Hi findeight,
Thank you for your insight 
I completely understand it will be a challenge to find a similar situation I am in now
Hi CHT,
I neglected to mention that the barn staff takes care of all morning duties, and when I show up at the barn every day, they just say ok, there she is, she will take of her horse from hereā¦and they go about doing the rest of the barn. They are there for my horse when I am either running late, canāt make it that day, or when I have to be out of town for a couple of days It works out very well, and they actually appreciate how well I attend to my horse, without asking THEM to go out of their way. For example, I donāt ever go to them and sound like I would be complaining in their minds by asking them to always have more shavings in more horses stall (if they want to have the rubber mats showing in the other stalls, that fine but not acceptable for my horse)ā¦instead, I purchase additional amounts and add them myself, they are fine with that. That is just one example. One other example is sheeting/blanketing in the winterā¦I keep my horse covered in the wind and chill, but as we all know, the temp can change within minutes or within the hour, so I like to keep him warm, never cold and never sweating, and this takes additional work to swap out clothing, so again, I the extra swaps myself, I never demand it of the staff, and I tip the staff if they are willing to do a swap when I am unable to show up for some reason, they are also fine with thatā¦
Maybe this area has changed me, and maybe just by being back in south FL will help me trust again and help me feel more comfortable about boarding. I would of course like to start with being there for my horse as much as possible and then work towards trusting more at the right place lol
The area has changed, every area has changed in the last 10-15 years. It started well before that but we didnāt notice until recently when it became hard to ignore.
The smaller barns in the middle where you are likely to find this are disappearing leaving only dumps with sketchy care and few services or luxury level full service, training required or a minimum service fee, full control choices.
I would look at small breeding farms or maybe out of discipline barns to find one willing to work with you. Or maybe you can find a dry stall with services available a la carte. Good luck.
TO ALLā¦
After reading some of your posts, I will refrain from any further explanation of what I am looking for because I am just a woman who cares very much about her horse and simply ASKING for friendly referrals regarding my wishes ā¦NOT to be called a possible ātrollā or a joke or that I have a ridiculous request! I mentioned I would compromiseā¦ I felt that I should start my initial posts with my FULL story and hope that there were a few gems out there who would come across my post and say to themselves ācool, I like her conviction to her horse, I can work with her, let me contact her to talk about itā¦ā ā¦ or " here is a number to a place that will compromise with you and then once you feel comfortable enough, most likely you will be OK with them completely "ā¦
Anyway, this is an open forum and I appreciate the good, the bad and the ugly that comes with it regardlessā¦ NOTE TO SELF howeverā¦ no more forum posts. Thanks to the people who were kind
TO ALLā¦
After reading some of your posts, I will refrain from any further explanation of what I am looking for because I am just a woman who cares very much about her horse and simply ASKING for friendly referrals regarding my wishes ā¦NOT to be called a possible ātrollā or a joke or that I have a ridiculous request!
I mentioned I would compromiseā¦ I felt that I should start my initial posts with my FULL story and hope that there were a few gems out there who would come across my post and say to themselves ācool, I like her conviction to her horse, I can work with her, let me contact her to talk about itā¦ā ā¦ or " here is a number to a place that will compromise with you and then once you feel comfortable enough, most likely you will be OK with them completely "ā¦
Anyway, this is an open forum and I appreciate the good, the bad and the ugly that comes with it regardlessā¦ NOTE TO SELF howeverā¦ no more forum posts. Thanks to the people who were kind
OP - I think you need to have some faith that in Palm Beach there will likely be several barns that will muck and bed a stall very close to, if not exactly, the way you might like it. Also, you can probably have some faith that if you left ziplock baggies of your horseās supplements to go into his grain, they will probably be fed to him.
Essentially, if you let go a little (yes, it is hard), you might find something that works without having to do so much yourself :).
[QUOTE=nccatnip;8291468]
What did Sunshine Meadows ever do to you?[/QUOTE]
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
OP if you are still reading I just want to apologize on behalf of the board. I donāt know how long you have been reading threads on here, but there have been many, many, many new posters with unique first posts that have taken them for a ride, or for whom they have given long, thought out and generous advice to, only to find out the OP is trying to start a train wreck or something. It can be really frustrating and Cothers have learned to take first posts with a grain of salt 
Once it is established you are legit, things get smoother but blunt honesty is in no short supply around here, no matter what. Its why I love this board because someone else always has the balls to write what I would like to, but feel too badly doing so! Itās painful sometimes but thereās always some truth there.
Please let us know if you find a good fit, thereās got to be one out there.
Oh please please post a video or at least audio when you contact an operating boarding barn and request these āoh so much easier exceptionsā Thank goooodness my bladder was not full when I read this post.
Your requests donāt seem that onerous to me as long as you are willing to be flexible. If I were a barn owner, most of your requirements wouldnāt bother me under certain conditions. For example:
I wouldnāt expect the barn employees to know or remember your schedule. Instead, they will treat your horse like all of the other horses at the facility.
If you want to clean the stall after itās been cleaned, go ahead.
If you want to bring a bag of shavings and add it to the amount already in the stall, go ahead.
If you want to scrub buckets that have already been cleaned, go ahead.
If you want to feed more hay, go ahead. However, feeding at off times will upset the other horses, so any extra feed needs to be given within a reasonable time after regular feeding time. If you want to come in and put the hay in a hay net after itās been fed, go ahead.
Your horse will be turned out on schedule with the others. Turn out off schedule can be upsetting to the other horses (and maybe your own).
If you want to come out and change blankets three times a day, go ahead.
If you want to package your own supplements, go ahead. Leave them at the barn in a designated area. You donāt need access to the feed room.
I donāt think it will be hard to find a barn that will allow you to do these things. I think it will be much harder to find a quality place with adults only, with adults who show, and where a training program is not required.
Further southā¦
I could offer almost all of what youāre looking for, but Iām in ft. Lauderdale. Email me if youād like. Wondrlnd77@aol.com
OP, my boarder and I have an arrangement almost identical to what you want. But if she approached me initially with your list I might have been scared off. I would tone it down a good bit to what you really need, don your friendly and easy to work with tone, and talk about your horseās needs. Then you can work toward the details once the BO trusts you.
For example, I wanted all the horses on grain I buy because I had bad experiences wih boarders supplying their own in the past and running out. Knowing my boarder now I know she would never let her horses run out of grain, but you donāt just take people at their word on stuff like that because all perspectives say they will be great! And 9 in 10 let the horses run out of feed every now and then which is totally unacceptable. You can see why a good BO would be a little gun shy.
Mine fixes her own grain daily, for example, but I know what is in it so I could do it if she couldnāt. She also does her own stall cleaning. I donāt care how much bedding she uses, I like to bed deep and she cleans well, doesnāt waste anything. She also feeds my horses when I travel for work. She is a gem! But if I got your initial list I might have worried about high maintenance and veered off, this is my home and I do this to make my life easier, not to make money. I think a lot of private barns will feel the same.
Things like āaccess to the feed roomā in a private barn are not really an issueā¦our grain bins are in the tack room. I donāt care how much grain or hay you use as long as it isnāt wasted/you put it in a net. I have charged what I felt I needed to charge to cover appropriate feeding. I think it is possible to find this kind of situation, but you might need to be flexible on both your approach and fitting in to the ownerās program on things like turnout schedules, etc. anything that is unique to your horse be prepared to do 100% yourself and you canāt flake on it, either. Otherwise you need to fit with the program except in rare circumstances. I donāt mind a few times a year for exceptional weather, illness, vacation --everyone needs a break ā but every other week would be unacceptable. If you have a āspecialā horse and miss days more than once every couple months, it is a real PITA and I donāt have time for the uncertainty of it. Our missed days are planned weeks ahead except for illness or death in the family, not āIām tired and donāt want to go to the barn todayā stuff. Doesnāt work on a small private farm. And a big barn will be hard to find with the autonomy you want.
[QUOTE=Guardian;8292451]
Hi Pancakesā¦
Yes, I am preparing for the fact that moving back to south FL with my request for being involved in my horse this much would be to just find a dry stall option and might be my only hope in the end, however, I am giving this a shot in case there are barn owners out there willing to work with me and understand meā¦ I can only say that being paid full price for board and having less work for their staff is a good compromise in itself lol
The only problem I face now regarding a dry stall is that I would be doing all of the ordering, delivery and moving around the incoming supplies, hiring my own part time staff to keep up with the daily help I still need, etc etc ā¦ stressing when I need a day off to find someone to help, blehā¦well this is why I prefer to pay full board (to be clear, I didnāt mention this beforeā¦the barn does the morning shift, I do the afternoon).
One more thing I have had to consider is the total price of A) paying a flat rate full (or even partial board) price VS. B) getting a dry stall (so far extremely expensive!!) and paying for ALL of the extras I need PLUS hiring part time people to assist in feedings, etc. Option B turns out to be more way more out of pocket expense that option A[/QUOTE]
In reference to the bolded part, not necessarily. It actually can disrupt a well oiled machine having a boarder come in and want to do things their way, on their time schedule. At least in the type of high end barn for which you seem to desire.
Sadly I know of several barns that āmightā be suitable but quite frankly your Special Snowflakeness would make me cringe to recommend you to anyone I know. Maybe if you didnt sound so pomous you would have found a much warmer reception and what you are looking for. Quite frankly most of the people I board with care for their horses much in the same manner but without sounding so arrogant.
And paying full board and doing care makes you no gem. In the best case scenerio it makes you just another boarder, in the worse it make you a nightmare.
Regardless, welcome to PB Co and good luck finding a great fit.
hahahahaha
Sending you a PM. You sound like a dream boarder.
I have been at my witās end lately with how many people āloveā their horses, yet canāt seem to get far enough away from them and their daily care. How refreshing to hear from someone as dedicated (and OCD 
) as myself.
[QUOTE=Losgelassenheit;8303039]
Sending you a PM. You sound like a dream boarder.
I have been at my witās end lately with how many people āloveā their horses, yet canāt seem to get far enough away from them and their daily care. How refreshing to hear from someone as dedicated (and OCD ) as myself.[/QUOTE]
That is a truly spectacular way to alienate all of your boarders who have, oh, i dunno - demanding jobs or families or, you know, dumb stuff like that. The stuff that makes up the rest of their lives and earns them enough money to write their board checks.
What an obnoxious thing to say.
OP, I think some of the things you want in terms of amenities are in conflict with your desire to do a lot of things yourself.
Many barn owners/managers would not want a boarder who describes themselves the way you did in your original post. I feel bad if that sounds harsh, but a high level barn canāt have everybody doing their own thing. Some of your particular requirements are going to make you come across as nitpicky and demanding.
If you want to do your own thing, go to a co-op barn, or a place where āself careā is the norm. The problem you may find though, is those may not be ācompetition-mindedā places. You may find a lot of casual riders there who arenāt into competing and the facilities may not offer you the amenities you want.
If you want to find a place that meets your needs in terms of amenities and some degree of self-care, be prepared to spend a lot of time looking around. Unless you get a tip by word of mouth, those types of places are hard to find.
[QUOTE=AmmyByNature;8303346]
That is a truly spectacular way to alienate all of your boarders who have, oh, i dunno - demanding jobs or families or, you know, dumb stuff like that. The stuff that makes up the rest of their lives and earns them enough money to write their board checks.
What an obnoxious thing to say.[/QUOTE]
Talk to me after youāve watched a horse rot in his stall all week with one bag of shavings allotted because the owner ācanāt afford itā. Meanwhile they are riding around in a newly purchased vehicle and restaurant hopping every night, broadcasting their spectacular lifestyle all over social media. No time to come out and spend even 30 minutes grooming him off, but all the time in the world to go have a 3 hour spa session and get their hair done. Please.
I fully understand that people have jobs and families. Then pay for full board where we are taking care of your horse and it wonāt much matter if you decide not to show up for a week. But donāt dazzle me with how much you ālove your horseā while you chinse out on board and think that Iāll just take care of poor Dobbin anyway because I feel bad. Been there, done that. Still havenāt been paid.
But I did have the joy of hearing how I had no right to shovel out the sopping wet manure-laden stall myself a) for the horseās sake, and b) to maintain a presentable facility. And God forbid I bill accordingly! Somehow these types of people always feel that their bill is up for negotiation.
And that is the precise reason why someone like the OP is a joy, because when someone is that particular about their horseās care, itās legit. Actions over words, and all that. I still fail to see what exactly was so inflammatory in the original post anyway. But to each their own.
Nailed it. Special Snowflake.
Itās stall mucking, throwing hay, tossing some grain, swapping blankets and maybe whipping on and off turn-out boots. Itās not neurosurgery. Let someone do the dirty work and enjoy the horse. If his care is really that bad, then build a barn and do it yourself. Unlike neurosurgery, horse care is usually pretty simple to do oneself.
