Posting in dressage section as that is my preferred discipline. I am sure we have all read the articles about little Susie who goes to the barn at 530 in the morning before and after school to ride and lesson so she can achieve her dream and ride in/at fancy xyz competition level or the extreme dedicated AA making a 3+ hour round trip daily to the barn to ride super early before work. Pretty sure I have only seen these articles about people in the H/J worlds not dressage. My situation is I am thinking that in order for me to actually get more ride time in I need to change when I am getting to the barn to ride. Unfortunately that time would need to be about 6am and barn hours aren’t supposed to be until hours later except for the occasional early show day. Would it be weird to inquire about being able to come out earlier? I can’t say in all my years in my area that I know of any barns that advertise extra early hours for the working person who can’t realistically make evening ride time a set daily thing. Barn has also started to get a bit more crowded on the very late side of the day when I usually can go out so that is a bit frustrating when the arena isn’t large. 2 horses is ok but when 3 show up to use the arena it is way too tight to do anything. Are early hours actually a thing some places? As a competent horse owner that would be able to do whatever needed for my horses before I would be riding. Example giving am hay if they happened to run out overnight or bring in when they switch to night turnout. I would have no concern riding alone as that wouldn’t be any different than doing so at the opposite end of the day.
I don’t see any harm in asking the barn owner/manager about coming out early, so long as you recognize that the answer may be “no”. Hopefully the BO is understanding of the time crunch and coming out early is doable. Historically, I’ve ridden at barns with no stated operating hours. Boarders were free to come ride whenever, be it early morning or late night. Arena lights automatically turned off between 11-12 pm, or, in at the barn that had no arena lights, people just rode with headlamps (nighttime trail riding).
My current barn doesn’t have real open/closing hours either, but my trainer (personally) doesn’t want anyone doing early morning rides because it throws off the morning routine. Our horses are out from 5pm till ~8am. Stalls are cleaned while they’re out (between 7-8 am). If someone comes to ride before 8am, it throws a kink in things.
-Horse now in a dirty stall, getting in the way as staff try to clean
-Owner puts more hay into dirty stall so Horse has something to eat
-Horse’s pasture mate is alone (everyone is out 2-3 a pasture)
-Less turnout for Horse
-Ring gets dragged first thing in the morning and now there is a horse to deal with
Half of the barn is a different trainer’s program and those horses are on daytime turnout. Some of those owners do come and do morning rides, though no one is out before 7 am. So this setup wouldn’t work for someone who has to ride very early.
Other reasons for “no early rides” are just liability issues. Having people on the property and around the horses without any actual staff around may open them up to issues if someone gets hurt or something goes wrong. If someone is riding at 6 am but no one else will be there till 7, that is a big time gap.
It’d be no from this barn owner, our horses are all fed at 7 on a normal day and one rider coming out would disturb the rest of the horses. I don’t mind clients riding late into the evening though as we have lights.
I feed and turnout at 5 a.m. and I have boarders who over the years have come to ride before school or work etc. I also prefer to ride early in the summer and beat the heat. So I think it depends on the barn…I prefer no one be on the property after 8 p.m. so over the years that is the type of boarder I acquired.
I understand the BOs who have logistic concerns, but then put the onus on the boarder to stay the heck out of the way of the morning activities. Also, no feeding hay in a dirty stall (who would do that?) - ponie will be ok for another hour without hay.
What I don’t understand is the “it will upset the other horses”. In my experience - the whole dead set routine thing gets horses more wound up than the alternative. Horses should be able to deal with a slight upset in routine without coming completely unraveled.
That said - BOs property, BOs rules.
Fingers crossed for you, OP, that the BO is amenable to this. I get to work at 5am so there’s no way I could, but am hoping for different hours in my new job so that maybe I can ride in the mornings.
I see nothing wrong with politely asking, explaining your plan.
Be very understanding if the barn owner says no. Whatever their reason is, it is their barn.
You can then decide if this barn still works for you.
Do not assume if the barn owner says it is fine for you to ride early that they are also saying it is fine for you to feed hay early, unless your barn has some sort of free hay feeding rule that boarders are allowed to toss more hay any time they want.
If no one else will be in and around the barn/arena when you ride at the crack of dawn, then please don’t do it. You could fall off and lie there in the dirt for a very long time, perhaps compounding your injuries, until someone arrives and sees you there. Ask me how I know.
I hear you, and this has been said many times …
But wouldn’t the time frame be longer late at night?
Fall off at 10 pm, you might be found at 8 am. At least if you fall off at 7 am, someone will likely notice within an hour!
And also, for any of your riding alone - keep your cell on you, and invest (or properly set up!) your Apple Watch to fall detect and call for help. It also notifies your emergency contact number.
If I didn’t ride by myself with no one on the property, I wouldn’t ride most days. I keep my horses at home. There is no one to watch me ride.
I board out one of my horses and it’s a big barn so it’s ride when you can as we have lights. Not really operating hours besides common sense.
I could see a smaller barn having more limiting hours as it’s their home vs a truly pro business. I wouldn’t want someone coming on my property at 5:00 AM riding. That’s when I start my chores and enjoy the solitude and horses munching breakfast.
I am just dumbfounded that people go to ride in the morning, know that their horse is going to be fed within the next hour or two… yet still find the need to throw hay.
I… I just can’t. I always say in threads like these that it’s no wonder so many boarding places are shutting down. If I were a BO, I wouldn’t have an issue with someone there early, but they’re going to ride and go - not upset ANY of the care routines going on (barn feeding, barn picking stalls, etc). Stay out of the way and it’s fine that someone’s there. Get in the way and you will lose the priv.
If your horse NEEDS something in his stomach before a ride, bring a half scoop of soaked pellets for him to munch on while you tack. Feeding hay an hour or two before the barn is going to feed is just flat out rude and not necessary.
I used to ride at 7am at the barn where I board. I would get there, tack up, ride, cool out and leave. No feeding, no using the stall. BO was fine with it because I did stay out of the way and I didn’t touch anything except my own stuff.
IIWY I would ask, it can’t hurt.
If I lived by this rule I would never own a horse, ride, jump, go camping, trailer anywhere or complete. Life is risky, use your best judgment.
I agree with others, politely ask and be understanding if they say no. Just keep it light; don’t blame the limited space or crowds, just mention you have more spoons in the morning than at 5 PM after dealing with work, rush hour traffic, etc. I think everyone can understand wanting to start your day with some hippotherapy. 
Over the years I’ve had many boarders who asked for this arrangement. I did not mind it provided they follow a few ground rules, but another poster is right, it does disturb the routine. While a lack of routine is fine in a home barn, it’s not in a 20+ horse barn where the horses are stalled at night. If one person shows up at 5 am and gives their horse grain/hay before or after the ride, and the workers don’t come until 7, there’s a lot of impatient and angry horses looking at you when you first swing open the doors.
Just don’t be that boarder that feeds their horse grain or hay after. And don’t turn out the horse either. There was one time I showed up and could not find one of the horses, had a heart attack. His stall was dirty, and his halter was by the door, it was a Tuesday morning, no shows that I knew of. I spent 20 minutes panicking and looking all over the front part of property for him. Finally went to his paddock in the back 40 and there he was grazing with saddle marks on. His rider rode him to the paddock, untacked him in the field, and turned him out. That shaved a few years off my life as we were in the city and next to a major thru-way.
I am not.
It is a pretty common thought pattern that Dobbin should not work hard with a fully empty stomach, some hay to keep the stomach acids from sloshing around so much is thought to be a good thing. So I can totally see how an owner would toss some hay for Dobbin to nibble while they get their tack together and maybe groom.
This is not me saying it is OK to make a mess in their stall and all that. I am simply explaining why it is not surprising to me at all.
I don’t board. That means my horses are at my own place and I don’t have boarders at my place. However there are a ton of training and boarding barns in my area. In the summer, the barns almost have to observe early hours just so people can ride due to our extreme heat in Arizona. We also have barns with lighted arenas and it’s not unusual for some to have lights on at 2 am for people to ride. This seems to be more of a thing for the reiners who are prepping for a big competition/event and even some of the Arab barns. One of my horse properties is in an equestrian community which hosts a large facility - covered arena, large reining/roping arena and a separate dressage arena as well as an obstacle course in another part of the property. There are lights and there are hours regarding the use of those; however, I ride down from my property (house with barn) to use the arenas very early in the morning. As long as I’m not turning on lights or going into the actual barn, no one cares if I use any of the arenas available. No one else does this. I did ask the equestrian facility manager as well as the HOA president if this would be a problem. Fortunately they were supportive and no one has complained so I basically ride when I need to and want. My other properties have lighted arenas and as long as my arena lights adhere to the code (how and where they face, have shrouds/covers, etc) I can have them on and ride anytime it works for me. My immediate neighbor at one of my other horse properties runs a high end quarter horse operation. I do get comments sometimes that either my late night or early morning activities disturbs the horses on the side of their barn closest to our shared property line but it is what it is; so, I do understand barns that want to control the overall schedule for the facility. My advice would be to ask and have a ‘schedule’ of your own to offer that would be the least disruptive to their routine as possible. As for having a horse that isn’t working on an empty stomach, my solution has always been simply keeping hay in front of them or pasture depending on the location overnight even if that means a slow feed hay net.
Me too. It’s very, very rare for me to ride with company, and many rides I never encounter any vehicles. I tell my husband where I’m going (not that he pays any attention), keep my phone strapped to me, a luggage tag with contact information on my saddle, and get off if I ever feel unsafe. I would love to have an arena all to myself with no one around.
Actually that was me 30+ years ago. I did get permission first from the barn manager, who lived on the property. I would have to open the iron gate and drive down the long driveway past their house and it was usually about 4 a.m. They gave me permission and later told me that they never heard me down there at the barn. I can tell you that my horse was often not thrilled to see me at that hour, well before breakfast, and in the winter, in the dark. I tried not to wake the other horses (all 40 of them) and usually managed.
It was lonely and hard work, but it was SO worth it. I had little kids at home that needed to be readied for school, then my own time to get ready for work. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I say go for it. Good luck.
I might expect that if this is permitted, you might be asked to keep very quiet about it. If it’s a larger facility, any bending of the rules causes issues, so if you are granted this favor, guard that with your life or you may find it taken away. Heck, do that even if you’re not asked to.
I will add, it is not rare for a barn to have hours because those hours restricting traffic and noise were part of their variance/permit to run a boarding business.
So sometimes it not the barn owner just being a jerk.
I would ask and also ask how they would like you to manage things to be the least disruptive. Suggest a trial period and touch base after a couple of weeks to see how things are going and you make modifications as necessary.
