I’m going to college this fall in Cambridge, Mass and I want to bring my horse (I’m from NC). Does anyone know any good barns that are close to the Boston/Cambridge area? My two criteria now are nice and close. Also, I won’t have access to a car, so I’m going to be taking public transportation. I don’t care about the cost of board. Preferably eventing or dressage, but I’m also good with hunter/jumper or just a regular boarding barn. Thanks!
There’s another thread going about this right now.
But … there is no way to get to any barns I know of directly by public transit! It just is not possible. I do know one woman who was temporarily unable to drive, had her horse in Littleton, and took the commuter rail to the 495/Littleton stop and then a taxi a couple of times a week to go to the barn. This was before the days of Uber, Lyft etc. It was a huge hassle for her, especially being sure to get a taxi early enough for the return trip, but she made it work. You’d be looking at the same rail line, taking it from Porter Square in Cambridge. I don’t know a lot about the Littleton area barns, but it might be worth looking into.
Scarlet Hill in Groton gets rave reviews here (I’ve never been there, inquired about boarding and they always had a wait list) and could be reached by this method from the Ayer commuter rail stop.
You could make the same arrangement to get to some of the barns on the North Shore. There are some lovely (but very pricey) barns up that way.
Be prepared to go over $1000/month for what you want, just for board. Commuter rail is pricey, too… expect $20 or more for a round trip, plus the taxi/ride share cost.
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You are going to need a car.
Scarlet Hill is probably your best bet in terms of QUALITY care & nice amenities, but there’s no public transportation after the Ayer commuter stop. You’d need a taxi (expensive), uber (even more expensive!) or a bike (not worth it in the winter!).
As another poster mentioned, here’s a few barns in Littleton but IMHO, having grown up in Littleton, there’s a reason why I’ve kept my horse[s] elsewhere. There’s 3 barns with indoors that I know of in Littleton - Harmony Horse Stables (which is very close to the commuter rail, biking distance), There Be Dragons & Proctor Hill, which are both practically right next to each other and off of 119. I hack on a daily basis by both places. Proctor Hill and HH have next to no turnout. TBD is a newer facility, I can’t speak for their t/o or care.
There is Elysium Farm in Harvard, which is a wonderful facility - it’s primarily dressage. They’re north of $1000/board/month. I also like Highland Hills in Berlin, but again, not accessible without a car.
I cannot imagine living in/near Cambridge and having to board/ride, without a vehicle.
How are you going to go to your job[s]? Classes? Emergency at the barn?
Like Quietann said, be prepared for sticker shock - board in this area is nothing like in NC - for “nice”, you need to budget for $1000. If you want an indoor, budget more. If you want ample turnout and quality care, budget even more. Scarlet, IIRC, is in the realm of $1100 after lessons which are mandatory and part of the boarding contract.
The good news is, if you can afford college, living & board here, you should be able to afford a cheapo car - if you’re budgeting with your parents, see if they are willing to help you find an older Honda Civic - having owned one, I can tell you a 1995 Civic around here goes for $500-1000, costs $10 a year in excise, and $30 a month in gas. Pretty cheap - idk what your car insurance is, but I think a car is an absolute requirement in this area if you have a horse.
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While I agree with pretty much all of the above, I do know of one boarding barn that is accessible via public trans: Liberty Tree Farm in Acton is walking distance from the South Acton commuter rail. They have an indoor and some turnout. However, taking the commuter rail on a regular basis does add up - an inexpensive car(or possibly a Zipcar membership?) may be your best bet. If you are coming from Cambridge, focus your search along the Route 2 & 3 corridor - Concord, Carlisle, Acton closer in, Littleton, Harvard, Groton further out. I’m in Stow and I commute to Malden (east of Cambridge) and it’s an hour each way. You are looking at at least 30 minutes commute out.
Commuter rail to Hamilton puts you a couple of miles from a whole bunch of places, close enough that talking somebody into picking you up or biking isn’t out of the question, but weekend rail schedules are sparse and possibly getting sparser. [Actually, it looks like the proposal to end weekend commuter rail service is now very dead, so trains are still an option. Yay.] Zipcar has great presence in Cambridge if you drive and don’t mind the cost. Going the other way, the trains to South Acton also stop at Porter Square, which might be super-convenient.
Driving, horse country on the north shore is 35-40 minutes from Cambridge in light traffic and an hour or a little more during rush hour. (Better highway access from the MIT end of things, worse from the Harvard end of things.) The metro-west barns are better from the Harvard end of things, but getting to route 2 anytime remotely near evening rush hour is still horrid.
FWIW, I’ve got a lot of practice driving to various horsey places from Cambridge on weekdays, and the north shore (via US1) is not too bad if you don’t mind the US-1 mayhem, stuff in south central NH and Haverhill area (via I-93) I’ll still do but can be up to 90 minutes when traffic is bad, and metro-west stuff (via MA-2) is sometimes OK but unpredictably takes over two hours, which makes keeping a schedule pretty hard.
North of Boston, I think Ledyard in Wenham is walkable from the commuter rail Hamilton-Wenham stop. Maybe a mile, mile and a half? You can figure out the distance on line and decide if it’s for you…on nice days/ good weather. Not good for most of winter or in rain, IMHO.
Water’s Edge Farm in Concord is accessible by public transportation (commuter rail to Concord). Also, close by is Davis Farm in Bedford. You can bike from Cambridge to Concord/Bedford on the minuteman bike trail, which takes 45 minutes to an hour. There are also various bus lines that run from Cambridge to Concord/Bedford. Both would be much quicker to get to that anything in Hamilton/North Shore. 20-25 minute drive if you’re ever in a jam and need to take a cab or uber. Water’s Edge is run by Erin Renfroe, an intermediate/advanced rider and Davis Farm is run by Lisa Samoylenko, eventing/dressage. Both are great farms- top notch care, indoors, outdoor/xc, trails, with fun groups of people as a bonus!
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Which way you go might also depend on which part of Cambridge your school is in. If you’re at Harvard, going west will be the easiest option. If you’re at MIT, going north or even south might be a quicker commute. Just getting out of Cambridge can take a while, so best to minimize the part of your commute that’s in Cambridge.
