I will be moving from the west side of Cleveland, OH, to about 10/15 min north of Kent and am looking for boarding barn recs - I am surprisingly out of the loop on what barns are good and what barns are not, and I am concerned about ending up in a nightmare barn situation by accident.
My priorities are lengthy turnout with other horses, stalls that are at least 12x12, and an indoor arena. My “wants” are some space to hand graze and hack, and an enviroment that leans towards quiet/laid back.
I would really appreciate any recs or any… anti-recs.
I used to live in Cleveland but not familiar w/ barns around Kent. If you google “horse boarding near Kent” you will see a decent number of options, so I would start by making a list of basic questions, checking websites and call them one by one. Some will be full, some will be training/show barns, etc . If so, ask them for recommendation that better fits your needs. That may give you an idea of what your real options are.
Then you should find time to go check each one. See how the horses look, get a feel for the environment. Do you know any horse people on that side of town? Also, ask the barn owner or manager where you currently are if they have opinions
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Check out Heidi Kohl’s Rockin’ K Ranch. Has all your wants and needs.
I planned on trying to take a look around there this weekend - it is nice to hear that it fits what I am looking for, thank you!
I sort of knew Heidi when I was up there - rather indirectly. But she seemed to have nice horses, rode well and seemed to care about the horses. Her farm looks interesting!
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There is a Facebook group, “Everything Equine in Northeast Ohio” that is pretty active with people looking for stalls and barns posting when they have openings. I’m not far from where you’re looking, but far enough I’m not anymore helpful. Good luck!
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thanks for sharing your experience with her as well!
I should definitely get on there and take a look around, I am not much of a facebook person but it does seem like it’s the go-to for most horse people!
I was right on their verge of completely deleting mine around the same time I got my gelding in 2020. Come to find out, for horse stuff it’s been really worth having!
