Dreaming about going from boarding to a farmette

[DiamondJubilee]

I’m sorry, but I didn’t read all of the posts here, so hopefully I don’t duplicate anything…

We’ve had our own 10 acre farm here for the past 5 years. My husband and I own 4 ponies, 2 which are pretty much retired, and 2 younger up and coming driving ponies. We have a 4 stall barn and the ponies come in every night (in the winter they are turned out from 6-6 and the summers they are out from 6-9). We have a pretty good set up and it takes me an hour a day to do feed, turnout, do stalls, set up night feed and sweep the barn. Weekends a bit longer as I do the same as above, but I scrub buckets, cobweb, pull down a weeks worth of hay, clean stall bars etc.

Of course theres lots of other work to do such as cut grass, harrow the ring (we only have an outdoor sand ring), maintain paddocks etc. which we pretty much do on the weekends. Plus we are always building something on the property! Right now we are building a bridge and water hazard for our new driving ponies…

This being said, if we ever boarded our ponies out, in my area, the cost would be over $3,000/month. I can keep my ponies at home for less than $500/month (this is the cost for hay/grain/shavings only). Of course it does not include the tractor we need, hydro we use for the barn, board/posts for fencing etc, but my husband has grown up on a farm and if we didn’t have horses, we would still be on this farm and would need most of the equipment anyway. We would never be living in a subdivision.

The down side that I find is that I do get lonley when riding. I don’t like to “chat” when I ride as of course I’m busy working on something, but I like having the company around. When I take my walk breaks, I like to talk to someone and ask how their day was or how their ride is going. I like having the “push” of someone coming up to meet me to ride. It keeps me motivated when I don’t have a show coming up (I tend to be more self movtivated when I have a show and need to work on something. Goals and all that stuff…).

I do find I make more excuses on not riding if I’m not meeting anyone. I’ll say to myself “tomorrow will have nicer weather”, or “I’m too tired to ride today, so I’ll just ride tomorrow” etc. But if someone is meeting me, I find the energy and I won’t mind riding when its too windy/cold/sunny/hot out.

When I boarded out years ago when I did the hunter circuit, I did find that I rode a little more. I would ride 5 days a week. But I was also quite a bit younger, I didn’t have a house or boyfriend/husband, all I did was show my horse and worked in the barn.

I still work the ponies quite a bit during show season (5-6 days a week as they have to be fit), but during the winter, they pretty much have it off. I can trailer out to an indoor arena thats close by, but I don’t tend to if I’m by myself. I feel its not really worth it for me to go alone. But when I had my friend come and ride with me, I would trailer both ponies and off we would go.

I love working in my own barn. I love waking up at 5:30 every morning to feed and turnout my ponies. I love seeing them in their paddocks eating or playing every day. I really wouldn’t trade it for anything. I don’t mind waiting for the vet, or holding my horses for the farrier. I don’t mind doing my barn on holidays or doing my chores when I’m sick. I really don’t. I rarely have vacations as it can be hard to find someone to do chores, but we do go away to shows with a pony or two and can find some good help. I feel guilty asking them to do much more than that though.

To me, having my own farm run the way I like it is priceless. I wouldn’t trade it for anything

[jdobbs64]

I commute one hr each way, it’s my mental limit and it’s a hairy drive, part of it. I will get rear ended one of these days!

we have three horses at home, none are really actively competed, I come and go about that bit. I take lessons and either haul out to a local indoor or we do it at my place (arena is small, but the layout made larger impossible; it’s 66’ X 120’ I think?). just basic dressage and flat work.

they live out, we feed a ton of hay, we get feed every other Saturday, and have a cheaply built home made barn. The pasture is crappy land and now I wish I could snap my fingers and replace board fence (30 YO) and the coated high tensile with diamond mesh. Boards age and get brittle, esp at knots, and I’m just tired of tensioners and the HT. The horses are only stalled if the weather is super crappy (maybe 5 nights a year).

$$$- nice tractor to handle the heavy work
$$$ - truck and trailer
$ - no one to split farm calls with
$- coordinating farrier to do mine and other clients on the same schedule since we’re a little out of his way
??- no one in person to ask ‘is he off/does that look weird/what is that?’ I just thought I was competent until it was just ME
$- run out of banamine? no one to borrow from
$- want to try a new bit? no one to borrow from in the barn, tis just you.
$- all of it.

I wouldn’t willingly go back to boarding, though I don’t ride like I’d like to, and there’s a hundred undone things and crap to be hauled off and I need to replace my crappy saddle racks in the tack room and and and and.

if my commute went coo coo I don’t know what I’d do. Like you, niche job and unlike you, farm is almost paid for…

[PeteyPie]

[QUOTE=imapepper;8908903]
I do remember when Frisco was far out. I would look in rural areas if I could manage the commute. This might be all a pipe dream because I just can’t imagine commuting 2 hours a day to work. To give folks an idea of how bad the commuting is here, I only live 25ish miles from work. If I want to make a 7 a.m. workout class by my office, I need to leave no later then 6:05 to be on time. Not early but on time. It’s ridiculous. If I leave at 9:05, it takes me 35 minutes to get to the office. I tend to work from 9:30ish to 7ish to avoid traffic. Which leaves me no time to ride. Getting frustrated with this adulting thing.[/QUOTE]

All of us in California feel your pain.

[clanter]

[QUOTE=PeteyPie;8909376]
All of us in California feel your pain.[/QUOTE]

for ten years I commute to work in Chatsworth from Ft Worth, it was easier than moving the family and their horses

[Pocket_Pony]

As with all things horses, the answer is it depends.

There are so many factors that come into play. Size and layout of property. Your willingness and interest in doing farm chores (mowing, fence repair, dragging arena, yard work, cleaning stalls/paddocks, stacking hay, fixing broken ____, irrigation maintenance, etc.), your commute and the flexibility of your job, your own motivation for riding, your health, and on and on and on.

I’ve had mine at home since 2004, and went from 5 acres to 20 acres last year. I have the support of Mr. PoPo who loves country life and has his own company and can work from anywhere. I also work, but PT; still, if I could work from, oh, 2 to 5, that would be great! :lol:

For me, it is cheaper to keep mine at home than board them out. I have three - two are for riding, one is retired. Horse math dictates that you must have at least three horses for one rider. If you have two riders, you need four horses.

There have been discussions and disagreements here about the cost of boarding versus the cost of keeping at home with regard to the costs of the farm(ette) being factored in and what is a sunk cost and what isn’t, blah blah blah. So, do your own math and see what makes sense for you. Also do “time math” to see if it is worth it to have a bigger commute and additional chores that fall on your shoulders. You may ride less, you may not.

I have kept horses in show condition while having them at home, riding on my own, and hauling out for lessons. I ride in the mornings before work, and then chores are scattered throughout the day. It probably takes me longer than some because I move my horses around a lot, rotating through pasture and dry lot and stall/paddocks, depending on weather, season, and my own schedule.

If you have horses that do well on pasture and only have run-ins, then you can cut down chore time; if you have stalls, then that takes more time. If you have a heavily-gardened yard, then that takes more time; if you say “eff it” then you have more time for the horses. If you don’t have irrigated pastures, then you don’t have to worry about anything going wrong with your irrigation system. If you do irrigate, then you have the potential for something else to go wrong at the worst possible time.

Is your job flexible enough that you can be late if something goes wrong or work from home if you need to meet the vet or or or? Horses don’t care if you have a big sales meeting - accidents and emergencies happen at any time.

I love having mine at home. I know instantly how everyone is doing and if anything is wrong. I have 100% power to do whatever - change feed, turnout schedule, blanketing or not blanketing, type of hay purchased, vet, farrier, trainer, anything and everything is under my control.

Since I don’t have any barn help to rely on and because I do have to get my butt to work every day, my aisles aren’t sparkling clean (only sweep them once a week or so), my tack doesn’t get cleaned after every ride, my barn doesn’t look like it comes out of a magazine. BUT, the tradeoff of managing my horses the way I want them managed is worth it. I do have Mr. PoPo to help with big stuff (he does most of the mowing) or fill in for me in a pinch.

The biggest worry I would have in doing it alone would be in case of emergency, for either you or the horses. For example, what if you had to have surgery? What if you got really sick? What if there was a family emergency and you needed to get out of town today? Finding a good farm sitter takes a while but is very important.

When shopping for horse property, I would only look at places that already had the infrastructure I wanted - barn, arena, fencing, water - because it takes too much time and costs too much money to start those things from scratch (for me). If you want to ride and want them at home, find a place that will allow you to ride from day 1, otherwise you’ll lose a lot of time in the saddle.

Good luck to you, whatever you decide!

[imapepper]

Good point on having the horse facility already in place. I would rather have their facility in good working order and have the house be the thing that needs work. I can always do something about my living conditions later. Although I am really spoiled with my current house.

[Arelle]

Oh, hello! I skipped page 3, but felt compelled to respond due to Celina.

I just moved from Aubrey to the west side of Denton back in February. We lived right off of 380 in one of the nice subdivisions, and I boarded my horses in Pilot Point. For purposes of finances, my house was about $160K – board was $600/month per horse + training for my show horse.

We looked for almost a year. I would love to live along 377, but my top end was $350K and I couldn’t find a thing that fit all of my requirements. My husband isn’t a horse person so I needed a nice house for him + fenced acreage + barn – or enough in the budget to build whatever I was “missing”. (Personally, I could live in a single wide, if I have a nice barn :lol:)

Ended up over west of I-35, with a huge house, a fairly new barn, and five acres - cross fenced. It was $250K, which left us some money to update the VERY 1980s decor house.

Pros:

• I love, love, love seeing my horses every day. It’s seriously the best.
• I can do whatever I want on whatever time schedule I want.
• I can easily add horses at a nominal cost (started with 2, am now at 5 :lol:).
• I have total control over my horses

Cons:

• I ride less than I used to. I’m trying to change that – but my commute is a beating. I work in downtown Dallas. I’m on the road 3 hours a day, 5 days a week - minimum.
• Shitty weather is shitty. All that rain this spring? Horses lived inside and I was doing stalls 2-3x per day. We went through a ton of hay to try and keep them busy. I’m already dreading winter because I HATE the cold.
• My vet that I love in Aubrey won’t make the drive out, so it seems like I’ve spent at least one Saturday morning every month trailering something in for some reason.
• I need to be home a lot more, to be checking on things – it doesn’t bother me, but I feel bad for my husband when I travel for work. Horses have adapted nicely to “if there are a couple days when he throws your dinner over the fence instead of bringing you in and grooming you before you eat - you’re just going to have to deal”.

All in all - wouldn’t change a thing. In terms of cost - there isn’t a HUGE benefit for me, because my mortgage is more expensive and I’ve added feed bills since I boarded. But I’d rather spend $1,800 per month on my own place than continue to pay board/training with it.

Now if only my job would let me work from home!

I’m lucky too that my trainer is willing to come to me 2x/week to give me lessons and homework. She’s a doll.

In my dream world, I’ll build a small covered arena in the next couple of years – but until then, I have a flat bit of pasture that’s done just fine for my ponies.

[imapepper]

Arelle, I sent you a PM.

[clanter]

[QUOTE=Arelle;8910878]
Oh, hello! I skipped page 3, but felt compelled to respond due to Celina.

I just moved from Aubrey to the west side of Denton back in February. We lived right off of 380 in one of the nice subdivisions,

Cons:

• I ride less than I used to. I’m trying to change that – but my commute is a beating. I work in downtown Dallas. I’m on the road 3 hours a day, 5 days a week - minimum.
  .[/QUOTE]

ever consider the light rail from Denton to downtown Dallas? regionally we have only spent a few billion dollars on these light rail lines
https://www.dcta.net/routes-schedules/a-train

I assume you are very happy the 380 construction is done

[Arelle]

[QUOTE=clanter;8911238]
ever consider the light rail from Denton to downtown Dallas? regionally we have only spent a few billion dollars on these light rail lines
https://www.dcta.net/routes-schedules/a-train

I assume you are very happy the 380 construction is done[/QUOTE]

I actually used to take the train when I lived in Aubrey.

However, I now take 114 in.

The problem with the train is that the schedules for the A-Train are only running every twenty minutes + I have to go somewhat out of my way to get there. It’s 30 minutes to a station and then just over an hour in. Whereas, if I time it right -it takes me an hour to get to work just driving myself. The train is a GREAT resource, especially with my office right by a station in downtown – but not the best option for a lot of people, which is sad.

[Texarkana]

Re: the lazy factor. This is a big one for me. I used to be a little Miss Georgette Morris when I boarded-- horses were groomed perfectly every day, tack and equipment was spotless, manes were pulled, bridle paths were clipped, the horses were kept fit…

Four years of keeping my horses at home and today I just spent half my afternoon scrubbing mold from my tack so I could ride. Now I’m too tired to ride, so I just hung out with the horses in the pasture and fed them treats. Maybe I’ll ride tomorrow, after I pull the TB’s mane, which is rivaling an arabian’s mane at the moment… :lol:

My horses get phenomenal care. But without people to hold me accountable, I’ve let a lot of my past priorities slide. There’s always something that needs to be done, so it’s not like I’m sitting around idle.

It would be very, very hard for me to ever go back to boarding.

ETA: Ok, I did redeem my lazy self and go back out and ride!

[whitewolfe001]

For me, the “pro” to keeping horses at home is that I get to CONTROL everything!! How much they eat, what they eat, when they eat, blanketing schedule, turnout, everything! It can be so hard to find a boarding situation that does everything to your liking. And 99% of boarding situations in our area offer dismal turnout. I do not want my horses locked in a stall… like, ever.

The big “con” for me is feeling isolated. I do not like to ride without a soul around, in case something bad happened. So it’s just as much of a “coordination” effort to try to ride when somebody is around, as it is to try to coordinate around ring time and lessons etc in a boarding situation where everyone is sharing the ring.

Where I’m neutral: Having different people to talk to. Sometimes you pick up some helpful hints from people when you’re part of a “community”. Mostly though, I find in a boarding situation you deal with a lot of unwelcomed and stupid “advice” from horse newbies that just gets my blood boiling. OK, so I guess I will call this overall a “pro” for home horsekeeping lol. Lord, give me the confidence of a middle aged horsewoman who does Parelli instead of actually riding…

[DressageFancy]

I’m in the camp that loves having my horses home. Is it cheaper? Depends on how you look at it. Save a bunch on board, yes. But, you also have to consider the total package. The upkeep of fences, arena, supplying hay, mowing pastures, ect. So if you only ever plan on owning one horse than boarding is probably the cheaper way to go. But, I could never have just one horse! Or one dog or one kitty or one goat or one chicken…

[spacytracy]

It depends on lots of factors:

• Do you travel a lot, or are you generally a homebody?
• Do you ride a lot?
• What hours do you work?
• Are you or is your SO handy?
• Do you have a good savings for emergency stuff?

[imapepper]

[QUOTE=DressageFancy;8913361]
I’m in the camp that loves having my horses home. Is it cheaper? Depends on how you look at it. Save a bunch on board, yes. But, you also have to consider the total package. The upkeep of fences, arena, supplying hay, mowing pastures, ect. So if you only ever plan on owning one horse than boarding is probably the cheaper way to go. But, I could never have just one horse! Or one dog or one kitty or one goat or one chicken…[/QUOTE]

Right? I currently own 3 horses, 7 chickens, 2 dogs, a couple guinea pigs and some assorted fish I don’t have an HOA so I get away with the chickens. Now I just wish I had bought a place to keep horses at home 5 years ago instead of massively renovating my cute little home in the subdivision.

[McGurk]

2 horses, a small pony, 3 cows, ~70 chickens, 5 ducks, 1 dog, 2 cats.

Not subdivision friendly.

[candyappy]

The only issues I can think of when keeping them at home is:

1. It ties you down.

2. Finding a good hay source.

If you like to take weekends or go away a lot you will need someone to “farm sit” and finding someone is not easy to do.

Thankfully we always do our own hay, but I have been on the other end a time or two and I find it very frustrating with the inconsistent quality out there.

I rode 6 days a week when I boarded. I ride 5-6 days now when nothing comes up to get in the way.

Otherwise I see no cons, way more pro’s.

[eponacelt]

Plenty of good advice here and I won’t repeat a lot of it, except this:

If riding is a priority for you, make sure you’ll be able to manage your farm/property while still having riding be a priority. I definitely fall into this category of riding = most important thing, and what it means is that there are plenty of days where I’m not cleaning fence lines, doing maintenance, etc. because riding takes precedence.

I’m OK with this, as is DH. We don’t need everything on the farm to look perfect. It is clean and functional, and the whole place is set up to run easily, which leaves me time to ride two horses on most days.

The other piece of advice is that if riding in a good arena is important to you, make sure you buy a property with an arena or can afford to put one in. We looked at a ton of properties, mostly without arenas. I thought I would have been fine with that, but in hindsight, I think I would have hated it. My very basic, but very well constructed arena allows me to ride (in Virginia) most of the year in most weather conditions. It doesn’t get muddy or slippery, and while I don’t ride in the rain since its not covered, I can ride as soon as the rain stops.

I’m a pretty serious rider, with competitive dressage goals, so your mileage may vary, but this has been my experience.

Love having the horses at home, and recognize that I love it because we made some good decisions when we bought the place and have the right mindset to make it work for us.

[clanter]

[QUOTE=candyappy;8914779]

2. Finding a good hay source.

Thankfully we always do our own hay, but I have been on the other end a time or two and I find it very frustrating with the inconsistent quality out there.[/QUOTE]

Not normally a problem around here as there are tens of thousands of horses in north Texas, the suppliers have learned after the drought in the early 2000s to expand their sources and purchase on long term contracts. There are many available sources.

The limiting factor would be the room the OP had for storage