Considering Moving Barns Advice

[Giddyin]

Need some advice if I should move barns or not, struggling to come to a decision and was hoping for some outside opinions and experiences. The biggest improvements would be paddock quality, trail access, arena quality, quieter more private environment and a trainer who can take me further. My concern is distance and price if it’s truly worth it or not. 5 year old OTTB who needs 24/7 turnout.

Current Barn:

• 30 minutes from me (25 from my job)
• Multi Discipline, focus on beginners and english and western pleasure
• Trainer/Owner is competing 2nd level Dressage and hoping to move up to 3rd this year on her personal horse
• $675 includes weekly lesson
• Horse lives out 24/7 with extremely rocky (there isn’t a 2 foot space without multiple rocks in it all different sizes), hilly, muddy smallish paddock hay is not great but 24/7 hay, includes my grain of choice
• Paddocks don’t get mucked regularly, struggled a lot with mud fever and thrush due to this
• Small outdoor arena (no indoor) uneven footing, rocks, long sides on a slope, during summer there can be 3-5 beginner riders in ring with minimal ability to steer, 70% of your ride is just trying to stay out of everyone’s way
• Large lesson program mostly adult ammies and children who are beginners
• Trail access is dirt roads about 1/3 mile down a main busy road
• Blanketing is included but gets forgotten regularly so I do all my blanket changes
• Very laid back and friendly which is nice but also things getting left lying around constantly (brushes, tack, poop, hair after clipping, cups, whips, personal belongings, etc.)
• Wooden fence boards falling down constantly from horses not respecting it and just getting new nail slammed back onto post
• Have personal tack locker and blanket storage

Potential New Barn:

• 1 hour 15 minutes from me (1 hour 10 minutes from work) with the ability to move 45 minutes closer in September (6 months)
• Dressage owner/trainer Bronze, Silver, Gold medalist and runs a training program for young horses just learning and more advanced upper level horses
• Board is $800 feed charged separately (roughly $100 for 24/7 round bale hay per month and my grain of choice (roughly $120 per month) So total around $1,020.
• Weekly lessons would be $300 a month ($75 each once a week)
• Beautiful 10x14 deeply bedded stalls with 24/7 access to decent sized runs made of round pen panels, on dry lots material so no mud or large rocks, slightly sloped to help with drainage
• Plenty of trails on site and across the road
• Huge indoor with excellent quality and care to footing, large scenic outdoor also with extremely good footing
• Hot and cold water wash stall, heated tack room, plenty of storage
• Blanket changes included
• Only a couple of boarders who come afternoons so it would mostly be myself and the owner only in the mornings
• Tidy and organized

Is there anyone who’s moved to a more professional, expensive place or moved to a barn over an hour away that could offer insight? I work 8 hour days 5-7 days a week.

[joiedevie99]

What do you mean about moving 45 minutes closer? For me, 1:15 drive would not be sustainable in the long term - but I could make it work for a few months until a move. However, everything else about the second barn sounds much better and more conducive to your goals.

[Giddyin]

In September I’d have to opportunity to move to a roughly halfway point between the second barn and my job, my job is currently about a 6 minute drive from where I’m living. It’s 1 hour and 15 minutes from me right now, so that would put me about 35-40 minutes to barn and 35/40 minutes to my job. But the barn and my job still being about 1 hour and 10 minutes apart.

[Cowboy_Girl]

Be honest with yourself about the commute factor with your workload, weather and other commitments (family and friends.) You are likely making it to the current barn 6-ish days a week on average. It may turn into a 4-ish average with the added distance.
Above combined with your riding goals - is “puttering/improve at your own pace training” in an average place ok with you. Or are are you after “goal oriented training” and may have to pay for extra training rides to make up for the commute factor. And are you (and others) comfortable with the added time, stress and cost.
Just things to think about. Good luck with your decision!

[leighbo009]

I can say, I was driving 45+ min from my house or from work. 1 hour+ if needed to stop by the house for 2 min. And I couldn’t make riding happen often. I was fighting daylight hours, but almost 2 hours round trip + 9 hours at work left time for nothing else basically. Also, it seems more similar to barn A in facilities, so I maybe biased. I moved to a barn 20 min from my house or barn & I have enjoyed it sooo much more. My favorite was 0.5 miles from my house, but I moved jobs (and cities) and that was no longer an option.

You need to make pro/con list, including a schedule with drive times and calculate the cost of gas/milage on your car into the pro/con list. That may make it easier for you to see what it may be worth to you. If 2.5 hours round trip + 8 hours of work. Thats 10.5 hours. +8 hours of sleep. 2 hours to ride/tack/groom. 3 hours everyday to get everything else done (including commuting to work). How many days a week are you looking to ride/go to the barn? Just things to think about. People do it successfully, but do you have a SO or other animals at home that need attention too?

[luvmyhackney]

I’d keep looking for something closer and if I couldn’t find it and if my budget allowed, I’d move to the second barn.

The reason why is an indoor opens up a ton of ride times. The outdoor and riding with beginners isn’t what I consider enjoyable.

I would also have the trainer put some training rides 1-2 days a week if budget allowed to give myself a break on the commute.

[Giddyin]

It is extremely difficult to find 24/7 access to turnout where I am. There’s an absolutely wonderful facility 20 minutes from me (15 from my work) that does stall board with 8 hours of turnout. Great footing, minimal mud, good sized clean paddocks, great stalls and owner/trainer. It’s extremely tempting but my mare tends to be anxious all the time when being stalled and I’m not sure she’d be as happy with that set up as I would be.

[Ziggy793]

This is tough. Right now my barn is ~45 minutes away with no traffic, and about 1h15m with rush hour traffic. My typical schedule is going out both weekend days and twice during the week, so I’m only subjected to the long commute for 2/8 drives per week (return home on weeknights is traffic-free, as are weekends typically). Even with this, I am counting the days until we move and I can have a barn closer to home (as is my husband )

On the other hand, the reason I am currently willing to put up with a commute even this long is that I have not been able to find something closer that I am comfortable with (particularly re: turnout). So I get it, but 2 and a half hours in the car every time you want to go to the barn is going to get old quick.

[candyappy]

That is quite the price jump between board, lessons and feed costs. Then factor in a close to 3 hour round trip daily?? No thank you.

Nothing gets old faster than a long commute( especially after working an 8 hour day) and I fear that the first thing to go will be your commitment to riding time.

Is that $800 at the potential barn for 24/7 turnout? If you have to pay extra for feed what is the $800 for facility costs and maintenance? That just seems high to me.

I would keep looking for something closer.

[dmveventer]

I would move. I did the 1-1.5 hour drive to the barn for a while and it isn’t ideal but it’s doable. I’m at 45 minutes now and it’s definitely nicer but I really don’t find an extra 30 minutes to be a deal breaker. I live in an area where traffic and commutes are the norm though; if you live somewhere that everything is 15 mins away the hour+ drive is going to feel like a bigger deal. I’m just used to being in the car at this point.

If you have competitive goals the more professional program is going to be a much better fit. Especially with a young horse, getting quality instruction and training on board now will save you so much trouble in the long run. It sounds like the facilities are going to be much nicer. Not mucking paddocks or fixing fences properly would be concerns for me, as would the fact that blanketing is “included but forgotten” - makes me wonder what else they’re “forgetting” about that you don’t notice. Whether the second place is within your budget is something only you can answer, but it really sounds like the cheaper place is cheap for a reason and you’d be getting what you pay for with the upgrade.

[MsM]

Those places are opposites! You cant really ride effectively in barn1 between the footing and the traffic. But barn 2 is highly structured, expensive, further away, and charges for “extras” that are usually included in board.

I would take a good look at your budget, goals, time and desires to see what the best match is.

Are you certain your horse needs 24/7 turnout and any less is a dealbreaker? Your options would be greater if he was okay with all day or all night turnout.

[lenapesadie]

So at Barn 2, the turnout is the run attached to the stall? The horse lives in the stall and run 24/7?

My horse prefers a stall with a run to a stall without a run, but he doesn’t feel it’s the same as actual turnout. So that’s something to consider if the only TO at Barn 2 is a run.

[LCDR]

I vote move. Your horse will be healthier and likely happier with more time out and about grazing.

But what is your job schedule? You said it would usually be just you and the owner in the mornings at the new place. Are you talking just about weekends? Or do you have a work schedule that allows you a generous amount of time to ride during daylight?

I found that a 45 mile drive to and from my best boarding barn was doable and even relaxing. It just required some creative time management and organization of priorities. I did that drive for almost 20 years an average of 5 days every week to get in my rides. I’d likely still be doing it if the barn owners had stayed married.

[Walk_N_Gal88]

I personally don’t think I would move. You’re more than doubling your drive time out and back, plus you will have a HUGE jump in expenses. I might haul out for rides a little more often at current barn, but I don’t think I would move.

I think you really need to sit down and go over what your budget would be if you were to move. You’d have increased gas to and from the barn and your work, plus a huge time increase just for getting there and back.

[VodkaRedbullx2]

I would look for something in between.

[Giddyin]

I work 2:30pm to 11:15pm so I am at the barn in the late mornings

[LCDR]

Sounds like nursing shift hours. I’ve worked with several riding nurses who picked that shift because they were able to ride in the mornings. One even did a double shift once a week so she had Wednesdays off to fox hunt.

That is creative scheduling. Your work schedule is another big plus in the move to the new place decision tree.

[atlatl]

Another thing to consider is the flow of traffic. Would you be in the traffic or going in the other direction?

Frankly, I would move. If you can afford it, barn 2 sounds like a much more professionally run and maintained situation.

I’ve done 1 hour commutes between work and the barn for years and still was there 5 days a week.

Now that I’m retired, the horses are at a nicer facility that’s still 40 minutes away but I’m going against traffic.

[Long_Time_Lurker]

I agree with Amberley. I would choose this option. 8 hours good turnout sounds much better to me than 24/7 in rocks and mud or 24/7 in a small run attached to a stall.

[atr]

I’m with Amberley and Long time lurker here. Thats a good compromise. 8 hours of real turnout is totally acceptable to me for a working horse being ridden 5 times a week or so. Especially if the barn has an organized and solid routine and the horses are fed well.

I’d certainly give it a go before I took on the longer commute. In the event your horse isn’t happy, you can always move.