Do you use a livery?

charlies-aunt

Hi

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who uses either full, part or DIY livery for their horse(s) what do you pay and what do you get for your money. My horse as bought 10 years ago when we both had high earning, well paid jobs - not very MSE but can't part with her now!

I am what is advertised as a five star luxury livery (ha!) but I have a few issues and am thinking of moving but I don't know if I am being unreasonable with my expectations ... and as a move would add miles to my journey every day so I need to think carefully.

I am on full livery £80.00 - but I have to fill the water trough in the field every couple of days, poo pick, put out forage in the field during winter and top up the stable haynets (as they are always half empty by early evening).

Because the horses were in for days on end through the winter, the yard has got through its straw supply already, down the the last couple of bales and the owner has told us that there will be no more until July/August - when it finally runs out - they will turn all the horses out 24/7 until they can be resupplied. I'm not happy with this as my horse has always been stabled at night but everyone on the yard seems quite happy with this arrangement.

I have tried to talk with the owner but they just say that there's nothing they can do . . . . I feel that they could offer alternative bedding as they aren't reducing the livery bill to compensate.

Sorry to witter on but I feel quite anxious about the situation - would be pleased to hear other livery users perspectives

Raksha

what does your contract say? Is overnight stabling & mucking out included? If so, then yes, for £80 some form of bedding should be provided. If not, then a reduction should be negotiated.

trudij

I think they are tgaking the mick - Im guessing thats £80 a week?? Full livery to my mind should be exactly that, ALL the horses needs taken care of,save riding. the whole idea of it is that the owner doesnt have to go to the yard at all if they dont want to,and the horses needs are catered for.

You are basically having assisted livery with what you have described - a yard I looked at for that was costing £87 a month, (full livery round here is at least £120 a month) but I would only have had to do my horse (muck out, feed and look after the field) at weekends, during the week, all I would have had to do would be rock up to ride.

I honestly think you should be able to negotiate a drop (fairly substantial too!!) if you are going to be living out 24/7,and its not what you are meant to be getting - and yes, the poo picking and trough filling should definately be done for you !!

charlies-aunt

Raksha wrote: »

what does your contract say? Is overnight stabling & mucking out included? If so, then yes, for £80 some form of bedding should be provided. If not, then a reduction should be negotiated.

I have a verbal agreement for 5* livery - turn out, muck out, bring in, haying up, feed, rug change, hoof picking and brushing off, holding for vet & farrier etc etc- started well but over the last 6 months, things have crept in...a notice went up stating that all livery users had to keep their paddocks clean, we kept finding the water trough and hay nets empty so started to fill them ...its now seems to have become our job ...when tackled the owner is always "just about to do them" :mad: . Similarly the horse is often in her stable at 8pm with turnout rug still on despite being brought in hours earlier - the owner just says she hadn't got round to doing rug change....
Not sure if its better to try and solve the problems with the present livery on the basis of "better the devil that you know" - or whether to move to a different livery and start as I mean to go on....

The other annoyance are the 4 large guard dogs who use the straw and haystores as their own personal lavatories.....

trudij

maybe try to have a word with them, but have a look about and ask around other yards in the area?? tack shops are a good place to ask, dont ask your vet,cos they dont know the ins and outs,and cant "recommend" - but customers in a tack shop and tack shop owners arent bound by things like that....

definately have a word with your current lot first though - there could be a good reason why things have slipped,and they just dont realise exactly how much they arent fufilling their responsibility (if you see what I mean???)

good luck

crackerberry

Its a long time since I had horses so can't comment on the cost side however "full livery" means you shouldn't be doing (unless you choose to) anything more than turning up, tacking up and riding.

The empty hay nets thing, and the lack of straw thing too, sounds to me like there's penny pinching going on. Either that, or they've got too much on the plate and are struggling to look after the horses to the extent that you're paying them for.

Is there a straw shortage in your area? Its easy enough to find that out, and straw isn't the only form of bedding anyway. In twenty years of having horses I never had any difficulty getting straw. At worst the odd time (ie at this time of year) I may have had to ring round a few places but I always managed to source it easily enough.

If they're using that excuse to turn them out for a while then they'll be out till the end of August.

I'd start looking around if I were you. It sounds like you're getting a b um deal.

bouncydog1

Re price - definately depends on where you live and availability of services etc. For full livery 5 days per week inclusive of bedding I would expect to pay £80 - £90 per week. Inclusive of exercise I would guess c£110 - £130.

It also depends on the facilities available - if its a working farm then I would assume you pay less than on a professionally run yard with trained staff etc, arena, showers, solarium, floodlit school, jumps etc.

At the end of the day it depends on what you expect for what you want to pay - I would definately have a word with the owners about what you agreed and what you are getting though - have you had that price agreed for several years with no increase? If so the owner may have reduced services to keep the rate the same.

As others have said ask around, but be discreet - there is nothing worse than being on a yard when you are thinking of leaving!

charlies-aunt

Thank you everyone for your posts - its sometimes difficult for me to keep a sense of perspective where my pets are concerned - they are as much my babies as my children

Its a converted farm building - basic but a bit scruffy - definately nothing 'posh', there is one tap on the yard which is used for everything, no proper school but TBH I am more concerned that she is well looked after and safe than needing anything fancy.

I have a week off at the end of June, I will be planning to 'go see' at other liveries to see whats what

orlao

I have one in retirement livery in Suffolk - £120 pm for grazing, farrier and wormer, very good value but only grass livery. The other is on grass livery for the summer - £25pw and when he was on DIY during the winter it was probably costing £50pw as they were in so much and hay was sooooo expensive towards the end of the winter (£5.50 a small bale by April) I used Liverpool Wood Pellets as bedding and will never go back to straw ever again so they could go onto them as they are both cheap and labour saving. But, most horses, unless they are laminitics happily live out as long as there is shelter of some description even in horrible weather.

TBH I can believe that they are struggling to get straw, in many areas it is like goldust and priced accordingly but £80pw for what is effectively grass livery is dear :eek:

When you go looking at other yards, make sure you take everything you're told with a pinch of salt - many YO are very good at telling you the positive and glossing over the negatives......

gratefulforhelp_2

Your livery should be (if 5*) offering you benefits, such as free dental inspections.

If not, why not move?

charlies-aunt

orlao wrote: »

TBH I can believe that they are struggling to get straw, in many areas it is like goldust and priced accordingly but £80pw for what is effectively grass livery is dear :eek:

When you go looking at other yards, make sure you take everything you're told with a pinch of salt - many YO are very good at telling you the positive and glossing over the negatives......

I would agree with the pinch of salt - I got badly caught out before going to our present yard, which is why I am worried about upping sticks again