I have 29 of them ‘at home’ (I run a boarding stable) and I regret not being able to just board my one. Time away from the farm is problematic. The chores are neverending. We just went away and I was calling or emailing 3X a day to keep up on things. No such thing as ‘total’ relaxation. Anyone want to buy? Financing available!!
Old thread but I’ll answer too! I think the success of having horses at home hinges on a two things: having a trusted pet sitter that can take care of things so you can get out of town when needed and having your place set up for ease of use. Maybe for some it is also having either a boarder or horse riding neighbor so you have company.
I am lucky in that I have a friend board her horse at my place. She cares for the horses three nights a week in exchange for board (she buys all her own feed). My neighbor cares for the horses the other two week nights and when I go away on vacation, horse shows, etc. I also have one of my vet techs stay at my place if I go away for a week or more. She will do all the morning & weekend work and boarder friend and neighbor still do their regular “shifts”.
I am always making small changes to my place as well to make horse chores easier. Heated water buckets for winter, gates that open from paddocks to pastures so I don’t have to lead horses anywhere, horses live in run-ins versus stalls so much easier to clean, and this year I am building “hay hoops” so I can just throw hay into the net versus filling hay nets every morning and evening. I can take care of 4-5 horses at my place in 15 minutes (summer) & 25 minutes (winter). Winter is longer as I have 2 that are blanketed so sometimes they need to be changed, have to feed hay as in the summer they are just out on pasture, they are kept in their large paddocks versus pasture so more to clean and even though I used heated buckets I still removed the ice from their large troughs so they have options as to where to drink (I always worry in the winter they aren’t drinking enough).
Ha! Apparently five years ago I said I was ambivalent. At the time I had a part-lease on a horse at my lesson barn and had my two horses at home.
Now, five years later - I bought the horse I was part-leasing and brought him home; and I’m part-leasing a horse at my lesson barn while I have my three horses at home! :lol:
At least I’m consistent. 
I wouldn’t go back to boarding though. Really wouldn’t. I like having control over how the facility is managed. I like being able to go out the back door and have my horse standing there waiting on me. Last time I said I liked having access to a nice facility that someone else took care of - but now? My horse and I know each other well enough that I don’t need to tie him up to tack up or groom or put him in a wash stall to bathe, and I’ve built my own riding ring.
I’m part-leasing right now just because it’s a horse I really love, whose owner is out of town for two months, and he’s boarded near my office so I can ride him on my lunch hour. It is fun having people around to ride with and have lunch with and bounce ideas off of - but I wouldn’t trade having my horses at home for anything.
I love having my horses at home as it allows me to ride much more than otherwise. However, financially, it is a disaster. When all said and done, the small barn we built cost us 80K. When figuring fences and all the equipment necessary to run a small farm (15 acres), it is easily more than 150K investment, and we don’t even have indoor arena. Assuming boarding is $500 a month, that is twenty five years of boarding, with someone else to muck the stall and feed!
I’m ambivalent on the question.
There are many times when I find myself wishing I boarded instead of keeping my equines at home. Those times when I want to go away for a vacation, or have to travel for work. Those days when the rain pours down all day. Those days when, if I could just work an extra couple of hours in the evening I could finish this $%#@ project that is hanging over my head.
On the other hand…
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I’ve never been fortunate enough to find a boarding situation that, no matter how perfect it seemed starting out, didn’t end up going to hell at some point for one reason or another. BM leaves and is replaced by new BM who is nuts, lacks knowledge, is unpleasant. Or BM/BO gets sick or has other personal issues that prevents him/her from being fully engaged and on-site to supervise for extended periods of time and there isn’t a responsible person to take up the slack. Or property gets sold and turned into a subdivision. It seems like always something.
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I love looking out my kitchen window and seeing my equines out in the pasture. I love being able to run out and hop on for a quick ride when I’ve only got 30 minutes to spare in a busy day. I love being in complete control over my equines’ environment - feed, blankets, pasture maintenance, water buckets/troughs, etc.
Love having them at home. I moved about 8 months ago from one state to another and wouldn’t accept the job until I knew I had a farm to move them to (although it would be nice if the farm in the old state would sell). I boarded for a few months while getting set up for them and I missed seeing them morning and night. Mine are used to being fed at whatever time I get home so are very flexible and are out 24/7 with a shelter. I have a high school kid across the street that feeds when I am away. At my old place, I had a sand ring and I really miss that here. Hopefully I’ll get one of those put in eventually.
[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;4500932]
Right now my pregnant broodmare and my riding gelding are both boarded. I plan to board and keep horses at home in an ideal world. I want a small farm for the broodmare(s) weenies and to keep boarding my competition horse(s). I think a small horse property is easier to sell for fmv too if you decide to get out of it.
Where I board we have a well lit indoor and a small outdoor; climate controlled wash stall, tie stalls, and tack room; and acres to ride on. Trainers come to us. I know I won’t ride enough if I have this horse at home. My goal is competition. I am allowed to micro manage as long as I take on the work. The cost of buying a similar property (75 acres) maintaining it and the equipment, and building a comparable facility would be staggering.
My broodie is a super easy keeper and eats grain in a bucket on the fence as easily as in her stall. Any horse living at home would need to fit that requirement–basically pasture board except for terrible weather. I would like to have a place to retire horses to though, if necessary. That is a problem with boarding “special needs” individuals.[/QUOTE]
SO WEIRD to read this now!!! I no longer have that mare or gelding, but I have her 4 year old daughter and a donkey and mini and DID move them home!
I have deeply mixed feelings. I love having control of my animals’ care and feed. I love the space for my dogs. I love the potential of my farm life, but…
I no longer ride at all. As a competition-driven type of rider this is the worst. I don’t have easy access to a trainer, and I don’t have the right facilities (indoor or proper outdoor) and with a young horse my work schedule (and the weather) isn’t allowing me to do anything consistently like she needs.
I have spent so much money and I have SO much left to do. I agree with the poster who said “financial disaster.” And I keep them outside with a run-in. So far we have been building driveways, fencing, shelter, hay storage, tearing down old buildings, dirt work, trenching water lines, and remodeling our house. Land is expensive here, particularly 2 miles from town, like we are, so to get a comparable home, we had to buy one that needed some work.
Our house in town was adorable! Completely remodeled and in a great neighborhood, with super cool neighbors, and with a wonderful local restaurant/bar we could walk to, etc. I had time to cook and work out and have a life.
I miss my barn mates.
Traveling is very difficult. I haven’t found a good person to come out, so we are limited to overnight trips. Sucks.
I think if I could figure out Blume Farm’s two key points I would be much happier. We just HAVE to get done with this stupid house.
Huh…
Hard to believe I didn’t weigh in on this 5yrs ago.
But now with 10yrs of having them home my answer hasn’t changed.
Love it.
I’ve been fortunate with farmsitters & manage at least 2 trips a year.
I visit family in CA & spend a week with a friend every August.
That trip is a “busman’s holiday” as she has 4 horses.
Last year I rode Andalusians in Seville Spain for 4 days, then met friends for 3 more days in Barcelona & Madrid.
With my older horses I never felt the need for a trainer.
Rode all over my 5ac & pretty much treated my indoor as a covered walkway to the manure pile.
Now with my new guy I’ ve been able to find a great trainer who comes to me every other week.
Plus I just met a neighbor who drives & has offered to help me find out if my Hackney can be retrained to a cart (crash in his before-me history).
So all in all I’m as happy as I was 5yrs ago & as I expect to be in 5 more.
Overall, I LOVE having my horses at home. As with anything, there are pros and cons. I do not currently have a fantastic facility at my house but I’m working on improving what I have and it works for me and my horses.
As for the pros, I love that I get to make my own rules. I love that I can sit in my living room and look out and see what the horses are up to. I love that I get to spend so much more time around them than I would at a boarding barn. I board my mare and I just don’t get the time with her that I do with the rest of my herd. When something happens to one that requires additional care, I love that I just have to walk outside. My gelding was given a terminal diagnosis a couple of weeks ago and having him at home has been invaluable. I moved him to my front yard where he can come up to the front door to get treats and loving. I wouldn’t trade the world for being able to spoil him like this in the days he has left.
As for the cons, it’s A LOT of work. I guess that’s an obvious one, and I don’t know if it’s something I’ll be doing when I’m 65, but for now it keeps me busy. Not having a great set up also comes with quite a few difficulties. I do miss the camaraderie of a barn to an extent but going to where my mare is reminds me of all the reasons why I don’t miss it. We also have a bunch of groups in this area where you can meet other fellow horsepeople so it hasn’t been too bad.
[QUOTE=DakotaTA;4499258]
I hate having my 3 horses at home. I can’t go anywhere for more than a few hours without having to be home by dark to feed (no barn). I’ll be alone at Christmas for 5 days as DH is going to his 93-year-old mom’s in NC and I have no one to take care of them. OTOH, maybe that’s a good thing, she and I don’t get along well. Point is, I couldn’t go if I wanted to.
I’ve had the horses at home for about 12 years. The first years were fine, but now that I’m older I’d like to be able to travel or at least go out to dinner once in a while. Florida is a big state and I’d like to see more of it!
Luckily I work from home, so I can make time to hold the horses for the farrier. So far we haven’t needed a vet, knock on wood, but be prepared for the $50+ farm call fee added to whatever the bill is.
I know it’s bad of me to say, but I hope these beasts pass on pretty soon. They’re all 20 years old, so I guess I’m looking at up to another 10-15 years of being tied down 24/7. I’d put them in a boarding barn, but DH won’t hear of it. We could afford to rent a much nicer house if I didn’t have to have a place with land for the horses.
Think twice…then think again and again. What do you want to do in a few years? Be tied down 24/7 or have the freedom to do spur of the moment things?[/QUOTE]
Wow, this post makes me sad.
There are things around all of those. Have you networked with other horse owners that have horses at home? Trade off helping each other when out of town?
Board your horses when out of town?
Pay a barn sitter? Take in one boarder who can have a month free for doing all the work while you are gone?
There are many ways to help. It isn’t for everyone, but I’m so sorry you hate it.
I have not read others comments to your post. However, I can relate to you somewhat if we talking about property alone, and not our horse(s) circumstances.
I just recently moved to a small house on almost exactly two acres. That’s all I have is two acres, that’s including where the house sits, garage, and space for my horse and his donkey buddy. I was lucky enough that it was already fenced and had a run-in shelter.
I was in a boarding facility, but gave it up in order to wake up every morning to see my equines in the backyard. I love it. It’s a lot of work for maintenance, but it’s work I enjoy. I was boarding at a friend’s. So, I was lucky to only pay $300/mo full care. I’m spending more now on hay, feed, and just basic upkeep of the place, but not much more I feel. It’s still new, so I’m still getting use to the budget I need/should spend. Although, I too enjoy riding alone, I miss riding with others time to time. And I HAVE to ride now where my horse lives. I no longer have an arena with lights, and I can’t ride if it had rained. Still, I wouldn’t give it up. I enjoy caring for him. I also live close enough to nice neighbors who will look after him when I’m out of town.
Between boarding and having your horse at home, is a toss-up, based on what you are looking for. If your horse is almost blind, take her home with you before she is blind. More likely, you will be at that house for some time and she can learn her surroundings and be comfortable where she is. Just an opinion though, go with your gut on this. It is a big decision, as you know.
Gosh, there are so many stages of this for all of us. I think? each contributor should preface their response with: this is where I am at in my horse life. As in for instance: For me? I am in my mid 50s. I worked at barns and kept my young daughter and myself in horses for many many years. Now? she’s in grad school. My mom is 80. A decision was made to make a small farmette on the property I will inherit, and be here with my mom. But…also to make a farmette from it, into something for the future, my daughter should that be something beneficial. (otherwise, only adding to the property value)…I get my first chance to have horses home. Our dear sweet gelding, our little new mini mare, and our promise , our WB/arab cross yearling…hopefully soon to come join us. A lot at once, no doubt! but I won’t have many years of: I can walk outside and muck stalls and do feeding and turnouts…and hopefully I can address youngsters ground manners…for these years, it seemed best for all of us. I hope it will be. But that is something I think anyone should evaluate in this choice. For example? I’m not going anywhere. This is the last stop on the journey for me…it was kind of easy for me to decide to give this a go. My roaming days are over.
It’s funny when I read all the posts talking about how much work property maintenance is. Sure it is, but aren’t all homes a lot of work? Unless you rent or live in a condo/townhouse situation all homes are going to be a lot of work…even a smaller house in the suburbs. And there you really need to have a good tall fence to have good neighbors because you are so close. Then if you are in a neighborhood there are HOA dues and pesky neighbors. I have friends that live in the burbs and they spend all weekend too taking care of their places. Maybe I am living with rose colored glasses:)
Also, I think all the farm work keeps me young. I refuse to get a golf cart even when I complain I left the hammer in the house and have to walk all the way back! All that walking, fence fixing, mowing, lugging bags of grain, moving bales of hay, etc is my gym membership. When I want to complain I remind myself this lifestyle keeps you healthy!!
For me its pretty easy… Every time I have my doubts about keeping my horses at home, I just go to the next boarding barn… Usually I find about 10 things I would never do… And IMO I think my horses are much happier and live a nicer life on my place… And as a reward I usually get compliments how shiny and great they look :). So although it is a lot of work, it is also very rewarding for me because I see the results This is my husbands and mine 2nd place with horses. And we have done this for 25 years now. 2 years ago I boarded my riding horse in a boarding barn for the winter… It was the niecest barn I could find, but it was still horrible… My horse looked totally unhappy because her neighbor was threatening her through the grill all the time, the winter turnout was a deep muddy paddock, the indoor arena was closed about every time I wanted to ride for some jumpers and the hay looked yellow and dull 
No boarding is not for me any more…
Wow, has it really been 5 years?!? I remember reading this thread 5 years ago and thinking how CRAZY those were who complained about having their horses at home. It was my absolute dream at the time to be able to move my horses to my backyard and no longer be a boarder!
Now, I’ve had my horses home for a little over two years. Do I regret it? No… but… I have the same complaints as everyone else.
I love having them home. I love not having the boarding barn drama and headaches. I don’t mind the work…
But… I miss my freedom. I miss having disposable income (even if it wasn’t much). I miss having barn buddies/riding buddies. I miss the conveniences.
Again, not a regret, but after two years I’m surprised to say that my arm could probably be twisted into boarding again in the right situation.
The biggest thing for me was (luckily, I guess) having low maintainance horses. So if we do go away, it’s easy for someone to come and feed without much effort.
Low maintenance horses… or a good farm sitter!
Five years ago I still had my farm sitting business. I dissolved it probably about six months after this thread was originally started on account of moving to another state. I couldn’t understand why my clients seemed practically angry with me when I said I was moving, despite giving them months of notice to replace me! What was the big deal? Just find another farm sitter… right???
Ha! If only I had realized at the time just how difficult it can be to find a reliable farm sitter! I would have charged more money! :lol: I stole those poor people’s freedom by leaving!
DH and I bought a small farm a couple years ago so I could bring my horse home. We have him, board another, and have a mini donk (DH’s). This story should answer your question-
I was considering boarding my horse at a barn with an indoor for a couple months this winter and went to go see one relatively close by and in my budget. The BM was nice and straight forward about expectations (both ways) but between the lack of hay, likely lack of turnout (for at least part of the duration), lack of heated water inside or out (in an region where water will freeze most nights, and some days), and hearing about the regular occurrence of as many as 6-8 people using the indoor at once (granted it was a very large indoor), I quickly realized exactly why I wanted to bring him home in the first place! I think I’ll keep him home and just truck out to an indoor on the weekends. :yes:
Unlike many people, I do not miss the social atmosphere of the barn at all, but I’m also very introverted and love to be able to do my thing without being bothered. I would say the only negative to having my horse at home is the lack of trail access and good riding facilities- I have to truck out for both. I have a decently large, relatively flat grassy area in the yard that I use as a ring, but it gets packed hard in the summer, muddy late fall/early spring, and frozen all winter- makes riding a challenge, for sure, and at the moment I don’t have $15-20k to invest in a proper riding ring! But to be able to greet my horse in the morning, put him to bed at night, walk over to the paddock when I get home from work to give him scratches and a peppermint, and never have to commute to see him again? Wouldn’t trade it for the world!
If you do plan on traveling, just make sure you budget for and find a reliable farm sitter. Going away is difficult, but luckily (?) DH and I don’t get away that much (the horse ate all of our travel money!).
ETA Ha, I didn’t realize this thread was so old when I posted! Regardless, that’s my opinion
I’m only 2.5 months in, but I love it. I’ll never be fully satisfied. Our budget dictated 2 acres and a major fixer upper… I don’t mind the fixer upper, but I want 100 acres. 
Every time I turn around there’s something else I want done yesterday to make things better/easier/prettier/more efficient. But at the end of the day the ONE thing I wanted for my horse was to never not have food in front of her, and to live outside 24/7. Those two things are surprisingly hard to find in concert around here. But now she has it in spades and we’re both happy campers.
I HATE boading, and while it is work and regular headaches, I wouldn’t trade having them at home. I dictate feed, turnout, stall arangement, vet and farrier appointments as needed. Even in the best run boarding barns there are always issues - scheduling, commuting, different ideas about care etc.
