YOs - would you feel grateful or criticised?

little_critter

little_critter

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Last week I told our YO that there was a patch of hemlock growing in our field - she was going to look at it.
Today I've spotted some ragwort coming up.
I thought that on saturday I'd get stuck in and weed them up myself, but then thought would the YO see this as a silent criticism of her management? or would she just be grateful for a livery that got stuck in?
I'll be doing the weeding regardless because I don't want my pony to be at risk - just not sure if I need to prepare myself for a stroppy YO.
Opinions please.....?
 
Are you on DIY? If you are then I would have said it was your role to dig it up anyway.

If not, then no the YO should have done it. But I would just quietly get on and do it anyway.
 
If you're on DIY then just go and lift them yourself - however, you will need to tell YO as the ragwort will need to be burnt - don't chuck it on the muck heap. And don't forget to wear rubber gloves when you are lifting it.

I wouldn't think YO will think you are criticising her.
 
I will be going in with rubber gloves and there's a bonfire nearby that I can chuck the weeds on.
I'd best pray for good weather on Saturday then!
(by the way - yes I'm on DIY but about 40% of the horses in the field belong to the YO, the 'rules' as to who does what seem pretty vague)
 
Can't see any problem picking the ragwort. DIY doesn't mean you are necessarily responsible for the management of the fields however (I certainly wasn't) - but would always pick the odd stem of ragwort I saw growing - and just let the YO know that I'd done it.
 
I would just go ahead and do it but maybe mention to your YO your plans.

I run a DIY livery yard and noticed a few fox gloves coming through in the starvation paddock - I would normally deal with these things myself but as was out competing that day, mentioned it to the horses owner and she did them herself.
 
End of the day does it matter? (well obviously it does to you as your taking her feelings into consideration :)) but if the weeds are there in the first place and they have not been delt with to date then I personally I wouldn't be concerned as to what they think...does that sound harsh? :D

I do think however, any decent YO would be grateful, if everyone pitched in every so often by doing things of their own back, be it weeding, muck removel, checking fencing etc then a lot of livery yards would better and safer places, even if it's just someone taking time to wonder around notice things and bring it to the YO's attention rather than moaning about it behind their backs (which often happens on DIY type yards).
 
Kenzo - I do try to bring things to the YOs attention but then I think I'm sounding picky.
Maybe I worry too much - I'll just carry on doing what I think needs doing until someone says otherwise.
 
Given how many jobs yard staff have to do I can't see anyone ever getting het up about someone quietly helping out!
 
All sorted - I said to the YO I was going to weed the field and asked if she had any tools that would make it easier, she said not to worry, she was going to blitz it herself later this week. I offered to help but she had it covered (she was grateful for the offer though)
I'm a natural born worrier!
 
To be honest I would have just dug them up straight away and mentioned to the YO when I saw her/him. I try and get rid of plants like that as soon as I see them so they don't have any chance to establish themselves.
 
I think if it was only a few plants growing where my horses were grazing and I could dig them up myself easily, I would do it asap and tell the yard owner that I'd done it, so that they were aware poisonous plants were around. If a larger area needed to be dealt with then I would want to be sure YO did do something about it but I guess it's difficult to know how to approach them if they don't sort it out.
 
I would have pulled it as I spotted it if it was just one or two small plants but the patch of hemlock is a fair size. The ragwort is only small at the moment but the plants are fairly spread out - I was going to do a full sweep of the field which would have taken the best part of a day (big field with lots of nooks and crannies). Also I don't have any gloves at the yard (not that I'd want to use for weeding anyway)

Looks like I might be pulling it after all - YO said she'd move the horses and blitz the field today but the field the horses were going to move to wasn't ready this morning so it may not get done.
I'll be down there tomorrow with gloves.
 
hemlock and cow parsley look similar, but hemlock is more often found in wet ditches and streams, they have tuberous roots, make sure the roots of ragwort and hemlock are dug out and burnt or put in bin for disposal elsewhere
 
MrsD I'm pretty certain it's hemlock - smooth stems with purple spots and when its a warm damp morning it stinks! It's right next to a river and some wasteland so ideal conditions for the stuff.
Not sure how I'm going to get the roots out - I'm eyeing up a spare electric fence stake to use to stab around the roots and tease them out - problem is the ground it like concrete so I bet the stems will just snap.
 
God that was hard work.
Took about 4 hours and have only got through about 3/4 of the hemlock patch and got all of the ragwort plants I had previously spotted. After that I was too knackered. I'll have to go back next week and see if I can finish it off and sweep the rest of the field. Now I know where the hemlock tends to pop up I can try to keep on top of it - some of the roots were a foot long!.
I've only been in the field since Easter so didn't know it had a hemlock problem - I assumed the stuff that looked like cow parsley was cow parsley - I only got suspicious last week and had a closer look.
 
If I was YO I wouldn't be offended if you did at all! It's in the interest of the horse. I'd want you to tell me after so I can keep an eye on it, but offended?! Nooooo!
 
what a good livery you are! No i wouldnt be offended. YO s are busy and only have one pair of eyes! (and hands) fantastic that you dug it up, good that you noticed. my fields are pooh picked every day, and we keep an eye out for ragwort and other plants, but all help is appreciated. A rag fork is a very useful tool.
 
id be more than happy to be told you had spotted something un-toward , my head isnt big enough to feel one way or the other,:p regarding if i were you just keep being open and honest, ask her if she minds you speaking up!
 
As a YO I'd always be very happy for anyone to get rid of a dangerous weed like either Hemlock or Ragwork, BUT I'd like to know where they found it so that (a) I could keep an eye for the future if any more grows there and (b) to make sure that ALL of it had been thoroughly disposed of by burning - not that I wouldn't trust a livery to do the job properly, but as just a tiny bit of ragwort can do such a lot of harm I'd want to make sure there wasn't anything left.

Also, I'd want to know if the livery had protected herself, i.e. mask and gloves for ragwort disposal as the poison can go through the skin and also be inhaled apparently. Nasty stuff.
 
No, I wouldn't be offended, but as I check all my paddocks twice weekly, I'd be gutted that I'd missed it and would wonder if my livery might think I was being negligent.
 
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