Livery Yards - 9 Golden Rules
Running a livery yard is really easy. As long as you’ve got enough land for horses to graze and some stables to put them in you are pretty much set up, right?
Well maybe not. The scenario above might be how many - probably most - small Livery businesses began, but it’s not as simple as all that any more.
Like any business, running a Livery yard, however small, takes a lot of time and effort and there are nine Golden Rules that every yard operator should be following. They are listed below with a little about what each one can do for your equestrian business.
The first two relate to the basic customers that the Livery Yard services:
Rule one seems obvious but it can get overlooked
Rule 1: Know what you are doing with horses
They are often graceful, sometimes athletic, never reliable, forever willing to be lame or ill and always expensive, and still they are feted as the most beautiful creatures on earth.
Rule two is a very basic rule of any business
Rule 2: Know your customers
When speaking to Livery Yard owners, managers or staff suggesting that they should know their customers they say they do – ‘Dobbin likes hay and some nuts where as Giddy needs lots of exercise and feeding cool mix ….’
Which is all well and good but it is only half the answer. They also need to know that Suzie’s owner likes to hack out on Tuesday mornings and Sparky’s rider is competing this weekend and want her horse gleaming. Livery yards are unusual in having two customers for the price of one, and they are both important in their own ways.
Which brings us to the next point which is fundamental to success
Rule 3: Remember that it’s the owners that pay the bills
Horses don’t, as a rule, have bank accounts or cheque books and apart from the likes of Hedgehunter, Milton, or Max most horses don’t have large earnings with which to pay their livery bills, so they have to rely on their owners to fund their way of life, which for most horses consists of eating and sleeping and a little light work. Most horses don’t mind if their rugs aren’t hung neatly on the rack, or if the yard isn’t swept, but, then again they don’t pay, so it’s worth remembering that the customer that does pay might have an opinion about the standards of care and housekeeping with which her equine partner has to live.
One source of conflict on Livery Yards is the subject of the next golden rule
Rule 4: Always be clear about what you expect from your staff
Managing people is just like dealing with horses. Every one is different, but there are types that one recognises as having certain quirks that you have to learn to understand and find a way to overcome: there’s the honest cob who will mostly put their head down and get on with it in a willing way, but if they are treated unfairly (as they see it) they can turn stubborn; the little native type that is often described as ‘cheeky’ and would be sold as ‘not a novice ride’ but they look good and are capable of good work, when they choose…; the thoroughbred with excellent breeding and great potential, but prone to injuries and time off work and the beautiful and floaty arab that moves like a dream but worries about the slightest thing. And then there are the stallions that are not to be trusted around mares and that you would never turn your back on! As the herd leader everyone looks to you, especially when there is the smell of wolf in the air, to show leadership clarity of thought, whilst at the same time looking after the weaker and younger members of the herd.
Good staff management is like schooling. Give clear instructions and with repetition, constant reinforcement and positive feedback they will learn what it is you expect from them and what they can get away with but it’s horses for courses so if possible play to strengths. Best not to expect too many two-time changes from the shire that pulls the plough!
The next golden rule is more golden than most and doesn't just apply to the equestrian world
Rule 5: Communicate with everyone
When it says everyone, it means everyone – staff, horse owners, riders, facilities hirers, suppliers, vets, farriers – anyone and everyone who comes onto the yard. Being available to listen and talk is the best way to know what’s going on and to make sure you can spot the rumours or discontent before they rear their heads and you should be able to solve any problems before they become bigger. This is the place where it’s necessary to refer back to Golden Rule 3. The paying customer is the reason for the business being ‘in business’. The customers don’t want to know your problems, but they will help you to make the yard better by letting you know what’s going wrong. Most will have to be encouraged to do so by a willing ear and an open approach to constructive criticism. It’s always worth looking for the reasons why people do what they do. I came across a yard that has a number of clients who only turn up very early in the morning or very late at night because they don’t like the way they are treated if they come during the normal hours. They have to seek out the owner of the yard to find out information and consequently feel isolated and unhappy. It’s in the yard’s interests to communicate with these customers, before they become ex-customers – and ex-customers don’t pay!
Having talked with your customers you might have been rash enough to say you are going to do something. Which leads us to rule 6
Rule 6: Fulfil your commitments
If you say you will fix the light in the toilet today, then do it. There is nothing more guaranteed to make customers unhappy than being told something is going to happen and it not happening. Be very careful about trying to ‘big yourself up’ to prospective new clients by saying ‘of course we level the arena every day’. Customers remember that, and are then disappointed when things are not as they were described. And that goes for staff too.
Of course there are times when for a whole range of perfectly valid reasons you will not be able to do the job said you would. If this failure is against a background of being reliable, and communicating what’s happening, then you will be forgiven, but if you are a serial reneger on commitments it will be for your business like an acre of rich grazing to a laminitic pony – potentially fatal.
Rule 7: Maintain all your facilities to a standard that makes them worth it
I have a theory which is too lengthy to go into detail about here, but which suggests that there is a relationship between the price of livery, the failure of facilities and the discontent of customers. Put more simply the more you pay the more you expect. Having an arena that becomes a water complex when it rains can be a little frustrating for the customer that wants to practice their dressage test; or hanging rugs to dry in a building that lets in the rain can cause tempers to become frayed. The personal facilities (toilets, washing facilities, kitchen area & more) are usually an after-thought (see Golden Rules 2 & 3) and therefore squeezed into a dark corner that welcomes mice, rats and itinerant toads. If you want to make your human customers feel special put some thought and some effort into making these facilities better.
Rule 8: Always be professional
Many yards are very small, perhaps only one or two liveries and run as a part time concern alongside the owner’s horses. Just because they are small does not mean they have to be unprofessional in the manner in which they are run. Being professional doesn’t mean having the facilities of a national equestrian centre, but it does mean acting in a business-like manner and having a set of standards that are understood and adhered to by everyone as well as taking a real pride and caring that your customers are content. If you can be the equivalent of the field masters horse, always calm and in control, reliable and steady, checking that all the hunt and followers are still with you, you’ll have earned your loyal following and extra hay-net!
Sustaining your effort as the field master for the whole of the day brings me to the final golden rule
Rule 9: it’s an endurance ride, not a sprint
Having identified that you need the qualities of a field masters hunter and the herd leader, you also need the constitution of an endurance horse. Your customers (both equine and human) are like children at boarding school, but without the vacations. You have to get to know them and their habits, as they have to understand you. It’s no good leaving the humans to their own devices (remember Golden Rule 5). That’s inviting a challenge for leadership in the herd, at the very least a little snorting and stamping that unsettles the rest of the herd. There’s no need to be everyone’s best friend but you do need to accept them as they are, and be honest about who you are and what you expect. Don’t rush around all fizzed up while there’s a new customer on the yard and then fade as the furlongs pass but there are many more kilometres ahead.
The 9 Golden Rules identified above are not the whole answer. There is much more detail to understand about each of the rules but without determination to succeed, a never say die approach, a willingness to give it every ounce of effort you can muster and loads and loads of courage the business will never do really well. Just imagine it’s a 4**** CCI course!
