Having a moan! (Updated!)

GaryB

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Mar 23, 2015
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Its been one of those weekends, so I thought I would have a vent with the people I think of as my online horsey family!

On Friday night I went to put Harvey's heavier rug on (despite being on part livery we don't get rug changes). The stables have an automatic gate with the code unit on a post with a metal base. I ran over the corner of the base and with the ground being soft it tipped over and dented my car - not massive, but its still going to cost me.

On Saturday morning I picked up the lorry from being mended again - a new battery and another attempt at trying to fix the roof - not a bad price at £125 but not in the budget.

I was looking forward to a nice relaxing day at the yard - then I opened my bill :(

Despite my livery including unlimited hay I have a bill for £7.50pw backdated to December and in advance for January so another £64 to find. And livery is going up £5pw from February, plus hard feed will no longer be included. So all in all a 19% increase in my livery (based on a guess at how much it will to feed Harvey). Also 9 new horses are coming which will be too much for the grazing I think, so I suspect there will be further "Extra hay" charges

My favourite riding companions will be moving on so unless we can find livery for all of us at a location that suits us both.

I now have to do the sums. I have to say that selling Harvey is going to be one of the options. I could get rid of the lorry but without that I may as well go back to loaning or hiring. I've got see see the Doctor tonight when hopefully I will get an idea when I can ride again which will also be a major factor. After that I will be checking out livery options in other areas. Harvey is about 15 miles East of where I live so looking that far in the other direction puts me into a quite different area

So all in all not a good weekend or start to the year :(
 
Blimey thats a lot thrown at you all at once. I didn't realise you weren't riding - did I miss a thread?
I'd be questioning the backdated livery bill (unless you already know what its for of course) If it is for hay thats supposedly included I'd again be questioning that. & how do they know what to charge for in advance for January?? 19% increase is huge by any standards - have they discussed the reasoning behind it with you?
Ohhhh I so hope you don't have to say goodbye to Harvey - you look such a great team:(:(:(
In the meantime good luck with your Dr tonight xx
 
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Sorry to hear your year hasn't started off great. I would have a good look round at other livery yards. I moved my 2 and save over £200 a month on a yard I'm actually happier and is much better suited to one of my horses especially. There are a lot of small yards not advertised, could you maybe put a post on a local horsey page? It sounds like you have wide area to look at other places so I'm sure you can find somewhere else.

I'd query the charge for hay if you're paying for unlimited. In regards to the lorry, have you thought about a trailer? We've done both the lorry and trailer and have stuck with the trailer. It does tend to work out cheaper.

Fingers crossed you get good news at the Doctors tonight.
 
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I can see why your feeling a bit glum after all of that. I would tell YO to bugger off for 'extra hay' charges if 'unlimited hay' is included in the livery fee. I think I would be looking elsewhere too if there are that many extras coming when you already need extra hay, is it a relatively new yard/yard owner/manager?
 
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I'll definitely be looking to move - the difficulty is finding where the liveries are and how much they cost, it all seems to be done by word of mouth. There doesn't seem to be much in the same area, but in some ways it would be nice to move to a new area. I have some places to try that I earmarked when I was first looking. I have got a place to check out on Wednesday but I have been haring some bad things about it since the appointment was made :(
I did look at trailers but the real issue was getting and keeping a dedicated tow car. It will certainly worth another look.
Its not a new yard - I have a suspicion that the YO would actually like us all to go. The new horses that are coming are hiring a whole section of the yard and I suspect he might like to just hire out the whole yard.

The charge for hay definitely shouldn't be there. There has been hay put out in the fields, but its supposed to be included, but we have decided that we won't get anywhere useful by fighting it. I am sure we would be able to "win" it back (one of the liveries is a solicitor), but at the end of the day he can just give it back and then put the livery up more!
I forgot to mention that also I have been changed from paying weekly to paying monthly but I now get 3 bags of bedding a month instead of 3 every 4 weeks. Its only 3 a year less, but its 3 more I have to pay for!

I've not been able to ride since November due to a riding injury - hopefully the specialist will be able to suggest some timescales tonight. ( did do the fancy dress ride and a quick hack on New Years Day which I later regretted). Its private health so they have an incentive to do something!

Its hard to be optimistic at them moment, but who knows - change is sometimes for the best!
 
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Yard sounds like the logistics will be changing a fair bit if parts of being rented out so I'd get looking for another. I'd go to the yard on Wednesday but with your eyes open and plenty of questions and also try and get a few more lined up to compare. I find in the horsey world there are lot of negative people who always have bad things to say about people, yards, vets etc so it can be hard to know what's right and a lot of the time you have to make your own opinion.

We have a trailer because it doesn't cost anything if not in use, wagons don't tend do to well if they're sat. Also means only insuring, taxing of one vehicle instead of 2 and no plating. So may be worth you looking into.

Sorry to hear you've been off since November, you must be really missing riding!

Change is good! Once you've looked at a few yards and found somewhere new it will begin to look up :)
 
Boo hiss to your YO. Hope you get some answers from the doctor tonight. So sorry to hear about all your new bills like the car repair etc. Everything always seems to pile up at once in January! Lots of vibes you can find a better place for Harvey and you. Things do happen for a reason - and who knows - the move might be a really good one!
 
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Ooh dear, it does sound a bad weekend. I hope you get sorted and find somewhere really nice (and cheaper) to keep Harvey. Good luck tonight.
 
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Query the hay if it's meant to be included.

Get a big piece of paper and a nice bottle of wine. Realistically write down the for and against going or staying.
If the new horses are renting part of the yard, will this remove grazing you had access to? If not there shouldn't need to be extra hay charges.
Not including hard feed might actually save you money. It will allow you to shop around and buy what you want. They are making profit out of you remember. You probably were paying over the odds before.
My friends eventer is 17.2hh and just gets a chaff and beet. It's the two products that last longer than a mix.

Definately look around because all yards offer something different with the part livery. It might just be time to move on.
 
I love my forum family! Thanks so much for your replies (and letting me moan). I'm feeling a bit better about it today - I saw the consultant last night and a small operation should see me riding again in about 5 weeks so that is something to look forward too.
My livery friends have found a new yard to move to where our trainer has her horse so they are off at the end of the month. Its just a bit more expensive than what I currently pay. It looks like they will have a space for me in February so I am going to have a look round tomorrow and see what's what. I have been there once before to deliver a horse but it has changed owners since then. In the meantime I have found a couple of other options both of which are cheaper than the increased prices.

Onwards and upwards!
 
sounds to me as if they are trying to price you out (their own agenda) - you may find paying a little extra come February may save you more and provide less hassle in the long run, hope things work out for you
 
An Update.
Yesterday I checked out 2 yards.
Number 1 was perfect on paper: The price was good and although part livery included 7 day turn out/bring in and the grazing and facilities were good. On the downside the hacking wasn't very good and I thought the stables were too small for Harvey (they are very low at the back)

Number 2 is much nicer. 19 acres of land for 9 horses, big airy stables, a nice school with free lights and not much more than my pre-increase prices. Also my new trainer is based there so it will be good for lessons. It also looks like I can park my lorry under cover (and given that I'm having issues with it leaking that is a huge help).

So Harvey will be moving at the start of February along with 2 of my fellow liveries and their horses. Harvey's stable won't be available until late Feb but they have rejigged a few things so we can move together.

Onwards and Upwards!
 
That's ace, not long to wait. Though I can't help thinking your current YO really has got the result they intended:oops::(kind of peeves me they have engineered it that way and as already mentioned it does sound like they wanted you guys off to make way for a much easier way to make money, ie renting a whole block out:(
But very glad you have found a solution.
 
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