yeah i don't mind too much about hay and shavings really. Though can get more for less money elsewhere but supose rules are rules. I was at work when the farrier came last time but it annoyed me how he didn't trim down just shaped them really. They will need doing again in less than a month as they are still really the same as before.
 
as a yard owner - I will now only let my liveries use the yard farrier - the reason being I have tried about 5 farriers in the area and was totally unimpressed with both their shoeing and the way they handled the horses. I have found a fantastic farrier who turns up on time, answers his phone and will do any remedial work. If he was substandard I would expect liveries to use their own. I have done on a yard which used a substandard farrier. But I also arranged to be there to hold the horse and ensure he was in and behaved for the farrier. I would not expect the yard owner to do it.

I would also not expect to pay for substandard bedding. - perhaps the easiest way around this is to move onto a hemp product and tell the yard owner your horse has been coughing and you want to try a dust free bedding.

As to the hay - well sorry but I think you have to accept this - the yard owner has to buy in advance in bulk so you can have it when you want. I buy my bedding in bulk - to get the best price I have to buy 200 bags of bedding. That enables me to sell it to my liveries making 50p a bag - but I am shelving out over £1000 in advance to get the best price so it is still the price the liveries could buy it in the shop. But the convenience is that they don't have to think about it.

I also have to buy my hay in bulk and store it - well we make 50% and buy in the rest -= but I have to pay for it in July one year and it will then take 12 months to use and the liveries pay monthly for their usage - and it's there and available.

if you go for large round bales how will you store it - will you expect the YP to provide you with more storage space?
 
I was at a yard that did the old 'use this farrier' and he was rubbish - so I moved - did some research and he wasnt even registered - bl00dy fool

I would deffo approach her about the situation and if she is a n0b about it - tell her to pi$$ off and go to another yard - all for her to get free shoes? thats daft

hope she is ok about it
 
The only rule out of those three that i have a problem with is the farrier, It should eb your choice who you have shoe your horse and you should not be dictated to on this front.. to be honest i would no longer go on a yard where i have to have their bedding and forage.. i prefer to get my own from reliabe sources..

Lou x
 
Oh my goodness'. Poor you. The only rules we have are:

1) No smoking in the american barn (where the stables are);
2) Buy biscuits on rotation;
3) If you're having a coffee, make one for other people as well;
4) Do what you think is best for your horse - I keep mine on aquimax and wouldn't dream of feeding haylage. The yard owner is an old farmer and he couldn't care less. He supplies a large bale of haylage at £10 which people buy on rotation, and he can supply straw. I wouldn't buy either - George eats the straw anyway. Some people buy shavings and the farmer will collect at no charge.

Hooray for a humble yard, I think!

There were some stinking rules on our last yard, though. But that was quite a posh yard.
 
sounds like a yard that i used to be on PM me where about is is or its name if it the one i think it is

wouldnt have any other farrier doing tabs shoes id move if they told me i would have to use theirs

just found out that at my yard you cant have lessons off anyone other than the YM daughter
 
Thanks for the advice!
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The hay i can deal with it doesn't bother me to much as i said it saves me the hassle from transporting it myself.

I will try and use that excuse to change shavings as there isn't that many in the bag and they dont seem to last as long as the ones i was using before.

The farrier i will talk to her about. If he had of done a great job then i wouldn't mind having to stick to him. But i came to stables from work and couldn't even notice that his hoofs had been trimmed! All he did shape them again really, was a right waste of money.
 
I think you should go elsewhere if you are not happy, particulary with the farrier. I left a yard a few months back as we had to use the YO farrier - he was appalling, and my new farrier was horrified by the state of their feet - buts that another story.

I can understand the making a small profit on the hay and shavings, it is a business after all, but having said that if the quality is no good you should be able to get your own in as storage allows. I am very lucky as at new yard he sells the big rectangular bales for £40 (although you dont have to buy your hay from him) and you get your own bedding. We are lucky as have a lot of storage space. Bless YO though, i paid for my bale of hay last night and he gave me half back as my last bale hadn't been that nice and they had left quite a bit despite being soaked. Ironically, my last bale of hay was the normal standard of what I could have expected at last yard!!
 
Awww its great when you have nice YO's like that makes things so much better. There is storage at back of stables which some people have boarded up and made their own little tack rooms out off as they are very much like stables without a door on really. If she says it is ok to make a small tack room out of one of them like others have then will be enough room to put round bail of hay in. I will ask her when i next see her.

I would move him again but that will be the 4th time in a year and i don't really want to keep moving him around. Plus i have the stable next to him reserved for Daisy Mae. Think i will ask her about farrier or next time he comeas i will make sure im down there to and watch over him to make sure he does a proper job of it or will ask for a refund!
 
we have all the same rules as you, I really don't find it that much of a problem personally as we are lucky enough to have our farrier come weekly due to the number of horses on the yard. also they make little/no profit on hay/shavings
 
yard i used to be on had same rules bar farrier. Personally i think every horse is different, has different needs and its up to the owners to decide what products and services are best for each of their horses. Nearly everyone ended up leaving my old yard since the bedding and hay/haylage was Cr*p, YO was a psycho and always stirring things. I once found barbed wire in the haylage as i was putting it in the haynet and another peice in the haynet next morning when she had emptied it which i had missed. I'd rather know EXACTLY where my horses food n bedding came from and have the option to change if it wasn't up to scratch. And i wouldn't go on a yard again that had those rules.
 
I too am a Yard Owner and would never specify which farrier a livery should use - the wellfare of the horse is upto the owner even if our view of a particular Farrier is not a good one! On what professional grounds does the yard owner have to claim that her Farrier is superior to any of the liveries' farriers!! If you are forced to use her Farrier and he ruins your horse's feet you do have a good case against your yard owner so she is being very silly for the sake of a little commission!

I would explain to the yard owner that the Farrier you use is doing a good job with your horse's feet and that you are really unhappy to change as he has built a relationship with your horse. If she insists on you changing I would look to move yards as it is a rather unfair demand. As far as the hay & bedding is concerned I understand this is common practice at some yards, so long as you are not paying the earth for basic quality I would go with the flow on this one.
 
[ QUOTE ]
sounds like a yard that i used to be on PM me where about is is or its name if it the one i think it is

wouldnt have any other farrier doing tabs shoes id move if they told me i would have to use theirs

just found out that at my yard you cant have lessons off anyone other than the YM daughter

[/ QUOTE ]
There is 1 farrier that we are not allowed to use (he is banned - long and rather amusing story).

1 yard near me has a total loon in charge and 1 of many bizarre rules is that you cannot have your own instructor. If you want lessons, you have to have them with her.

Personally, I would like to see a rule on my yard about children being accompanied at all times. I don't like being the only adult around and therefore in some way responsible for a herd of pre-teens. It puts me in a very vulnerable position
frown.gif
 
My YO is brilliant - farrier is up to you, instructors welcome and we can 'book' the arena when we wish.

Hay/straw is available to buy because its a working farm, but i use shavings and haylage and as far as YO is concerned thats between me and my horses...

DIY is as assisted as you like, turn-out/bring in/change rugs- holiday livery cover/filling up haynets when on box-rest..but then she has her own horses there and she knows whats what...i never really appreciated how good she is until I read some posts on here about the C*** rules on other yards.
 
I think you will find a lot of yards do that with regard to hay and straw/shavings. They can buy at trade rates and then put a bit on to make a profit. Our yard does. The haylage we buy from her is £29 a bale (probably a bit dearer than most pay) but it is fab quality and all the same. Our previous yard was cheaper but some bales were stalky, wet, mouldy (however they were replaced foc) and you threw quite a bit away, and never knew what bale you were opening next. This year all the same quality and very good quality at that. So would rather pay more. We have to have shavings and can't use straw. But YO buys in advance (so we don't run out) and in bulk. We pay £6.50 a bale for minimal dust and think they are about £6.20 if we bought from feed store. Our yo also gets feed. She must get at trade rates but charges us the same rate as if we bought direct and saves us the hassle of going to feed merchants. But I do enjoy a mooch round there but always end us buying more and spending a fortune so it saves me this.
 
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