Struggling with the idea of boarding again

[Alter3]

My farm is set up for retirement, tons of turnout and trails, but no real ring and no plans to ever invest in one.

That being said, I’ve had my young hunter home for the past year and a half, she was having soundness issues and came up lame at a show so I brought her home to rehab.

She looks and feels great now, and this spring I’d like to get her back to my trainers…but I’m really struggling with the idea of boarding her again. It’s hard to have to give up that control, especially when I’ve seen such positive changes in my mare since bringing her home.

My trainers program has excellent care and better turnout than most barns in my area, but it’s just not the same as them being home, where she’s out 20+ hours a day now.

Hauling out isn’t an option, unfortunately. So, it’s all or nothing. Advice to make the transition easier on both of us? It’s a peace of mind knowing I can always bring her home if need be…and having access to an indoor and regular lessons, and training rides is all super appealing!

[NancyM]

It doesn’t NEED to be “super expensive” or too much hassle to put in a riding ring at home, if you have the room. The commercial boarding barn situation and associated issues are a huge negative for me. And for my horses. I set my own jumps, and get off and change things as necessary. And take care of my own horses. Highly recommended. No one cares like you do. Just sayin’.

[Bluey]

Working by yourself, without eyes on the ground, is not a good idea for most of your training, for horse and rider, as when keeping a horse in your private barn.

It is a hard decision, what do you want, having a well trained horse, a well trained self and giving up ideal according to you management, or giving control to a less than perfect, she will be one of several others being catered to, hopefully very well?

When I had reining horses and kept having health issues, horses were in the best situation, best management and training I could put them and they did well, even if some I may have done a different way.
I could have brought them home and turn out and ridden as I could, but that was not best for the horse’s training, so needed to compromise.

Each horse is different, each owner is different, not sure anyone can tell you other than what their own experiences are, best luck finding your way around this.

[moonlitoaksranch]

I understand why you might want to board. This is a young horse that you might want to compete with. It’s nice to have other opinions besides your own. Boarding can be a really good experience for a young horse. They get exposed to many more things than they would in a safe, quiet, backyard stable. Plus, the focus is different. Overall care is the focus of backyard horses. We typically spend more time invested in their care than in actually riding. Boarding can help you focus on riding, especially when a trainer is available. It sounds like a nice place to keep her.

[LCDR]

Keeping a horse at home seems to eat up personal hours. With the horse gone back to the boarding barn, you will have time concentrate on riding, plus enjoying the social interactions and mutual support (hopefully good) that being a boarder involves.

If you and the horse are returning to showing, but have no horse trailer of your own or a ring and schooling jumps, the boarder barn is the only choice for you, even if the trainer would come to you. I assume you pay the trainer to ferry you and your horse to shows from the boarding barn.

If you had a trailer, I’d suggest keeping the mare at the boarder barn but bringing her home for regular visits of a few days. That is what I did, but eventually I found taking her back after the visits was making me unhappy. So she and a new companion have moved back full-time and I have found I don’t miss anything about being a boarder and competition stress. But I am twice your age.

[Alter3]

Thanks to all who have responded! I have had my horses home most of my life, and I have had properties with nice arenas in the past. I have done the hauling out for lessons thing, I’ve had trainers come to me, and it just doesn’t work great for me - I just get burnt out.

When we bought this property, I decided the horse(s) that were competing would live at the trainers, and the retirees would be home. But then this mare had soundness issues and came home and now I’m in my dilemma

My trainer actually found this mare, and she was boarded with her for the first two years I had her. But, now that I’ve had her home it’s making it really hard to move her back - even though I know it’s the right move if I want to get back to competing and accomplishing my riding goals

I guess I want the best of both worlds, even though that’s not an option. Either way, something has to give. Again, the saving grace is knowing she always has a place to come home!

[StormyDay]

After quite a few years of having my horses at home I had to board for a bit. The property I was on was not yet set up for horses. There were some things that were wonderful about it, but also the cons just outweighed the pros so I brought them home after 8 months once I had everything set up for them.

The pros I found were;

• No stall mucking/hauling water buckets/pushing the wheelbarrow through snow
• No worrying about acquiring good hay
• The horses in boarding barns are on a very regular schedule. That’s great for some horses.
• didn’t have to worry about dragging the arena
• indoor arena. Enough said there.
• can go on vacation without planning out months in advance

Of course, some of those don’t really apply to you because you will still have your horses at home.

Cons;
-very little control over feed or feeding schedule

• worse turnout than at home, and usually way less time turned out.
• Had to share a tack room, so there’s less space for your stuff and ‘borrowing’ of items happens frequently
• had to deal with other crazy horse people.
• sharing of the arena, and sometimes others don’t share well (like the time someone turned their horse LOOSE while I was riding in the indoor)
• issues with arena footing. Dragging takes time, and very busy barns might need an arena dragged 1-2 times a day. It’s frequently put on the back burner by management.
• less of a connection with your horse. When you feed them and see them all the time, they associate you with the provider.

I currently lease a property on which I keep my horses. I provide all the care, but I have a private barn and arena. It’s worked out really well, though I’m excited to have them at home again with me soon. I just need wood prices to drop so I can put up fencing!

I’m not sure about your area, but at least around here, putting an arena on your property increases the property value by a ton. In some areas I know it doesn’t, but because it’s a pretty horsey area here I’d estimate an outdoor arena increases value by about 50-100k. Just something to think about.

[SharonA1]

So, what constitutes a “real” ring? Do you need a permanent fence, grading, footing, etc. or can you do your schooling in one of your turnout paddocks with poles or cones to mark the perimeter of the ring?

If no answer is making itself clear to you, then “eyes up and leg on” and move her to your trainer’s. If you hate it, you’ll know. If she hates it, you’ll know. And then she will come home again, no harm done, lesson learned.

[starsandsun]

I have my horses at home, and my rock star 9 year old seems to need constant eyes on him to survive. I know that a boarding situation would bring me more opportunities to train, to ride when the weather is bad in an indoor, and we’d probably get somewhere faster … but I cannot get past the benign negligence that seems to show up in boarding and training barns where so much else is happening that things get missed. My experiences include staff not noticing one of my horses was colicing, to going to get my horse to ride and finding the side of his face covered in dried blood from an injury in the field that no one noticed when they brought him in. So … I’ll make tons of adjustments to keep mine at home even though my riding needs are not always first for consideration. And, I do love watching them graze, play, etc. and that does make up for some of the time I spend working to keep the place upright.

[McGurk]

I really like @StormyDay’s summary of the pros and cons of boarding vs. home care.

I think the key point for you is that your young horse really needs the experience she’ll gain at the boarding barn to progress. There’s simply no good way to prepare a horse for showing without spending some time in a busier barn. In your case, the availability of the indoor and training rides and lessons are added benefits.

As far as preparing for the transition, have it in you mind that this is temporary, not permanent. You can always bring her home for short breaks or in the off season if you like.
Remind yourself that you will inevitably deal with some of the boarding barn annoyances - stuff going missing, care different that your standard at home, other boarders, etc. Might be a good idea to meet with the BM and have convo about the barn routine and your expectations. Bring her a coffee and a snack and find out what her pet peeves are and how you can be a good boarder. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring donuts and coffee for the rest of the barn staff when you move your horse in. Ingratiating yourself with the staff is a good strategy to ensure a good relationship going forward; these are the people you want to call you or notify you when your mare isn’t happy.

FWIW, my horse is boarded at a trainer’s right now. It has its small annoyances, and I hate not having him at home. The trade off? He’s going better than I thought possible, and progressed light years in the 4 months he’s been there. It was absolutely the right decision.

[NancyM]

@McGurk

There’s simply no good way to prepare a horse for showing without spending some time in a busier barn.

I’ve done EXACTLY this for decades. Taking clinics from available skilled coaches, and keeping my horses at home, and shipping myself to the shows. It’s not difficult.

[McGurk]

Yes, but you’re doing the clinics. The OP said that hauling out to lessons and clinics isn’t an option for her.

Keeping a horse at home, in a small barn, and always riding and schooling by yourself, then hauling to a show and expecting the horse to handle the show environment, is NOT a recipe for success, especially if you are doing flat classes.

If you’ve managed this with just hauling out to clinics, kudos to you.

[lenapesadie]

Great post! Really well stated.

I had my horses at home for a decade, then downsized to one horse and boarded him for two years. Now he’s back at home at our new property and I’m back to owning more than one horse.

I did find that boarding was a useful situation for getting my horse backed, going decently well and out and about to some shows. Also not having to stack hay was swell.

I do find that I really enjoy not having to share the arena anymore, even if my arena is just a paddock for now. My horse seems to enjoy his extended turnout time and never ending hay.

[TheJenners]

@LCDR

Keeping a horse at home seems to eat up personal hours. With the horse gone back to the boarding barn, you will have time concentrate on riding

This for sure. Since moving my horses home, even after I had an arena put in summer 2020, I ride so much less than I used to because I either have pressing chores and don’t have time or I’m tired from the chores and don’t have energy. It’s much easier when someone else has to mow, weedeat, spray, etc.

[Alter3]

Man, you guys have given me so much to think about on both keeping her home versus boarding I’m even more torn than before!!

@McGurk I agree with your point about a young horse needing to be in a boarding barn. I think maybe you missed my earlier post that she has been in full-training for over two years and was shown all during that time! She’s certainly no longer green, and right before I moved her home we had all but eliminated training rides except for right before shows.
I have been with my trainer for several years, and know the barn routine and staff extremely well. That being said, I am also very well aware of the pros and cons of this barn! The pros definitely outweigh the cons, but one of my biggest issues has always been with their turn out, and this horse really thrives on turn out.

@StormyDay @NancyM
I have a small ring (100x100) but we had some flooding and the footing is not very good for anything above walk/trot. I have lots of places to hack out, and I do often ride in one of my fields.

So theoretically, I could keep here here and haul out for lessons… but like I mentioned in a previous post, I have kept other horses home that were actively competing in the past and just got very burnt out on the trailering out thing.

So, lots and lots to think about. My head is kind of swirling with all of these pros and cons and what would be the best decision.

Honestly, you all are kind of making me lean towards trying to haul out again. I just don’t know if I can put her back in a boarding situation. The bright side is, I have both options readily available and I can play around to see what works best for us.

Thank you all so much for giving me so much to think about!

[StormyDay]

@Alter3

Man, you guys have given me so much to think about on both keeping her home versus boarding I’m even more torn than before!!

@McGurk I agree with your point about a young horse needing to be in a boarding barn. I think maybe you missed my earlier post that she has been in full-training for over two years and was shown all during that time! She’s certainly no longer green, and right before I moved her home we had all but eliminated training rides except for right before shows.
I have been with my trainer for several years, and know the barn routine and staff extremely well. That being said, I am also very well aware of the pros and cons of this barn! The pros definitely outweigh the cons, but one of my biggest issues has always been with their turn out, and this horse really thrives on turn out.

@StormyDay @NancyM
I have a small ring (100x100) but we had some flooding and the footing is not very good for anything above walk/trot. I have lots of places to hack out, and I do often ride in one of my fields.

So theoretically, I could keep here here and haul out for lessons… but like I mentioned in a previous post, I have kept other horses home that were actively competing in the past and just got very burnt out on the trailering out thing.

So, lots and lots to think about. My head is kind of swirling with all of these pros and cons and what would be the best decision.

Honestly, you all are kind of making me lean towards trying to haul out again. I just don’t know if I can put her back in a boarding situation. The bright side is, I have both options readily available and I can play around to see what works best for us.

Thank you all so much for giving me so much to think about!

For a while I had a horse that lived at home Friday-Monday and then I hauled her to the trainers where she stayed Monday night to Thursday evening. She did well with it and progressed well. I think coming home was a welcome break for her because the turnout situation at the barn was not ideal. She got a training ride Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and then was back home. Maybe you could work out something like that.

[Libby2563]

Since you’re considering the hauling out option, I would try that for a few months first. If you hate it you can always “upgrade” to boarding again. Of course depending on where you live winter might not be the most fun time to do this, with the short days and winter weather and bad footing.

[ayrabz]

seems you have lots of options. if you can afford boarding and training on one–go for it if it makes you happy. this doesnt seem to be a question of what you must do, but rather a question of what you want to do. What you want to do seems in your control. can you hire someone to come in for your lessons at your own property?

[McGurk]

I guess the real question is how much does she need the training rides and you need the lessons/trainer’s eyes on her?

If you really feel that you need both before you can show again, I think boarding makes sense.

But I’m also with you on the turn out thing. I would hate limited turnout. So maybe the answer is to send her for a short tune up before show season and then bring her home again.