Your thoughts, risk assessment

Kenzo

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 February 2008
Messages
13,924
Location
Yorkshire
Visit site
If a horse was acting dangerously to bring in from the field (basically through the gateway but also to lead over the field and enter his loose box) lets just say a mixture of spring grass/high winds just general getting worked up during fetching in time.

But it was your job to bring in all the horses on your own, would you take the risk? (bearing in mind the previous evening you nearly got kicked in the face and trampled on by this horse) or you would refuse? and let YO know obviously and leave it out, providing that is, the horse is left out in company so won’t be upset/running about on its own, which is what I decided to do.

There’s one thing dealing with your own horses stupidity at times and others, after all they all have their moments but I’m more reluctant to risk an injury over someone else’s horse when you know what it's going to do, despite if you are getting paid for it.

Now if the horse could not be left out for instance (being left in company wasn’t an option) and you knew the horse would create being left out then would you then take the risk and attempt to bring the animal in?

I’m quite a confident person around horses and I’ll probably go that extra inch more than most but I also know when to call it a day and evaluate situations, I’ve had far too many near misses, on the scale of things I’ve been lucky it must be said, like a cat I’ve probably had my nine lives now but because I've seen the damage nasty accidents can cause, it does make me very cautious these days, not in a nervous way, just choosing wisely and taking the sensible option.

YO agreed, he was not going to bring the horse in neither.

But from a liveries point of view (or a YO's point of view), which I’m trying to see from their side of things, if it was my horse for example, would you of been happy with this choice or would you still have expected the horse to have been brought in? after all at the end of the day, you are paying for a service, then surely you expect to receive it no matter what?

There has not been an issue here or anything, in fact the horse's owner is lovely and no doubt will of agreed and done the same thing, I’m just wondering what others would have done in a similar situation that’s all and what the general the 'rule of thumb is' on other yards when these situations arise.

Who comes first? the paying livery or the safety of the yard staff?
 
As the owner I would not want my horse to injure someone, so if the groom felt the situation was too dangerous for them to deal with and they provided a reasonable alternative (i.e. horse stays out with company) I would be perfectly happy. Long term I would work with my horse to find a solution, or get a trainer in who could help me out or move to a livery yard where they felt comfortable handling him.
 
Good question! As a yard owner myself, I would probably give the livery notice or make it a condition that they make their own arrangements to bring in the horse. I will not have dangerous horses on my yard. I will not ride dangerous horses either. I always insist on seeing a horse ridden by the owner first if I am to school it. I have to be cautious. I have seven horses to take care of on full and part livery and no staff.
 
If it is just a one off, I think it is fair enough to leave it to the owner....

However, I think, if the horse is like it regularly, it would be the YO job to either ask the livery to leave, or get the horse in themselves.

If an owner is paying for full/part livery, and the YO is happy to take their money, they should be happy to deal with the horse.
 
If it is just a one off, I think it is fair enough to leave it to the owner....

However, I think, if the horse is like it regularly, it would be the YO job to either ask the livery to leave, or get the horse in themselves.

If an owner is paying for full/part livery, and the YO is happy to take their money, they should be happy to deal with the horse.

Ditto this. Jesper could be difficult to bring in/turn out but I was always honest and up front with any potential YOs. I also provided a chifney and expected them to take suitable steps (hat, gloves, etc).

Whilst I don't expect a YO to put themselves at risk, I do think with fore planning (put difficult horses in nearest field to ensure shortest walk, don't leave them until last so they don't stress, etc) that most situations are manageable.
 
I was in a similar position but on the otherside this morning my mare was being a brat to be caught for the YM to take her rug off she occasionally decides she doesn't want to be caught and she can be aggressive teeth at one end and turning her bum and threatening to kick at the other. When YM text me I told her to leave her as I don't expect people to put themselves in danger for the sake of my horses comfort (wasn't a life and death situation after all).
 
Humans come first.

If I had a horse like that on my yard he'd be in his own private paddock (with companion if that made him happy) with a shelter and there he'd stay.

He'd get the same care and attention as he would if he were stalled, I'd even muck his shelter out;) but he wouldn't be coming out of his paddock with me on the end of his leadline if it endangered me.

I wouldn't expect staff (if I had any) to manage a horse that I wasn't comfortable handling myself.

Putting the shoe on the other foot, as an owner, if my horse was unruly (let's say) then I wouldn't expect staff to put themselves on the line because of his bad manners.
 
Last edited:
Staff safety is number 1

If there is a contract in place, the YO must discuss the situation and then follow up in writing to cover their own interests
 
I think what you did was correct. When I first got my horse he was on part livery and they refused to turn him out/bring him in as he was stupid on the head boys days off as they didnt trust the grooms with him so I happily went up and did it! As it goes he now gets turned out with just a leadrope round his neck and is a donkey (put him on a chilled DIY yard) but I think the decision you made is 100% right :)
 
The horse is not a difficult horse, usually very good to handle, its just a case of feeling too well I think as they have all been feeling the joys of spring this week.

Just got me thinking how difficult it can be at times for YO's to decide what's for best at times and how easily accidents can happen even on the one off occasions, plus if there is nobody else around should something happen.

Thanks for your feed back.
 
Top