Completely off topic first, I’m getting really tired of clicking away that popup every single time I change forums.
Onto the question. 23 year old gelding. He spent the first 18 years with me on pasture board with only a few isolated times in a stall. Due to a tsunami of bad events over the winter, I needed to move him and could only find barns with limited turnout. He is stalled up to 16 hours a day at his current place and it’s just not fair to him. He has also developed a very strong and unhealthy attachment to mares. We’re talking climbing the fence in a frenzy trying to get to them. The lack of turnout has already taken a toll on his body in terms of how tight he feels all the time. The excess energy has turned my normally calm, cool cucumber into a horse seeing monsters everywhere. It’s not fair to him and I’m too old to sit on a loaded cannon every ride. We used to do eventing, but I had since downsized to hunter paces and trail rides. In the condition he is now, I’m not even sure I’m comfortable with that. I can only ride out so many spooks, so I need to get him somewhere where he will feel more calm and I can feel confident riding him again.
Both of my options suck in terms of the drive. Both are 50 minutes to an hour one way. There’s nothing closer, so it’s all I have to work with. Both barns are same price.
Barn A 50 minutes away, all highway in a state with lots of traffic and crashes. Feels mentally closer to Barn B simply because I’m going 65mph to get there. Facility is low key, oversize family farm place. Grass field to ride in for outdoors, indoor arena, and endless trails right off property. The trails sound great, but I can’t go solo since my horse is quite the chicken without buddies and again, too old for that sh*t. An old friend is the manager. I know she loves my horse and would take good care of him. Turnout is huge. We’re talking 5 acres or so with 3 other older geldings. There are a few mares on the property, but he would be nowhere near them and out of sight of them. If weather is good, they will stay out 24/7. Stall for bad weather days. Supposedly people to ride the trails with, but no way to know other people’s schedules or riding style until you’re there.
Barn B 50 minutes away, all back roads. I’m pretty much guaranteed to get stuck behind some idiot doing 30mph all the way up there. The drive feels like forever. Barn is an eventing barn complete with nice outdoor sand ring, indoor, and xc course. There is another older rider at the barn who is always looking for people to trailer out with and hit the nearby trails. Horse would be on 24/7 pasture board. The downside is, the pasture is small and the shed can barely fit one horse no less 2 if there was a thunderstorm or rainy day. I also worry about the location of the paddocks. They are kind of buried in the brush and I think he would feel nervous there. Maybe just not being in a stall is enough to take the edge off, maybe not. There are some mares scattered about which may or may not be far enough away from him to not send him into a studish tizzy.
If I could get the pasture of Barn A with the facilities of Barn B, that would be ideal, but obviously unrealistic. So it comes down to whether the smaller turnout is sufficient. The horse is older and I can only get there 3 to 4 days a week due to the distance, so I need to know he’s enjoying his down time on his off days. At 23, I want him moving around as much as possible. He still feels very good under saddle, but is the point in life where he needs the following day off or he becomes sore. I want to continue to actively ride, so the riding amenities are important. Both these places have wait lists, so if I choose wrong, I’m stuck with it.
