Livery-difficult situation

[arki]

i have recently moved my horses across the road from my house which in the weather is perfect, it means I can go up 3 times a day to check on them and reassure myself that all is ok. I have rented 2 fields - from 2 separate people with the idea that I would use one while the other is rested. anyway to cut a long story short I had to move 2 of my horses to the other field as every day I was getting A4 sheets of notes of what my horses were doing wrong and what I had or hadnt done. The 2 horses are much happier as it is a bigger field and I think even they realise that they are not being constantly watched. This has meant that i have left my old TB to keep her horse company altho the notes have become less frequent my old boy was clearly miserable and I kept finding him laid flat out in snow and he wasnt eating. I therefore had to move him in with my other 2 to see if he perked up! within a couple of hours he was back to his normal self. I clearly have to keep my horses together but dont want to upset anyone. Where my horses are now the sisters that rent the yard are very laidback and let me get on with it - if help is needed they are there. I have spoken to them in great lenght and they are happy for me to keep the horses there full time and can rent me an additonal small paddock for my tb next to my other 2 incase there isnt enough grass for him. My only concern is that really there is not enough grass for my TB which is why I rented 2 fields in the first place. It really is a toss up between us all being happy and there not being enough grass for my tb or having lots of grass and being miserable. What to do?

[mrsfields]

i would definitely opt for happy horses... could you feed extra hay in the field??

[barbararob]

happy horse will be healthier in the long run, as Mrs fields says opt for happy and supplement feed.

[Amanda Seater]

I'd go for happy eating horse. You can give him extra forage based feen like grass nut and alfalfa etc to supplement the lack of grass. I find that the red bag grassnuts are as good as spring grass for Tbs.

[steve]

I'd just tell the moany/whingey A4 person, that you obviously cant do anything right, and therefore you are giving immediate notice to vacate her field.

As the others have said you can always feed forage, etc to compensate for lack of grass. Grass barely grows in the winter if at all, so it's virtually impossible to have good grazing all year - it's just a fact of having horses unfortunately! Mine haven't even seen any green stuff for weeks now! It's been covered in snow/ice.

[donnalex]

I would have left all my horses on A4 Cows field and ignored the grief until the field was trashed then left for the other field in time for Spring when I would have then told her why I was leaving for a peaceful life. That way if you have put off the move until Spring you would have grass for a long time and not needed to worry too much.
Selfish I know

[jen1]

id just buy extra hay make a track round the field for summer put tb in the middle and strip gtaze the middle so tb gets enough grass ,,sack the feild where ou have pains for owners

[arki]

I know u r right it is just 2 of my horses are haflingers and so need very little grazing. The field that they are in will be fine all year round as I can divide in half to rest if need be. All in all I will only have about 1.5 acres tho for 3 horses and this worries me altho I know people keep horses on a lot less. If I kept the other field I would have another 2 acres which would make it perfect. There is no way my haffies can go back there as I cannot cope with the continuous moaning from livery owner. It would have been perfect to keep it for my tb but he is clearly not happy with arrangement. I guess worse case scenario I will have to feed him hay all year round. Thanks got all your advice

[jfors]

Or find grazing elsewhere. I really hope you find an answer to suit you and your horses.

Donnalex I LIKE you!!

[jen1]

arki look into barefoot track sytems you can built a simple one round the edge of your field so haffies wont get too much

[julz]

was A4 moanie the owner of the feild? Or some random person who could just see your horses.. maybe they want the grazing for themselves.. (or thier horses )

[steve]

Donnalex I like ur style!!!

[bramblesmum]

just be prepared to buy in hay and you'll be fine, mine was on more grazing further away, but we're both much happier with her 2 miles up the road with slightly less grass, just costs me a bit more in hay as I hay all year round

[arki]

Thanku I have had a long hard think and if I get really desperate I will have to speak to a the local farmer who has grazing he rents out but a 15 min drive away - I could rent extra over the summer while my other field rests. I think I will have to play it by ear.

[donnalex]

Dec 30, 2010 19:13:11 GMT 1 steve said:

Donnalex I like ur style!!!

As I said, selfish. But I think as the field owner has been petty, pathetic and awkward then she can not expect to be treated in any other way.