Changing barns? Could use some advice

[cristalle]

@LCDR

And I say screw the barn owner and the trainer relative.You don’t need to try to maintain a relationship with either of them. You are the only advocate your mare has in her life. You want a good life for her, so find her a better home.

Yes to this.
The fact that the BM is “unwilling to budge” and is saying to you “like it or lump it” - when your mare’s health and happiness is at stake is a big NO to me.

ETA: I just saw your update. OK for now, with an eye to leaving in the future, especially if things deteriorate again, makes sense.
Very best of luck, OP.

[piaffequeen2]

I’d leave. Your horse’s happiness is more important than your relationship with your trainer. Not sure where you are located but in my area we have numerous eventing/dressage trainers. You may just have to start looking again.

[Bearx2]

@Rubi

Recently my mare’s stall has been looking trashed every afternoon and I have now found out why.
Without informing me, they have been turning out another horse in the mornings with mare’s pasture mate, and she has to stay inside while every other horse is out. At noon, they are switched. But by then my mare has already made a complete mess of her stall and is anxious.

Okay this is an injury waiting to happen and you have every right to be upset about it. At a minimum they should have had a discussion with you about the situation before they started keeping your horse inside .

[enjoytheride]

If you otherwise like the barn and want to stay with your trainer, is there room at the top of the posts to add another strand? My farm had t posts and electric rope w no caps. I was putting caps on anyway for safety when a horse jumped out a few times. I ran a strand of tape on the post caps and that added at least 6 inches. It was fast and cheap. You could offer to pay for reduced board?

Regarding the bedding and labor, it has become increasingly more expensive to run boarding barns and if your overall board hasn’t gone up in the last year then paying for bedding is likely the answer.

For the labor, there are fewer and fewer people who want to work on farms and the people that do want equal pay to a “real job” Some farms take what they can get.

[candyappy]

@Rubi

Recently, instead of putting training rides on him, they have been turning him out with my mare’s pasture mate to get him out of his stall.

Why can’t the 3 be turned out together?

Why is he not getting the rides he is supposed to and where is he when he is getting training rides? How does he normally spend the other 23 hours on an average day?

[Annie10]

I would have been gone after the turnout, no stall cleaning and buying my own shavings.
And then the left in alone all day? Thats a recipe for tendon injuries, all sorts of other injuries, ulcers and colic. It won’t matter how good the training is or how much you “click” with the trainer when your horse is dead or on stall rest due to injuries. Your horse has to live there, you don’t. Move the horse like yesterday.

[Baybear]

Okay I agree with everyone’s comments here. This sounds like no way to run a stable, and just want to add that many of us her would be thrilled with a 30 minute drive to the barn, many here prob spend at least a hour, maybe longer in areas where there is a lot of traffic. When I moved my horse from my old barn to current, my sister was also riding him - the change made the commute longer for her which she was kind of snarky about. Once we got out to the barn, it was such a nicer place that the distance didn’t really matter because the barn was such a nicer atmosphere. Hopefully the new barn will have a trainer that suits both you and your horse.

[Rubi]

Hi all!

OP here.
I’ve wanted to come back to this thread and update you guys.
My mare is going to move at the end of the month, finally!

The new facility will be a 25-30 minute drive for me, but with (hopefully) much better horse care.
My mare will get a stall with a small paddock plus daily turnout either on grass (weather-permitting) or in a large paddock with hay offered.
In her stall she’ll get fed grain 2x a day plus free choice hay (I’ve now visited this facility several times at different times during the day, there was hay in front of the horses everytime).

About the training I’ll see. I have the option to trailer in to the old stable for lessons but that will really only be possible during the off-season on weekends, as my current trainer is at shows most weekends during the season, and I can’t manage trailering out during the week after work.
I keep my fingers crossed that my mare and I will ‘click’ with the new facility’s trainer.

Thanks everyone for the sanity check and sharing your opinions!

[Nancy2]

Such good news. I left a stable where I was working because they left my mare outside by herself and never said anything about it to me.

I then moved to another stable that was more expensive but had great facilities. I failed to notice that the paddocks had no shelters and there were 5 horses in a tiny pen with no introductions over the fence.

I moved within a month and found an amazing facility only 15 minutes away. Unfortunately my mare has developed ulcers and coliced with all the changes but the new facility and their employees are amazing. She is well looked after and I couldn’t be happier. They actually want to have boarders which feels great. Everyone is super friendly and welcoming. And they also have free choice hay and shelters.