Living in two places, is this feasible?

[Chestnut24]

Just wondering if anyone out there has had an experience of regularly moving their horse between two locations.

My job requires me to be in two different places, in multi-month intervals, and since the two places are pretty far apart, I have a stressful commute. I thought about staying some months in Location A, and then some months in Location B, which would be feasible for me, but, I have a horse.

I know horses tend to thrive on steady routine, familiar places/horse friends, etc and that moving = stress.

But what about those who for example go from the north to south for the winter show season, are your horses okay with it? Or any other experiences / reflections on moving a horse for a few months each year?

[2DogsFarm]

Not me, but a friend has regularly switched between NE & FL with his horse.
Shows Hunters in both places.
Horse is now 6, he’s been doing this for a couple years w/o any issues.

Think about Racing.
The young TBs regularly follow the seasons, going South when it gets colder to follow the circuit.

[vxf111]

People regularly winter in one place and spend the rest of the year elsewhere. Show horses ship decent distances just for shows etc. So if you can afford it and find barns that will work for you in both places, I don’t see why not.

[furlong47]

Are we talking hundreds/thousands of miles apart, or a few hours (since it sounds commutable, but maybe the commute is by plane?) I don’t think the horses themselves will be the issue, as some horses travel quite a lot and seem fine with it. I have a friend who was once stationed in another state for several months and did take her horse along, but it was a one-time thing and not a regular situation. I think one issue may be making sure you have a stall in each location when you need it - are you going to pay for a full year of board in each place, or keep a dry stall, etc, or gamble that you’ll have a spot to go to each time? That makes it different from people who travel with horses to show or race but generally still have the same “home base”. If we’re only talking a very long driving commute maybe move horsey to somewhere in the middle, but then again that would make your travel to the barn worse during the periods when you’re “home”.

[Scribbler]

I go horse camping and many horses go to shows all the time. I’ve also popped my horse into pasture vacation for a couple months at a time. If the environment in both places is comfortable and the feed is consistent horses are quite portable. They are built to move hundreds of miles over range territory. They aren’t homebound like cats.

[Foxglove]

When I rode the Michigan Shore-to-shore trail ride in 2015, there was a core group of trail riders who ride in Michigan in the summer (and other northern states), then pack up and head to AZ and NM for trail riding in the winter. Their horses seemed fine with it.

My horse Will lived summers in NY (upstate) and winters in AZ for the first 7 years of his life.

[OverandOnward]

As they become accustomed to the lifestyle, horses can be quite adjustable and nomadic.

Remembering that in the natural world this is a nomadic species. When they have unlimited open space they easily travel 10+ miles per day with their herd.

Caveat that this can be dependent on the individual horse. I can think of a few that are quite buddy-bound and barn/pasture-bound, and would not be very flexible about travel. Probably why racehorses sometimes get a pet or a companion horse to travel with them. Likely many traveling horses are emotionally dependent on who/what they travel with, more than their location.

A secondary caveat that many traveling racehorses and show horses have a very consistent routine from place to place. The caretakers travel with them, and stick to a time table for feeding, exercise, cleaning up, wherever they are, with minor modifications for daily events. What the horses are eating and when they eat stays consistent.

[Scribbler]

I would say herd dynamics and big change in feed would matter most. That said, it depends a lot on the horse

[jvanrens]

@2DogsFarm

Think about Racing.
The young TBs regularly follow the seasons, going South when it gets colder to follow the circuit.

We have Standardbreds, and they go down to NYS every spring normally to race, horses come home when the meet ends. They all do great! If anything they like the NYS stables better, since they’re all open shedrow stables, so they can see right out into the world outside, but they have all settled into the winter training centre really well this fall.

[Lizrd]

The other thing that wouldn’t be that much fun is paying for all that hauling, assuming you won’t manage it yourself.

[poltroon]

I think it would be fine, and I’d just really try to select so that the two places are fairly similar in style and routine. It’s not necessarily even that hard - for example, when I was eventing I worked with multiple instructors but they mostly had shared background - they’d been assistants or students of the same master trainer, or of each other. They weren’t identical but the basic shared philosophy meant that the core ideas of how they approached everything was similar, and then their variations were wonderful for giving me different angles and insights.

I think the situation is harder for pasture board than if your horse is kept individually.

Good luck!

[GraceLikeRain]

It may be harder on the barn side than the horse side. Unless you’ve got a large volume of high quality barns in A and B you’re going to be paying double board year round. Maybe that’s not a barrier but just something to expect. Some barns offer a dry rate if you aren’t there using hay/grain/shavings but not all. I’m guessing you have your own rig but another consideration is paying for trailer parking on both ends so you don’t show up at barn B with a stall but no where for a trailer. Ensuring you can find two sets of farriers and vets willing to coordinate is also a consideration. You may regularly end up arriving mid cycle for shoes compared to the rest of the barn. You’ll need two farriers who are willing to come out for one horse and a horse with good enough feet to do a quick reset every few cycles to get back on the barn schedule.

If location A and B are a hour or two apart it may be worth looking at if keeping horse in the middle would work. Obviously less feasible if you’re talking a state or two away. For the cost of the added logistics, two barns, extra farrier fees, trailer parking, stress, etc it also may be worth looking at a half lease that gets a full lease benefit for a few months at a time and horse stays in one spot.

[EmilyM]

I move mine between Florida and PA. They spend about half the year in one, half in the other. I own the farm in Florida and my mother owns the farm in PA so they are always going to the same places. They usually settle in within days. The hardest / most stressful part is switching their forage. This year the hay down here seems turbo charged, and they feel like they got wild so I had to find different hay. They know their homes and adapt pretty quickly. I would think consistency of where they stay would be most important along w consistent diet.

I hate moving so I have no idea how I set my life up to move 2x a year, but I settle in once I recover from the packing/unpacking marathon. And the long drive.

[Warmblood1]

Like others are saying, it really isn’t uncommon. But I’d say the biggest determining factor is the personality of your horse. I’ve owned a horse that was a total nut for 3 weeks after a move, and I’ve also owned the polar opposite who was the same at home as he was at a show, clinic, new barn, etc. If both barns offer a healthy lifestyle and your horse has the personality to handle it and trailers well, go for it. But if they decline for some reason due to trailering or new places, I’d rethink it or try it for a trial period to see if they improve.

[beau159]

@Chestnut24

Just wondering if anyone out there has had an experience of regularly moving their horse between two locations.

My job requires me to be in two different places, in multi-month intervals, and since the two places are pretty far apart, I have a stressful commute. I thought about staying some months in Location A, and then some months in Location B, which would be feasible for me, but, I have a horse.

I know horses tend to thrive on steady routine, familiar places/horse friends, etc and that moving = stress.

But what about those who for example go from the north to south for the winter show season, are your horses okay with it? Or any other experiences / reflections on moving a horse for a few months each year?

PRCA and WPRA rodeo horses live on the road, and perform at very high levels, for a lot of money. And thrive just fine.

If you decide to take your horse back and forth with you, they will be fine. The horse cares if they have food, water, and shelter, and can see another equine nearby (so they aren’t alone). Which they will have. Their “routine” will settle into traveling. And it’s every couple months. That’s not a big deal.

[Chestnut24]

Thanks everyone, very helpful feedback!

It sounds like it is worth a try. My horse has so far been very chill at shows, but its a good point about trying to maintain elements of routine. And the barn scenarios I would have to work out… But great to hear that people do it and horses seem to cope well.