Early barn hours?

[SaddleFitterVA]

I ride before work, and loved it when I had boarders who were early birds and would come ride with me. I’m a small barn, so it also provided me a bit of help with the admittedly quick, morning routine.

In the winter there is light and in the summer it is cooler.

The horses get used to someone leaving, the only time it requires extra from the person riding is if a horse would be alone on that side of the farm due to a paired turnout issue. In that instance, they have to move the other horse to keep peace. We’re a small group, so everyone knows if that is the case and where they would need to move another horse. You put your horse back where you found it, and you’re expected to leave the barn as clean as, or cleaner, than you found it. As the owner, I’m the only one allowed to leave a mess behind for me to clean up later.

My dressage trainer, I haul in, often has a super-early client who is leaving when I show up at 7:15am.

[SaddleFitterVA]

I had a boarder take her horse away for an early trail ride, and neglect to tell me. Since she did not store her trailer on the property, it wasn’t obvious. I had quite a panic when I had ONE missing horse and no signs of broken fence or gates left open.

After that, she did tell me when she would be hauling her horse off property!

[MissusS]

I board at a small-ish (maybe 25 horses total on average?) facility. There are 8-10 indoor horses (at night in winter, day in summer) and everyone else is out 24/7.

My mare shares a drylot paddock with one of the BO’s mares. They share a fence with one of the indoor horses. When I’m out early (6am-ish, 3-4 days a week) I will either toss hay for both horses and groom in the paddock, or toss hay for the one in the paddock and put my mare in a stall with a small flake while I groom. Right before I ride I feed the other mare some grain to ensure she has plenty of time to eat it all before my mare gets turned back out.

I then work my horse and put her in a stall to groom/eat her grain when we’re done.

This routine (throwing hay and feeding grain) is at the request of my BO because her mare can always use the extra calories.

None of the other horses are bothered one bit by my morning activities, none are overly upset that they are not getting fed at the same time (or turned out). MAYBE some think they might have won the lottery and might get an extra forkful of hay but that’s wishful thinking and half-hearted at best.

The morning chore team is usually rolling in for the day by the time I’m leaving on weekdays. On the weekend when I’m a bit later I will stay out of their way. In the winter on weekends I’ll often muck a few stalls for them while my mare has a hearty breakfast. I started that practice because it’s often just the BO by herself and plus it helps me get the blood flowing to warm up.

After reading through this thread I feel extra lucky that my boarding facility is so accommodating. We truly feel like a family.

[quietann]

There were times when I rode early at several barns, and no one ever minded if I gave Feronia some hay when I arrived. She just didn’t get more hay from the barn staff. Her grain was sometimes before and sometimes after her ride. If after, the barn staff would just leave the bucket outside her stall for me. She just could not be ridden on an empty stomach if one wanted anything other than a very hangry mare!

[Absolut_Equestrian]

I’m an AA with a full time job, and almost always ride at 7am. I’ve done this for many years at several different barns. I don’t believe in working horses on an empty stomach, and I’ve always accepted that the onus was on me to make sure my horse gets fed before I ride that early. I’m usually at the barn by 5:45 to feed, groom, tack etc in time for a 7am ride.

I’ve always offered to throw the neighbors a flake of hay, which some barns have been happy about and others have declined. In instances where I did not feed the other horses, they seemed to learn pretty quickly that I was not their food person and didn’t really have an issue with my horse getting hay/grain (really).

I love the barn first thing in the morning, it’s a very peaceful time of day

[enjoytheride]

A few things - First when my horses stay in at night, yes they get hay thrown in dirty stalls. This happens at pretty much every barn I’ve ever been at, so not sure why that’s an issue. Stalls are cleaned after turnout. Second, I ride at home now so if I didn’t ride alone I’d never ride. As far as a boarder throwing hay, that’s going to really depend on the barn. I’ve been at barns where it’s a never ending battle to prevent the boarders tossing excessive hay and ruining it. I’ve also been at barns that don’t feed enough hay so there are often a lot of rules about boarders feeding.

I can’t even imagine a barn that closes at 6. This barn must cater to clients who either don’t come out or do not need to work.

Lastly, my husband feeds in his underwear and muck boots and nothing else so you might be risking a surprise if you came out really early.

I do have to ask what happens to someone when they have an 8am ride time at a show! I feel like I’m the only one on the show grounds in the morning.

[Bogey2]

I agree…on the days the horses don’t go out first thing because of weather they get hay in their dirty stall. Never been a problem here!

[MissusS]

Regarding throwing hay and wasting it… one thing I’ve noticed at my barn is that we all throw hay in the same corner of the “grooming stalls” and it is EXTREMELY rare that any of the horses will make a mess in that corner. If someone doesn’t finish their hay while in that stall, it’s a delightful surprise for the next horse who is deposited in that stall.

The folks who don’t want dobbin eating that extra bit of hay will either go into a stall that doesn’t have any leftovers OR will groom in the aisle/washrack cross tie areas. Or heck… if the arena isn’t in use some folks may groom and tack up in there too (especially for the school horses who appreciate a “change in scenery” or the one rider who does a lot of groundwork and likes to practice ground tying with her young mare).

Since I’m an adult beginner and I have fairly limited experience with other facilities, it’s very educational for me to read these other perspectives.

[trubandloki]

I feel like it is different throwing hay in a set-up where the horses are kept in to finish a meal and someone tossing a bunch and Dobbin does not have time to clean it up.

Most of the barns I am associated with either the horses are in long enough (in theory) to eat or they are given the forage for their morning (night in the summer) feeding outside in turn out, it is not tossed into their dirty stall and then they are removed with only enough time to spread it around, not clean it up.

In most cases these barns also feed enough that Dobbin is not standing for hours waiting for his next food.

I think that is the point of tossing hay into a dirty stall comments.

[Minxitbabe]

Thanks everyone! I will ask and feel better that I am not alone in the need for different hours. I usually go pretty late but I am finding it isn’t helping me keep a healthy lifestyle as I skip dinner until I get home and that could be 1030 after driving and getting my home critters settled. Because of that and needing to balance family time I do find I skip riding if I feel time pressured. I have never been at a really big barn that has “staff” that gets there early and am used to needing to do AM tasks on early show days so doing that additional days would be fine. Feeding hay if needed is a non issue as all hay goes into nets so no additional mess. I will not ride a horse on a potentially empty stomach though I know they generally don’t finish last nights hay until early morning thanks to nets keeping it all edible.

[sascha]

@endlessclimb

Also, no feeding hay in a dirty stall (who would do that?) - ponie will be ok for another hour without hay.

Who would do that? Anyone who realizes that horses need forage fairly constantly and who also realizes that horses may not be going out/getting hay for an hour or two or possibly all day if the weather is shite and everyone is staying in.

Delaying feeding forage in order to put it in an immaculate stall is 100% insane. If it gets fed on the floor, take a plastic fork with and scrape the feeding area clean before chucking hay in. Easy peasy.

[horseofadifferentcolor]

I couldn’t imagine boarding somewhere that didn’t allow for early riding. I only ride in the mornings, as I have no motivation to ride after work and I prefer to do social stuff (dinner, drinks with friends) in the evenings.

[endlessclimb]

If the horses are getting fed in an hour, you are being a PITA boarder feeding before or after your ride. Bring your own pellets or whatever if you deem it necessary. But we’re talking about trying to be out of the BOs way and not upset the morning routine.

Your horse goes without forage for the hour of the ride. He will survive one more. Doing stuff like this is a great way to lose the privilege of being at the barn early.

[Bogey2]

She is talking about tossing hay in a stall that’s not done…you were in insisting horses don’t get hay in a dirty stall. That’s a bit over the top.

[sascha]

@endlessclimb

our horse goes without forage for the hour of the ride. He will survive one more. Doing stuff like this is a great way to lose the privilege of being at the barn early.

How many hours ago did ponies finish their evening/night check hay?

The point that several of have made is that your broad assumption and complete disdain for feeding a horse in an uncleaned stall is completely over the top batsheet cray cray cuckoo bananas.

Forage ALWAYS comes as priority over a clean stall.

How each individual barn owner handles folks that come early is up to them. I’ve seen pretty much the whole spectrum from do not touch anything, to please throw everyone a flake, to please just give your horse and the skinny one a flake.

You do have an understanding that this part of extra-early morning riding is something that is discussed between individuals and there is no one right answer and not that many wrong answers, right? I mean except that broad ridiculosity of

@endlessclimb

no feeding hay in a dirty stall

[endlessclimb]

I’m referencing the first post in the thread where horse is due to be turned out so they can clean stalls and the owner throws hay in the stall anyways.

Or, the staff is due to move horses around, clean stalls, and then throw hay… but you (g) feel the need to put the hay in there early.

OP strongly suggest to not upset the routine at all if you plan to ask for a favor in being there early. That will guarantee to end it quick.

[endlessclimb]

@sascha

Forage ALWAYS comes as priority over a clean stall.

Sure, but I guess it won’t matter if the person ticks the barn owner off and aren’t allowed there early anymore. Dobbin will go back to having little or no forage for that period of time and gasp, he will survive.

[Scribbler]

The only reason I could imagine “no feed in a dirty stall” would be at a full board barn where the barn staff need to be kept on track with their jobs. If you fed hay and horse fluffed it up and then you tried to pick the stall you might be sitting through hay.

Our horses have stalls and run-outs. Some like my riding mare are wonderful about pooping outside. Others are much more messy. But they all get fed multiple times a day. My mare has a timed feeder to drop 4 feeds a day when I’m not there. I clean the stall once a day. In general horses should be fed more often than the stall is cleaned, I’m assuming the routine at the boarding barn is horses out to paddock with breakfast and lunch, stall picked and hay and water set up for evening turnin. That’s the only way I can imagine this being a thing. Otherwise if the horse is stalled or in a stall with runout, they are getting fed in a “dirty” stall by necessity.

[Amy3996]

I’ve been in both situations. A couple barns with extremely strict, set barn hours (including one that was closed entirely on Mondays and owners were only allowed on the property if there was an emergency - didn’t stay there long.)

My current barn has no set hours. I work from home once a week. It’s not unusual for me to ride at 6AM on those days, especially in the summer to beat the heat. I do my best to give my barn owner a heads up the day before, stay out of the way of turnout, feeding, etc., leave things neater than I found them. It’s a mutual respect thing. My trainer is more interested in helping clients maintain a consistent training schedule for their horses than a tightly managed barn schedule. More often than not, I arrive to find that she dragged the ring at night check the day before so we’d have fresh footing for our early ride. That’s much appreciated and the extra effort definitely doesn’t go unnoticed.

It’s not a fit for every barn or program, but there’s certainly no harm in asking. Just be prepared to be flexible so that the arrangement works for all involved.

[Gardenhorse]

The no hay in dirty stalls thing is weird. Our stall cleaner just puts any clean uneaten hay in the corner of the stall when he cleans it. No biggie.