Couple of questions about livery/expectations...

[Springersrock]

If you have an indoor school, how much are you able to use it?

We have an indoor school, usage is advertised and is included in our livery fees.

Everyday after school until about 8pm the yard owners run riding lessons in there, then at weekends there are Birthday parties or pony days, during school holidays there’s always something on pretty much every day.

You might be able to sneak in for an odd half an hour here and there, but all the other liveries want to use it too. I think DD has been in there a dozen times and we’ve been at the yard nearly a year.

Also, what would you expect for full livery?

DD’s pony is on DIY livery, but the yard owners will help out ad hoc with full livery for holiday cover/illness whatever.

We had a funeral this week so paid for full livery for 2 days. Pony has a supplement in the morning, then usual turn out/bring in/muck out/fill hay nets, etc. Discussed all this with the YO

We were up in the morning, turned out, mucked out, filled nets, etc, so YO only had to bring in that evening. Then on the 2nd day he was supposed to give supplement then the usual stuff - turn out/muck out/etc. I’d made up the food bucket with supplement and left in the top of her feed bin, YO just had to give her the bucket.

When we get up there the following morning - food bucket is still sitting in the feed bin, haynets had been filled but I’m pretty sure she hadn’t been mucked out. She had been turned out/brought in

This was an extra £10 a day

We’re on holiday in the summer and was going to pay the YO for full livery for the week, but that’s just shit isn’t it?

I’d actually like to move to a yard closer to home so DD can get there under her own steam - the indoor school was one of the main reasons we went to this yard and I’m really fecking cross about the full livery this week, but I don’t know if I’m expecting a bit much

The indoor school is a separate issue from the full holiday livery.

If the school is rarely available then you may as well move to a yard nearer home even if theres no indoor as it will make no difference.

As for the full livery you need to point out to the YO that pony was not fed. Feed was ready, you had told YO and it wasn't done. Not on at all.
As for the mucking out, well maybe they just skipped out the poops but didn't tidy? Difficult to say sometimes. I would leave that. At least pony got turned out and had hay.

Thanks!

I’m not even convinced they’d skipped the poo out to be honest.

Given the fact she’d been out all day and the usual level of poo in the mornings, it looks to me like they just TO/BI and filled her hay nets.

We asked for a muck out and it was supposed to be included in the £10 so I’m a bit miffed. Didn’t expect a full on empty out of her stable, but to clear out the wet straw and poo, or at least chuck in some clean straw.

One of the other owners would have to/bi and chucked some hay in for us as a favour, but I wanted to make sure she had a muck out and her supplement so we paid for the full livery

The odd day won’t kill her, but if she stays there I don’t think I’d be happy to leave her for a week

The school thing is annoying me too. None of the yards nearby have any schools, indoor or out, but then we rarely get to use the one we have.

DD loves it there though, she has loads of mates there, good hacking, etc so I suppose the lack of school use isn’t the end of the world

I don’t know, we’re quite new to horse owning, so I’m not sure if I’m expecting too much

I keep my horse on a riding school/livery yard/competition yard. We have a large indoor and outdoor school we can use both whilst lessons are taking place although we dont have birthday parties or pony days, and most lessons are private/semi private. Lessons take place all day and in the evening but if you want to use it when its quieter and then you can ask the office and they tell me when would be good.
With regard to the mucking out and feeding my horses did you ask the YO why your pony hadn't been fed? Although undoubtedly they would have come up with an excuse! I have spent many years on livery from top comp yards to little scruffy places IME few do exactly what you want, or in the way you do it although I have to say most manage to do it for a few days! The old adage if you want a job done do it yourself very much applies here. Im now long in the tooth (30+ years on livery) and realise no where is perfect so take the view that as long as the advantages of being on yard X outweigh the disadvantages and as long as Im convinced that my horse is happy and always getting the basics food water turnout medicines (if necessary) then frankly anything else is a bonus. You need to decide if the advantages of being on your current yard are outweighed by the fact that his stable may be being skipped out rather than mucked out whilst your away and the owner may not feed him. Neither are the end of the world he wont die assuming he's being turned out and getting hay. Or can you put him onto grass livery whilst you're away likely to be cheaper and at least you wont be paying for something your not getting!!
I also believe that being in an environment that you and hopefully your horse like is really important this is meant tone a pleasurable hobby. The yard my horse is on is brilliant fantastic friendly supportive staff, amazing insructors, the other liveries are lovely and most importantly of all my horse is really happy. That for me is more important than an empty indoor school.

For me the main issue is that you have to trust them with your horse whilst you're away. There are things that happen with my horse that are less than ideal, but the yard owner genuinely cares about him and would be upset herself if anything bad happened to him.

Full livery varies but as a minimum I would expect:
Muck out (might mean deep litter, but should be mucked out)
Feed (incl. supplements), hay, water, including the right hay soaked/ dampened whatever your instructions are
Turn out/ bring in at around the right time (half an hour later than normal not a problem, half a day is)
Rugs checked/ changed

And preferably feet picked out and a quick visual check that all is OK with the horse.

Riding schools have an unfortunate habit of taking your money without giving you the service you're paying for. I'd ask one of the other liveries, or pay a reliable, known freelance for when you're away. If the YO doesn't like this, tough, they should have done what you asked, or said they wouldn't have the time.

Thanks all

I haven’t seen the YO at the yard the last couple of days. I usually see him in the morning during the week so will have a word then

One of the other liveries has recommended a freelance holiday cover so I’m going to book them for when we are away.

DD loves the yard, she’s got lots of mates up there, the hacking is great and she doesn’t want to move so I guess we’ll just chalk it up to experience and never ask for full livery again.

Some livery yards wont let you bring in outside help, I suggest you try and find out before presenting it as a fait accompli! YO can be unreasonable even when they've been unhelpful before and use things like this to ask you to leave. Obviously it may depend on how much local demand there is for your space.

We have two outdoors and an indoor here. So long as you avoid busy times it's not hard to find somewhere to ride so long as you are happy riding around other people.

The use of schools is generally an issue when you keep your horse at a riding school unless you are an adult who can ride during the day . As regards the care I would be very unhappy and would have said something . I also agree with pp that the yo may have an issue with you bringing in an outside carer , we’ve been at yards where even bringing in an outside instructor has been an issue .

I would expect a full muck out for full livery. Plus feed, water, hay nets filled, turn out/bring in and rugs changed as necessary. That's what my yard provides but the minimum they do anyway is part-livery so they are geared up to having a level of input with every horse as standard.

The school thing would annoy me. If a school is provided, then you should expect to access it on a regular basis.

However, if your DD doesn't want to move then you will just have to look at the pros of the yard rather than the cons.