Give other liveries breathing space

By Your Horse

Rider Advice

28 September 2010 11:35

So, strong management and clear rules are one way forward to avoiding confrontation in the yard. Where space and facilities permit, however, freedom and flexibility can be another peace-keeping solution.

Billow Farm Livery in Gloucestershire was a 300-acre working farm including a small livery yard, but over the last 10 years has devoted more and more of its resources to its equine clients. It now has 52 boxes, three arenas, horse walkers, an indoor lungeing arena and a variety of turnout options to suit even the fussiest client. It offers a full range of packages, from DIY to competition livery. With careful use of space and good planning, it’s possible to keep prices down as well as avoid arguments, says proprietor Simon Pain, who runs it with his wife Hazel.

"This is our life, not just our business. When you live on site, you don’t want a bad atmosphere, so we decided right from the start that we would be as flexible as possible, find out what people wanted and always try to accommodate them.

"The stables are divided in separate blocks rather than all under one roof, which helps avoid confrontation as, for example, most of the DIYs are together, while competition riders may rent another block for themselves. Our liveries all have different schedules and follow different disciplines, so there’s no direct competition.

"There’s also a diary where everyone can book what they need and leave messages for other riders, such as when they’re hacking out and social events, which the majority of owners come to. Our turnout system is such that no horse should ever be left out on his own, and the DIYs have the fields closest to the yard as they’re most likely to be coming and going in the dark.

"Yes, of course there’s always someone who occasionally leaves droppings in the school or doesn’t tidy tools away, but that doesn’t need to cause an argument. From time to time, people turn up with a hard luck story about being asked to leave another yard at short notice, and it soon becomes clear why! But we’ve only had to ask someone to leave once, because we felt she wasn’t looking after her horse properly. Now we have a rule that any DIY horse who’s in before 4pm must be seen to by 10am the next day, but since hay’s included in the price, it’s no real hardship for owners. Your horse is your hobby, enjoy it!"