Hi forum, I am looking for insight!
I am looking into potentially moving my horses to a different barn but I am struggling so much with this decision. I am northeast of Boston and have two geldings, a 6-year-old and a semi-retired but still rideable gelding in his early 20s. This area is losing barns so I am very limited in my choices, and what I would choose to do if I lived in another area are not the choices I have in front of me.
Boarding is always a trade off and I am having difficulty assessing these trade offs and what is more preferable for my horses versus what is more convenient for me. The basic challenge is around turnout and whether a larger area for a smaller time is preferable to a smaller area for a longer time, and weighing this in relation to my own very strong preference to have trail access, plus some safety concerns, but I include other considerations below.
Current barn pluses:
-Daytime turnout in a small herd in 3/4 acre paddocks, approximately 8 hours in summer and 6 hours in winter (about 5 horses per paddock)
-My horses move quite a bit in turnout. I tracked their mileage last summer using an old phone and they were averaging 9 miles per day for the 6-year-old and almost that for the older boy.
-I like the other boarders and everyone is friendly, although we do not do anything at the barn together and all are significantly younger or older than I am
-Lots of tack storage in large private locker
-I’ve been there 4 years and I know it
-My horses are fed and cared for and it could definitely be a lot worse
Current barn negatives:
-Extremely muddy 8 months of the year. I battled thrush and hoof problems in my horses who generally have good feet from September through April. It was a terrible winter, and some mud is unavoidable, but there were weeks I could not get down the barn driveway due to mud. I could not get my trailer into the yard to trailer out to trailheads (medical emergencies were also in the back of my mind but thankfully my boys did not have any), and by March I was so tired of wading through deep mud just to get to my horse’s stalls I seriously considered selling one just to make it easier to move. However, last winter was just terrible in New England and March is not the mindset to use to make decisions - the past three winters were not good, but not as bad in probably descending order (seems to get worse each year). I ride through the winter to keep conditioning and do not mind snow or cold, but it’s really difficult when the ring is unusable and I can’t trailer out. (As a location specific point: boarding barns with indoors in my area are very unlikely to have any meaningful turnout or significant forage, both of which are deal breakers for me, so I am not considering any barns with indoors - I am also not “in a program” so that rules out most)
-Horses are stalled in 10 x 12 lightly-bedded stalls the remaining 18/16 hours when not in turnout
-Trail system is a 1/2 mile loop that requires numerous wide and deep muddy stream crossings (this could be a positive or negative, since many barns have nothing at all, but is challenging for my 6-year-old who I have to ride out solo, and for my own mental health cleaning the endless mud off legs and hooves that persists even now)
-My semi-retired horse and I like to trail ride as much as we can and this is challenging with current limited access. He is largely sound, but the ring is very small and the constant corners can be hard on him at trot and canter so it’s been a terrible struggle keeping him in work (and he still loves to GO).
-I’ve been on rides with other riders at the barn maybe 4 times in 4 years. While I am used to riding alone, it would be very nice if I could hack out with others, especially for my 6-year-old, who would benefit from a steady trail companion (the others at the current barn are not excluding me; they just don’t ride out of the ring)
-No trailer parking
-Hay supply is good during the day but they often finish hay by 7pm and have nothing until 7am
-Sometimes there is no water in daytime winter turnout (this has been true at 3 barns so far, so while it seems unbelievable to me I am not sure it is necessarily so for the area)
-Horses are allowed in group turnout with rear shoes (this really frightens me)
-Turnout fencing is more of an idea than a solid construct, but mine are both very respectful of fencing (I personally paid to replace portion of electric fencing that was most unsafe, and would continue to do so if this was the only issue)
New barn positives:
-Many trails available with a short horseback ride down and across a roadway
-Small surfaced drylot-style runout attached to each stall so never entirely stalled even when not on drylot
-Trailer parking
-Other boarders appear to be active riders and include hacking out on trails in their conditioning; similar age and life stage (but of course I do not know if schedules/personalities will align)
-Very good horse-safe fencing
-Horses are turned out for 14 hours in summer, 10-12 hours in winter
-Hay provided in good quantities with the intent to be 24/7 forage (this is hard to know until you are there and can see for yourself as I’ve found the idea of what this means may differ)
-Indoor arena for rent down the road (hackable)
New barn negatives:
-Daytime turnout space is drylot and much smaller (about 5000 sq ft), my two horses could be together in double paddock (size above already counts both) but no larger group
-Cannot tell the winter mud situation without living through it
-Fear of the unknown
-Small tack storage
-More expensive but just within budget, not as many fun purchases (current board $800, new barn $950 per horse for reference)
About the same between barns:
-Ring is about the same (small, possibly not maintained in winter - the answer is that it is, but I was told that at current barn too and it is not for 4 months of the year so I take this with a grain of salt)
-Small barns with only a few other boarders (current barn has 5 + owner, potential new barn has 2 + owner)
-Driveways extremely rutted/rocky and likely to be a challenge at certain times of year regardless of mud, but I think this is just life
-Both are about a 30 minute drive
I am heavily considering moving due to what I consider husbandry issues (the mud and others), but it is the dry season and hard to tell how new barn would be in the thick of March. There are some surfaced areas, so it seems unlikely to be as bad, but I suppose one never knows. I left a previous barn four years ago for other reasons that also had very muddy turnout but walkways and driveways were good (current barn is muddy all over).
I have had to trailer my horse(s) to trailheads about three times a month for four years (last 2 years for the 6-year-old) to get in any significant mileage. They are both good in the trailer, but I really prefer not to do this. It’s tedious and a huge time suck when I could be using that time riding and not dragging a horse trailer across the state (we do have some beautiful state parks that I love to ride in, but I would prefer these be a nice trip and not a necessity). I work 4x10s and have some longer time breaks due to my schedule, but also long work days where I’d love to be able to get in a few miles without looping around the same muddy patch four times as the ring is fully occupied or unusable. Having access to any kind of trails in the area I live would be an enormous and rare privilege, even if I have to cross a road to get there. It seems obvious to move to a place with access, but I feel selfish putting my horses in a smaller daytime turnout area when so much of their days are spent without me, and maybe I am just expecting too much.
I can only ride so much per week (I aim for 6 days in summer/4 days in winter, but this depends on weather - disturbingly hot at present), and certainly cannot ride both horses the mile differential of small drylot versus small paddock every day, whatever it ends up being. There are concerns from all angles, however, that makes this not very clean cut, and as we all know this is an excruciatingly expensive hobby to feel extremely frustrated 3/4 of the year.
I appreciate any insight anyone may have. I had a small but tidy barn/field at my home before I had to move for a relocation prior to the pandemic, so I only have five years of boarding experience and do not really know the larger horse community in the area. Maybe it will become clear or things I hadn’t considered will be discussed!
