WTF?!?!
Good God. Yes, be out of there yesterday if possible! Your poor horse. Poor you!
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Not being dramatic. Place 1 stresses me out from your opening post. Place 2 sounds great except for the increase in board AND gas, donāt forget that. And the drive. I did make a move to a barn much further away. Podcasts are your friend. Gas is not. But I love the new place and donāt ever want to move.
If you canāt find anything closer, AND you can afford the increase in costs, I think barn 2 is a good move if even for a short while. But if you really canāt afford it, look hard for another place close to home. Accidents and mishaps do happen even in fancy barns. What I donāt like about your current barn is that it doesnāt seem like you are enjoying the riding and the overall experience.
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Nope. Ok after that exchange, I am changing my vote to move, ASAFP. I donāt have an opinion on where, but move. That is honestly just gross negligence on BMās part. I would get outta there quickly.
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I am another for move right away. I would look at the closer option with 8 hour turnout. If she has good turnout, able to move without running into rocks and mud, she might be okay with less turnout.
I bought one horse that had always lived out. It was shocking how much he liked being in the barn. He liked going out, but was always waiting at the gate to come back in as well. He liked people so liked being part of the activity in the barn.
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I think thatās part of why mine adapted well to coming into the barn at night. He likes people and seems to find whatever is going on in the barn to be interesting. Heās never waiting at the gait, but once youāre at the gait he comes right over.
I think it depends how committed you are to riding. I had a 1 hour drive each way from home to the barn. It would have been 2 hours one way from work. So what I did was get up at 3 am. Dress and go to the barn to ride. Get home by 6:30, get the kids off to school, get ready for work and have the evenings to myself. I will say that arriving at the barn with the lights still out and all the horses asleep did not thrill any of the horses, especially mine, but I made it work for over a year.
Good luck.
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I have horse property where I live and take care of my mom. Right now, she is able to feed/water at home and wants to do that, and itās her only physical activity so is good for her. She has mental health issues and sabotages efforts I make to ride, so anyone getting ridden lives elsewhere (I also then donāt have to maintain an arena which I appreciate time-wise.) Turnout is a 30 min thing here culturally because we donāt have pastures, and Iāve never been ok with that for my horses, so Iām at my former trainerās home (he passed away, widow changed it to a boarding facility) so my horses can be out. My home has a barn with plenty of space to run off the stalls so theyāre always out and in the barn at the same time.
For 5 years, I basically drove an equilateral triangle. 45 min to work, 45 min to barn from work, 45 min home. I absolutely detest driving, and I worked 50+ hours a week, so it was exhausting! However, I still managed 5-6 days/week at the barn. For horse wellbeing, it was worth it to me. I ended up getting a new job on the path between home and barn, and cut out 45 min of driving per day. That helps a lot! All summer, I get up at 3am, drive to the barn, ride, drive to work, shower in the gym, work, home. I end up home close to 5pm so I can make dinner, make food for the next day, pack gym bag, go to bed so I can get up at 3am again. There was basically no weekday life! Iām an introvert and was ok with that 
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This.
OP, it sounds as if you need a new barn, regardless. The one you found, or another one yet to be on your selection list. There are several things in your description of your current barn that would likely be dealbreakers for me.
I will assume that the financials are ok, as you have already selected this barn as a good candidate.
That said ā My longest commute-time to the barn had a big effect on my personal time, other work & non-work activities, and even being energized enough to ride well. It was a taxing high-traffic commute on most days.
I would leave for the barn energized and looking forward to my plan for the ride. But I would arrive almost an hour later feeling drained from the high-traffic drive, and no longer eager to ride a somewhat difficult horse. Looking back, it might have helped to have included a short stop somewhere about 15-20 minutes out from the barn to recover a bit, before pulling up to the barn feeling a bit overwhelmed.
However ā¦ If a long barn-commute time is a problem that you can overcome, do not forget well-lighted arenas. During the winter you will be out there at night after work (unless you ride in the morning then). If there is more than one arena, the one you need the most is the one to focus on.
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