Barn choice advice needed

[Dizzhorseanon]

I am trying to decide what barn to ride at - I ride with my three kids. I have two options - one that is only 20 mins away but the indoor is terrible, turnout not great and care doesn’t seem great. But my kids love the other kids there.

Or a barn that is more like 40 mins to 1 hour away that has great care. I’m worried that if I move to the far away barn my kids will stop wanting to ride because of the long drive. And if my kids stop riding I probably won’t have time to ride either because now we do it all together.

I want to get a small horse for us all to share soon and I don’t like the idea of a horse of my own at the barn close by because of the care. Just not sure what to do and wondering if people who ride with their kids have any advice.

[exvet]

Is there a compromise somewhere in the midst even if it’s thinking outside of the box? I’ve always had our horses at home. My kids horses were either my former (semi-retired) competition horses or in many cases, horses I backed, started and handed over. In order to give my kids fun and time with other kids I enrolled them in the same summer camp for 5-6 years running where the focus was riding but also had pool time and other kid focused activities. I also made sure that there were many miles of riding on the trails so that the kids had fun when there weren’t other kids around or obstacles etc - we’d compete against each other whether it was jumping, obstacles, poles etc - I even had them doing ride a buck, egg and spoon, stuff I remember way back when in 4H. I too would be afraid that the long trek to go ride might put a damper on things; but, I am not one to compromise or settle on proper care of my horse(s) either. Of course even when very young my kids ‘got my focus’, I’m a veterinarian and they had no other choice.

[Dizzhorseanon]

Thanks so much. The problem is I live in a dense area in NJ and so my yard is way too small for horses and the barns nearby all have similar poor conditions with small turnout etc. I grew up in a more rural area with rolling green pastures so I feel so bad for the horses having so little space

[LookinForSpace]

Teach your kids well. The horse comes first, their care is more important. That said, maybe they will make friends at the new barn, maybe you can facilitate get togethers with their friends from the old barn (group trail ride? group lessons at the new barn?), or otherwise support them and encourage friends at the new place.

[luvmyhackney]

I have three kids, ride at the close barn and let your kids enjoy the time. Chances are they will grow out of riding shortly enough. Not sure how often you go to the barn, but I would half lease at the current barn for myself while kids enjoyed their time.

If the horses are fit, happy, and generally sound, live and let live. It’s really hard to keep a barn up with costs sky rocketing right now.

[Dizzhorseanon]

Thank you yes that’s what I was kind of leaning to like maybe if we go to a horse show they’ll meet the kids at the new barn

[Dizzhorseanon]

Thanks for your response

[LCDR]

Our hour drive to and from the boarding barn was my daughter’s homework time. We started out at a barn just a few miles from home but the situation there was horrible. Turnout for one hour every other day on a dry lot, up to 50 horses on 10 acres, and just one riding arena, almost always busy after school hours with group lessons. The hour away barn was horse and rider paradise.

[Texarkana]

How “not great” is the care at barn A?

Is it the kind of thing where you can pick up the slack? Or is it truly below par?

Because there’s a good chance that poor care will prevent you from enjoying your horse period.

You might keep looking for an option C.

[Dizzhorseanon]

My main issue is that it’s mostly small dry lot turnout. Some other things …Stalls don’t look very clean. Lesson horses get used like 3-6x per day and lesson horses kept in tiny stalls. And the indoor is tiny and footing rock hard and uneven.

[clanter]

@Dizzhorseanon

Lesson horses get used like 3-6x per day

We had three kids and a wife riding during the same period… but needed a lot more than one horse to give every one time in the saddle. We ended up with seven head as a few of the horses were specific use to a specific discipline whereas the others did everything

My concern is

@Dizzhorseanon

I want to get a small horse for us all to share

that horse may be over used

[fivestrideline]

@clanter

My concern is

@Dizzhorseanon

I want to get a small horse for us all to share

that horse may be over used

Agree. Four people sharing one horse? Or are kiddos going to be leasing/riding lesson horses and the one horse is “mom’s” and just needs to be suitable for everyone to ride in a pinch? It sounds like the plan is to cart everyone to the barn to ride on the same days, so I’m hoping/assuming that is the case.

As far as the 3-6 lessons and stall/dry lot thing: it sounds like this is a typical low-level lesson factory barn. As long as the horses are in good weight, sound, get a day off, and the 3-6 lessons are typical beginner groups (where the horses realistically work 15-20 minutes total per lesson)… it’s not necessarily a bad life. If the riding is fair, a lot of horses have it worse. Would I buy a horse and bring it into that situation? No. But would I ride there recreationally if it fit into a busy life? Maybe.

Kids are pretty good at making new friends when they have a common activity. Does the 1 hour away barn have appropriate kid group lessons? If so, they’ll be fine and it’s worth the drive for better care in case a purchase is in the future. IMO anyway

[Bluey]

There is no right or wrong, just different options, good questions to consider.

Option 3, time passes in a hurry when kids grow up.
Maybe consider giving this more time, staying with what is working, since changing consist of not very good options either.

Kids should sort what they want to do soon and everything will change sooner than you think.
What you try next, especially buying a horse for all, seems also more problematic than now having horses for all, unless keep leasing other horses.
Owning a horse would be a different experience, you know where you want this to go.

[RHdobes563]

I’ve always wondered what TOO MUCH work for a horse-per-day was. It seems to me that horses have it easy (at least, mine). So many times, people provide ‘full retirement’ for their horses as ‘they deserve it.’ Even being ridden every day for two hours is only 14 hours per week. My place of work expected a LOT more HOURS per day and week to pay ME my current retirement.

Maybe being a RIDING horse is different. Like below, how long and how hard do you think that that draft team did?

(For what it’s worth, that’s my FATHER on top, and those are his grandfather’s horses.)

[LCDR]

Three of us shared one horse. That lasted less than a year before we went from one to herd. As you are looking at barns, factor in whether they can accommodate the additional horses you’re going to buy.

[Dizzhorseanon]

Yes for now the two little ones are lead line and I would probably keep leasing a more adult friendly ex racehorse. But I wanted to get a large pony or small horse for us all to have the horse owning experience.

[Foggy]

What about you riding at the new facility? If you purchase a horse it goes to the new facility. The kids keep their lessons at the current facility with their friends. Over time they meet friends while coming to the new facility with you and enjoying the family horse.

[clanter]

@Dizzhorseanon

a large pony or small horse

we looked at Connemaras and Morgans for our kids as both breeds were known for being kid friendly. and could be used by adults

[Dizzhorseanon]

That’s a good idea. The kids do seem to like riding with me but yes maybe they can just keep lessons at current facility