That and you can chuck your board and skis into storage for 6 months without having to fork out a small mortgage payment for their maintenance
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Well. Every single day people become parents with only the barest of knowledge and zero experience in caring for babies and become dog owners without knowing how to recognize the signs of illness or how to instill the very basics of obedience, but hopefully they rely on the wisdom and expertise of others to help them navigate these responsibilities. It doesn’t always work. But the model persists nevertheless.
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You ask if barn staff is expected to take care of horses? Yes. The answer at many barns is yes. Many people do not keep their horses at home because they don’t have the time/interest in doing those things; they pay others to do all that for them. As long as the expectations are spelled out in the boarding agreement and the horses’ needs are taken care of 100%, it doesn’t matter that the owner isn’t the one doing it.
Similarly, there are people who take a lesson or two a week. Those people aren’t responsible for the care of the horses they ride either. Why should they be? Every person who sits on a horse does not also need to know how to provide total care to a horse. As long as someone has been tasked with the proper care of the horse, it really doesn’t matter who it is.
This shaming of people for spending whatever limited amount of time they have to be around horses actually riding them instead of cleaning stalls and doing night check is probably why people think that horse people are snobs and go find something else to do with their time.
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I’m not shaming anyone. I’m saying that riding carries a responsibility that other sports don’t.
For argument’s sake, let’s say I’m dead wrong. Let’s say we move forward with growing the sport by way of occasional or recreational riders who don’t want to own. That would require a bigger supply of well-broke horses not owned by their riders. So, who would buy and own all those horses? What would the incentive be? In today’s market, I can’t see a financial upside for that. But I will keep an open mind to responses here, because this is a good and worthwhile conversation.
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This exactly! I typed out a response like this and stopped because occasionally I think I come off a bit argumentative, but yeah…
Skis and surfboards get chucked in storage after the fair weather folks realize they still suck after 2 seasons or don’t want to learn how to surf more than the sub 3ft mush at Zuma in Malibu with the tiny groms (under 8) and get scared off by the first 5ft day they paddle out in once in a blue moon.
The board, skis, ocean, and ski mountain don’t suffer at ALL in the grand scheme of things when that “social aspect person” doesn’t show up. In fact, in the surf line up we are all so happy that the social surfer isn’t there. They get in the way and often don’t have enough desire to develop the knowledge to know what they’re doing is unsafe or disrespectful.
Horses do suffer, even the dead lame from EPM “pet” horse suffers when “carrot and bath lady” decides she’s over it because now that covid has gone on for 3 years, she’s going to spend winter in Bali.
Maybe the board will still get paid because of the general wealth of these clients, but often SOMEONE in the family is responsible for cash flow and will demand the asset be sold eventually. Where does that “pet” horse go?
Similarly the walking hack 1x a week person encourages a barn to keep around an animal that maybe isn’t very useful or profitable for their program and the facility would rather have a decent 14.3h former eventer pony to teach juniors who ride 3x a week and lease and will eventually own and show instead of catering to a fair weather adult who will pay $100 bucks twice a month to show off her Dada Sport breeches and Parlanti’s to traipse around the facility at the walk after the horse has already been ridden or lunged by barn staff to keep it quiet enough for the client.
Rent-a-ride and backyard barns cater to these fair weather clients and have for DECADES. In LA they’re not aesthetically pleasing enough or prestigious enough to attract the “country club / social club” folks. And they are definitely vodka and lemonade in a Hydroflask type of place vs an event venue that is used by Hollywood as a filming location with a full clubhouse and bar.
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In my part of the world there is more than one lesson horse show series for the evil-ness that is hunterland. All the horses are lesson horses and all the riders are lesson riders. Lead change is not required. Making the stride is not required.
These shows have a great turn out over lots of levels.
This has been addressed but … As long as the horse is at a barn that these things are taken care of I see nothing wrong with an owner who simply pays a bill to have Dobbin’s abscess soaked and blanket changed. There is nothing wrong with the occasional rider who is, for example, too busy to do every day stuff, but wants to be able to relax and enjoy a ride on the weekend. Some people have to work for a living in order to afford that horse that they enjoy on weekends.
This is why there are so many different types of boarding barns.
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The once a week, fair weather, never-canter riders often provide a job to horses who might not otherwise have one. Too lame, too old, too somehow limited to do anything more than amble around the farm or jog around the arena horses are at great risk of meeting unfortunate ends. Horses with jobs are much more likely to be treated with compassion as they inevitably age. God forbid we discourage these non-ambitious riders from enjoying the sport at their own level and I understand that the businesses that cater to these riders have a place in our world.
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Sure, but these folks aren’t owning the horse most likely. They’re looking to ride 1x a week for 30 mins and would do just fine in a lesson program where the trainer felt it was worth their while to have such folks on a schoolie that might like a nice break from traditional lessons.
It’s great that theoretically we’d be giving these “poor horses a job where they otherwise wouldn’t have one”, but 30 mins 1x a week is not a job that pays for their upkeep unless the fair weather rider owned outright or at least care leased the animal or there were 6 or so fair weather riders wanting a walk only hack 1x a week.
I cannot see a barn looking to invest time and energy in an unprofitable, often inconsistent income stream.
I know plenty of wealthy folks in major metro areas that don’t bat an eye for 2.5k/ month of board for their pet – but I do see them lose interest after about a year and horsie goes from CA to Idaho for $250/mo field board or rehomed as a companion animal or yes abandoned at boarding barn and payments stopping randomly when person generating the income gets annoyed about having an expensive asset just ‘sitting’.
I could even at times call myself that rider - when I don’t own or lease, I like to take 1x a week or twice a week lessons on a school horse and I will pay $100/hr for a decent sub 2’6 lesson to keep myself in shape and my eye for a distance mediocre. I have been turned away by many a barn because they cannot be profitable having that type of horse available to me and that is OKAY.
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That’s awesome. And I didn’t mean to imply hunter-land was totally awful - I still enjoy the divisions, just wish we could get more people in. The bar just keeps getting higher, which I do understand on the one hand, but there was a time (more than 35 years ago) when my clunky little mare who moved like an eggbeater could still get a ribbon or two at a smaller show because of training.
In the area I’m in, in addition to very few barns having lesson programs if you don’t have a horse, the converse was also true - most of the farms boarding horses required you to be in a training program with their trainer. So the care was good, but your horse was ridden 5 days a week by the trainer and you’d get one lesson and maybe a couple of “free” rides on your own horse. The other boarding barns were more of a “toss 'em in a field and hope they survive” kind of structure. I know why they are like this - it’s expensive to keep horses in this area and you don’t make a dime boarding, but it left a middle section of people who want to compete but have to do it on more of a DIY basis for budget purposes completely at a loss for places to go.
Those people going to the “toss-em-in-a-field” boarding facilities are NOT getting good horsekeeping, safety, and other instruction. I’ve inherited a few of them, and it’s terrifying.
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In my area, these riders provide a valuable source of income to small boarding and lesson barns. If they are horse owners, they are often delighted to have their horse used in lessons to keep the horse exercised or if they don’t own they pay the same rate as a “serious” rider and the school horse gets an easy ride. This is a win win for the program. Keeping barns in the black is imperative to the sport surviving.
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Agreed, but expecting barns to operate on that model is not fair. Great if you find a facility to do this, plenty do! I have been that rider that between leases, flats some boarder’s hunters and jumpers as I have a dressage background and it becomes almost a free training ride as a free hack.
But to have a barn that focuses their operations on the described “unserious” clientele will not survive from a profit perspective - it really only works if they already have the asset (horse) available that has another “main and profitable” job (e.g. a hunter owned by a half training client or schoolie that could use 2 days a week of lighter work).
My bone to pick is with the country club model discussed above.
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In my area, walk-trot riders are so numerous that every lesson barn I know has a waiting list. This type of horse can be found in every lesson/trail barn I know. Your mileage may vary.
@mika0116 as you’re in CA perhaps things are different. I’m in VA and there are many MANY barns that cater to “unserious” riders and have done so successfully for 30+ years. So their business models must be profitable to keep going year after year.
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SO true. I was in CA for 7ish years and now in Seattle area, but I spent the first 25 years of my life in NJ and Washington DC (rode a bit in NoVa). Horses are much more accessible in the NE and mid Atlantic than the West Coast.
I see what you mean. I was trying to describe how those unserious riders are a valuable part of many business models.
Also, guided trail rides tend to be super profitable. People pay bank for that and the average lesson string is perfectly content to go nose to tail down the trail at low speeds. Same for pony parties.
Granted my perspective is that two “serious riders only” barns just went under due to financial duress while the barns that incorporated some of these less serious riders are still afloat.
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The saddle horse barn I’m at operated basically as a lesson mill for 15 or 20 years. They had no boarders. The wife gave lessons, the husband trained & bred horses. Occasionally a colt was sold well, but for the most part, the lessons supported them. At times, they gave lessons through the local parks & rec dept.
A NoVA hunter barn offers trail rides at around $75/hour. I’ve called a couple times and they were booked solid. That’s pretty good money for not a lot of effort on their part.
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Yep! I am noticing that there isn’t really an appropriate niche to be ‘both’ unless you have some very unicorn like animals that can do the 2’6 3’ at a local show safely and also go nose to tail down a trail a la a dude ranch in Western tack.
Plenty of rent-a-horse barns in greater Seattle exist and make plenty of money to stay afloat, but ooooh boy their horsemanship, facilities, feed practices are questionable at best. 
In Upstate NY there was a place called Rocking Horse Ranch that was a resort and had a rent-a-horse program where the horses in the 90s and early 2000s were really well kept and happy, safe critters! My late father was a pretty athletic guy and would come with me on the “advanced trail rides” where we would be able to canter! If he were still alive he would be 100% the ‘fair weather rider" I describe - he didn’t want lessons outside of basic commands and safety, but he LOVED the idea of ‘hiking’ on horseback and was a natural ‘animal person’. He had our family beagle a fit 25 -30 lbs at 18’ inches whistle trained within an inch of its life! He was a pretty impressive trail rider within 10 rides, cantering with a nice western seat in balance.
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It’s been my experience that the vast majority of lesson strings don’t include 3’ horses. Or even 2’6” horses. They include beginner friendly horses suited to teach people to ride. Most will do quiet group trails without batting an eye. YMMV
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Understood, I think we are talking past each other. I am not anti learning riders or traditional lesson barns that maintain beginner strings. I am merely saying most barns will struggle to have ‘both’ clientele (serious lessoners who intend to progress over time, part lease, full lease and/or training show riders) and the fair weather beginner that has no desire to canter or jump and wishes to mostly trail ride and doodle occasionally in the arena.
Almost any barn will take a learning rider provided they have capacity and a suitable animal, but some may choose to not continue the relationship past a certain timeframe if there is no ‘progression’ of education and/or services. Especially if there is not more than 1 trainer.
Again, it varies, but I don’t know many trainers or pros that enjoy teaching beginner lessons without intent to progress, but that could be because I don’t spend a ton of time around trainers that really thrive in the teaching of carefree fundamentals.
Lord Stirling and Watchung Stables in NJ cater to the later and do VERY well with 0 expectation of progressive education, involvement with the animals, or fees.
All I am saying is that eventually most facilities will need to specialize and pick a lane - rent-a-horse / true lesson barn or training and boarding barn. I imagine it would be QUITE the operation of staff and horses to do both - I know Watchung and Lord Stirling had private boarders with ability to schedule training rides and lessons during certain days/hours while running their version of Pony Club/ rent a horse trail rides in the 90s and 2000s - unsure about now…
Back to the OG country club convo – the lesson barns and the rent-a-horse facilities don’t attract the “social rider” who wants to be seen riding or having an animal of some sort of ‘status or leisure activity’ and hang out likely over drinks “a la apres ski” . A scruffy, but safe lesson Appy cross doesn’t really fit that model. Hence I was saying that the model proposed to garner more folks into the sport via a Social Club like model does not make sense as it already exists but just isn’t social club status worthy due to basic economics.
One must note that both Watchung and Lord Stirling were run by the local government and were funded via many forms of grants and tax money. For a private facility, I have yet to encounter one in the wild that works on this model of being both catering to owners and progressive riders and non-progressive lessoning/ rent a horse aspects.
Does anyone have any examples of other state/ local gov owned facilities in other states or a private facility that does something similar? I found many a childhood friend and parent interested in the Watchung / LS model growing up! People love trail rides!
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What I’m saying is that in my area it is the lesson barns that are catering to both clientele that are making it. The ones that aren’t are folding.
As a boarding client, did I enjoy the inconvenience of endless day camps, pony parties and on site trail rides for random groups? Definitely not.
I’ve only seen lesson clients fired for scheduling and payment issues. But it’s also my experience that barn owned horses have to work more than 5x per week to pay their way. Beginner WT lessons, pony rides and slow trail rides allow these horses to earn their way with less wear and tear on their bodies.
I don’t think they enjoy endless up down lessons either though but that’s true of many people’s feelings about their jobs. Back in the day that was considered the bread and butter, but with today’s cost of horse keeping I’m not so sure it’s that financially attractive anymore.
I’m not sure why the country club concept wouldn’t work? It’s just a bunch of part leases for basic riding.
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If you can find enough folks willing to pay part leases on animals for minimal riding or interaction. I am all for the Social Club model. I haven’t seen this anywhere outside CA where folks are totally cool paying a half lease of $1.5k to walk trot in the arena 30 mins per week on a Dutch WB. Just then there needs to be enough staff to maintain the horse, which should be easy given the price paid and someone like myself gets to ride and jump the horse and often show if I pay the day fees, etc. when other leaser is MIA. My personal experience is that it doesn’t last long once Social Club rider realizes that they’re not getting much for the cost / loses interest because most people continue to invest time and money in activities they are good at.
The Social Club model I was uncomfy with is the $100/ride 30 mins per week where the horse is not part or full leased by individual. That would just be a lesson string critter or a rent a horse model which exists but is not pursued either to due lack of social club aspect (e,g, community members are more serious riders and therefore the more serious barns have no use for this client outside a kind boarder horse that hacks out politely with a novice) or status aspect (e.g. its not ‘cool’ or prestigious to ride at a state owned facility renting a horse for an hour on Sunday with kids and parents and other more run of the mill public folks or at a standard lesson barn that has beginner mounts and clients).
Maybe I also don’t have exposure to a lot of versatile horses on the West Coast, my h/j lease horses would NOT hack out politely with a beginner.
