Here it usually means a farm where everything is either a) for family use only and may possibly take 1-2 boarders to fill empty stalls, or b) run under one trainer, and any boarders are part of their program. No general boarding, no bringing in your own trainer etc etc.
[QUOTE=ArabDiva;7752436]
Think of it as private in the sense that a yacht club or a country club is private – it’s a facility only open to members or their guests, with visitors by appointment only.
I board at a “private” farm owned by my trainer. There are 16 boarders as well as school horses and a flourishing lesson program. We are a dressage-focused facility, host several clinics a year, and pony club.
My trainer and her husband live onsite, and the farm is at the end of a private road shared with several other houses. There is not a sign for the farm out by the main road–only at the farm entrance. She started referring to it as a “private facility” on the website and posted “Private Facility - By Appointment Only” signs after multiple times having people (non-horsey) drive up the driveway, with no appointment, expecting to be able to hop on a horse and go riding, or let their barefoot kids run rampant around the farm. We’re not a petting zoo.[/QUOTE]
West Mi? I think I know where you board just from the description!
Our town’s zoning ordinances actually describe a “private” barn or stable as having 6 or less stalls that can be leased (or not leased).
[QUOTE=skykingismybaby1;7753148]
Maybe New Jersey is different but here public barns are owned by County Governments. They usually offer lesson packages, therapeutic riding, educational programs and are open to the casual public. I board in one and the emphasis is on education and public awareness. Private barns are owned privately. They may offer lesson programs, boarding and training and may or may not appreciate “drop in” visitors.[/QUOTE]
This is what I was talking about. I was hoping someone would check in with this explanation. Thanks!
I think that California has county owned barns as well. I don’t know of any where I am in NY.
When I hear “private” I tend to think of either a place maintained by the owner for his or her use, possibly with a friend or two boarding or a training facility to which you might send your horse for breaking, training or to work toward some specific goal.
I guess I might consider a lesson type barn to be semi-private in that trainers running a lesson program would like to have folks stop in and investigate doing business. That’s not to say that a barn should be a petting zoo or that BO’s should tolerate random people wandering on the property. (After all, a restaurant or dry cleaner wants you to walk in and do business, they don’t want random strangers operating the grill or steam press.) Sadly, so few people know enough about horses to understand the etiquette involved.
In my area, I take it to mean a barn that is not public - they don’t offer lessons/have a trainer/have sale horses in & out, they have room for a small # of boarders, they don’t advertise much or at all (mostly word of mouth), and not just anyone can show up.
For instance, if someone random showed up at my (private) barn, the BO would wonder who it was. At local public barns, anyone can show up and walk through the barns and you might not get a second glance.
