Yard workers charging for livery - what do you think?

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Ranyhyn

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I have my horse on DIY.

I generally do everything for him during my lunch break - as I'm under the kosh at the moment not having a sharer and trying to do lots of overtime at work.

Generally speaking the horses in the field are brought in circa 3-4pm and I finish work at 5.15pm so when I get there he's already been brought in as horses aren't allowed out on their own. There is no time by which this has to be. So if everyone decides to bring in at 1pm - you'd be stuck.

Its a lovely yard and we all muck in together, sometimes this means we DIY liveries bring in the full liveries for the yard girls etc - its no problem etc. But it does mean sometimes, DIYers are helping out the yard girls and no doubt they are taking payment for it.

I got down the yard the other evening to find I had been invoiced for someone bringing my horse in on the evenings when everything else had been brought in early.

What do you think about this - would you pay? I am of a certain mind, but I want to see what everyone thinks as a friend says vehemently the opposite.
 
I would request a meeting with the Yo and explain perhaps there should be a time limit on being charged to bring horses in, as at the moment it's on a whim when anyone else decides to bring theirs in. If they make a set time of no charge until say 3pm at least everyone knows then and the last person to bring theirs in could bring two in to save the charges.
You can also point out nicely that on many occasions you have helped the staff so perhaps some give and take is appropriate?
 
Think the best way to avoid being charged is to organise a rota amongst DIY's to bring in particular horses, then the yard girls won't be bringing in your horse.
 
It's a tricky one and I think it depends on whether you knew there would be a charge for this? What does your contract say?

I personally wouldn't be happy with this arrangement - because I'm DIY and perfer others not to handle my horses - and would probably talk to another DIYer to see if they'd be happy leaving their horse out with mine, so that I could put both to bed when I got there.

As for the yard girls. Surely, if you take a full livery in (whether they are paid or not), is because you have volunteered to help, rather than been told? The girls are not paid per job, (and most likely) not getting minimum wage, but for their day in general. I know when I worked at RS etc, we had helpers in and we didn't get paid any less when they did jobs as we were still kept very busy. If they were standing talking while you were doing their work, then I sympathise and agree but if they were working, while you did them a favour, it's a different story.

I can see this from both sides but I would talk to YO to clarify points and also to see if there is any way around them bringing horse in. This probably doesn't help at all :D
 
As my horse is on DIY, no livery charges are written into my contract.

Any livery is on a separate contract with the girls who provide it. As it happens I am leaving at the end of the month, so its not an issue. But just an interesting situation because at the moment, if the yard girls decided to bring horses in at say 2pm - DIYers wouldn't have a hope of getting there in time, in which case by doing this, the yard girls could clean up ;)
 
I would question the YO regarding this, as I would not be happy about being charged for this...maybe the YO could clarify things. Is there anyway you and other DIY's can arrange a rota so the paid yard staff are not bringing in DIY horses.

I work at a mixed livery yard. Should a DIY ask YO for their horse to be brought in, they will be charged for it. However should the horse be last out...then whoever brings their horse in is responsible for not leaving a horse out by itself....the owner of the horse will not be charged.

I am a paid yard girl....I bring in full/part or DIY liveries if they are the last horse out (as sometimes the times all the horses come in can vary and not all owners can get down in time). The stables may not be mucked out by the owners yet but they can expect their horse in, with some hay and fresh water without being charged.

And it works both ways. If I am out exercising a horse...a DIY person may bring in a full livery for me if they were the last horse out.
 
Kitsune said:
I have my horse on DIY.

I generally do everything for him during my lunch break - as I'm under the kosh at the moment not having a sharer and trying to do lots of overtime at work.

Generally speaking the horses in the field are brought in circa 3-4pm and I finish work at 5.15pm so when I get there he's already been brought in as horses aren't allowed out on their own. There is no time by which this has to be. So if everyone decides to bring in at 1pm - you'd be stuck.

Its a lovely yard and we all muck in together, sometimes this means we DIY liveries bring in the full liveries for the yard girls etc - its no problem etc. But it does mean sometimes, DIYers are helping out the yard girls and no doubt they are taking payment for it.

I got down the yard the other evening to find I had been invoiced for someone bringing my horse in on the evenings when everything else had been brought in early.

What do you think about this - would you pay? I am of a certain mind, but I want to see what everyone thinks as a friend says vehemently the opposite.
Click to expand...

Ooh, I might move to your yard, wait until everyone has turned out and left the yard, then quickly bring them all in and charge everyone!

Speak to YO and the other DIYers, but in my opinion it's give and take on a successful yard. My horse(s!) are full livery, but I help out a bit around the yard when I'm there - I even led in a couple of lessons recently. I expect no reward for this - I'd say whoever requested the payment had a cheek.
 
I'd tell the person who charged to get stuffed... then I'd tell the YO that I would not be paying any such "charges" in the future.

Why can't horses be left out on their own? That would pee me off, if I want my horse out all day, why should it be dragged in just because everyone else has theirs in? :confused:
 
Well yeah, there have been a multitude of times, because our horses are stabled closer to the field than most, that we bring in the full-liveries that are stabled close to us. That's me, and on at least 10/20 occassions that I have seen, other liveries.

The charge is 3.00 for bringing in. So thats potentially 30-60 that has been paid to a business that has not completed the work. Which I am fine with, I don't mind helping. BUT I do have an issue with then being billed for when they have helped me.

I think I will speak to yard owner as some have suggested and if needs be, bring my horse in at lunctime to avoid being charged for something I haven't asked for.
 
I am on DIY but it's a very small yard. The YM knows which days I will/will not be able to bring my own horse in. The days I am not there she brings in and I pay. However, on the days when she knows I will come but she gets him in anyway, then I do not pay, because I did not ask her to get him in - if you see what I mean.

Also, on some occasions when I have helped get in other horses, then for instance if I have got in 3 horses, then I don't pay 3 times that the YM gets my horse in. A bit of given and take is needed.

I would suggest that the DIYers need to stop getting in the horses that are on full livery, there are yard girls there who are paid to do that.
 
I would think it was absolutely fine. I'm on DIY and have the same thing, most people bring in from 3pm but I can't get to the yard until 4.45 earliest because of work (and not always by then!). One of my horses is fine out on her own, so she waits until I get there. The other has never been left alone, so he needs to be brought in. On previous occasions I have paid the YM to do this for me but at the moment I have a nice arrangement with a fellow DIYer whose horse is also in my field to either wait for eachother or bring in eachothers horses. This works great for me, but if no one wanted to bring my horse in I would think it was totally fair of the YM to charge me for bringing. After all it's not her fault a) I don't get to the yard till later and b) myhorse can't be left out alone.

On the converse, I don't do lots of favours for my YM, so I guess if you feel you have done lots of helping out and then been charged the one time you asked for (or received without asking) a favour maybe just don't do as many favours. Or if they thank you for helping out, say "Oh, that's okay - will you bring X in for me next time next time if I'm not around in time, in return?".
 
I'm another one who thinks this is not on. If you have asked for your horse to be brought in then fair enough, but if you are happy for him to stay out and he has only come in because everyone else has, you should not be charged for this. If there is a rule that all horses must be in by a given time and you are late, then again, fair enough to charge, but if there is no such rule then you can't be expected to know what everybody else's plans for the day are!

The point is that you should be aware of the charges in advance so that you can make arrangements to do something else if you do not want to pay. I also think £3 is a bit steep if all they are doing is bringing in, I'd expect legs washed, rugs changed and feet picked out for that...
 
For me it would depend on what has previously been agreed, and what time they are bringing in.

If it has previously been agreed that you would be charged, then I think it is fair.

Unless they are bringing in just after you have left at lunchtime - in that case it would be nicer to mention to you that they are bringing in soon and give you the option to fetch your own horse.

It would be nice if there was some give and take, but I think this would need to be discussed with the yard manager.

ETA - £3 is a lot for just bringing in!
 
I would be rather peeved if someone brought my horse in, who is very happy to stand on his own for a while, and then charged me for it! I don't like random people handling my horse, he's a big strapping lad and people seem to think they need to be loud or strong with him, whereas in actual fact he is a lamb to handle. So this would irritate me to start with, and then to be charged for something you haven't asked for and don't want seems to add insult to injury!

£3 to bring in? Is that the going rate? I don't use livery services for my horses so may be out of touch with todays prices, but that does seem rather expensive to drag a horse in and stick it in a stable.
 
£3 to put a horse in its stable:eek: Do they do anything else- change rugs, hay up or whatever?

When I was on livery a year or so ago it was 50p- or a quid if you wanted rugs changed......

Kitty- no I wouldn't be happy paying for something I hadn't asked for....no matter how small the fee.
 
3 big ones yeah! And the stables are about 5 metres from the field. And yup, that was just to bring in - and once he was "in" anyway - all they did was put him in the box and put the latch through...

Ok well I am glad to hear the responses are generally the same as I thought!!

I used to pay 1.00 :) and that I thought was fair - and my YO then had a MUCH longer walk!!!!!
 
If you didnt ask and know you were going to be charged for it I would be having words - thats quite underhand - different if you had rang / text and said would you mind getting him in early today due to bad weather etc and they said yes that will be a £1 or what ever they charge
 
I have a similar thing on my yard.

Full liveries are in at 3pm - so suit the stables.
the one other DIYer is a school child - so bring in at 3pm

so I pay £3 per day for someone to bring her in and 'chuck' her in the box (I dont mean that literally- I hope you know!)

I cant wait for the school child to grow up and get a job and fetch in like the other DIYers (other side if the yard) - at 5.30 - Would save me £15quid a week!!!!

moan!
 
we have a similar set up on our yard. Basically most of us liveries dont like one horse being left out on its own, so if for example i get to the yard and my horse is the last out with one other i'll get both in, and the others do the same with mine. Its just kind of generally accepted that thats what we do. the only time i'll get charged for a catch in is if i've specifically ASKED the YM to do it for me; if she gets back and my horse is out on his own going bananas she'll get him anyway but not charge me (as i think its accepted that we do it between ourselves anyway, and i'd do the same for her horse if it was the last one out).

Talk to the other liveries to see if you can come to an arrangement, say if you know you're not getting back from work til later than everyone else has caught in, ask if they'll get yours in and you could maybe return the favour on your days off or turn out for them in the morning.

If you cant come to an arangement, then it sounds like you might have to pay for the service by the yard staff.
 
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