I think it's time to move barns - ISO recommendations (NY/CT)

[Alter3230000]

Story

For obvious reasons I am posting under an alter and I apologize for the lengthy post and TIA for reading to the end!

I have been with my current barn for close to 20 years. In that time I have leased and also throughout the years have boarded 6 horses there. The biggest problem I have is there are too many horses and not enough employees to provide adequate care.

I recently purchased a new horse and am starting to heavily question the quality of care (again). Unfortunately due to my job/commute I am only able to get to the barn 3 days a week (including weekends). The rest of the time I am relying on others to keep an eye on my horse.

To say the grooms are stretched thin is an understatement and we also have no barn manager or designated office manager. It seems that everyday that I come to the barn I find some new cut or bruise on my horse that no one seems to know how or when it happened. Because everyone is stretched thin, no one is noticing (or if they do notice, no one says anything) if a horse is missing a shoe, has a cut, has a lump or bump, etc. I don’t think it’s right as a boarder that I show up and find my horse bleeding or with lumps that no one knows what/how it happened.

At this time I think I’ve given many chances over the years and I’m finally to the point that I think I need to leave because nothing has changed and it’s only getting worse.

What I Am Looking For

• A barn that can accommodate the busy schedule of a busy adult (I usually cannot take a lesson on weekdays until about 6:00pm/6:30pm) and would love the option of having my horse tacked up and waiting to save me time [LIST]
• I do also love being able to spend the time doing my own care (I do everything currently in terms of grooming, tacking, wrapping, braiding and on horse show mornings I get there at 5am to lunge and prep my own horse and load them). But having the option to have my horse ready and waiting would be a welcomed luxury so I can have some free time

Indoor and outdoor rings

I would also need to be assured that the number of grooms to horses ratio is much less than where my horse is at currently. I'm looking for a barn where the staff knows the horses and each employee maybe only has 5-6 in their care

Having a barn that does night check of some sort (we do not have that and if we did, many accidents could have been avoided)

A barn that does go to shows (AA, A, B and C rated) and if they do winter in FL, they also keep their barn up North running as I do not have the funds to winter in Ocala or WEF

Turnout (grass would be a plus, but turnout space in general is a must)

Board that's around or ideally under $2,500 per month

I would like to stay in Westchester (no lower than White Plains) or Putnam County (think Patterson, Brewster, Carmel, Mahopac) or Connecticut (think close Danbury) [/LIST] Please feel free to send any and all suggestions. I am open to most situations if they can match the criteria I am looking for. I know my budget is not huge (based on the areas I am looking in) so I can be a little flexible on the Full Care (i.e. having my horse tacked/untacked, etc) since I do all of that for myself now.

[RW06]

You might reach out to Ryan Petronelli at Justamere Pony Farm in Bethel- sounds like they would fit what you need!

[btananbaum]

you can contact me. I am one of the riding chairs at Fairfield and I’d love to give you a tour! btananbaum@optonline.net

[Lucassb]

If Newtown would work for you, I would recommend Kristen Neff (SeaHorse Stables at RedGate Farm.) The care is fantastic and Kristen was always wonderful about scheduling around working adult responsibilities. https://www.facebook.com/pg/Seahorsellcct/about/

[patterson]

Melissa hogan at Revolution equestrian in Pawling has everything you mentioned. I don’t have a horse, so not the best person to speak to that, but it is a beautiful facility and I’d think not unreasonably priced. It’s also a really interesting group of professional women—lawyers,bankers,tech sales, media people—but very down to earth.I also didn’t want a lot of kids, and I’m serious about my riding but don’t compete—so it took me a while to find my tribe. Definitely check it out.

[FrankieSwindon]

If you are still looking, FRS Equestrian has just moved to Patterson, NY. All day group or individual turnout (weather depending), trainer lives on site, heated barn and tack room, indoor arena hot/cold water wash stall and more!