YO has closed the school - ideas pls

I am a livery and have been on the receiving end of this sort of thing for similar reasons but about things that occurred before I was even at the yard. Thankfully it was summer and we were allowed to ride in the fields but if not, I would have just bitten the bullet and hacked out.

Can you not ride before work? I get up at 5.30am so that I can do just that - much nicer riding as the sun is rising rather than in the pitch black under floodlights.

At the end of the day. 2 days off work isn't going to have a huge effect on a horse's fitness. It may even do the horse some good.

My advice is to sweetly ask Y/O if you could possibly still have your lesson, if she says no, just say 'ok, it was worth asking' don't get yourself wound up about this sort of thing. there are more important things in life to worry about.

I can totally sympathise with y/o - arenas cost a lot of money and all liveries seem to do is abuse them - whether that be constantly riding on the track so as to form a moat round the edge of the school, leaving jumps up or leaving droppings in... what a load of thanks for a nice surface eh?! Our y/o has specifically asked us NOT to ride on the track too much and not only has the surface remained nice, and consistent right across the school, but our horses are better schooled for it.
 
ihatework said:
HOWEVER the effectiveness in what the YO has done is to put people out and affect them. If you had advanced warning you would have planned around it and it wouldn't have had the same impact.
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Actually if there had been warning, I would have been out there with the poop scooper that evening and cleaned up the droppings myself. I'd rather clean up after other people than lose out completely.
Appreciate that wouldn't address the root cause. But I'm not convinced that this ban will do either. :(

CBFan said:
Can you not ride before work? I get up at 5.30am so that I can do just that - much nicer riding as the sun is rising rather than in the pitch black under floodlights.
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I'd love to as I used to ride before work but I can only hack on roads, and this yard doesn't open until 7 so I won't get to work in time :rolleyes:

TheoryX1 said:
Hong on love its only two days! I know its infuriating, annoying and the culprit should suffer not you, but honestly is it worth blowing a gasket over it and falling with with you YO if you have a fairly decent relationship with them.
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:DI'm not going to fall out with anyone:). I did actually want ideas for what to do that wasn't riding, so thankfully some people have reminded me that the grease needs scraping off my tack :D

We will have to move eventually, as I just can't cope with the travelling any more (used to be on my way to work but is now 20 miles out of my way:rolleyes:) Snap decisions like this just make the move a little more pressing ;)
 
I have every sympathy for the YO. There is possibly nothing more irritating that droppings being left in the school. I know when I pick up after my horse, I'm invariably picking up after several others too... really really annoying.

But, it's not fair on you when it wasn't your horse, and you've got a lesson booked etc.

I'd be cross too.

Trouble is, if YO has issued this 2 day ban, she's going to find it difficult to retract or let one person off etc. So I think you're stuck :(

Hope you find a solution.
 
Typical *******s, YO no bottle to deal with those that are the problem, so takes it out on everyone, hoping the other liveries will do their dirty work by having a go at the guilty one/s, some YO's should really grow a pair, NOA
 
We will have to move eventually, as I just can't cope with the travelling any more (used to be on my way to work but is now 20 miles out of my way:rolleyes:) Snap decisions like this just make the move a little more pressing ;)[/QUOTE]

You have done really well as I couldn't / wouldn't drive 20 miles to a livery yard. Maybe this is the impetus to get a new yard although you have no guarantee of the same thing happening.

Good luck.
 
BBH said:
You have done really well as I couldn't / wouldn't drive 20 miles to a livery yard. Maybe this is the impetus to get a new yard although you have no guarantee of the same thing happening.

Good luck.
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THanks :) I know it's a gamble. It's all about the compromises when it comes to yards isn't it? I've compromised on distance in order to get facilities. It's flipping hard work in the winter when you spend an hour driving in the dark, I'm ready to compromise on facilities again to get some time back :D
 
jools1234 said:
if everything is as the OP stated (I am not doubting you OP) then surely if the YO has a problem they should politely discuss it with the liveries before closing the school?

why can a YO have a 'hissy' fit and close the school but the liveries not have a 'hissy' fit and refuse to paythe part of their livery bill that the have been denied use of for 2 days whilst the YO has their 'hisst' fit?

if the school is part of the facilities you pay for you are within your rights to refuse to part for the use of it whilst it is closed-although I would be more inclined to speak to the YO to try and sort something else out as it seems unfair to expect liveries to police each other with regards to pooing in the school.

for those of you that state running a livery yard is a tough business I agree but I would imagine its tougher when you upset all your liveries but treating them like naughty children-I would be looking to move yards if this was my YO first course of action.
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If I had a "hissy fit" and closed my school it would be because all my liveries have signed contracts stating that they will pick up droppings after using the school.

I have not signed a contract stating that they can choose what they pay me depending on how much they like me that month.

I would give a reduced livery rate if the school couldn't be used for a longer period of time due to resurfacing or something similar, but I would be fuming if my liveries broke the agreement they have signed, abused the facilties that I have paid for, and then decided to not pay me their full bill because I was trying to put my point across. If my liveries abuse my school and don't pick up droppings, it will need resurfacing MUCH sooner than the original date we have planned for. I can't afford to throw another £13000 or more that I haven't budgeted for at the school, and my liveries may well end up without a school at all.

ETA - OP, if it were me, I would allow you to have your lesson still. I would hate to think of you losing money, and it would be obvious if you didn't pick up after your horse!
 
Just to add for all those basically saying at least op has a school, its only 2 days etc. I don't have a school either & manage just fine. However if I was paying for one, & indeed had chosen a yard especially for that facility, then I'd be annoyed at the principle. Plus ops instructor has been done out of work if op has been forced to cancel last minute. So perhaps livery should be reduced to pay instructors loss of earnings.
 
Starzaan said:
If I had a "hissy fit" and closed my school it would be because all my liveries have signed contracts stating that they will pick up droppings after using the school.

I have not signed a contract stating that they can choose what they pay me depending on how much they like me that month.
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it's a small point, but i haven't actually signed a contract ;)
Not that it changes anything, in an ideal world both 'sides' would be reasonable human beings anyway :D I didn't have a contract at my old yard either and that worked because people talked to each other when there were issues.

Hey ho, thanks everyone, it's been an interesting thread :cool:
 
Gleeful Imp said:
My YM did this once, BUT you could go and ask for the key and still ride. It meant she knew who was using the school and if any poos had been left it was obvious who the culprit was. Miraculous ending of poos being left in and seems a more reasonable approach, but does require YM to be around constantly. Ours lived on site.
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I would suggest the above very sensible solution to the YO if they live on site, at least for your lesson.
 
Crikey - 2 days - hardly worth the post wasn't it? Postpone lesson and find out who the culprit was and give them a piece of your mind!

Personally don't blame YO but a shame you were caught up in this.
 
not trying to sound funny, but its 2 days, cant you just give your horses the two days off? cant see it making much of a difference.
 
Mcnaughty and chokablok I'm sorry that you think I'm being unreasonable, the point of the post was to ask for constructive things to do with horse instead of riding :)

And I was angry at the approach, not the number of days the ban is in place for. If you read my other posts, I need to move because the travelling is becoming unsustainable. Thanks anyway :)
 
littlelegs said:
Just to add for all those basically saying at least op has a school, its only 2 days etc. I don't have a school either & manage just fine. However if I was paying for one, & indeed had chosen a yard especially for that facility, then I'd be annoyed at the principle. Plus ops instructor has been done out of work if op has been forced to cancel last minute. So perhaps livery should be reduced to pay instructors loss of earnings.
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Totally agree. I don't have a school either but that is my choice as I want to keep them at home and pay less. If I was paying for a school I would expect the use of it.
 
DragonSlayer said:
If I had a nice yard aand sschool, I would clean up after the liveries and my time would be reflected in the prices.
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This was what I was going to do when I first opened the yard. I do to a certain extent as all mine are full and part liveries, so a lot of tidying up is included in the price. I do go round in the evenings and pick up any stray droppings in the school, but with the number of horses I have to work and look after, and the services included in livery prices (clipping, pulling, tack cleaning etc etc) I simply don't have time to pick up after every livery.

However, the part liveries (my part livery includes everything bar riding) are very good at picking up their horses' droppings after they've used the school. They're the only ones who ride when I'm not there and who catch their own horses (all the full liveries are handed tacked up horses and then hand them back when they're done) and tack up themselves.


OP - if you haven't signed a contract then I would have a chat with your YO and tell her your feelings. I would always rather my liveries came to me with their problems so we could talk them through and work them out, rather than getting upset.
 
Maybe a suggestion for your yard owner, we have the same rule that you tidy up and clean up the indoor school after you use it. However we have a book, so we have to put our names down when we use the school so our YO knows exactly who uses it and when.
We also pay as we use the indoor too, which is another reason for having the book. Lessons etc can be booked in advance...also when they need to do maintenance this is put in the book in advance too, so everyone knows exactly what is going on.

As for thoughts on what to do, tack clean and a good groom of your horse, it's surprising how therapeutic that can be after a day in work. Time just being together and listening to them eat can actually be rather enjoyable...
 
DragonSlayer said:
If I had a nice yard aand sschool, I would clean up after the liveries and my time would be reflected in the prices.
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^^^this or somebody elses time that i employed to poop pick would be reflected in the livery price.

How do you police the poop picking even if it is included as a clause in their contract for the liveries to do? and what are the penalties if they do not comply?

but as someone very sensible just mentioned use a booking system...
 
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Wagtail said:
Any one acting like this would be off my yard. Although closing the school is not something I would personally do. I have been in this situation and it is very annoying. I found out who it was and just had a polite word. It may be more than one culprit if the yard is large and if so, the YO is perfectly within their rights to close the school. Liveries having a hissy fit and reducing their livery would be bang out of order. Not the kind of person I would have on my yard. And I am extremely reasonable and easy going. If a livery has a problem, they should politely discuss it with the yard owner, not just decide to dock the livery money.
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I'm sorry....but when I ask a new livery to sign a contract, which states they have use of the facilities, by closing said school I am in breech of contract.
YO instead of acting like a child, ought to make an effort to find the responsible culprit and then BILL that person for the time it took her to clear said shat away....and should have this written into the contract.
Liveries pay to have use of such facilities.
Someone with a show/lesson/competition or someone whose horse needs consistant work to keep it on an even keel is going to be seriously disadvantaged by YO's behaviour.
 
joeanne said:
I'm sorry....but when I ask a new livery to sign a contract, which states they have use of the facilities, by closing said school I am in breech of contract.
YO instead of acting like a child, ought to make an effort to find the responsible culprit and then BILL that person for the time it took her to clear said shat away....and should have this written into the contract.
Liveries pay to have use of such facilities.
Someone with a show/lesson/competition or someone whose horse needs consistant work to keep it on an even keel is going to be seriously disadvantaged by YO's behaviour.
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This :D


Trouble is many YOs are not proper business people, to be honest they are playing at it.

No business which hopes to survive can treat customers like that and not expect some loss of business or reputation.

Our yard has card entry to the indoor so they know who was in it. It also has CCTV so I assume they also know who uses the two outdoors.
 
joeanne said:
I'm sorry....but when I ask a new livery to sign a contract, which states they have use of the facilities, by closing said school I am in breech of contract.
YO instead of acting like a child, ought to make an effort to find the responsible culprit and then BILL that person for the time it took her to clear said shat away....and should have this written into the contract.
Liveries pay to have use of such facilities.
Someone with a show/lesson/competition or someone whose horse needs consistant work to keep it on an even keel is going to be seriously disadvantaged by YO's behaviour.
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Some common sense, pity other YO's aren't the same.
 
joeanne said:
I'm sorry....but when I ask a new livery to sign a contract, which states they have use of the facilities, by closing said school I am in breech of contract.
YO instead of acting like a child, ought to make an effort to find the responsible culprit and then BILL that person for the time it took her to clear said shat away....and should have this written into the contract.
Liveries pay to have use of such facilities.
Someone with a show/lesson/competition or someone whose horse needs consistant work to keep it on an even keel is going to be seriously disadvantaged by YO's behaviour.
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Agree with this, ^^^^ if its a real bug bear, and cant be rectified, put the livery up and do it as part of the service rather than have the school ruined
 
We also seem to have moved away from the point that the school is not a treat, it is not a special toy, it is part of a PAID FOR service. The livery is the customer, not a child and is paying to be at the yard. The YO is NOT doing her a massive personal favour. And again, for those of you who say that its no big deal to lose 2 days... AGAIN!! if you work full time and not close, then you HAVE to plan your time and someone closing the school randomly with no notice is not a great help.

Just makes me even more grateful for my own YO. She employs large doses of common sense and has good communication skills. If I do something she doesn't like or want me to do, she will tell me, privately, and I will amend my ways. Simples!
 
On phone so can't quote but..some people have said liveries being treated like kids and also they are paying customers and can't take facilities from them which are included in a contract... Firstly,*somebody* (tho might be more than one) is behaving like a child-an irresponsible,thoughtless,lazy one-clean up after yourself!! Sooo annoying! All those threads with people ranting how annoyed they are that X livery leaves shavings and Y livery leaves a hay trail etc around - times that by a 100 and that's nearly how annoying it is for a YO who sees their without doubt expensive (NO surface or school construction in the history of the world is cheap!)school being abused.. I bet the YO has said several times that poo shouldn't be left in there(tho being told once,max twice, should be sufficient if everyone is adults..) Secondly,unless the contract states the school will be available 365 days a year,it's not really broken is it? (Especially as there's no booking system on yard in question.) Shut for maintenance? It'll need it,if some idiot keeps leaving cr*p in it! I can understand YO's frustration-I would doubt she's done it lightly and is prob sick to back teeth of repeating what she shouldn't need to and at same time,regrets having to do it this way and affect innocent others...but if the snake won't own up (Fgs,just say they forgot,utterly sorry,ensure wont happen again-it's not difficult!) then YO's hand is forced. Anything to do with horses/stables is so expensive and to see it not respected when it's yours and it's entrusted to others (regardless if they are paying customers-they sure as hell wouldn't want to fork out the cost of providing the facilities!) it is heartbreaking and maddening to see. OP,I hope the guilty parted is outed and normal livery resumes!
 
Also,re:the suggestion the YO poopick school herself,there may be practical difficulties to that-what if liveries can use it 'after hours' as it were,when staff gone home,YO eating her dinner/putting kids to bed or whatever? Why should she need to rush out after and poopick for someone too lazy to do it them self? Plus,if shutting school as a 2day one-off is harshly & unfairly affecting the good,law abiding poopicking livery citizens,then what on earth is upping the price for everyone to cover the non-pickers?!? Sure that'd go down a bomb as a suggestion... ;)
 
As someone said earlier, it wouldn't be the 2 days closure that annoyed me as such, it would be that shes using it as a punishment like you're all naughty school children. That would make me question her as someone who should be calling the shots.
As someone else said, she's done this so that the annoyed people who do clean up after their horses form a witch-hunt for the guilty party - doing her dirty work for her!
 
Blimey, this thread went on a bit of a tangent, but anyway.. thanks for suggestions for nice pony time - after some carrot stretches I ended up clipping her which wasn't exactly pleasurable but was at least a good use of the evening :D
*itchy*


Venevidivici said:
I bet the YO has said several times that poo shouldn't be left in there(tho being told once,max twice, should be sufficient if everyone is adults..)
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Just to pick up this point ^^
I don't know if she has said anything before now tbh. I am not aware of any discussions about poo in the school before now. That's what is really frustrating.

Also I can't help feeling that a face to face conversation between YO and liveries could have prevented this situation. I don't really like receiving info by text alone, we are all there at least once a day and conversations in person usually have a better result than texting people out of the blue ;)
 
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