Hello all,
I am debating accepting a job in Casper, Wyoming but cannot find a suitable nice barn to keep my lovely Oldenburg hunter/eq horse. I don’t necessarily need to find a great trainer in the area, but I at least need a nice barn to keep him at and I could trailer elsewhere. All I’m finding right now is really rough- no heat, just places that have trail horses, lean-to’s, awful turnouts, and a few scary actual barns that would give my horse night-mares! I’m open to keeping him at a barn with different breeds or disciplines- don’t have to have jumps, or I would love to find a nice private barn-owner who’d like a really well-behaved lovely horse and rider to offset barn costs a bit!
Please respond with any ideas, have to make my decision soon and my horse’s well-being is the deciding factor!
Your horse probably doesn’t need a heated barn - blankets will be fine.
Google found me this place:
http://platteridgewy.com
It looks nice on the website.
I’m currently in Ohio, most barns are not heated. They were not heated in New England either. He can survive that…rider maybe not so much?
But I survived unheated arenas without( too much) whining.
Get there and get something then you can connect with the local horse community and go from there. I think your closest bigger HJ shows will be Denver, welcome to the vastness of the West. It’s different…cheaper for one thing, check that website linked to above. Probably work even if it’s not what you are used to, and if there is one Hunt Seat barn, there will be others.
Place to start anyway. Always move after you get situated.
I lived in the midwest with biting cold winters-- so cold one winter my windshield shattered in the cold-- never even thought of a heated barn. I think most places with very harsh winters do not-- but your horse will be fine. Horses evolved in the cold climate of the Eurasian steppes-- heat is so much harder on your horse than cold. The barn provides shelter from wind-- and the body heat of horses in the barn will make it warmer to some degree as well.
Wyoming is so beautiful! I had a penpal there when I was growing up and finally got to meet her one summer-- that was so exciting-- well before the internet!
Good luck in finding something-- it all sounds like a great adventure.
I would say as to the plan to trailer elsewhere… I think you will find that to be impractical for more than the occasional clinic. You will be hours away from anywhere else, maybe almost a full day’s drive from high end training or competition. The west is a very big place.
That said, there will certainly be many horsemen around, perhaps not in your discipline, to learn from. I am certain you can find quality care in the area - perhaps it will be a Quarter Horse barn rather than H/J though. (Be aware that footing for western disciplines is often much deeper than we like for English.)
You don’t say where you are coming from, but I suspect it’s quite a different kind of place and lifestyle from where you are now. This can be a great adventure, but you have to know yourself.
OP, when I was working in a barn in Fort Collins, CO, we had boarders come down from Cheyenne, because the boarding options there were unacceptable to them. Casper is TINY–we’re talking less than 60k people in the whole town–and POOR with a per capita of less than 20k. You’re just not going to find something heated with a large indoor and a gorgeous show piece barn…you’re really in the wrong place. As for trailering…where are you going to go?
[QUOTE=poltroon;7864520]
Your horse probably doesn’t need a heated barn - blankets will be fine.
Google found me this place:
http://platteridgewy.com
It looks nice on the website.[/QUOTE]
I imagine this is about as good as it’s going to get, although wow that indoor looks tiny.
I used to live in Wyoming. It’s beautiful. But winter driving can be highly treacherous with ground storms and black ice. I wish I could be wrong, but I am doubtful that you would find what you want with regard to horse boarding/training in Casper. Your chances would be much better in CO.
Casper has the cold plus the Wyoming Wind. I wouldn’t blame you for wanting the barn at least to be heated to a tolerable temperature. Give Hilary and Charlie Carrel at Colts Unlimited in Sheridan a call. (148 miles North on I-25) . They show the AA Circuits, both H-J, known for jumpers. They might know someone with a suitable private facility near Casper as they also do the AQHA H-J, and Charlie Carrel was raised in the area.
