Moving yards Wednesday!

H

happy_bunny

Member
Apr 12, 2008
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18
St Mellons, Cardiff
Everything has happened so fast I haven't quite got my head round it yet...

For those who didn't see my previous thread, I usually arrive at the yard about an hour or so after everyone else so my Welshie is left out on her own til I get there - this has always been fine and Lily has never seemed particularly bothered about being left on her own. However, last week it all changed and she decided that instead of waiting for me to come for her she would barge through three fences (solid post-and-rail) and go into another field. Since then she has been doing it every time she is left out so the YO is now bringing her in for me and charging me £2 a day for the privilege. On top of the £35 a week I'm already paying (which includes YO feeding, rugging and putting out in the morning), it seems a bit much, especially as I am trying to raise funds to buy a house. The yard rules state that other liveries are not allowed to bring her in and if they do I will still be charged as if YO had done it.

The only solutions that we had found were:
- carry on with YO bringing her in and charging me (bringing my livery costs up to £45 pw)
- Lily being kept in 24/7 :eek:
- trying electric fence to see if that stopped her

However, on Tuesday night I happened to finish work early and went for a quick canter round the woods and on the way back I spotted a sign for a little riding school that I'd never noticed and it said they also did livery so I thought I would just ride down the drive and see if there was anybody about (it was about 6pm by then). I saw a group of kids on hairy cobs coming up the drive and the man leading the way sent me down to the office - Lily disputed this somewhat as she wanted to follow the hairy cobs but down to the office we went anyway and had a chat to the lady there.

She said that that a space had just opened up for grass livery at £15 per week and the rest of the herd live out 24/7 - which sounded amazing to me, I didn't think you could get 24/7 turnout so close to town :bounce:
So she showed me round and we talked a bit more about it - the only 'rules' they have seem to be fairly common sense ones - must wear a hat for all riding and hi-viz if going out, and liveries are allowed to ride in all the fields as long as they close gates behind them.

Although it is 'grass' livery so I don't get a stable, there are some pens available in the field for feeding/grooming etc and there are stables that can be used if needed - e.g all new liveries have to stay in the first two days and be wormed (the horse not me!).

You get space to keep feed and stuff but they ask you to keep tack etc at home because the riding school equipment takes up so much space there isn't really any to spare - will have to put a saddle rack in the garage methinks...

Made my decision to move yesterday and broke the news to YO - loads of people have left recently so I felt a bit bad for her but she seemed OK about it so I'm moving Wednesday :showoff:

I seem to have babbled on for ages but what I really wanted to find out was whether any NR-ers kep horses on grass livery and if there were any particular problems/issues associated with it that I should prepare for?

I have always had a stable before and Lily has always spent a least a portion of the day in one but she seems to be quite a hardy type (Welsh sec D) and the field pens are left open when not in use so there is proper shelter there... I have a really good feeling about this place :cloud9:

Definitely lots of choccies if you managed to get through all my rambling :bounce:
 
I'm on grass livery and find it totally fine. I share a field with one other and we have a penned off section at the gate so I can take my horse out, tie him up and groom, its also where we store our hay during the winter months.
I could probably use a stable if I really needed to - if my horse was ill, however touch wood and all that.
Life is very simple imo - yes I guess I miss out on the whole being able to bring my horse inside during bad weather but as far as I'm concerned thats just all part of the fun!!
I also think its a good idea for you to keep your tack at home, its too much of a risk being stored with everyone else's somewhere remote. Sounds like a win win to me, good luck with the move!
 
Ziggy and Mattie are on grass livery. They have a 3.5 acre field and a great big field shelter. I keep my feed and rugs etc (not tack, that's at the house) in a special Mattie-proofed lean to behind the shelter.

It's ideal and they are happy and well.
 
Thanks guys!

I'm glad everyone has such positive stories - and we are just coming into summer so at least it will be a while before I have to deal with winter weather (fingers crossed!)

I have been talking to a few people about the new yard and no-one has a bad word to say about them - apparently another livery from my yard moved there a while back as well so at least I will know someone to begin with :). I also found out that the YO doesn't actually own the place, she runs it for the real owner who is a millionaire and lives abroad somewhere :giggle:

I guess its all a bit new and scary now but I'll soon get used to it - I have a feeling it won't take me long at all to get used to not mucking out every day :tongue:

Now I just have to figure out the best way to organise the move - whether to ride or lead her there, whether to move Lily first and come back for all my gear, or vice versa...

The plan in my mind at the moment is to go to the new yard early morning (or the day before if there's time) and get her new bed down ready for her to stay in after her wormer and see if I can sort out a haynet and stuff ready. Then go up to my yard and take Lily to her new stable and let her settle in - if I have ridden then will have to find somewhere for her tack until I get back with car - then go back and disinfect stable, load car and take everything to new yard.

I feel like I want to have it planned out so I know what I'm doing (and make as few trips back and forth as possible) but I have a feeling that on the day the plan will go out the window anyway coz that is what happened last time :yellowcarded: The only difference is that this time the new yard is only half a mile down the lane, and my OH was there to help with loading and stuff but he is away during the week now so I'll have to do it all myself :unsure:
 
This is great news. I'm so pleased that you have found somewhere and it sounds fab. I know how stressful it can be when you are wondering what your horse is up to if you cant get up.

As for the move... I moved recently to another yard a mile or two away. I moved as much of my stuff as possible before the move day and made a bed in his new stable. On the move day, my friend and I tacked up and rode down to their new home. They stayed in that one day and were turned out the next day and wormed a few days later. They settled in so fast and I think that riding them helped as he knew where he was going.

Good luck with the move. If you are anything like me, you will breathe a huge sigh of relief when you are at your new yard and lily has settled in.

Caymen has always had a stable so cant help with any advice on grass livery.
 
I still think I want to do everything in one day if I can - then it will all be over and done with. Lily herself is probably the easiest bit coz I can just lead/ride her there, but I think if I get her moved early on then it will give me plenty of time to clean her old stable out and gather everything together without her being under my feet - and I'm sure she can survive without her feed bins and wheelbarrow and spare rugs and stuff for at least a couple of hours.... :giggle:

The latest plan is to go to my yard first and grab her haynet and feed to take up to new yard so that her stable is all ready for her, then come back and get her and install her in the new stable. In the past she has settled really quickly into new places as long as there is a ready food supply :tongue:

Then while she is eating/settling in I can nip back to old yard, clean the stable and disinfect it and whatnot (I'm sure there are all sorts of complex rules regarding this that I won't find out about until I do it wrong - but such is life! :playfull:). I can then load everything into car (possibly in a number of trips coz my car is tiny) and see what there is space for at the new yard and what I will have to take home...

Does anyone have any ideas for how to transport a saddle by car? Are there special stands or something? I have a feeling that there are but that my car will be too small to put one in - I think it might be possible to use all her rugs and stuff to create a suitable support but I'm not really sure about it and I don't want to damage my saddle just when the weather is starting to pick up!
 
I always put my saddle over the back of the rear seat. Can you take your parcel shelf out?
Good luck with the move, Sounds perfect. We have never done anythng except out 24/7 and would never do anything different. I can go away for a couple of days knowing my field share and neighbours will keep an eye out but otherwise no special arrangments - how easy is that. Something crops up and Im late one day - so what?!
 
good luck with the move - hope it goes well

I use a saddle mate when we go to shows - keep saddle in place in the car and then we just stand it outside - makes tacking up easier!!!!
 
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