Getting our own place vs boarding - with specifics

[CanteringCarrot]

It is absolutely cheaper for me to board than it is to own a property right now. I only own one horse, but if I added another or 2, I’d still come out ahead vs having them at home. Board is still very reasonable in my area, but the trade off is, that it’s not a great area, IMO. It’s not the worst though.

The catch for us is that we could move this spring (DH’s job) and committing to a property when we moved here knowing we could be here for just 2 years didn’t seem worth it to us. Even with a property set up for horses, we’d still have to purchase a lot of “stuff and things” and I feel like we’d lose money when it came time to resell stuff and move.

In order to get a decent horse property we’d have to triple our mortgage, spend a lot of money (tractor, implements, modifications to the property, repairs that pop up, etc), and change our lifestyle (that’s the least of our worries though). I’d still love to have horses at home, but with the move looming overhead, it just seems nonsensical to me.

We live in an area where land/farms are reasonably priced in comparison to many other parts of the country, and DH and I make good money, but even then, it blows my mind as to how people afford it all. I guess some have even higher incomes, but ours is well above average. Or they bought pre-Covid. That’s the major factor, I think.

I could board out 3 horses at a decent facility for ~$2000. When I do the math, we actually come out ahead boarding. Even if I factor in my commute.

It would take years for keeping horses at home to be financially advantageous. Between the higher mortgage, insurance, taxes, and buying equipment, it’s a lot. It would be worth it if we loved the location and knew that’d we’d stay there for a long time, but that’s not where we are right now in life.

So I really get it if it’s not practical right now. Someone tried to give me flak by saying I should keep my horse(s) at home and didn’t understand why I couldn’t do that because they did that. Um…right. It all depends on your situation.

[SharonA1]

I agree that boarding out makes more sense for many of us. And, I like people and would like to have like-minded people to briefly chat with in the aisle or go trail riding with, if we weren’t all so busy working to pay for the horse as well as keep the other aspects of life tended to. The challenge in this area, as is probably the case in other places, is that there are not enough good barns left, often not enough turn out, and not enough educated and conscientious staff (or money to keep these people) to run places the way many people educated by COTH might like.

I would love to find/start an equestrian community in my area, so that more middle-aged riders could find it worth it to keep the horse habit going via shared facilities, a supportive fun community, and a short commute. But, land/property is too expensive, hard to find farm help, and the drive to anyplace with decent turn-out and trails is getting to be too far for those who are still working in the metropolitan area/have human family responsibilities in metropolitan-area schools, soccer fields, Scouts, whatever.

I mean, there’s always a way (such as half-leasing), but, it just feels like horse ownership gets gets harder as time goes by.

[deweydee]

When I bought my mare a few years ago around the same time we were house shopping, my husband was adamant that he wanted acreage. I pushed back for many of the reasons mentioned here, but after a few years of boarding (and large increases in the cost of acreage) I’m kind of kicking myself. I did recently move to a new place that’s more expensive and I’d expect the maintenance to be better, maybe that changes my calculus.

For me, the boarding pros are:

• you’re not on the hook to find coverage when you’re unavailable
• there’s camaraderie at the barn
• there’s an indoor, which I likely can’t afford to build
• you don’t have to pay or take the time to maintain the place
• for one or two horses, it’s cheaper

The cons, for me, are mostly about control and access:

• development is eating up boarding facilities and acreage, seems it will only cost more and more to buy in later
• flexibility, I’ve become a bit picky and you’ve really just got to go with the flow at a boarding barn on how they run things
• maintenance, overcrowding in pastures, lack of mowing, lack of arena dragging, lack of mud maintenance, safe fencing… If you want it done right, do it yourself? See above, about me becoming picky

[fivestrideline]

@deweydee

there’s an indoor, which I likely can’t afford to build

Decent indoors are pushing $1M alone, I’m told. Not even fancy, but if you’re building from scratch… and we haven’t even seen the impact of proposed tariffs yet (some industries like metal buildings are expecting a 40-60% increase in cost). Not looking good for me building an indoor, I’d say

@deweydee

I’ve become a bit picky and you’ve really just got to go with the flow at a boarding barn on how they run things

Preach. It’s hard sometimes to take a breath and say “this isn’t going to kill the horse, and I can make it work”. This is how 99% of people on this board ended up with horses at home, I’d say. It’s very hard to find boarding barns that have compromises you can deal with, or that will let you fill in the gaps! Then heaven forbid management changes or the place sells…

@SharonA1

The challenge in this area, as is probably the case in other places, is that there are not enough good barns left, often not enough turn out, and not enough educated and conscientious staff (or money to keep these people) to run places the way many people educated by COTH might like.

I think the active population on COTH is pretty willing/able to make drastic life changes to accommodate horses, as well as being generally well educated (lots of different opinions, sure, but more UTD than your average horse owner on FB or Reddit I’d say). This lends itself to posters having excruciatingly high standards of care, and sometimes a lack of practicality when it comes to those of us who HAVE to board or make compromises in certain areas due to budget/job/family. I know my standards have skyrocketed over the years!

[clanter]

@fivestrideline

Then heaven forbid management changes or the place sells…

just had a ton and half ton of hay delivered, the delivery guy mention two of the farms he was delivering to were recently sold to developers and wondered where all those horses were going to end up as he said all the boarding operations they deliver to are full

This area is still seeing over 150,000 people a year moving here. Since we got here over four million people have moved into the DFW area

[CanteringCarrot]

Yeah, you definitely have to make compromises with boarding. I had to adjust my standards A LOT when I moved here, but ultimately my horse is fine.

I do think having horses isn’t going to get easier, that’s for sure. We’ll likely lose more boarding barns, facilities, professionals, and land. Some of us will be priced out of it eventually too.

I think $1M to build a basic indoor is obscene. I do feel as though this will be my last horse. It’s not so much not having the money or not being able to afford horses, it’s that I will only dedicate a certain amount of my income to a hobby. I admit that I’m not as into it as I once was though.

[luvmyhackney]

@fivestrideline

Decent indoors are pushing $1M alone, I’m told.

My husband got a few quotes as he didn’t believe my price guesstimate, I could build a 100x160 indoor with basic footing for 550k-700k depending how fancy I went on footing and kick boards.

[deweydee]

And to my understanding you’ll never see most of that money again if you sell, which makes it hard to justify building. I know that’s true for fencing too, but that’s less negotiable. Buying a property with an indoor maybe, though that limits your property options and probably drives the purchase price up some where you sacrifice elsewhere.

I imagine I’ll be looking into hauling out in the winter or giving them time off if we get our own place.

[Christa_P]

This brings up another question - how big of an indoor are people talking about

I grew up with indoor arenas 50-60 feet wide by 80-100 feet long. I could probably build a 60 x 100, which would be plenty for me, for under 200k in my area, probably closer to 150k for a basic steel building. Still out of my budget, but not a crazy amount.

[NancyM]

For those who are considering building a riding arena… consider a Coverall. More affordable than a stick frame building, and it comes with a crew to put it up… they look after everything. AND, it’s able to be disassembled and moved or sold separately from the property. The same company can come back, take it apart, move it, and put it back up again somewhere else, or it can be sold to someone else. Steel frame. Ours is 15 years old now, and it’s great. The local branch of Coverall was outstanding to deal with. The price has changed since we got ours, no doubt it has increased. But ours was quite economical compared to stick frame buildings. And I liked the options that came with it. Ours is 80 X 200. We built the inner fence ourselves, with 4X4s braced against the steel frame of the building, slanting outwards, and planks nailed. It wasn’t expensive to do. A friend who built a similar arena copied, and built their inner fence the same. Coverall really liked the construction of this inner fence. And it all comes apart pretty easy if necessary. High ceiling, lots of air. Natural light, we put no lighting in it. (If I can’t ride horses during daylight hours, they are getting the day off). If you have access to a Coverall dealer, look into it. Our local dealer was the original Coverall, so has been around here for a long time. Not all dealers are as long term or experienced as these guys were, so check that out before making a decision.

[JanM]

Another issue is permits, and other local regulations like setbacks, and what it will take to get the arena built.

[fivestrideline]

I think this is what can really set you back. People often forget about permits and inspections and the extra taxes and fees. Not to mention the details like site prep, electrical, plumbing, fire safety. In most of the US, you can’t just buy a barn kit and pay the local guy to come scrape things level and pour a slab.

I’m sure those of you who quoted these out took that into account - but a lot of people don’t!

[TheJenners]

@deweydee

And to my understanding you’ll never see most of that money again if you sell

Absolutely. There is a place, 38 acres with a huge covered arena, 20 stall mare motel, five stall barn (I think, perhaps three?) and a 3/2 log house for sale in Cali with water rights… price reduced 1.9 mil. Less than infrastructure. Yikes.

[outside_leg]

My husband and I bought our place last year after about a four year search. The pandemic killed us as prices for anything with land skyrocketed or was purchased sight unseen. We initially had a long list of “must-haves,” but compromised as the search went on.

We put offers on a couple that fell through once they failed inspections badly (like an indoor sliding off its concrete footings badly). Eventually we found our place: 40 acres, indoor, two barns, and an older farmhouse.

We compromised on the size of the indoor (I wanted 100x200, and it’s 75x150). But as others have said, we priced out building an indoor in this economy, and it’s between $600-800K minimum. And that’s assuming minimal site prep. And we’ve also heard some horror stories about permitting. I didn’t want to be paying for a farm I couldn’t use for several years, so buying the place with an existing indoor made sense. And we bought the whole property for less than we’d have spent to build an indoor.

Now, we also knew we’d be redoing the outdoor (it was sized for dressage and we do jumpers), the barn, and updating the house. This place is definitely a series of ongoing projects. I’m fortunate that my husband has the skill to do a lot of this himself, or the renovations would have cost a fortune.

I think that’s one of the biggest lessons. If you or your partner are handy, there are still some diamonds in the rough out there. We completely redid the small barn on property (gutting and restructuring 5 stalls, adding a tack room and feed room that were insulated and climate controlled, rewiring the frankly frightening original setup, adding windows in all the stalls, etc.) for under $20K, mostly materials and some help from a licensed electrical and carpenter. Quotes to do the same renovations from barn builders were $80-150K.

Fencing was another one. The original owners didn’t seem to believe much in turnout, so there were very few paddocks. We’ve put in four right now and we’re adding four more in the spring once the weather is better. We had quotes around $40K for four board fencing for two paddocks. My husband got an auger and we’ve put up the fencing ourselves for just the cost of materials. More time consuming, but infinitely cheaper.

We did go through an arena company to expand the outdoor, and that was an investment. But they also redid the drainage on the property so the paddocks and road no longer flood. Worth it IMO.

I have zero regrets buying this place FWIW. It’s a massive amount of work, but we get to set things up exactly how we want, and aren’t pigeonholed into someone else’s design. The horses are happy, healthy, and fit. I don’t think I would go back to boarding at this point. It’s just so rewarding to have the horses at home and going well.

[Jarpur]

@deweydee

to my understanding you’ll never see most of that money again if you sell, which makes it hard to justify building. I know that’s true for fencing too,

I think that depends upon the area. When we had our place appraised, the independent appraiser told me that one particular improvement we’d made that would hold its value, and be attractive to buyers, was the perimeter fencing. He said that pretty much everyone (not just horse people) wants their place gated and fenced.

[NaturalSelection]

@Jarpur what kind of perimeter fence did you build? No-climb, board, coated high tensile?

[Jarpur]

King Ranch wire – what we call field fence here, but with extra-thick galvanizing – with two strands of smooth wire at the top. Posts are painted steel pipe (was new pipe, not old oilfield pipe), with galvanized T-posts as line posts. Extra-long electric stand-offs on the inside, and safety caps on the T-posts. My husband thought the board fencing of a neighbor’s place was very attractive, but I wanted something more likely to keep out roving dogs.

Our fence is very similar to what’s seen in my region for ranch fencing, only with heavier galvanizing, smooth wire instead of barbed at the top, capped line posts, and the electric rope. It was very well installed (by a pair of ranching brothers), and looks almost new after over 26 years, with no horses ever injured by it (including foals). The use of pipe posts is not uncommon around here.

Our gravel sacrifice paddock is Diamond-Vee wire mesh (a type of no-climb) on cedar posts with a top board, our cross fencing is Horse Guard on T-posts with caps, and the arena is fenced with two boards on cedar posts. I wanted the Diamond-Vee where the horses spend more time closer to the fence as compared to the pastures with perimeter fencing. Horse Guard cross-fencing was used for the ease of moving it as needed and the good value. Wooden posts and boards (spaced so my toes are unlikely to catch a post no matter what a youngster does) for the arena because I knew I would be riding young horses, and wanted something more forgiving than the pipe often used in arena fencing around here.

We’ve been satisfied with our choices. Diamond-Vee mesh for the perimeter would have been very expensive, and our King Ranch wire has held up better, IMO, than the regular no-climb at a nearby property that is almost as old.

[Alterration]

I have my own place, and though it used to be open to boarders, I closed it. However, since then, I’ve retooled it as a track system and it has been fabulous. I was originally pretty skeptical of track systems, as I am of most “natural” claims, but it has worked wonders for one of my horses who had been dx’d with both navicular and DSLD, and he’s now so sound I’m considering riding him gently again.

Our property was perfect for it, because of the way it was fenced (not ideal as paddocks, but strangely enough worked perfectly as a track). There are is one section I’d like to make narrower, but that’s just to keep them funneling as my horses love to “camp” and I need them to keep moving. Anecdotally they move a lot more than they did in the paddocks, but I haven’t measured it, that’s just my impression from the views of the cameras. You can do a lot more with a lot less land, and a lot weirder land, as a track system.

In terms of effort, it’s about 1 hour in the am and 1 hour in the afternoon to re-fill hay nets, feed, and pick poop off the track for 4 horses. If the poo picking doesn’t get done for a day or a couple of days, I’m not worried about them standing around in muck (I am, however, sad about my back on those days).

A little more than half of my track is surfaced with pea gravel, and I’d like to do the whole thing. They have a loafing area, a shed with straw to lay in, and numerous hay feeding stations. Next year I want to open the other side of the shed to provide more of a communal living space, and put in a sand “bathing” area. I do have someone who lives onsite who feeds for me when I’m gone. I’m paying too much for that, but phasing her out as I finally found a barn rat who actually wants to work and is trainable (and I am paying her $15/hr). Then I’d like to find someone else to live in the house.

I do bring them in to feed them as I have a fattie and a senior (as well as two in the middle) but the fattie has started to slim down, and the senior is eating more than he’s cribbing so I may be able to adjust. The track system has cut down on the fully loaded expenses by $200/horse/mo which is not insignificant.

Is it more expensive than boarding? Well, the property wasn’t cheap, and there’s maintenance, but when we figured out the cost initially we had a house and I was paying for two to board…and that was about the same as the mortgage here. Now I have 4, which is something you really do have to watch out for - they accumulate! Farriers will get you by saying “you know…there’s this one horse that I really wish would find a home” and next thing you know they are on your trailer

I do wish I had an indoor, but I’m trying to chill out about that mindset a bit. I just bought a sheepskin cover for my saddle to help keep me warm, and now the only thing I don’t ride in is really wind or sleet (which I likely wouldn’t have traveled out to ride in anyway). Thankfully, I run my own company and work from home, so I have a little bit of flexibility of when I can ride.

I did ride more when I boarded, but I was constantly fretting about my horses and their care. Boarding barns are wonderful and convenient, but there are always tradeoffs. Keep in mind, I grew up with my horses at home, so it might be different if you started in a program and never had them at home. If I were showing actively, I think I’d want to be at a bigger barn, but I rarely show anymore.

I guess what I’m trying to say is - if you try to keep your horses in the same way as a large program keeps them, with the same amenities, it’ll be pricey and frustrating. But, if you can transform how you think of them, you can do a lot more with a lot less.

[hey101]

I think I’m in the minority here as I’m counting down the years to selling my farm in SoCal, buying a cute small house with an acre of fenced land for the dogs and going back to boarding back east where I’m from and getting weekly lawn service. After 20 years of my own place, I’m tired of it.

Tired of fixing shit that breaks on it’s own or is broken by 1200lb toddlers. Tired of paying to maintain a tractor to drag the ring. Tired of replacing footing every few years, paying for manure removal, paying for every mouthful of food (no free food (grass) out here in SoCal), INSANE fire insurance, insane tow vehicle annual registration, insane gas prices, insane electric prices, insane water prices, $100/day farm sitter if we want to get away for a bit, trimming all the dozens of trees every few years (a $12k expense every time) because a) fires and b) can’t have the branches falling down and hurting a horse, and every other hidden and not-hidden cost that comes with having a farm.

I’ll admit part of my disgruntled attitude comes from the cost of CA, but even when we go back east I don’t want a farm. I want to travel on a whim, sleep in on weekends, stay late at the party and not have to get back every night to “do the horses”. I’m willing to pay a lot in board for all of those things. And the cost of board will be far offset by the cost of a smaller house, smaller mortgage, smaller utility bills, and not paying for or even worrying for one second about how long it’s been since we changed the oil on the tractor, because it’s pretty old you know and we have to maintain it because I’m sure not paying $30k to replace it. For example.

After years of boarding I learned a lot my first year of farm ownership and horses at home. Number one being that a lot of the things I used to stress about as a boarder, weren’t really that big of a deal. As long as the place is safe and “good enough” care, I can back fill the rest.

Three years to go until youngest out of high school… but I’m not counting or anything

[Annie10]

You aren’t alone. We have had our place for 21 years. While it was my childhood dream and I have enjoyed having the horses here and raising my homebreds, I too am tired.
Between the husband being perpetually deployed with the military for eons, it seems, and now he is a over the road truck driver, so still gone all the time, and the last year and a half. I’ve been nothing but either sick or broken between breaking my back last May Covid over Christmas, breaking my hand last September a couple of things and then this past July I broke my shoulder, which I’m still recovering from and having to deal with everything alone plus all the fix it that you mentioned and all the maintenance. Plus, never being able to leave both of us at the same time, and the major expense of a Farm Sitter if we ever do.

We aren’t getting any younger and I’m tired. So once we get some repairs and some things done to the house and some of our dogs go over the rainbow bridge, there will be some serious planning and arrangements made to getting out of here and downsizing.