Do you mind sharing photos of your track system, or a general layout/logistics schematic? I am really interested in learning more.
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Sure!
Let me get some when it’s not gross and pouring but essentially the track is about 15’ wide and it runs around the front of our property before opening up into a loafing area by the barn which is two dry lots - I don’t have exact measurements but maybe 100x80 each? The dry lots are fines/pea gravel.
The first one that it dumps into has a rolling area with sand, and it also has a shelter. I keep the shelter bedded with straw and am planning on opening that up still further so they have a bit more room.
The second one is where the water trough is. So they have to walk to get to water.
I put slow feed hay bags along the front and in the very back where the trees are. So they have to walk a good ways to get around the track. I also have a double pipe fence between the arena and the track (one side makes up the track side, one side is the arena with a gap in the middle) which means horse friendly bushes and plants can grow and not get grazed down. They nibble on those at will. I plan on putting potted herbs and other forbs in there next summer.
The narrower squeezes encourage the horses to move more, and they do. I was skeptical that they would but anecdotally I am seeing it. I do want to put a water feature in at the lower corner but haven’t done so yet.
If you want to see some beautiful tracks, femkedoll on Instagram and the paddock paradise/track system pages have neat ideas!
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Me too. Want to hear all about it. I belong to the Track Group on Facebook and have big plans but need big money.
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And there’s a Track podcast and she does a great job with it. https://www.activehorseagistmentplus.com/track-talk-podcast?fbclid=IwY2xjawHK9GRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHQgUomgM6KBbO4oheTzUa6I_eyisucOt5QWwew-ULpa-Y0HzRXAgZwUSDQ_aem_Q0Hr0ZoSvQbgI0tJN-69kw
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Tell us more what you are saying here? I know some have husbands helping and that would be amazing. Mine does not help with daily barn work but is right there for me with breakdowns and special projects and there are plenty of those. At least monthly.
I will also add having horses at home if your husband isn’t into it and involved and helping could add stress to your relationship. It has for us. Especially about money. He feels I’m not saving enough. I tell him it could be much worse. It could be hard drugs. 
When you managed the barns did you do it all? Every single thing? I only ask because I grew up w horses at home and while boarding helped and enjoyed it. BUT, having horses at home and doing every single role really adds up. It’s the facility manager role that’s a killer IMO. I see it now as three roles, Horse Caretaker Manager, Horse Trainer, and Facilities Manager. It’s a full time job. Literally 40 hours a week if you added it up over the year.
My other thought is you really do need flexibility at work. Just this week I got a call a horse was out (what???) and I walked right out of work. Had to. I have perimeter fence so knew no one would be out on the road but knew something was wrong to have a horse outside their dry lot and I needed to be home asap.
That’s another complication. Some times of the year I cannot have my horses turned out 10 hrs with me gone. They need blanketed for various reasons but weather changes and suddenly I need blankets pulled or a liner off and who’s gonna do that? I have a neighbor who will come over if she is able but it’s something to consider you might need too.
You also mentioned you’ve rented up to this point. Having a home, barn and all the things that go with a property maintenance and money. And time doing it all. Or paying for it which means more money.
Money: You will spend far more with horses at home than boarding. We built and I specifically installed things to make it easier. Auto waters, tractor w FEL, sawdust delivered, enough hay delivered for a year. It’s more expensive having done all that but it was all to save time. I cannot imagine the additional work without those luxuries.
Your age. Big factor. You might be younger - in your 30’s? 40’s? That helps.
With all that Debbie Downer stuff I will tell you that having my two at home with me is amazing. They are SO relaxed, our relationship is so deep and very satisfying. I see them 5x/day versus 5x/week.
I couldn’t go back to boarding. And I have big plans and dreams of a deluxe track system for my PSSM2 guy and get him off grass and moving more. I have a PPID and insulin above normal mare too. In a few years I’ll consider retiring and then this is all cake - having the whole day to do it all. Until then it’s tough and takes grit.
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This is basically where I was at, lack of adequate boarding options to the point that I was doing semi board, doing my own chores, buying my own hay and feed.
It’s much easier to manage all that now that my horse is at home. I work from home which is what makes it possible. Being able to do chores at lunch and ride after work is so much nicer instead of having to cram it all in after work. I’ve been strategic about setting things up to minimize labour, like putting in an auto waterer, which helps a lot too. When you are doing self board you have no control over how efficiently things are set up.
The property we bought needs a lot of work, I spent a good chunk of money to get a very basic horse set up ready and don’t have a riding ring. I had someone wanting to board with me even before I brought my horse home, but just calculating my capital costs I put in to get it set it set up for my two, I would need to charge at least as much as the place down the road with an indoor and overall better amenities. Luckily, said indoor allows drop ins and I gladly pay the drop in fees to ride there. But I don’t see how it would make any sense for someone to board with me instead of there.
And as far as care, my horse has never felt better since I brought her home and I can finally manage her diet the way it needs to be. When you have horses with specific needs, boarding is really challenging.
My husband is not very horsey and warned he was never going to pick up horse poop. But he’s actually taken a liking to the lifestyle and is happy to feed when I’m not around and has even taken on managing the manure pile which I never would have expected.
So overall, while it’s absolutely more expensive than boarding, and a lot more work, it’s so rewarding to see that my horse is thriving. We are having our best rides yet. And there’s also comfort in knowing we have stability.
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Yep. Sole charge of up to 40 show horses - I did everything. Stalls, feeding, turn in/out, night check, running all the equipment, pasture maintenance, light repairs, getting up to let trailers full of layover boarders in and get set up, cleaning up after said layovers (ugh), dragging rings, feeding dogs and cats, etc. And I quit eventually because 40 is too many for one person (there’s a whole story there 
). I also was sole charge of 26, but only half were on stall board and that was a little easier. Both places I lived on site. These days I know my cutoff is 5 stalls before it starts getting out of hand for my current workload.
As far as work and flexibility - we have realized that we won’t purchase anything this far from family. At least not horse property. Moving back home we might consider it, which adds a job change for me and an opportunity to seek out remote, hybrid, or flexible options.
And there it is. Right now my boarding situation is working, but I have certainly paid full board and also provided grain/hay/blanket changes/etc etc that were in the contract but flat out not done or not done to my standards. Once you add all that in, the $1200 board + expenses that should be covered by it really adds up. There just aren’t many options in a lot of places so “move to a better place” isn’t always an option. You have to decide if $1200 or whatever is worth it for someone to turn the horse in and out and give you access to the facilities.
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It really isn’t. My poor horse has been at 5 different barns in 3 years, so it wasn’t for lack of trying to find a decent boarding option. And there were times where I was ready to move on but it was months before a spot opened up at another place. And the other piece about lack of spots is that makes it very difficult to consider getting a second horse and considering eventual retirement board. Doing self board at two separate facilities? Not realistic with a full time job.
But let’s not kid ourselves, depending on your geographic location and certainly in mine, keeping horses at home is about lifestyle and preferences and not a way to save on horse keeping costs.
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What part of the country are you in? It interesting that you and others are saying the same thing. I grew up in MD and spent 10 years in the greater Philly area after college where I both boarded and then had my own (first) farm.
When I left in 2007 and came to CA, there were tons of places around SEPA ranging from backyard boarding to high end A-show barns. I boarded again for a few years in SoCal and then bought my second farm out here.
In the last few years in my area (north County San Diego) I’ve seen a lot of places close down and also a much higher number of facilities for rent. It just feels like people don’t want to do the boarding thing anymore and either exit completely or offer it for rent with the “hey here you go here’s a facility and you do all the work and buy all the hay, bedding, pay utilities etc”.
We used to have about 20 boarders/ some in training before the pandemic and quite frankly were still making not much money. We wound that all down rather abruptly when the pandemic really took hold and shut completely for awhile except for our own. Then Offered the majority for rent and that was the best ever- a regular monthly check but we bore none of the expense (again except for our own).
After our renters moved out when they purchased their own place (congrats- I think? Haha) we decided to do some boarding again on a limited basis but we doubled our prices from pre-pandemic. I surveyed the market around me and my current pricing is right in line with the area.
I know the historic mentality is that “you” don’t make money on boarding (which I also subscribed too which is why the guy doing our stalls pre-pandemic made more than we did- no exaggeration!) but I decided this time around- why shouldn’t I? If this monthly price is too much then I invite you to purchase your own place and everything that goes with it (see my post above).
We are about 25% full which is fine by me. And in addition to all the places being listed for rent, I’m seeing a lot of barns advertising openings that I have never seen before. People may be getting out of horses altogether as they just can’t afford it.
I wonder if other areas around the country are having a similar reckoning as what I’m seeing here. Horses are expensive and they require expensive facilities to live in. After 20 years of my own place I no longer think 1000+/mo just for board is too much.
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Yeah, you know in spades what you’re getting into with horses at home. I’ll bet you have LOTS of stories.
I think horses at home and what all you need in facilities is highly driven by weather. I’m in Ohio and if you need to ride after work then an indoor sure is handy. Rain, frigid temps, snow, hotter than hades, bugs. If you want to do something every day and make sure they are moving more than in pasture you really need it.
And yes, hybrid or flex with work is a requirement OR having someone who can step in most of the time. I also find my dentist, vet, bodyworkers, farm facilities maintenance (screenings deliveries, fence guy) need to come during business day so I’m burning vacation hours on all that. And need to be there.
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Ok, I wanted to get pictures but you really can’t “see” it, so I made this TERRIBLE NOT TO SCALE drawing (I have many talents, but I’m definitely NOT an architectural engineer), but it basically gives the gist of what I’ve got and what I have planned.
The barn is a 20 stall barn, but they were 10.5x10.5’ stalls. I opened 4 of them up into doubles and converted one into a tack room. I use it when I need to feed concentrates or vet/farrier days or really bad or buggy weather. I’m hoping to hang the mesh bug strips on the communal area and maybe that will help keep them from wanting in, but who knows.
The gates (thin lines) were all in existence and previously used as segregated paddocks. About 75% of the available horse area was already done in fines (or chat as they call it in this area). The front really narrow part was grass, but that’s the grass that I’m hoping to remove this coming spring. It’s not really enough to cause issues, but I still don’t like it. I’ve been trying to let the horses destroy it but apparently I don’t have enough horses to destroy it because it’s not mud yet.
In order for a horse to quarantine, I have to close a few areas off, and I’m hoping to change that so that I can leave more of the track open. I don’t have horses coming and going much - but occasionally it happens and I wanted the space. I do have additional land around the house (not pictured) that I could possibly put in a small fenced area with a run-in for horses that need to be on property which I may do at some point. Another option is adding a secondary fenceline in that paddock to keep them a bit more segregated. That’s up in the air. But a few of the local barns had strangles go through this past summer (I was spared) and that freaked me out. Biosecurity just does not seem to be much of a concern at boarding barns, and that definitely impacts my willingness to be a boarder.
We’ll likely narrow the space in the back a bit, to keep them moving around the outside, but the track really does help them move more. I’m also always looking for more enrichment ideas because they really enjoy that. Bobbing for apples in the secondary trough was a huge hit.
This does require some effort. I clean the track daily with a wheelbarrow. I’d like to get some sort of mule to make that a bit easier. The feeding stations are bagged hay and in the winter I add a trough of loose hay so that they can stay warm on the coldest nights. I have different types of hay for them to forage and doing the forbs/herbs takes some time. I would likely be cheaper if I could handle round bales, which a lot of people do, I feed squares. I don’t have a manure pile, I have a dumpster and that is pricey. But the property drains really well and having the gravel has done wonders for my guys’ feet.
This total area I think is ~2.5 acres. On the other side of the gate there’s a driveway and then an additional ~1.25 acres that has our house, parking, enough room for trailer parking, a tenant house, and the extra grassy area. It’s definitely an efficiently laid out property. I do wish I had a few more acres, but the price of land here is a tradeoff. All around us are residential homes.
The property used to house 20 roping horses! And a stallion back in that back paddock area. It’s been around since the late 50s and whoever designed it really made good use of the space. Originally I was going to put in runs off the front stalls and segregate the paddocks more, but I tried the track, since we already kind of had it built in, and it’s going beautifully. Most of what I want to add now are enrichment and fun things. I have thought about covering the round pen or parts of the arena, but being where we are, we might not be able to get permits.
Anyway - sorry for the hijack OP!
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Your diagram is awesome and I can see how a track works so well with your property and layout. I could just kick myself that I didn’t put in a track when I built 4 years ago. My research at the time had people talking negatively about them and I didn’t know anyone with one.
Then I found the Facebook group with 60k members and people all around the world putting up videos of their tracks and the success in health and feet improvement. And do you know Nic Barker? She’s a farm in the UK where vets send lameness cases and with her tracks and lifestyle and diet she rehabs horses. They are eventers too.
What is your fencing type and is it all hot? And…would you be interested in being on the Track Talk podcast? She’s always looking for people to talk with you and have so much experience and offer.
Looking forward to pictures when you are able. What is your soil? How muddy and slippery does it get on your unsurfaced portion? I put in a mini track and it’s been somewhat successful - they do fly around it sometimes and that’s fun. But I’m on clay and it’s slick and makes me paranoid about them wiping out.
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Yeah! Of course I’d be happy to talk about it although I don’t feel as experienced with it as I would like just yet. I’m not an expert but it is working well so far!
We have clay as well, but it’s just in that narrower part around the front. The rest where they loaf and hang out the most is surfaced. They really haven’t torn it up too badly but these guys are all out 24/7 and while they occasionally act like loonies when something super interesting is occurring, for the most part they walk/trot around the perimeter. Only one is shod in front and I’m pulling those tomorrow (wish me luck!). I do think shoes tear it up worse than the bare feet. We will see when my other horse gets back from the trainer how that goes, because he is a little bit more of a goofball. But I want that part to die (the grass) because that will make it easier to surface.
The fencing is mostly pipe fencing. Around the front it is vinyl Ramm type fencing, which I did add electric to because they were pushing through it to get to grass though we didn’t have any escapees I didn’t want to risk it.
The best part really is seeing them get along, feel well, and want to be together as a herd. One of my horses was a major resource guarder and that has greatly subsided. I haven’t been riding much lately due to time, but they all just seem more chill.
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This is inspirational 
I love the track systems from a behavior and enrichment standpoint. If only I had one trillion dollars to set a great one up on our 6 acres. I’d even settle for one million dollars if I had to. Thanks for sharing!
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Back to the topic, I have been thinking, from all the many people I know that started riding in lessons and then leased and eventually bought horses, still kept them boarding, every one of them then wanted to keep horses at home.
Those that could fulfill that dream, once taking care of horses themselves, very very few did get back to riding seriously or really had a chance to progress but haltingly.
Most were too busy caring for their horses and added horses/companions and other farm stock to have the time and energy to also focus strictly on their riding.
Some compensated by still boarding their riding/training/competition horses out, some struggled to haul out for lessons.
In general, it makes sense that is so, the financial and time in being the caretaker does for many then take some from the riding time, something to consider for those that want horses at home.
It makes sense that boarding we pay to have horses cared for and ready for us to come by and ride at will.
Horses at home do fulfill an emotional need and that, for everyone, is priceless, but should be kept in mind when considering if to manage your own farm and horses, how that fits in your life and what you do with horses.
Your own place or boarding?
The old, “when in doubt, don’t” doesn’t apply here.
If you really want, give it a try, it. may be just what may make you happy.
No matter what you sacrify financially and in time and energy, it will put a smile on your face many times a day.
That of course doesn’t apply to those that can afford staff at home. 
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OK we’ll start a fresh thread on all things track. I’ll post my experiences w my mini track too. I want to hear more about your track experience and want to hear you on Toma’s podcast!
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That’s definitely true, but I also want to point out that it is very possible to keep horses at home, without staff, and still compete on the A circuit and ride daily. I do it myself. Granted, I couldn’t do it if my husband weren’t also my partner in this—he’s incredibly indispensable in keeping the farm running (and playing groom and jump setter at shows). But it’s very possible. It depends on your resources (time and money both) and how much you really want it, but it can be done.
Just throwing this out there because I see so many people saying they never rode or competed when they bought their own farm, and that’s just not been my experience at all.
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Agreed, I don’t show but even without an arena I’m still riding and doing groundwork with my coming 5yo about 4x a week. I could easily ride 5-6 days a week most of the year (when she’s a little older). Less so this month bc of how short the days are and rain. Once we have the arena put in this spring, precipitation won’t be so much of an issue. My SO is also extremely helpful with chores and projects and we don’t have kids, two things that contribute a lot to still doing things with my horses I’m sure
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I always find it interesting how many people say it’s so much more to keep horses at home. I live in a rural, low cost of living area, but I spent less than $500/month for two horses this year. And that includes vet/farrier which I would pay on top of board everywhere else. And it includes a farm sitter while we take vacations.
I think a lot does have to do with how handy you/your spouse are. The first couple years were a lot of work, but now I get full autonomy on my horses’ care and that is amazing.
Chores take 15-20 minutes each end of the day. I don’t stall except for injury/illness so bedding costs are basically nothing. And I don’t get sucked into collecting extra horses to care for and feed. I stick with two (currently, relatively low maintenance critters).
Our outdoor (80x200) was about $10-15k. DH did the labor other than the initial grading.
The barn was an old 40x40 on the property that we’ve put about $3k into to build stalls and put in electric. Put all the fencing up ourselves so just cost materials. Our tractor is from the 80s, but she runs well when we need her to brush hog the pastures or drag the arena. Our 19 acres was $4000/acre when we bought it in 2019. It was a good deal then and I imagine it would be twice that now. But I’d also be happy with 5-10 acres for my needs.
I will admit we spend more on hay to harvest it off our hay field than I would to buy it from a local farmer. But I like knowing that I will always have a hay source and knowing the quality of that hay source. We always have extra that I sell that helps offset some of that cost too.
I think setting up my property for horses has probably cost me $25-30k. Board where I used to board is $550+ and doesn’t include extras like supplements/farrier/vet/etc. that I would pay for either way. The math adds up really quickly that keeping them at home is a lot cheaper. YMMV.
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I have my own place with 5 horses (3 of which are ridden), one donkey, and 4 pigs. I don’t live on property; I rent the farmhouse on AirBnB and VRBO. My commute to the farm is 8-10 minutes, at least twice a day and up to 4 times a day depending on time of year. Up until a few weeks ago I was a one-woman show - every single animal chore, farm repair, regular maintenance, and short-term rental turnover was on me. I’d hire things out here and there, but nothing consistent. My husband is an “only in an emergency” kind of guy, so I don’t get help from him. I now I have someone doing morning chores for me 1-2 times per week. It’s not much, but it’s been pretty nice to sleep a little later on those days and have a few extra hours per week to get my actual house in order.
I don’t ride as much as I could, but I still ride enough to compete my horses regularly during the season (May-October in the frozen north). We typically do 3-4 AA shows per year, a handful of schooling shows, a few hunter paces, and some clinics/lessons off property. It works. By the time October rolls around I’m pretty ready to hunker down for the winter and everyone gets a nice vacation. I will ride intermittently throughout the winter, but nothing consistent. So far my horses have been no worse for wear with the extra time off. In fact, I think it’s better for them in the long run as long as I don’t overdo it in the spring when I bring them back into consistent work.
I won’t comment on the finances of it all. It is what it is, as far as I’m concerned, and my model is a bit different than typical home horse keeping because I run the property as a business. The bottom line is I make it work - some months are easier than others in terms of cash flow - but I would not trade having my horses under my own care for anything at this point.
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