# Liveries on Christmas Day



## Judgemental (23 December 2011)

For those who do not know what the correct form is on Chrstmas day, if you have your horse at livery.

On Christmas Day Liveries do their own horses and should not expect the livery yard owner to lift a finger, in much the same way as The Royal Family wait on their staff etc.

(Livery Yard owners, feel free to PM me with offers of a day's hunting where ever for that timely reminder, especially to the younger liveries who may not know what the form is).

Also it is correct form, to tip the Livery Yard owner's staff generously.


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## jenz87 (23 December 2011)

If only - Sigh!!!


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## noodle_ (23 December 2011)

Mines on part livery....I will be putting my own horse out and offering to put out the other liveries too 

I cannot do all their jobs (as well as my own) as im in work....however i would if i was off.

My horse is my responsibility all the time - even more so over xmas!!!


Were not all horrid!   Im doing the yards horses on boxing day too!....


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## AML (23 December 2011)

You are assuming that the liveries actually recognise which horse is theirs!

Mine have been known to climb on the wrong horse when left to their own devises.

Bless ...

Nice idea though!


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## Kat (23 December 2011)

You might wish to add to that a reminder that liveries should arrive at the yard on christmas day armed with bacon butties/mince pies/chocolates for the staff. 

Or at least that is what we do at the yard where my horse is kept, just to show our gratitude that the staff are coming in and working on Christmas day.


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## Kiribati_uk (23 December 2011)

IF ONLY.........!!!!!
Won't Tar them all with the same brush. BUT some of them make so much mess I'd rather do it myself anyhow!!!!!!


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## Maesfen (23 December 2011)

Judgemental said:



			For those who do not know what the correct form is on Chrstmas day, if you have your horse at livery.

On Christmas Day Liveries do their own horses and should not expect the livery yard owner to lift a finger, in much the same way as The Royal Family wait on their staff etc.

(Livery Yard owners, feel free to PM me with offers of a day's hunting where ever for that timely reminder, especially to the younger liveries who may not know what the form is).

Also it is correct form, to tip the Livery Yard owner's staff generously.
		
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Are they pink pigs I see flying over? 
	
	
		
		
	


	









Seriously, that last sentence is very important; sometimes a spoken thank you is not enough and Christmas is one of those times so dig in your pockets please, it means a lot.


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## ihatework (23 December 2011)

Serious question .... what if you are on a big yard with lots of staff members - not all of whom have daily interaction with your horse - some of whom are far better than others - and bar 1 or 2, you don't have a clue who it actually is that is doing the good job and the bad?

There are a couple of staff I hold in high regards, is it wrong to just give them a prezzie/tip and not everyone else?


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## ruth83 (23 December 2011)

ihatework said:



			Serious question .... what if you are on a big yard with lots of staff members - not all of whom have daily interaction with your horse - some of whom are far better than others - and bar 1 or 2, you don't have a clue who it actually is that is doing the good job and the bad?

There are a couple of staff I hold in high regards, is it wrong to just give them a prezzie/tip and not everyone else?
		
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Box or chocs/biscuits for all yard staff to share and individual pressies for those who have been especially helpful/have more to do with you and your horse? Or, as chocs and biscuits are abundant at this time of year, I know one person who used to bring a good supply of tea/coffee/sugar or an especially nice pot of hot chocolate for all the staff to share.


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## Stark Dismay (23 December 2011)

I am lucky enough now to have my horses at home and to have got my career sorted out to be just the way I like it. But not too many years ago I had my horse on livery precisely because I worked hard away from home. Working in the holiday industry it is a sad fact of life that you are often away for days at a time over the holidays. Likewise in the healthcare professions you'd like to think that a kindly livery yard owner would keep an eye on your horse if you had to work at Christmas. 

I appreciate that livery yard owners work hard all year, but there are enough people who have no choice but to work at Christmas. I have to admit Christmas used to be a huge cause of stress for me because of the fear I wouldn't be able to find someone to help look after my horse on Christmas Day. I think that if you make it your business to look after horses for people who are often too busy to otherwise be able to have a horse, then it is your business to look after their horse. Obviously you can charge a premium for it - the same way many Christmas workers get paid a premium themselves to work Christmas Day. 

I think it is worth being sensitive to the fact that not everyone is a lazy horse owner. Many of my colleagues last year unexpectedly missed their Christmases due to the snow closing airports and were stuck many thousands of miles away from home. Lots of them have horses - I am sure they are not putting their horses on full livery because they can't be bothered to ruin their manicures and dirty their hands! They do it because they need a reliable responsible person to care for their horse the way they would if they could.


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## lauraandharvey (23 December 2011)

I will do my own xmas day (as always do!) but our full liveries wont...


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## MerrySherryRider (23 December 2011)

Although I do my own 365 days a year, some of my former yard owners made extra money over the Christmas holidays by charging double rates, so were very happy to work.
 For many workers its normal to work at Christmas, as a nurse I worked most Christmas days. No big deal.


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## pansy (23 December 2011)

AML said:



			You are assuming that the liveries actually recognise which horse is theirs!

Mine have been known to climb on the wrong horse when left to their own devises.
		
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This has made me laugh  - but doesn't surprise me x


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## Annette4 (23 December 2011)

I've been amazed this year (first year on a yard) at the sheer amount of people not doing their own horses on Christmas day. I've offered to do the early shift foe our YO but i can't go back in the afternoon so shes not going to get the day off which is a shame.


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## SusieT (23 December 2011)

'
On Christmas Day Liveries do their own horses and should not expect the livery yard owner to lift a finger, in much the same way as The Royal Family wait on their staff etc.'

Why? They offer an animal service. Animals do not take time off. Dairy farmers will not simply be sitting back for the day from the business they have chosen to take...
One would assume the option on most places will be advance notice that the yard is DIY, or that those who wish to have their horses done (many will on xmas day) pay double/triple price.


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## Judgemental (23 December 2011)

Well, that has touched off a variety of comments, as I rather thought it would, but in general it appears there is an acceptance that Liveries do their own horses on Christmas Day. At the very least put in an appearance.

Yes, bacon butties and suitable refreshments are part of the scene.

Yes, discreetly giving a generous tip to the lass or lad doing *YOUR* horse is mandatory - there are no excuses. 

It is the way things are done in correct, polite and appreciative hunting circles.

I have seen ladies and gentlemen who are named in The Times 500  Rich List make a supreme effort on Christmas Day and I know they will be doing so on this coming Sunday.

We are primarily talking about Hunter Liveries and with the way things are, *YOU* are expected as part of your hunting support, to see to it, that all the staff and Livery Yard owners can get away as soon as possible, so that they too can enjoy their Christmas Day and get to church - that is said for the benefit of the poster who was whinging about providing a service! Service!!!


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## LizzieJ (23 December 2011)

What about the people who do have to work Christmas day themselves?


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## SusieT (23 December 2011)

Rubbish. Expecting to only provide animal care part time and still be paid for it is ridiculous.


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## Judgemental (23 December 2011)

LizzieJ said:



			What about the people who do have to work Christmas day themselves?
		
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That is reasonable of course their business takes precedence and in my experience nobody would expect otherwise.


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## henryhorn (23 December 2011)

In the days when we had full/part liveries every single one of them always turned up on Christmas Day morning and helped.  We had goodies to share around and exchanged presents and the work soon got done, with only haynets /water and feeds /rugs for us to do in the evening, by which time stuffed we were only too glad to escape outside. My parents in law could never understand why we had to go back outside, as if we would leave them hungry!


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## Judgemental (23 December 2011)

henryhorn said:



			In the days when we had full/part liveries every single one of them always turned up on Christmas Day morning and helped.  We had goodies to share around and exchanged presents and the work soon got done, with only haynets /water and feeds /rugs for us to do in the evening, by which time stuffed we were only too glad to escape outside. My parents in law could never understand why we had to go back outside, as if we would leave them hungry!
		
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henryhorn, music to my ears, exactly.

In many ways the person who looks after your horse, looks after you and your safety.


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## Maesfen (23 December 2011)

TBH, all the hunter livery yards I worked in, we'd be so busy, hunting C Eve as well as Boxing Day and all that entailed (21 between the 3 of us,) half that would hunt one day or the other but never both) there wasn't that much time to spare.  I also lived in as usually over 100 miles from home so had nowhere to go anyway so would spend it as part of the boss's family, always had a great time.  We (bosses and I) all used to muck in and get everything done, mucked out, horses hayed and watered, things put ready for the evening and that was it; we'd be finished before nine for breakfast, slob around til quick top ups at lunchtime and that was it until evening stables which again would be down to the minimum.  Owners back then were professional people that only came on hunting days, very rare for them to come at any other time not like it is now.  They'd collect an already plaited, tacked up hunter before the meet then deliver back at the end of the day where we did everything again.  It was better that way, at least we knew things had been done properly and hadn't missed any injuries.  Owners were without exception, all very nice and friendly and the standard 'gift' for me back then both at Christmas and at the end of the season was at least £5 a horse if not more and sometimes choc's/wine too which was a lot of money back then (early 70s when you consider my wages would only be £10 a week plus all living expenses).  The bosses would be inundated with whisky, pheasants, fruit cakes, you name it, they got it but I got to share it with them too!

If you work with horses, especially hunters/pointers, then TBH, any bank holiday is a normal day but the camaraderie of you all pulling together to get the essentials done more than makes up for it.


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## Foxhunter49 (24 December 2011)

AML said:



			You are assuming that the liveries actually recognise which horse is theirs!

Mine have been known to climb on the wrong horse when left to their own devises.

Bless ...

Nice idea though!
		
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I agree with this - wouldn't trust a lot of my liveries to know what a pile of poop is let alone what to feed!


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## Judgemental (24 December 2011)

As a result of this thread, my sources have told me that there is a veritable 'army' who will be decending on yards up and down the country, with 'help', goodies, all manner of liquid refreshments and significant folding stuff.


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## AML (24 December 2011)

Before I recount the story in full, I'll just state for the record, that my liveries are a lovely bunch of people and I very much like doing their horses for them.
They are busy people and they require the full service and so have little interaction with their horses on a daily or weekly basis.

I had horses going to different meets and three of them were going visiting, so a driver was dispatched to deliver the horses and help them get on, do girths etc. The driver didn't know the individuals or the horses.
Knowing my owners like I do, each horse travels in a leather headcollar with its name on a brass nameplate. Simples I hear you say. Apparently not. Owner 1 and 2 mount up and wander off. Owner 3 is left with the last horse and only realises that it isn't his because there is no flask holder on the saddle for his flask!
Owner 1 had trotted off and hadn't even noticed it wasn't his horse.

One or two have a nameplate on the cantle so that they can check they are remounting the correct horse, should they become accidentally separated.

They have yet to live down that little episode and I certainly shan't see any of them tomorrow!


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