Help with livery yards -please?

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Monty

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Nov 16, 2001
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I've always looked after my own horses at home until now, so this is very hard for me to entrust the care of my horse to another.

I've got two livery yards to check out this afternoon and one in the morning. All have vacancies. I favour the first one which offers a package tailored to your needs. Belongs to the man I buy my hay from.

What I really need is someone to turn out and bring in, as that bothers me a bit with lots of strange horses in the field, and a lot of their fields are rather heavily sloped for me to walk on. I can skip/muck out myself, and feed. But they charge it on single time basis, so that if you get caught up somewhere and can't get there...you don't have to panic. They have said they will do turning out bringing in free for me, because I don't really have the option of doing it myslef. Tis £20 weekly for stable which includes use of floodlit menege.£8/week for haylage if you want it...but I'd take my own haynet down there. Straw is £4 a bale, if I remember correctly, forget now.

How does insurance work with these things, and what should I except in terms of security of my horse. Also tack.....they have a large communal tack area. How can I stop anyone just going off and riding Monty without asking?? Short of keeping my tack at home, which is a bit of a nuisance, for me, and for the couple of people who are going to be allowed to ride him out without me being there. Means they have to call at my place for tack...

Lots of questions. God, this is like leaving your child with a childminder. Worse in fact...because at least then you go and collect them at the end of the day! Ooooooh Dear...this is so alien to me. Hove been spoilt having my own stable at home. How do I know they'll look after my baby properly??
 
Sounds like a great setup, and reallty great they turn out bring in for you! Price is super with an arena to..thats the one thing I'm missing now as I really would like to school Kai, but at present have nowhere to do this.

I think everyone on here would be miffed if someone got on your horse for a ride, and certainly have never come across it myself on yards Ive been on or worked on.
You could get one of those big plastic box thingys ( I got one from B&Q) they are also lockable so you can give the people who are worthy of them a spare key!!! :D

I always insure my horses, and always ensure I have public liablilty so in that respect your covered for eventualitys!

In terms of security of your horse I would ask if they do late night yard checks etc.. and of course if they live on site etc.. thats always an added bonus

All the best with your new hoss.. hes a very lucky boy to!
 
basically, you have to trust people aren't just going ot ride your horse or mistreat it! why would people want to - presumably at a yard they all have their own horses, so would be appalled if someone did it to them and therefore are unlikelyto go joyriding. the staff would be handling him, and so nobody else would really have reason to, unless helping out the staff and turning out or bringing in if they have a spare hand.

you should have your stuff insured, the insurance should have no issue with it as long as the tack room is secure.

it does all come down to trust. visit the place, speak to the staff, look atthe stables and how the other horse sre kept, and you'll see if you can entrust them with your pride and joy.

from the staff's point of view, having beem head girl of a livery yard - we do the job because we like horses (it's certianly not for the money!) and we look after them otthe best of our ability. we're not out to get the liveries, we want what you do - happy horses.

all perfectly normal new-mum and new-yard wibbles!
 
Sounds like a pretty good setup, in regards to the tack if you were worried about other liveries using it depending on the room they offer you you could possibly buy one of the metal lockers for storage and get a key cut for the other people that may ride your horse.

Hope it goes well prices are better than down my way (were paying that now for just grazing with a stable each) :)
 
Just a thought on the tack side of things. I echo what the others have said, I think you'd be most unlucky to find people riding Monty without your permission. But a lady at my previous yard did something that could help to put your mind at rest on this *and* provide a bit of extra security. She kept her saddle on a standard wall-mounted saddle rack, the type you find at RS and yards everywhere (nothing fancy). She then had a rubber-covered chain (a bit like a bike security chain, perhaps a bit longer though). This was wrapped around the saddle, through the irons, and through the saddle rack. The ends were padlocked shut. Of course it wouldn't deter a determined thief (does anything?!), but it provided a good visual deterrent because it looked as though it would take ages to get the saddle off (it actually only took seconds). If you used a number-code padlock then you could simply share the number with the people you want to ride him. If you just say you're doing it for security because you worry about tack theft, I doubt anyone would find anything strange in it. :)
 
I think the yard sounds really nice Monty. I bought a garden plastic bench/box that I could lock. It cost about £30 and there would be plenty of room for a saddle, tack and tack box etc. You cut have 3 keys cut for everyone. :)
 
Your insurance needs to cover basic death and theft, vets fees are preferable but not essential, public liability is a must (mine comes through my BD membership so it might be covered through the RDA).

Tack is the sticky one - it won't be insured if there are more than 5 people sharing the tack room and there are certain standards for the locks and security of door/ceiling. If you get a custom made saddle for yourself it won't suit anyone else so a suggestion is to buy a synthetic one that will do for the other riders and use a cheap/old bridle for everyday wear, keep your show tack at home. That is what we did when niece's pony was on working livery - she had her dressage saddle and show bridle at home, cheap synthetic bridle and a wintec at the yard. It is still worth having minimal tack cover though as it usually covers rugs being stolen or damaged.
 
Thanks all of you. It's very nice to hear what everyone else does. I'm going to have a look properly at 3.30pm, so I'll report back this evening, and you can tell me if anything sounds strange/different/unreasonable/not right. I have public liability for Grace , via tha British Driving Society. I definitely needed it for Anni, she was such a horror!! But I think I will extend it a bit to cover theft for Monty.

Good idea regards the saddle, both the chaining up, and using a cheaper one to keep at the yard. I've got a Wintec Dressage which I love, and a Thorowgood Remedi Saddle. I am eventually going to get a WOW for Monty. So perhaps I'll leave the Remedi at the yard.Lots of stuff to think about there. Thanks.
 
Reversed car into my yard to go off to 'inspect' this livery place, only to find OH on tractor unloading a huge artic with a bulk straw delivery, blocking the top of my drive. Couldn't get out. So having to leave it til 10am omorrow morning. Aaaaargh. Frustrating. Guess after a five months search another few days won't make any difference ...but Grrrr all the same!!:mad:
 
Shop around for tack insurance would be my advice. I went with NFU as at the time they were the only place I could find that would insure me with my tack in a room shared by about 10 people and only secured with a padlock. Everyone else on the yard thought they were covered, but as their companies wouldn't insure me on that basis, I think they'd have had a nasty surprise had they tried to claim. I did warn them, but noone bothered to check it out. But it did teach me that different companies have different rules.

Re the saddle security - if yours is more secure than the next persons, then the next persons is more likely to be stolen ;)

Edit to add: BDS liability insurance apparently only covers you, not anyone else handling youur horse, even with your permission.
 
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As far as insuring tack goes my insurance co (petplan equine)has very decided guidelines - all insured tack must be kept in a locked building, and if this building is not your own home then they specify a 5 lever mortice deadlock on the doors and steel bars or grid on any window....
It's cheaper for me to keep mine in the car.
 
You can buy lockable saddle racks, saves worrying about whether others will actually lock tack room before going off on a ride. I also use a metal office cabinet for my other stuff which has a padlock.
 
Today was a bit fruitless. One livery yard was lovely, with no vacancies. And the other had a vacancy, but was a bit of a mess. Don't get me wrong, the horses looked great and there was a happy atmosphere. However there were lots of ramps and steep bits, steps, and steps that you didn't find because of the mud, until you stepped off one!! It just wasn't suitable for me. It would have been an accident waiting to happen. And that's no good.

However, I have a field I can use to put him in until I'm sorted and he comes with all rugs, including a decent NZ rug, so he should be fine.He's a good doer, and a big strong lad.

I'm collecting him on Sunday.:D :D :D :D
 
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