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Post by specialized on Dec 14, 2011 22:59:48 GMT 1
In some areas there seems to be much more demand than supply, which means there will be loads of farms jumping on the livery bandwagon for the money. A lot of the time you are dealing with landowners who do not have a clue about looking after the welfare of the horse, and really the only way to educate them is not to use them - but then you have the problem of where to go. Catch 22. Not sure I entirely agree with this - in my experience farms/farmers/landowners have far more respect for and knowledge of their own land and hence try to look after it as best they can, a lot of them are also stock men and try and offer the best solution for horses and their owners. Again, in my experience, its the yards run by horsey people that have the worst horse to acre ratio, with over grazed paddocks and no winter turnout. Being a horse-owning livery operator on 60 acres with 20 horses I must disagree. I travel to many livery yards and the ones with the most horse-sick pasture tend to be on farms that have part-diversified and the farmer carries on farming the rest of the land normally but the 'horsey' part is neglected.
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Amanda Seater
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Post by Amanda Seater on Dec 14, 2011 23:11:27 GMT 1
From what I have seen up and down the west side of the country I have to 100% agree with Specialized on this one ( as I do on so many things - we must meet) I have 9 on 30ish acres. 10 will be the max.
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Post by Teeni on Dec 14, 2011 23:24:00 GMT 1
Well i must be one of the lucky ones as our YO used to be an arable farmer, then pigs and now a livery yard and he has sheep and cows up in the barns from time to time but all the fields are for the horses. Our land is looked after brilliantly and recovers very well because he knows how to look after it. The only time in the 4yrs i've been there that we've not been able to turn out was when we had snow and it was too dangerous to get them from stables to field and back, and that was a maximum of 2 weeks in 2 seperate years.
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amber
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Post by amber on Dec 15, 2011 12:26:00 GMT 1
I can agree with this Specialized.....
Being a horse-owning livery operator on 60 acres with 20 horses I must disagree. I travel to many livery yards and the ones with the most horse-sick pasture tend to be on farms that have part-diversified and the farmer carries on farming the rest of the land normally but the 'horsey' part is neglected.
.......mmmmmm, can relate to the above!
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Post by jen1 on Dec 15, 2011 12:31:41 GMT 1
but wouldnt the above depend on if your using grass for food in summer, i mean ive got bf tracks there is nothing nicer when there bald in the height of dangerous grass time, so i can control what goes down there necks, later on when the bigger meadows have recovered from hay making they get yet a bigger track, and so on until very late autumn they get 50 acres of head banging time, lol, the barefoot tracks keeps them moving , fit and trim,
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amber
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Post by amber on Dec 15, 2011 12:45:47 GMT 1
....but yours ISN'T neglected Jen!!... and trying to get BF tracks up and running on a livery yard that has more than ample land to do it, is like boiling water in a chocolate kettle...
Controlling what goes down my boy's neck is absolutely paramount to his health being an EMS lad now,...
On the whole, I would love to see more BF track systems appearing on livery yards as a 'normal' part of their turnout regime,.... paradise for horses in my opinion.
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Post by jen1 on Dec 15, 2011 12:50:57 GMT 1
ive been trying to trash the grass on my main (nursey/fatty track for years) i use this mainly when its very early spring when grass is evil , they seek out hawthorn and other stuff to scoff and this is the time i look like worzel gummage because im always spreading hay out so they have to seek that out too, all we do to the farm is chain harrow and roll, /hay make
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2011 13:38:46 GMT 1
I'm so fed up of livery. At our yard we're paying £1000 pcm between us for DIY and grass with no maintenance done for us. We agreed this on the basis the owners repaired the rotten fencing, then we'd maintain it and the fields ourselves and 6 months on, we're £6,000 poorer, the fence is lying on the floor, we've had to buy or own electric fencing to keep them in and we've had to scrifice a lot of grazing as if we put our electric up next to the P&R and it falls down it'll take the electric with it. The owners say they can't get quotes because no one calls them back... they won't let their gardener do it (even though he's offered) because then he won't have time to keep their garden tidy.
But, looking on the bright side I suppose I could go back to the yard where the horses are left without water in 30 degrees and are hit, or the one where they live over their fetlocks in mud all winter, or the one where they don't get turned out all winter... give me strength! I'm not picky, I just want my horse to be safe and healthy but it appears that is too much to ask in the south east.
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Post by antares on Dec 15, 2011 14:00:29 GMT 1
oh the joys of livery yards!! These types of complaints are why I decided to go it alone, bite the bullet and buy a house with a bit of land. Unfortunately for me this year the weather has been absolutely terrible, the wettest autumn on record for my part of the world and now we're hit with snow and ice although the fields are still soaking, sodden and boggy! I can partly sympathise with the livery yards in our area as my horses are spending much more time in their stables than I would like at the moment but there is little that can be done - if I put them out in this amount of mud they would not like it. Usually I have a stoned, well drained area at the side of their stables so at least they're not shut away but at the moment it is too icey to let them onto it hopefully I will get them out at the weekend. I actually do not know of any livery yards within a 30 mile radius of me that offers winter turnout at all so I feel at least my horses are slightly better off at home where they get a few days a week out at least
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Post by 2 bays & a grey:D on Dec 15, 2011 14:02:52 GMT 1
I'm so fed up of livery. At our yard we're paying £1000 pcm between us for DIY and grass with no maintenance done for us. We agreed this on the basis the owners repaired the rotten fencing, then we'd maintain it and the fields ourselves and 6 months on, we're £6,000 poorer, the fence is lying on the floor, we've had to buy or own electric fencing to keep them in and we've had to scrifice a lot of grazing as if we put our electric up next to the P&R and it falls down it'll take the electric with it. The owners say they can't get quotes because no one calls them back... they won't let their gardener do it (even though he's offered) because then he won't have time to keep their garden tidy. But, looking on the bright side I suppose I could go back to the yard where the horses are left without water in 30 degrees and are hit, or the one where they live over their fetlocks in mud all winter, or the one where they don't get turned out all winter... give me strength! I'm not picky, I just want my horse to be safe and healthy but it appears that is too much to ask in the south east. Thats another thing about the yard I'm on, all the owners care about their horses, non are left with out water or food and I have never seen anyone lose their temper with their horse. Thats rare on a livery yard as a lot of horse owners believe their horses are a commmdity for for them just to use & abuse as they wish. Sometimes the grass isn't always greener and sometimes we have to look at what we have compared to what we used to have... I have been on much worse yards... and i think I need to remember that the yard is actually a good one... just frustrating at times with this turnout business.
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Post by donnalex on Dec 15, 2011 14:14:16 GMT 1
That is a much better way of looking at the situation I think Keep focusing of what you have and things will work out in the end.
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Post by 2 bays & a grey:D on Dec 15, 2011 14:17:06 GMT 1
That is a much better way of looking at the situation I think Keep focusing of what you have and things will work out in the end. I think so too ;D
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amber
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Post by amber on Dec 15, 2011 14:57:23 GMT 1
.... yep, kind of agree,....but then i look at what i've got and what i COULD have!!!!., and if it's viable and within my reach financially / mentally i'll go for it
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2011 15:03:05 GMT 1
I think the grass will be very much greener if I turn up at my yard tomorrow morning and there aren't 7 horses there and I have no idea where to start looking for them
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maislow
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Post by maislow on Dec 16, 2011 23:44:45 GMT 1
I wouldn't ask I would just turn out lol
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