I agree with Barn 2 then Barn 3. Barn one would be out of the running for me for the lack of transparency. If it is mostly funded by one or two people and their horses, I would also be concerned about how far down on their list of priorities my horse would be.
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You need barn 2 right now. Barn 1 would never be on my radar, I dont want to be taken advantage of or be treated unethically
You can always move on if you find you outgrow
I would never ride at a barn that dictated when I could ride my horse. I am a horsewoman and very hands on, I would never drop control . I dont need to be catered to. I do not want the vet or farrier filtered from me.
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Hands down Barn 2. Barn 1 -over impressed with itself. Barn 3-Seems to have no good reason for being more expensive. Resumes are on paper. Not always as good as mileage.
Barn 2
Another thing I’ve considered. It’s really only 20-30 minutes different at worst, five minutes at best. I like to ride on weekday mornings, so it’s an earlier wakeup call, but that’s about it. And given that the drive, either way, is a time commitment, I’d rather spend more time there. At barn 1, it’s get out of car, grab horse from groom, ride, return horse to groom. So if I’m driving an hour plus, I want to spend more than 30 minutes at the barn.
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I really don’t like programs like what barn 1 has. I feel like there’s no horsemanship involved for the riders and for me a lot of your relationship with a horse is formed in the tacking/untacking/barn care portion of it. You don’t need to clean their stalls every day (I don’t) but I like to know if he is a ding dong in the cross ties because then I know what I may have under saddle that day. I have a friend that dabbled in a barn like that at shows, she didn’t train with them regularly but just met them at shows. They overprepped her horse so it went the way they wanted at shows and cause a career ending soft tissue injury. What I gather is they have a history for that. Their horses look beautiful and their riders win a lot but they don’t seem to have long careers. Those types of programs cater to people with gobs of money who can just keep buying six figure horses and look away when they pay 2x the commission they were expecting because they have the money to blow and it doesn’t matter. If you think you’re spending a lot now, it will only increase with time, that I can promise you. The expectation to spend money and to show will be very high and it creates hierarchies in the barn from a social and favoritism perspective from what I’ve seen. Not a fun situation to be in if you’re not on an unlimited budget.
I’ll get off my soapbox now.
Barn 2 sounds lovely.
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Another vote for barn 2. I don’t like the frills. Safe turn out, a good feed regimen and knowledgeable caretakers are the most important to me. Barn 1 wouldn’t even be on my radar for price reasons. Billing everything a la carte is not a good business model.
I’ve had enough Barn 1’s to last me a lifetime. Don’t do it. If you’re anything like me, you’ll relish the chill-ness of a Barn 2.
I had a barn 2 once. Le Sigh. Now I live 2000 miles away.
Yeah I rode at Barn 1, and I hesitated to join bc I knew I wasn’t as fancy as the other clients and they were like oh, we love people who are serious about the sport and ready to roll up their sleeves. No. They’re not bad people, but they’re not interested in green horses and making things accessible.
The other advantage of barn 2 is it maybe allows you to flex your horse budget up a little. I really do believe in the adage buy the best horse you can afford. If you’re paying half the board and showing in less expensive places, and can spend a bit more on the horse in the first place you take your risk down. You’re more likely to have a horse you really enjoy and quality is always easier to sell down the line.
So I’m with everyone, barn 2.
Thanks, everyone. The more I replay my conversations/interactions with Barn 2, the more it feels right—just the little casual things that came up in our conversation, like how she proactively told me what she feeds and why without me even asking (have no clue at Barn 1, where I’ve now ridden for months!), how she tries to keep horse show costs down for clients, why she wants clients to be hands-on when they can, and so on. I got to see her teach three juniors—one of whom was on a nice horse, but quite timid/anxious—and I was impressed at how she managed to teach a group while each having them doing exercises within their skillset and ability level. She very much strikes me as a young pro who is really trying to do it all right and I think I owe it to her to give it a shot. Also, not that I EVER expect to sell a horse for pure profit, but I do stand to have a better ROI with Barn 2, where she is equally invested in putting out quality horses and building her name.
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Barn 2. Barn 3 is second choice,but doesn’t sound like a really great fit. Barn one wouldn’t be on my list if I lived 5 minutes away. NO ONE is going to tell me I can’t groom, hang out w/ my horse, ride when I want (w/ consideration for the barn’s general hours & lessons etc). Also see no reason to be paying the barn extra for the farrier, vet etc. I am perfectly capable of handling my own horse for those visits, don’t need them to do it for me.
Barn 1 is set up for rich people who want everything done for them so they can say they won something. Not people who really want to be good riders/horsemen etc. Also if they have 2 major rich clients that mostly fund the barn, do you think any consideration would be given to your/your horse’s needs over theirs? I wouldn’t be surprised if once you are committed & have a horse there you are treated like the bastard stepchild. You said they are already pushing you to commit to more than you are interested in, you don’t think that will get worse?
Not to mention the comments that make it sound like they look down their noses at anyone that doesn’t want to do things exactly their way as “not a serious competitor.”
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Hi everyone! Wanted to give an update a month in—I visited and spent a lot of time at both Barns 2 and 3 and honestly, loved both.
As I had originally suspected, Barn 2 is a lot smaller and I would be slightly limited with the horses I had to ride until I was ready to buy/lease. I did ride a wonderful horse there and overall, I thought it was a nice program and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
Barn 3 is slightly fancier, and I was on two very nice sale horses within a couple of days of riding with them. Barn 3’s trainer sat me down for a frank conversation about money and goals right away and was open and approachable and non-judgmental about my resources (or lack thereof)–something which has NEVER happened where I live. Then, based on my riding and through a stroke of luck, Barn 3 happened to have a sale horse well beyond the scope of what I ever expected I’d get to ride that I could take on for a bills-only lease. It was a no-brainer. So, now, a month in, I’ve already shown said horse twice (with great results) and have been welcomed into the whole barn with open arms. I’m also feeling very confident about the program’s overall connections when I’m looking to buy/sell for myself.
It was a very, very tough decision, and based on my gut and initial feedback here, I totally thought Barn 2 would be it, but Barn 3 was just so eager to make something work for me that it gave me a great feeling from the start and so far I’m super happy. Thank you to everyone who chimed in! I mostly just needed to push to know I was getting taken at Barn 1 (wasn’t a fun conversation, LOL) and spread my wings.
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sounds like barn three made a great impression. I hope the relationship continues and you find yourself settled with a a nice new horse and a plan for a successful journey.
