That’s one thing I can say is that at my current barn they get offered full care or to remove their horse from the property if they do not check (or fail to continue to check) all the boxes of decent horse care.
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There is a semi co op type situation in my area that I’m aware of. The BO feeds breakfast and puts round bales in the paddocks when the grazing isn’t sufficient. My understanding is that the boarders are responsible for pm grain, any poop picking they want done and replacing any broken boards in the fence. I believe that each boarder has their own paddock. Single horse owners have smaller paddocks and folks with more horses pay more for larger paddocks. The people I’m acquainted with there are relatively satisfied with the situation. It’s field board and fairly far from town but still it’s usually full with a wait list.
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Sadly I don’t think there is a way to future-proof this industry. My kids, who grew up with horses in the back yard and rode throughout childhood, have no interest in introducing their own children to riding. As one son told me, why would he start his child in horses when it’s not sustainable? When the kid will inevitably have to stop when college rolls around and then won’t be able to afford it on their own into adulthood?
Meanwhile there are lots of other sports and activities that can be enjoyed at the club level or recreational league without requiring a 7-figure income to support and maintain it? I get it.
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I’m very, very lucky in that the pandemic led me to a good situation. I had been on “full care” at my previous barn (but providing my own bedding, feed, stall cleaning, pm turn in to get more than 3 hours out in good weather, etc.) when the barn locked down. My horse became very unhappy so I searched for self care and found a place (twice as far, ugh) that did turnouts, would throw am feed in, top up water when necessary, feed hay outside during droughts and winter, and manage turnout groups in large fields when new horses came to change the social ecosystem.
We’re very fortunate that we are not left to try to sort out turnout groups when we’re only there in the evenings and don’t have to try to figure out who should pay what for outside hay.
In return, the BO has a great group who shows up every dang day to feed, water, clean, and take care of all the garbage that eats up a BO’s day.
I wish there were more places like this, but totally understand that it’s not going to work for every BO and that there are plenty of deadbeat horse owners who give us good self-care folks a bad name 
And, of course, my current situation isn’t perfect. There are things I’d change/do better if I won a lottery ( 
) but there is always some compromise to be made 
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Ikr! If I could only change one thing about my farm it would be to have two of them so I could reverse snow bird
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I spent close to 8 months at a barn that swiftly turned into more of a co-op type place than expected. We had a monthly “shift” schedule that boarders would sign up to do and it actually worked quite well. Many of us were a 10 mins drive away, one of the boarders lived on site. The BO unfortunately had several screws loose and zero money for keeping things a bare bones level safe when it came to turnout/fencing/round bale storage. Tons of inefficiencies and things done hardly even half a$$ed due to trying to cut costs. When winter hit, the safety issues increased and we high tailed it out.
I would have zero qualms about a self care/co-op with the right group of people. I also work remote which makes a huge difference with no commute time and extra fatigue from having to be in the office all day. At 40, I agree with the sentiments that the 20/30 y/os are have a lot more career crap to deal with at those ages in this current reality.
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Yes, what most of us on this board usually advise is to get a full-time job with some flexibility and to have your own personal horse as an amateur, rather than to go pro.
I know how incredibly hard trainers and barn owners work. But I would definitely caution anyone in any industry to give up their sanity (and savings) to fund the dreams of others–ultimately if workers aren’t willing to work for what you can pay, there has to be a change of business plan. (Which the trainer herself admitted she’d decided to shift to, to her credit.)
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Sadly, all too common in an industry in which people think with their hearts and not their brains.
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The TBI rate among horse people also doesn’t help
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I also have to think brain injuries may play into this as well from falls/accidents. As I have gotten older I wonder about myself truthfully even though every fall I have ever sustained I thankfully had a helmet on…and knock on wood it’s been a long time since I have met the ground in that manner.
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Yes!! I think we responded at the same time 
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Exactly. In the short term there’s limited payoff for that trainer to have those lesson horses even if their other income covers it. And in the long term the payoff may go to someone else - the kids who ride with them maybe buy horses when they’re situated as adults. If you are in a very wealthy area maybe enough of those families will buy fancy horses for their kids to fill your training program.
It is in the interest of the industry as a whole to have these programs, more so than any single individual, and thus we have the tragedy of the commons. Graze your animals today, it does not matter to you if there will be grass here in 20 years.
If this is a problem worth solving (and it’s a fair question: is it?), it will need some sort of economic structure that doesn’t depend on individual sole proprietors being independently wealthy and bad at making rational economic decisions for themselves. (I say that with a great deal of love and respect! 
)
I love horses and I want other people to love horses, but if kids have other options now that make them as happy or happier maybe they’re not wrong to choose them. Videogame horses, or plastic ones, don’t colic and don’t send you to the ER. I hate to say that but I try to step outside myself and see why other people are making different choices than I made.
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I think we have “classed” out the lower end barns, as well.
God forbid Suzie the 6 year old is taking lessons in a dirty cordura saddle in a grassy non-dragged “arena” with fencing that has some wear and tear.
God forbid someone rides their “forever two-foot” or “never above first level” horse in anything but $$$ GGT footing.
Nice things are nice - but we really need to come to a reality check with “wants” and “needs” for horses.
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You are not wrong about this but my complaint with these types of barns is that they normally come with horses that are 3/5 lame and the staff can’t even recognize it, or the horses have such ill-fitting saddles that they are chronically backsore. In fact, there is a “lesson business” near me that is the only affordable option in the area and they have been kicked out of multiple leases because they don’t take care of their horses.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/golden-gate-park-horseback-riding-permit-19486159.php
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There are plenty of public/rec league youth football and hockey programs. I don’t enjoy those sports, and evidence is building that they are actually physically bad for kids. But it’s not inconceivable to make a case for “rec league” riding. And with pushes for land preservation, tie in a local farm and its open space to a “public good” argument, and maybe you have something to build from.
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Id argue that those sports get tied (rightfully so) to TBI. Horse riding isn’t winning any prizes on that end either statistically speaking.
When I get friends who have kids interested in horses, my advice is to always support the interest if you can and start them in lessons. Be prepared that it can get very expensive very quickly but things like showing are not required. Neither is owning. I don’t love saddle horse 4-H, but that is a lower cost option to get involved and learn without a huge financial commitment. A friend from college has a daughter that got bit by the bug a few years ago, and they seem to be navigating pretty well. Daughter has zero interest in showing (currently) so that helps a bit.
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I tell parents who ask me about whether their (usually) daughter should ride that it’s not cheap, if she’s really interested let her try it in a good lesson program (there are a couple near me) and that it has been shown that being involved in horses delays onset of interest in dating. That usually hooks the parents!
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I also include that too hahaha. I always tell people that horses likely kept me out of some trouble.
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I told a coworker this morning that if his daughter is hooked on horses, she won’t have time or money for boys or drugs
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Yes, I agree with this. Thirty to forty years ago, I trained show hunters mostly on a flat grassy “arena.” A dusty sand or dirt arena wasn’t exactly a luxury, but it wasn’t considered necessary. Event horses and racehorses (before they went to the track) were fitted up in corn and soybean fields. A lot of our day to day tack was picked up used and was for sure nothing fancy. Daily use saddle pads were often on the grimy side–few people had a washer/dryer in their barn. Hairy, non-fancy ponies and honies were valued as dependable lesson mounts. Lesson students wore simple breeches and helmets that weren’t considered fashion items in any way. Dressing nicely for a lesson meant wearing a polo shirt and clean boots.
I’m not looking back at the past with rose colored glasses–much has improved since then. Someday someone can pry my nice French saddles out of my cold dead hands. Just agreeing with @endlessclimb that a lot of our increased costs are optional things that we act like are necessary. If someone recreated the training barn from my youth with a grass/dirt arena, ponies and honies that lived outside, wore simple tack, and the trainer discouraged spending extra $$ on fancier gear, I think the reception to that would not be enthusiastic.
I have mixed feelings about what @Demerara_Stables says. I’ve been in and out of all kinds of barns over the years, from multimillion dollar facilities to simple operations. It’s not clear to me that there is an accurate link to the fanciness of a property and the welfare of the horses on it. Fancy barns can be rife with mismanagement or quite cruel to horses, and the veneer of a gorgeous facility makes people blind to it. And I’ve seen facilities that are very simple, but that are populated with healthy, well managed equids.
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