In thinking about this more, I’d add another point. In addition to tying up a lot of money, think about the ongoing big expenses. Insurance for boarding actually doesn’t cost all that much. But taxes most certainly do! Around here, you can board a horse for a year for less than paying taxes on a small farm. Add in that you will now have a mortgage payment on the new place and a larger mortgage payment on your original place – how does that not add up to more than board for one horse? I’d guess it would add up to more than twice what board for that horse is! And that’s without factoring in the cost of installing a ring and fencing (could be talking in the range of $50,000 for that). Then, adding rental housing? How much would that be – $20,000 on up? Then, ongoing maintenance (and the equipment to do so (drag ring? mow? remove snow?) – how much does that add up to?
You all bring up very valid points - I really do appreciate your thoughtfulness. I’m thinking purchasing this property will be a no-go. While this idea is appealing on a few levels, the negatives outweigh the benefits. One point that sealed the deal for me was the idea of going there in the morning after a large snowfall, and having to plow and shovel, on top of caring for the horses, before work. With the past two winters the way they have, this would be a common occurrence.
Since I’ve had my horses at home for the past 15 years, it’s just been difficult for me to adjust to paying board on a horse who I can’t see every day (horses were kept at my parent’s house with an arena before I moved).
He’s currently boarded a 1/2 hour away, and I usually stop by and ride on my way home from work. However, due to the distance, I don’t have the time to hang around the barn. I get there, tack up quickly, ride and then leave. He’s getting taken care of great where he is, so he’s not suffering because I don’t get out there as often as I’d like. Places with good care are few and far between, and there aren’t any places with comparable care that are closer.
I could probably make space to bring him home, but then I’d have no room for an arena. I’d likely be sacrificing riding progress in order to have him here. We’re working on low-level dressage now - I do have access to power lines and a few trails from my house. So maybe my ultimate question is - does anyone keep their horse at a place without an arena, and are you still able to make progress? My trainer has an indoor ten minutes from my house, so I could probably trailer him and rent arena time from her.
Maybe it just boils down to what I really want to get out of my horse: the ability to progress with riding, or the gratification of the relationship and daily caretaking.
You’ve been very helpful thus far so I’m hoping you might be able to relate - maybe I just need a therapist :lol: I know there are worse problems that I could be having, but we’re coming off of a miserable time of year and I’m thinking about where I really see myself with my horses down the road. Thanks again.
How much land do you currently have? If you have pasture, you could always use the pasture for riding too; and haul to your trainers once a week for lesson and riding in her indoor and maybe just board there over the winter if possible. You can make do with just about anything if you put your mind to it. I once saw a lovely set up in DT mag. of a place that was a house, barn and arena all on 1/2 acre. Granted the arena was also the turnout area for the horses, it was a very usable place. If you have open areas to ride off property utilize them, riding and practice doesn’t have to happen in an arena.
If you are looking to advance, why don’t you board at your trainers if she is 10 minutes away?
No problem, 3chestnuts, and thanks for taking my posts constructively. For what it’s worth, I board retired horses and had my horse at home. I even put in an outdoor ring. And I don’t ride any more. If I had the time and money I would definitely board. One, for the social aspect, two for the ease of instruction, and three for the security of knowing someone was there if things went wrong.
It’s not a good fit with my current horse (so he’s leased out). I DID ride my kids’ pony at home, happily, but he was an old, bombproof pony.
From a financial standpoint, SMF is right on, it’s a terrible idea. Your husband’s initial calculator-in-hand thought is a VERY common one, so don’t feel badly. It’s easy peasy to add up boarding costs–a fixed monthly sum–over a few years.
But owning and operating a farm (even a five acre one) isn’t calculator level math. It’s a giant, complex spreadsheet with about a hundred costs. There are a few up front easy costs–like the cost of the mortgage and the cost of the loan to build the barn and the arena. Then there are maintenance costs, including machinery and equipment, tractors, drags, weed whackers, manure spreaders, all of which have to be serviced and maintained. There are taxes and insurance, and water lines and repairs on things you never even thought about. Then there are about a hundred things that are going to come up where you are going to think, “we are going to do that ourselves to save money” but the time it takes to do those things is a huge investment, and let’s face it, your time is worth something, even if only because you could otherwise be riding. Things also always cost more and take more time than you think. And, when you own the farm, costs are very unpredictable.
As far as worrying about having to plow and shovel snow on top of chores–that’s the tip of the iceberg of owning a farm. What winter farm ownership can really mean: frozen water lines and a need to haul water in from an outside source in freezing temps, gate latches frozen shut, power outages, colicking horses with a long wait for the vet, property damage when the plow driver (or tractor driver) screws up, buying and spreading salt to control icy spots, injuries to yourself when you forgot to buy salt or missed a patch of ice, late feed deliveries so you have to run to the feed store yourself, and a whole bunch of muck that is stuck in the barn because you don’t have a way to get it out to the muck heap.
BeeHoney is not exaggerating about the winter! This past year, I experienced ALL of those problems, except instead of colicking horses I had two go down and be unable to get back up. One had been down long enough to get spots of frostbite on him. Absolutely horrible and stressful. (Thankfully, both managed to get back up and have not gone down again).
On the plus side, nothing like a frozen water hydrant + horses that need water or a midwinter tractor breakdown to distract you from trivial problems and minor expenses that are occurring in your regular life. So glad spring is here!
[QUOTE=2foals;8071477]
On the plus side, nothing like a frozen water hydrant + horses that need water or a midwinter tractor breakdown to distract you from trivial problems and minor expenses that are occurring in your regular life. So glad spring is here![/QUOTE]
:rolleyes:
They certainly do distract you because you are now faced with major problems and expenses.
Oh, yes, my post above was definitely written in a sarcasm font. Right now we are repairing some wintertime damage to what I call “invisibles.” I am in the process of repairing something you can’t EVEN SEE on my farm, preliminary estimate is over $1K.
There are millions of little things on a farm that when you are a boarder you take for granted. For example, fixing broken fence boards, I’m sure any regular boarder thinks, oh, gee, I bet it just takes five minutes to tack up a new $20 board.
Here’s what it really takes: delivery of stack of spare fence boards ($450, you can’t just buy one fence board at a time, and they really need to be delivered because of the length). Shed to store fence boards and tools ($12,000). Tools, power tools (saw), toolbox to complete repair (let’s say $400). Oops, the fencepost is rotted, need to pull off all the boards (crowbar, $15), use the tractor bucket ($5,000 installed) and a chain ($20) to yank out the old post. Use PTO driven auger ($400, bought used) to dig new fence post hole using the power of your tractor ($20,000) or do it by hand (shovel $20, post hole pincers $50, doctors bill for back pain visit and medication $400). Tamp post in with bar ($20). Nail up new boards. Use bar magnet ($70) to clean up nails that may have fallen on ground. Saw up old boards and dispose of with post in dumpster ($150/mo). I’ll also add that you better own a truck to bring all your tools and equipment and the replacement boards/posts to where you need to do the repair.
You could try to get a fence company to come and take care repairs for you, just be prepared to keep your horses inside for three weeks while you wait. I also can pretty much guarantee the price would be through the roof. In bad weather they don’t want to deal with it, in good weather they are too busy building new fence.
