How often do you ride now that you have your own acreage?

[Scribbler]

This is a bit of a spin-off from the recent post about whether you could keep only two horses on your acreage without them getting buddy bound (consensus seems to be: it depends).

My question: when you moved your horse to your own acreage, did you end up riding more, less, or about the same?

I’m asking because owning your own place is the dream of every horse owner I know. Yet when I look at the people I know who’ve done it, they seem to get much less riding time than I do, in self-board close to my suburban apartment.

Some of the problems include: buddy bound horses; repairs and maintenance taking up all the daylight hours; no real place to ride, because no indoor arena for winter, no or sub-par outdoor arena, no trail access, unsafe country roads; harder to work with a trainer or coach; and anxiety about riding alone with no-one to call 911 if you have a crash.

Also, real estate here is insanely expensive, so everyone I know with property is middle aged or even retired, meaning their riding time might be decreasing anyhow. The right age for mending fences and clearing brambles seems to me to be 28 or 31, but no-one that age can afford acreage here.

My current situation is very affordable, I get to micromanage my horse’s care, and I ride almost every day. We have an indoor, outdoor, and turnout rings, and a circuit of groomed trails in a park.

The two things lacking at my current barn are pasture turnout, and direct access to backcountry trails. But in our region, depending on your soil and drainage, you might only be able to use the pasture May to October. And most rural properties here are “landlocked”: you would need to trailer out to trail ride, unless you happened to be adjacent to one of the mutli-use trail systems. There are no right of ways through private land.

Thoughts? The reasonable part of my brain tells me I am well off here, I just need to buy a truck and trailer to access the backcountry trails. But then I can’t completely let go of the picture of walking out the backdoor in the morning and having the horses right there…. Oh, and then running back inside for hammer and nails because they’ve got into the vegetable garden over night

[Jumper_girl221]

I actually have a really good ring (thanks to a husband that is a land mover by profession and sells sand ).

I don’t find my riding time compromised that much. I ride early early, then do stalls and feed before hopping in the shower to head to work (leave by 7:45 am). Barn work etc is usually done in the evenings after I put dinner on.

I’m actually coming from a “worst case” scenario. I had my own farm, but it was off property about 10 minutes away. So I still had the labor and work, without the feed in my pj’s fun. Also couldn’t toss dinner in the oven and then do barn chores without the DH going nuts about “burning the house down”

[goldenrow]

For me, it wasn’t a reduced amount of time doing the acreage stuff that took away from the riding time, it’s the darn job “upgrade” it took to pay for it all!!!

[paintjumper63]

I have had two horse properties. First one was in So Cal and it was 1/2 acre (pretty common). I had enough room for a small arena and we had a community arena and trails. No need for an indoor and so rode a lot (this was from the age of 26-40). Second and current place is 5 acres in Colorado. I have a small arena and we have a community arena and trails. No indoor, but am close enough to haul in to rent indoor time ($10 per horse). I am 52 and ride a lot. Since I am a teacher, I ride two when I have breaks. Otherwise, as long as the weather is decent, I ride one a day after work and ususally both on the weekends. I made sure both times that I chose places that had a community arena and designated trails. Makes life easier.

[Simkie]

I’ve ridden maybe 3 times total since we moved here 10 months ago.

No ring. Terrible winter. Bum hip. Green horses. Farm stuff to do.

I’ve not MADE it a priority. I’m going to have to prioritize it to make it happen. A ring would really help.

[clanter]

kids are gone, horses are retired so very rarely are they even saddled up for the grand kids BUT when the kids were at home, the horses were used daily, ridden everywhere even to pickup the younger kids from school…believe me they earned their retirement

[Libby2563]

I consistently rode 5-6 days a week when I boarded at a place with an indoor. Without an indoor, that would drop down a bit in the winter if there was a lot of snow or frozen footing but I still did pretty well.

Since bringing my boy home (and acquiring two more equines) I probably average 4-5 while still competing at GP dressage (I have an outdoor). Some of that reduction is horse care and maintenance time, which takes longer every day than my commute to the barn did, so no time saved there. Some of that is unrelated life events like studying for the bar exam. Some of that is lack of an indoor, though my neighbor does let me pay to use hers. Some of that is also my guy’s increasing age and decreasing need for very hard work.

So I can’t really say that I definitely ride less because of home horsekeeping, but there are more competing demands on my “free time” and “horse time.”

As an aside, while I love riding I no longer feel the need to ride just to get quality time with my horse or to make sure he’s doing fine, because I’m there every day taking care of them all no matter what. While I wouldn’t generally drive half an hour to the barn and not ride if I could, I can easily step outside my door just to say hi and feel fulfilled.

Having them at home is priceless. Your current situation plus a truck and trailer sounds pretty good though!

[candyappy]

I boarded until I got married and we bought our own place. As a boarder I rode 6 days a week and pretty much continued that way until my first child was born. After that I did as much as I could, 2 more kids followed and I still managed to ride somewhat.

My kids are older now and I find that life, work,family and mostly weather make it difficult to fit it all in. Having the actual farm wasn’t a factor and if you put up good fences to begin with, there is virtually no repair to do. My horses are good.

I would never board again. If I have just 45 minutes I can do a decent ride, that same 45 minutes would be wasted if I boarded.

[ElementFarm]

when I lived in the mid-west and New England, I had to board so as to have access to an indoor, becuase I wasn’t willing to not ride for 5 months.

Now, in NC, where’s the winters are pretty mild, we have our own place. We rented a small farm for a year to make sure we really liked it, and I compared my “riding notes” between years and found very little difference. In both cases, there were days I didn’t ride – either it was too stormy/windy/cold to ride, even with an indoor, or in NC, it was raining, or the footing in the community grass ring was too slippery.
We bought our own small farm this spring (16 acres, so manageable) and the sand-all weather footing immediately increased my riding opportunities.

I feel like I have the opportunity to ride more at home, since I can squeeze in a quick hack between a late day at work and dinner with friends, whereas when I boarded, with driving, it was a 90-min minimum, even for a quick flat ride. Plus, since I have my own space, I can do more in my rides, without having to navigate around lessons or share the ring with a beginner.

But the barn work can take a chunk of time, if you let it. So, I “pay myself first” as Suzie Orman says. I muck stalls in the AM when I feed. In the afternoons/evenings, I ride at least one, weather and daylight permitting, and then weekends I make time to ride inbetween farm projects. Winters are tough becuase it’s dark when I get home from work. By next year, I hope to have my ring well lit and useable all hours, but my riding took a bit hit during the dark months this year.

So, the short answer is: you can ride MORE or LESS at home, and those are dependent on your facilities (indoor or all weather footing, lights, etc) and your priorities. There will always be weeding, or re-fencing, or water tubs to scrub. If you let those projects consume you, you’ll never have time to ride. If you ride first, and allow yourself to delay scrubbing tubs till the weekends, you’ll have plenty of riding.
A big consideration is your farm layout and routine. If you have to lead 4 horses, individually, a half mile to a big field, it’s going to take forever to do AM/PM chores. If you have paddocks off the barn, that can feed into larger fields, you are minimizing the amount of chore time you have. It’s all about “making” time for what’s important, which for me, is riding. That’s the whole point.

I do have a truck/trailer, which I use to haul to lessons/shows/clinics, and since we couldn’t afford a decent farm on the great riding trail system, we do have an 8-min trailer drive to get to trails.

[saddleup]

I have three horses, one is retired. I ride three days a week. When my show horse is in full training I ride five days a week: show horse three days, other gelding two days. I don’t have an official ring at home, but have a trail course permanently set up that I work my horses over for fun, for them and for me. I have bridle paths throughout my neighborhood, and a community arena, plus can trailer to a beautiful county facility ten minutes away. This time of year I go out on trails twice a week in nearby mountains. In the winter I try to ride twice a week, depending on snowfall. But my horses are out 24/7, so I don’t really feel guilty if they don’t get ridden. At least they can move at will.

I’ll admit it was easier to ride when they were boarded, but after 8+ years at home, I far prefer having them here, even if I can’t always ride as much as I used to.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Ridden less than 5 times at home in 2 years. I’ve ridden more on other’s horses away from home! Reasons: No arena or fenced riding area. Tons of other stuff to do. Very green horse I couldn’t keep going due to rain, etc. I spend almost no time on chores (out 24x7 with a run-in) so that’s a plus.

I was going to replace windows and reside the house (husband’s prerequisite) and then look at doing a ring this fall. Finally. I had it all saved up. And then I was hit with massive vet bills, my truck needed to be replaced WAY prematurely after thousands in repairs–big ouch, and my big riding mower died, etc.

So I’m planning on boarding my horse starting in September at a place with an indoor. 45 minutes away. And I still have an acreage…

Whatever. Next year. At least my horse will be in training.

If riding is your priority don’t buy a fixer-upper and put in proper facilities right away. Also, when considering your riding goals, I highly recommend having a certain level of wealth. All my friends with gorgeous 200’ indoors (some with hired help, some without and several who don’t work “outside” the home) seem to find time to ride and show.

Scribbler, seriously, if I had your situation I would just get the truck and trailer. You will need one anyway if you buy a place.

[Jumper_girl221]

I will say that I ride more during the week before work then I do on weekends unless I get up super early and ride before the husband is moving. He usually has a long “to do” list for weekends that don’t include saddle time LMAO

[poltroon]

I ride less, have generally ridden less, since the horses came home. Some of that is circumstance separate from having them home, some is learning curve, and some is unavoidable.

Circumstance included that my horse was semi-retired when I brought her home so I didn’t have a strong ethic to continue schooling at the same level.

Learning curve:

1. Two horses was no bueno. The other horse would run around like a maniac, and every time I rode mine, I was worried that the other one would get hurt. This made riding unfun and scary and made me wonder why even bother. (Solved: I keep four horses now.)

When buying a property I suggest:

1. Pay yourself first: make sure you have a place to ride that doesn’t require a trailer, ideally at least a flat 20x40m with a tractor and implement to groom it.

2. Trails nearby are great but you won’t use them if you have to get into a trailer. You want to be able to get on and ride to a place that is fun to ride, that won’t get boring same old same old.

3. You need a truck and trailer and you need a very easy park and turnaround situation, where it is easy to pull through without backing up, where you can leave the trailer parked and hooked up, where you don’t have to open any gates to be able to go in and out.

4. Have friends who want to come house sit and pet sit at your place so you can go away once in a while.

Things I did right: my barn is just covered pipes with attached paddocks; the horses can go days without needing anyone to open a gate or to be handled or clean stalls. Some sort of water that will hold a week - automatic or big tanks - also very essential.

The stuff you can’t fix:
When you have property, there will be things that have to be done at a particular time that just can’t be done other times. Mowing is one of those things, but the list is longer than you’d expect. Any kind of irrigating, spraying, is like that; then there are unexpected things like fence repair that just bite you.

The stuff that I (inadvertently?) chose:
Having a kid takes a lot of time, and so sometimes I subvert my riding time to her interests (and ironically, her riding time). Because we have acreage, she could take on activities like having 4-H sheep. So now I fix fence not just for horses, but also for sheep.

[RedmondDressage]

I have all four horses at home. One is retired, the other is one of those trail horses that you can hop on once a month and he’s the same as if you ride every day. The other two are my show horses - I ride at least one of them a day, sometimes two.

I don’t have a usable ring at the moment, which has been a blessing and a curse. The downside of that has been that I have to haul out to the arena - though I’m lucky to have access to a giant indoor about a 5 min haul down the road. The upside has been that I do a lot more hacking out. It has been fantastic for all of my boys - for their minds and for their fitness. I didn’t have access to any trails where I boarded previously so it’s been great to be able to get out of the sandbox multiple times per week.

[fordtraktor]

4-5 days a week, almost always 2 a day on riding days. But that is March/April through October/November, and the winter is highly dependent on weather as I don’t have an indoor so I can go weeks without riding. I will ride on snow but not ice, and not super deep snow with icy layers in it. And in winter it is usually just one, as the other is a lunatic unless regularly ridden so he’s not safe to ride on snow.

I have 4, the oldest 2 are semi-retired (my old jumper and kid’s pony). I will hop on them bareback occasionally but that doesn’t really count.

The key is to ride when you can, even if the aisle isn’t swept and the grass is maybe a little longer than it would be if you had a gardener. Because you’ll never lie on your deathbed thinking, “darn, I wish I had mowed my grass more often.”

Your other issues…I dream of an indoor, I have an outdoor which is certainly small with subpar footing but it is safe and it is fine and it is mine. I don’t worry about riding alone, life’s too short, I wear a helmet and try not to do anything too stupid. And I don’t have trails but never liked trail riding much anyway. I can hack around my farm.

In your situation, though…what you have sounds really nice. It would have to be a really good deal to make bringing them home work. Like, perfect. And you just have one…one of my issues was that I have been supporting a bunch of retired horses from my childhood for a long time and needed a place to stash them. One of them has since passed on, but I needed to board at least three, and that was before I’d bought the second riding horse or my kid’s pony. With one, it makes less sense.

[poltroon]

[QUOTE=fordtraktor;8228426]
The key is to ride when you can, even if the aisle isn’t swept and the grass is maybe a little longer than it would be if you had a gardener. Because you’ll never lie on your deathbed thinking, “darn, I wish I had mowed my grass more often.”[/QUOTE]

Well, your terrain will vary on that. I have to mow at least a path in order to ride, because the grass can and does get over horse-mouth-level.

There is also the issue of particular weeds (which will come back a zillion times worse if you don’t mow the exact right week) and fire danger (so the death bed could come into play ).

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=Scribbler;8227951]
no real place to ride, because no indoor arena for winter, no or sub-par outdoor arena, no trail access, unsafe country roads;[/QUOTE]

^^^^^^
Why I rarely ride since moving my horses home, but I’m not really complaining. I wouldn’t have moved my horses home to a property with no good riding area if riding were my top priority.

Over the past few years, I’ve been hopping on my mare maybe once a week (err… or every other week) just to remind her that one day she may have a job again when I finally have the cash for a nice arena. But I haven’t been able to keep her in any sort of program.

But then I can’t completely let go of the picture of walking out the backdoor in the morning and having the horses right there….

This is what makes it worth it. I love having them home. Don’t get me wrong, there are times of the year you could convince me to board again, like when it’s below freezing outside. But most of the time, I wouldn’t trade having them home for the world!

[Fergs]

I ride more with horses at home. We have an arena and community open space, so I can easily keep up with my training at home. There are three indoors within hacking distance, although I haven’t yet investigated the feasibility of using one because I was pregnant last winter. I hope to use one this winter. One of my trainers lives in the neighborhood, and the other is a 10-minute trailer ride away.

A lot of these features were things I prioritized when we were looking for property. With two young kids, there was no way I could ride without a ring on site. It’s best if you can buy something with as much “infrastructure” in place as possible, saving both money and time in the long run.

[normandy_shores]

Only been here a year. For the first three months I rode both horses 3-5x a week each, based on their needs. Rode one almost every day, often rode two.

Both had soundness issues in September and while I did very light hacking in the winter I have no indoor.

I have my own arena and some trails I can ride to from home. Also not a long haul for other local trails.

I’m a 1hr45m haul from lessons but had planned to go 1-2x per month, possibly overnight to have lessons on back to back days. Soundness has prevented this. Instead we’ve prioritized property improvement, but it’s always been assumed and understood Id still ride regularly and hopefully keep one horse competitive, even if I don’t show as much due to lack of show proximity.

[Manni01]

This is my 2nd horse property and I really try to ride every day. I ride first and then I do my chores. And I am lucky I spent 0$ on my arena so far. I just mow the nicest and most even part of my pasture and it works very well so far. There is no way for my to board my horses… They are spoiled to death and would not survive in a boarding facility. Last time I tried (several years ago) my mare had a horrible neighbor who was always trying to attack her. It was horrible, she is really gentle and just tried to stay out of the way of that horse. So she only used parts of her stall. And the turn out was very limited and muddy. I think I took her home 4 weeks later, because I just could not see her suffer…