Lots of sharers at livery yard

[TippyToesKnows]

I love my livery yard and have been there 5 years but in the past year, 3 of the regular liveries have had to step back for various reasons so all have got sharers. Each have multiple horses and some have multiple sharers per horse. In total, it's meant 7 sharers on the yard.

We are a relatively small yard, only 15 liveries in total anyway, so that's a large footfall of extra people, extra cars etc. A big impact when trying to use the arena as at any given time there always seems to be at least one sharer in there!

I've been a sharer myself for years so know there are some great ones - and a few of these are. But, with the best will in the world, lots of them aren't quite as respectful of our stuff because it's not theirs. And some of them feel like a bit of a liability as they're v novicey.

I guess the simple answer is, if I don't like it - leave. But just seems such a shame for longterm full paying liveries to end up pushed out because of the sharer situation!

Im sorry other peoples stretched finances are inconveniencing you so

it’s horrid you are having to share your fully paid up space

maybe you could join a more exclusive place?

Totally understand how you feel. We only have 1 sharer at our yard but agree about the lack of respect for the rules/other people's stuff. Plus as they aren't the main livery payers they haven't been added to the group chat so when they leave lights on/tackroom unlocked there is no way of reminding them until you see them in person.
I wouldn't be happy with a yard full of sharers!

I've seen an awful lot more people wanting sharers on my local Facebook page . I think the cost of living is biting .

Do you have to be so nasty .
Presumably OP chose a small yard with few people on purpose and now through no control of her own the numbers have grown . With that comes problems when established people don't know who is around . If you think horse people are all honest and respectful of others belongings you are very naive .

For the most part, I think you just need to put up with it- if sharers are allowed then the other liveries are not doing anything wrong. I used to like having new people on the yard- meant I had more people to ride with and chat to. I never interfered but would offer advice to more novicey people if they asked.

My only suggestion would be you could set up an informal booking system for the arena? I've had that in the past- just a bit of paper with time slots. The more popular times such as evenings after work/school you may have to share the slot (depending on how many people want to ride) If you had a lesson booked you could specify that so it was exclusively your use for that time.

Are you aware that you were “novicey” once? Did people support you? Why do you have more right to a space? The horse world is so exclusionary and bitchy. Don’t play into that.

I did indeed purposely pick this yard for being very small with not too many people and, because of that, it meant there was always a good chance of getting in the school alone at some point if I was happy to come late enough. I have very bad social anxiety and this was my safe space where I've been very happy the past 5 years.

Being "novicey" in itself is no problem at all. However, when it means they are on their own at the yard last thing responsible for locking up etc...and that then impacts my own horses' security if they get it wrong (think electric fence not secured, tack room left unlocked, stable doors unbolted etc)...then yes, it does impact me. Equally, when sharing the school it means you have to be extra careful as some of them really aren't great at left hand to left hand which, again, not ideal for my anxiety.

Of course the original liveries aren't doing anything "wrong". But we are all feeling the pinch at the moment - this is a bloody expensive hobby, so to end up not enjoying it as much because of other people's sharers is not ideal. Nor is it simple to just go find another yard the same.

As a permanent livery then sorry she does have more rights than a potentially temporary sharer. She also said she is happy to help novicey sharers, the problem is that often novicey people (especially if they are only on the yard a couple of days a week) don't seek advice but can put themselves/others in danger.

Sounds to me that she was just venting and i totally understand where she is coming from.

Completely agree

As far as I can see your issue should be with your fellow liveries who should be managing their sharers better. Surely it’s their responsibility to ensure that their sharers know the rules/how to lock up the tack room etc etc. What does the yard owner/manager say?

I'm afraid that the presence and action/inactions of other people are just standard annoyances of being on a livery yard, but I do feel you, it's particularly irritating when things have worked nicely for ages and then it all changes. Wrt 'stuff' /equipment, I leave as little as possible on the yard, I carry a huge amount round with me in the car which is not very efficient but on my yard unless it's locked away (and we have very limited personal lockable storage) it will disappear or be "borrowed" or broken the second you take your eyes off it, I've personally 'donated' loads of stuff like grooming kit, saddle cloths, whips etc to the yard and I generally don't buy expensive stuff now for this reason (or if I do it stays with me at all times). We also do have to keep on at the yard manager to fix or replace things which the yard is meant to provide like mucking out stuff but which are lost or broken far more often than they should if everyone took reasonable care, I'm sure this is a pain for her bit part and parcel of running a busy yard sadly and it gets passed on to everyone in increased costs. The same with security issues and leaving lights on, taps running etc, in a sense it's everyone's problem but if gentle/friendly reminders don't work then you'll have to put it into the yard owner/manager's hands to resolve...

A good system for yard communication is key, at ours we do have a WhatsApp group including sharers, I'm a bit mixed on it and usually leave it on mute, as (a) it gets full with lots of irrelevant chat and pics of peoples little darlings at shows and (b) can turn a bit passive-aggressive/moany quite quickly with people taking comments personally etc, but it is an easy way to send and receive reminders on things like turning off the lights, locking bottom bolts and so on and also to ask for and offer help and hacking companions and so forth. Maybe ask your YM about setting one up?

A school booking system can also be a mixed blessing, we abandoned ours and now just have a free for all as people were abusing it, booking the school for hours on end then not using it, stealing one another's slots etc etc and it all got too much for the YM to police on top of everything else, but we do have big laminated signs with school rules on everywhere, not just pass the standard left to left but also safety things like don't ride with the gate open (looking at you teenagers, why!), don't lunge in here if someone else is riding (we have a dedicated lunge pen but some people seem to prefer to let their horse hooly around bucking and farting in the indoor while others try and ride around them!), pick up your horses muck, turn the lights off if you are last out etc, and it is generally accepted we'll politely remind each other if people 'forget'. I do feel your frustration though, we have several very nervous/novice riders on our yard who I really don't like sharing the school with, not their fault but for everyone's safety they need to be given a wide berth which then is very limiting - it's more inadequately supervised children that are the issue here, they charge around out of control or bimble in walk on the outside track staring into space, all the while their parent stares at their phone or chats to someone else and occasionally half heartedly yells 'heels down darling', meanwhile I'm watching though gaps in my fingers as collisions or kickings are narrowly averted! But again they do have a right to be there so the only thing to do is try and avoid, it's hard in winter but if I can I try and miss the post-school rush by going very early or late, and I often brave the cold/rain in the outdoor to avoid the carnage of the indoor, can't do so every day of course but I save 'proper' schooling for when I can get space and do some more gentle stretching and lateral work on days where I know I need eyes in the back of my head...

Thanks all, yes it was just a rant really...I know there's not really anything to be done except put up or leave, I'm just upset about it as it is having a big impact on me.

We do have a yard whatsapp but the sharers aren't as involved (their choice) as the main liveries. I could try talking to the liveries who are all lovely, I just don't want to cause them grief to be honest or to seem like an idiot. Some well placed signs could be handy!

A school booking system would be amazing...if it carries on like this I may suggest it. Our YM is very hands off, doesn't really get involved unless it's literally armageddon. Which has pros and cons!

@TippyToesKnows i would tell the owners , for a start the sharers are their responsibility as they’ve ‘ invited’ them onto the yard and secondly they may not be aware of the issues or how novice the sharer actually is and would appreciate being told .

@Glitterspy when I was a novice I did a horse care course through local college and worked extra on mucking out for add on lessons. Spent as much time on care as riding. My daughter is doing care education too, we moved PC branches for that. People did help me but never expected anyone to aa having horses creates so much responsibility and time pressure that I realise people are stretched….

If it is still the same number of horses, then how come the school is suddenly busier? Surely each horse is not ridden more than once a day (max) regardless of which person is riding?
or am I missing something completely obvious, in which case apologies.

No but with a single owner the horse probably won't be ridden every day, with a sharer that horse will be ridden most (or more) days hence the school will be busier 😊

That does make sense, thank you 🙂

I think the YM has to get involved if things are not being locked up properly etc. At my previous place, the YO was very hands off, but if e.g. a tackroom was left unlocked, he absolutely would have had words. Let alone if a field was left unsecured.

If they are endangering people in the school, that's also an issue- and again should interest the YM as there may be some liability if someone got hurt.

I'd go to the YM, not with a moan, but with some practical suggestions, if you can. A school booking system sounds good, and perhaps some reminders about school rules, locking up and keeping fields secure being posted in prominent places. Ask the YM if they would mind you putting up some signs!

Ultimately, most YM won't want to lose a paying livery over sharers, so you do have more "rights" as it were.

If the YM really won't get involved, I would speak to the owners of the horses about issues like locking up tack rooms, securing fields etc. Presumably it negatively impacts them, as well, as they wouldn't want their horses getting out/stuff getting stolen etc.

I do also get the thing about sharing the school with novices. At my previous yard, there was a very novice family who were sold an unsuitable pony for their daughter- the pony was in the habit of tanking off with her. It made it very unsafe to share the school with her, and there was a period where they were in the school nearly every evening. The pony also used to get away from the parents when they were catching in, and because of the layout of the tracks/getting off the yard, this also made hacking out difficult.

It didn't bother me that much, because in general I only rode at weekends and could pick a time when the school was free. But it did definitely impact other liveries.

Ultimately, they accepted the pony was unsafe (and that was in no way their fault, they were definitely lied to when they bought him) and eventually he was sold. I think we were all very relieved when that happened.