We are ever so slightly considering moving so that we no longer have to board our horses. While there is no perfect boarding barn, I’ve found that in my area that is especially true. I also love the idea of having them in my own back yard and being able to see them and take care of them. I also realize this may mean I can never sleep in again. There is a lot to think about. The few places we have found have a small barn and average for pasture, but no arena, not even outdoor. We quickly researched building an indoor and it’s just too expensive. We would hope to build and outdoor arena for some dressage work and jumping. But this would also mean we’d have to trailer somewhere to train during the winter months (northeast). The more I think about it, the more work it seems, but it’s also a lifestyle change that would have many benefits. I love being around the horses and spent a lot of time at the barn. Any advice for those of you who have your horses on your own property? Or should I just stay put and stick to boarding? I currently have two.
I built big…(so indoor etc) but regardless, the first thing to REALLY understand is what you like or hate about boarding. I can tell you NO ONE is making money off of your board check. So likely having them at home will not be cost savings although you can make it feel like that and you will be building equity in your investment in your property. But if you like the social aspects of the barn…having them at home will not have that aspect. For me…I actually didn’t care about the social aspect. Don’t get me wrong…I like the people at my farm now and liked most people at my boarding barns in the past. But my FAVORITE time is (and was) my alone time with the horses. The times no one was there. I also loved doing barn work…even mucking. I unfortunately just don’t have the time to do it all myself.
But I did an intermediate step before building my own farm. I had done self care on my horses. I would start with that. Either renting dry stalls or renting a small farm. Also…how good is your horse management knowledge? I was a show groom and barn manager long before I had my own farm. I had done self care on multiple horses including researching nutrition. Do you have a flexible enough work schedule to meet the farriers, vets etc. It is absolutely a lifestyle. Some love it…some hate it. So I would test the waters with a self care situation first before taking the dive into owning a farm.
And just FYI…owning a farm often means not riding because you have too much other crap to do…there is ALWAYS something that has to get done. So you do have to learn to prioritize to make sure that you also keep riding!
Have you ever worked on a farm, or had horses at home before?
You are so correct that it is a lifestyle change. I purchased my original 30 acres in July 2003…no barn, no fencing, no driveway, no water well, no nothing. By December the fencing was up, the driveway was in the barn and stalls were built and I moved my horses in. Two years ago I purchased an additional 55 acres that adjoined my south side just so no one would move in and develop it and I wouldn’t have to endure complaints from city people moving to the country. I love my farm, I love my horses BUT me and my husband do all he work…cleaning stalls, fixing fences, mowing, spraying, etc, etc, etc. I am fortunate that my neighbor is a wonderful horse person and I can get her to feed for me on the occasion that both myself and my husband travel together…which is usually once a year. Not like when I boarded and we could take off at the drop of a hat. We both work full time jobs with his requiring out of town travel 3 nights a week so if something breaks while he’s gone it’s up to me to fix. I’ve become quite the plumber, carpenter and mechanic and general problem solver. This only scratches the surface of responsibilities…sourcing hay, meeting the farrier and the vet for appointments, picking up feed. I wouldn’t trade it for anything and love that my horses are healthy and happy but don’t go into this adventure thinking that you’ll ride every day because they are in your backyard (so to speak) because you probably will not because the list of things to do is never ending especially during the summer and come winter when the time allows the weather will not.
:yes: Everything @bornfreenowexpensive & @jbonifas said.
Moving to a self-care situation sounds like a great way to get your horsekeeping feet wet.
Being at the barn is not at all like being the barn & all it entails.
I had experience working at one barn & then boarding at a variety over 15yrs, so was pretty sure having my own place would work for me. It will be 15yrs on my own farm in March & I still feel I made the right choice.
Sleeping in is the least of your worries - horses can be flexible & so can their feeding schedules.
IME, as long as they are not stalled for most of the day & have access to some sort of pasture, you can feed (hay & grain) at varying times.
Being away from the farm is also quite possible - I manage several long weekends every year & have been away as long as 10 days (& as far as Asia) - once you find a reliable farmsitter.
Besides the 3 horses I also have 2 housecats & 4 chickens - so not a lot of extra things for a farmsitter to have to do.
Having a work situation that allows time off for things like vet & shoer is also a necessity.
When I moved mine home, I was fortunate to be working 4DW, so could schedule the weekday off for these pros, who are not always readily available on weekends.
Prioritizing your riding time can be problematical.
I built an indoor & have been fortunate to find a trainer who will come to me.
Even so, sometimes we manage to GTG twice a month, but usually less often as “stuff” < farm & other > intrudes.
Having the indoor does make things easier, but once temps dip below 30F so does my desire to ride at all.
So, make your Pros & Cons List & decide if having them at home is right for you.
I would never go back to boarding, but that’s me.
I would first figure out how much it would cost to keep your horses at home. Where we live there is a large cost difference between the board at all the barns we looked at and what I would spend on supplies if they stayed home. That plus the fact that o didn’t like any of the barns made the decision easy. Also decide if you want to travel. I maybe go somewhere once a year if that and often another family member takes care of the horses. The one time I looked at getting a proper pet sitter who could do horses is was pretty expesive.
As for the ring how long is your winter, how bad? Will you basically be stuck half the year? Do you plan to go ride with a trainer? How will that compare to your winter riding? I’m lucky winter here means 60s and windy so it doesn’t normally affect my riding. Also you could always look into doing a ring first and then covering it. It won’t be an indoor but it will keep the rain out. I personally prefer covered over indoor because it doesn’t get as dusty.
I personally love having my horse at home, though there are a few struggles I know my horse is eating what I want when I want. She has the blanket I want on. And I know she’s not going to get beat up in the field, something that happened at the last barn, since the companion is half her size
My husband built a lovely barn for me. I loved being able to see the horses, and on a beautiful night, tucking them in and hearing them happily munching hay while the crickets chirped was definitely bliss.
However… 2am loud banging from a stall? Shoveling out the barn after a snowstorm? Dealing with frozen manure in the paddocks all winter (or worse, a frozen block of ice/poop in the spring)? Never being able to go away? Or if you do go away, paying WAY more for farmsitting than you’d pay a regular worker? Neighbors lighting off fireworks as you’re doing nightcheck? Fixing broken fencing all the damn time? Never mind the extra things I did because the horses were boarders with largely absentee owners…
Yea, that barn will be converted to a garage next year (it was built with that in mind, in case we ever sell - way more value in a 3 car garage with a workshop).
I definitely would look into self-care/rough board options near you, especially in a co-op situation, where other boarders can cover shifts for you (feeding, turnout, even stall cleaning if you go away).
For five years before we bought our own farm, I was a working student at a barn in VA. The BO knew that I wanted my own place eventually, so she made me her “BO apprentice” and taught me basic farm management: tractor driving, fence repair, etc… The time there was invaluable. We have now been small farm owners for a little over 5 years, and it’s getting a little easier every year. The learning curve was quite steep for the first two years, but we’ve fallen into a routine now, and each year we try to purchase a new piece of equipment or tweak our management style a bit to make things run more smoothly.
Being able to walk out every day into our “front yard” and kiss horse noses is something that I wouldn’t trade for anything. Trying to wrestle with frozen hay nets in 15 degree weather, or mend fences in drenching rain are not on my favorite activities list. Neither is walking a colicking horse in subzero windchill temps for hours until the vet arrives. HOWEVER, nothing in life that matters is without its discomforts.
I do miss the camaraderie at the barn. There are days when it is much more difficult to make myself ride alone than it would be if I knew that I would be seeing friends. Sometimes misery does indeed love company. 
Someday, we will probably be too old to do what we’re doing now. At that point, I hope that I can gracefully exchange my small farm for a lower maintenance home and join a barn community where I can putter around on my pony.
recently moved out of my parents, we had a hobby farm, and I am now a boarder.
I am absolutely miss having my horse at home. Is it long days sometimes, is it annoying some times, is it worth it? All yes. I loved being able to do what I wanted, when I wanted and how I wanted. I loved knowing every detail about the horses we owned and boarded.
We had a 4 stall barn, I worked a day job, did the barn in the morning before work, and brought in when I got home (depending on season and weather).
Is it a lot of work, absolutely. If you’re building, build the most accommodating facility. Easy access water, plugs and manure pile. Consider the size of your aisle, feed room and storage. We didn’t have an indoor arena, we didn’t even start with an out building. We built a run in shed and started from there.
We took in boarders to help cover the cost of hay and bedding. It worked out extremely well. We only ever took in 2-3 horses, and I took care of them as if they were our own. It was like getting high end board, with excellent care, but you lost out on having an indoor arena. It worked well, we never had to advertise because people never wanted to leave, or always recommended friends.
We didn’t have running water in the barn, in the winter we used a heated hose from the house, it worked perfectly. We didn’t have an indoor wash stall, created an outdoor one. We didn’t have hot water at the barn, but we made due.
I have officially been boarding out for 5 months now, and I absolutely miss the long days, the days of asshole horses who hurt themselves and me having to tend to them before work. I miss the shitty weather and trekking through the snow. Who would’ve thought.
I have a background in working at a barn though. I have the experience. I worked at a race barn for 10 years before moving our horses home. We had the knowledge to mend wounds and knew how to do daily care.
If you haven’t consistently worked in a barn in all seasons, I suggest doing that before building your own, so you get an idea of what you like, what you don’t like, and if you’ll like it at all. Even the smallest details can make your life miserable.
I can’t wait for the day to bring my horse home again.
If you want to vacation, I suggest looking to see if you know people who you can trust and would help you out. If you expect a weekend, then you will have to hire barn help. This makes it costly. was lucky my parents were able to handle the horses to bring in and out, when I wanted a night out or morning off.
Do you like to be alone? In a quiet facility, that’s what you’ll have unless you take on boarders. I quite like the alone time with maybe one other person to chat with.
Definitely a big step, you either love it or hate it 
ETA; the post below mentions your goals. We did not have an indoor arena as mentioned. I successfully have gone up to Prelim without having a fancy indoor or huge ring to work with. I did trot sets across the street in my neighbours fields, or up the hill in our forest out the back. It was a 10 acre farm. I shipped out for xc lessons and dressage lessons. The odd time my coaches came to me. We ended up putting flood lights in the ring for the darker nights. I boarded out 3-4 months of the year to get my horse back into shape for the show season. Access to an arena was helpful. At the lower levels, I did work in the snow 2-3 times a week until our ring had thawed out. No issues being ready for the show season. It truly comes down to your drive and goals.
I know a number of people that have their horses at home. A lot is going to depend on your competition goals, riding goals and work flexibility.
One friend is a trail rider of 35 years. 2 horses at home. No ring at home. Very easy set up- stalls she uses as a run- in shed, automatic waterer. Over the last 8 years or so she would trailer out for weekly lessons. She also now goes to FL in the winter with the horse.
Another friend has competition goals. No ring. She hauls to a local farm around 4 times a week before work at 6:15 am. She has been with the same employer for around 20 years and her boss is flexible if she has a vet emergency. It is a lot of extra work for her to be able to ride and I don’t think she has been able to compete or ride as much as she wants. She has 2 horses and 1 boarder horse.
Another friend had a ring at home, but no lights. She couldn’t ride most of the winter so was slow to be able to get her horse fit enough to show in the spring. She still would trailer out some for jumping lessons especially in the winter when it was dark after work. She had 2 horses and a companion pony mule.
I personally like the social aspect of the barn and would miss that.
I could see having a place where I could move my retired horse home. But he would be fine with a run-in shed and a buddy. I would not like to have to build a ring, have the implements to maintain the ring, I would need lights due to my work schedule. I travel for work- only 3-4 days about 8-10 times a year. That may not be fair to ask my husband to be responsible for them that often when he isn’t the horse person.
I have done the co-op self care barn. I have done a ton of horse sitting, I have worked off board for my trainer. I am comfortable with basic first aid, giving IM shots, wrapping, nutrition, worming. In a pinch I probably could give an IV shot. I have drawn blood from a cat multiple times for blood sugar testing. I think the horse vein is a bigger target. I don’t want to give an IV shot if I don’t have to but could do it in an emergency.
Are you comfortable giving shots so if you need daily penicillin you can do it? Are you comfortable with basic emergency care and when to call the vet? Do you recognize choke and colic and tying up?
Do you have a trailer/truck? I think that is important to have or have really quick easy access to one in an emergency. On the other hand I live close enough to New Bolton that hauling out for emergencies is realistic. In your area their may be no where to realistically haul to in an emergency so that may not be as necessary.
Will your favorite farrier come to a barn with only 2 or 3 horses? Some really only want to service the big barns. One of my trainers no longer is accepting new clients who not at her home farm. She does if it is a mini clinic with a few lessons in a row at the same facility which isn’t feasible if it is only you riding.
If you have serious competition goals then the facilities such as riding ring/lights and/or indoor and timely easy access to professionals such as trainers, good lameness vets, better farriers, equine dentists, massage therapists, saddle fitters etc… is more important than a person with retired horses or who does pleasure riding only. A wash stall or wash area with hot water to bathe before shows is more important.
Whatever you do make the set up as user friendly as possible. Don’t make your manure pile a 100 yard trek like two places I know. That is really fun in the rain and winter with snow. If you work full time having a shed or in/out stalls may make more sense so you can keep them out of iffy weather days.
For me personally as long as I have training and competition goals I will board my horses. If I ever get to just trail riding/foxhunting or having only retiree horses then maybe horses at home especially once I retire.
Maintaining a large property let alone a large property with horses is a lot of work. That work cuts into your riding time or time to do other things. The more facilities you have the more implements you will need such as a drag or a different tractor or a manure spreader. If you jump you need to build/buy and maintain those jumps. More time/money.
I’ve had mine (2 & a mini) at home now for just over a year. I’ve been a boarder for the past 20+ years. We bought 5 bare acres (just a house) 2 years ago. Spent the first year remodeling the house, then last year building the barn, outdoor arena went in this past May.
I do find that I’m much more flexible with feeding times than when I was a boarder, especially when I want to sleep in on the weekends! 
I usually feed between 530-545AM/4-5PM M-F, then 7-8AM/5-6pm S&S. I still don’t have the place fenced, so once hay comes off, I use temporary fencing for the summer. So far that has worked. Horses have 48X60’ runs attached to their stalls that they have access to 24/7.
I am finding that the shortened days in the fall/winter really suck. I’m usually home from work around 345 or so, and can be on a horse by 410ish, I don’t have arena lights, so I can only get one done during the work week. I’m in Oregon, we have to deal with rain, so sometimes that results in no riding. I’ll ride in light rains or showers, but not downpours.
I don’t miss the barn comradery. I was in a reining barn (I event) which was mostly just the pro riding, so I didn’t have much in common with them. I do miss the barn owner who was amazing, but she’s only 3 miles away, so I can pop in anytime. She also lets me use her indoor for free, so that is nice.
Also, I work for a farm store chain which really helps to keep my barn keeping costs down. The only thing I have to pay full price for is my hay. Just about everything else I can get from my company. It really helped when building and equipping the place.
Overall, I love it!
I would tell you this. Figure out what the worst weather you can have in your area. Than realize that no matter what the weather or how bad it is, you have to go take care of your horses. This year in virginia is ungodly wet. If one of the dogs pees, we have ankle deep mud. No matter how bad the mud is, I have to go out and take care of horses. We have already had two significant winter storms of sleet and freezing rain. Doesn’t matter, I still have to go out to take care of the horses.
When the local hay guy runs out of hay, I have to scramble to get more. When the horses colic in the middle of the night I am the one in the barn with the vet and then loading the horse in the dark to take him to the equine clinic at 2AM.
It’s a far cry from looking out your kitchen window with your coffee watching your horses frolicing about.
I would also say that if you are not handy about fixing all kinds of things including tractors, life on the farm can get very expensive if you have to call someone out to fix things.
I moved my horses home. I disagree with others that you will not save money. If you do all the work yourself (and value your time at $0/hour) it will probably be cheaper. I saved a lot of money. I can keep two horses at home for $450 a month or so, and I was paying $750 for one. According to my agent, the horse facilities added no “value” to the property, so my mortgage isn’t higher to have the horses home. I’m living in the same neighborhood I was before I bought the horse property and mortgage is definitely comparable to similar houses without horse facilities.
I live in the northeast, I have an outdoor arena with lights. I rarely ride under the lights in the winter. Too cold. I do use the lighted arena to ride without bugs and heat in the summer. I don’t know if I would want to have my horses at home without my arena. I used to drive 30 minutes to the barn each way to ride. Now I spend between 20 minutes and 2 hours each day doing horse chores. On the 20 minute days, I am still ending up with more free times. I cancelled my gym membership and call it even for the 2 hour days.
I have small acreage. It means I have to spend more time mucking paddocks and stalls daily, but I think I save time on general pasture and fencing maintenance that comes along with larger pastures.
Overall, I agree that it depends on your competition goals. If you want to be seriously competitive and have access to high quality riding facilities, it may be better to board. However, if you are casually competitive and you don’t need to stay in full work through the winter or muddy months, or if you have access to a trail system from home, you will probably be fine!
I love having my horses home. PS, I feed mine free choice hay out of hay nets. I fill enough to last a couple days at a time. My horses don’t care if I come out with breakfast at 7 am or noon, as long as they have hay to munch on while they wait for me. They are usually sleeping if I go out earlier than 7, so don’t worry too much about losing the ability to sleep in.
Do self board for a year and then decide.
I’ve had my horses at home or at a rented farm since I was 11, and only boarded while at college, and for a 9-month stint for XH’s work opportunity. I like having them here. I can see almost anywhere in the pasture from my house, and right now they’re all napping in one of the two napping spots they like. The weird barn cat is with them, as she almost always is.
I want to ride today, but it’s cold and windy and my horse is covered from head to toe in mud. I’m having trouble finding the motivation. That’s the biggest issue with having them at home, I think. When boarding, you make a plan or have a lesson time, and that’s your barn time. At home, there are a million other things that need to be done, or a million reasons to procrastinate, like I am right now (I’ll just check COTH because I don’t want to interrupt their naptime…).
If you factor in the costs of buying, and building all you need to have horses at home, you won’t save money, but if you look at just the monthly horse expenses, you certainly will. I have four here for about the same as what it would cost me to board one locally. However, that $1800/month savings doesn’t go too far when you need to replace the fence, get a few loads of gravel, or do any major upgrades, which will inevitably need to happen. I like living here, though, so it’s worth it to me.
If you do it, set it up to be as easy as possible for you, and definitely for any pet sitter. Feeding times can vary, and you can sleep in, especially if your horses are turned out. I used to feed at 4 am before work, so there was NO WAY I was getting up that early just to feed on the weekends. The horses were just fine. When I go away, I leave them out 24/7, quit feeding grain, and my neighbor can toss them some hay if needed, keep the water trough filled, and notice any major issues. My horses have free access to their stalls at any time. I would really like if all the stalls opened up into a sacrifice area, but my topography doesn’t really allow for that.
I’ve had no issues with trainer, vet or farrier access. My farrier is one of the best in the area. I live fairly close to him, so I usually get the first or last appointment of the day, and as long as I am flexible, he can fit me in on his way home if his day is short (or first thing if he’s got something else to do in the afternoon). The only drawback with the vet is there is no one to split the farm call fee with.
You will have to buy a third horse so that when you are riding one of the other two the one you are not riding will not go crazy being alone.
I don’t know what climate you live in. I live in the Deep South and the first winter I boarded at a wonderful barn where boarders got to do a LOT of barn chores, by choice, to help the BM who was our trainer. It only snowed once that year and we only had one tornado, and I only had to go on one long long trip to pick up square bales that for some reason couldn’t be delivered. I also remember lugging in feed bags.
The pipes only burst once, fortunately outdoors and not in the wash rack or bathroom.
I will never forget the winter day when hay was prickling through every layer of clothing I had on and I was trying to decide whether it would be harder to buckle on a blanket with my gloves on or with my gloves off and my fingers half frozen. At least I wasn’t the one who had to figure out how to fill a water trough before the water pipes got fixed, and I didn’t have to break the ice on top once the troughs got filled again. And this was in the Deep South. I remember thinking then, “Oh! So this is why they invented the internal combustion engine!” When you don’t need a tractor you can just let it sit in the shed. You don’t have to feed it or water it or muck out after it.
I also remember a cold damp Christmas Eve when I was the only boarder at the barn and I was out in the pasture, ankle-deep in mud puddles with my feet cold but perfectly dry in my wellies and the rest of me warm and dry inside layers of fleece and the horses snug in their mud-stiffened blankets happily munching from what was left of the current round bale and being completely happy and not wanting to be anywhere else on earth.
But that was one day one winter. And the BM would be there after dark to do pm feed and water.
Like Mango said, It doesn’t have to be as much work as most are stating. I built my small barn several years ago, and will never go back to boarding. I did, however, build it for ease of use and work. I built a shedrow barn with 3 stalls, tack room and wash stall. The stalls open to the paddock area, which also opens to two separate pastures. They can come and go as they desire and come running in whenever I call. I put in feed doors, so no one has to enter the stalls, if I need someone to feed who isn’t that comfortable with the horse (husband). There is a water trough outside that has electricity beside it when heated water is needed in the winter. No busting up frozen water ever.
Stall cleanup is kept to a minimum since the only time they choose to stand in their stalls is during the heat of summer, when they often choose to stand under their fans and pee in their stalls, instead of taking three steps to do it outside!
I moved mine home about 2 years ago. 99% of the time, I love it. I love sitting on the porch with a cold drink in the summer and watching them eat. I love that I can control exactly what they eat and when. I love they have 4 acres to roam around vs. being in a small paddock in a boarding situation. I am very lucky that my SO is not only financially supportive but physically. He enjoys puttering around and fixing fences, etc.
However, every night you spend away from your farm for the rest of your life will be mildly stressful. I keep my horses in a pretty low maintenance set up - i.e. no stalls to pick, no complicated feeding routines, no buckets to clean, etc. so a pretty non-horsey person can help if needed. My place is set up so all the hay can be thrown over the fence, feed pans slid through fence and someone just needs to enter pen to check water after horses are distracted by food. There is still a trillion things that can go wrong though.
My suggestions is to decide what is truly important to you and take your climate into account. For me, riding is priority. I don’t want to spend time picking stalls (especially in Canadian winters with cold and dark). I have a set of chain harrows I run over pastures to break up poop and pick in the corners that harrow can’t get into. My horses live out 24/7. I am slowly moving to large bales so I don’t have to worry about rushing out of bed in morning and home after work (also easier for when I’m away). I use a big water trough that requires filling every couple days and cleaning every week or so. It has a heater in it right now so no worries about freezing.
My biggest issue right now is lack of arena. The owners before us leveled a spot for one and it would be doable to add in footing and make it usable. Where I live is extremely rocky, so not having a proper arena isn’t really an option. However, I’m hesitant to undertake that cost as we are considering moving to a property with a bigger house and arenas don’t add anything to property value. There is a community arena about a 15 minute haul from me but I find that after work, I often lack the energy to hook up and load in the blazing hot sun to go ride. I think riding space is something you really need to consider. After we moved in and got engaged, I realized that our current situation is not conducive to me riding after we have kids. Hauling to arena adds easily an extra hour to my riding time vs. if I could ride right at home. Besides our little house is just too small to have more than 1 kid, I just know my riding will become non-existent where we currently are after a baby.
I essentially work off my board, which means I’m there 2.5 to 3 hours a day, just about every day. When I was younger, I thought (assumed) I wanted to keep my horses at home at one point. Maybe if I started when I was younger, but not now. Waking up every day to feed, no matter the weather or what I did the night before and trying to find someone to watch them when I’m gone are the two main reasons I don’t have one. The second is the main reason I don’t even have a cat or bunny in the house right now.
The yard work I could figure out - my lawn isn’t the prettiest but it is kept fairly nice despite my schedule, it’s the every day getting up and especially the worry of finding someone competent to watch them when I’m gone.
As far as cost goes, I think it depends. I know some people that have very simple set ups that definitely spend less per horse per month than if they boarded and others that spend about the same and others still that spend more but like being able to walk out the door right to the horses. So, that’s all dependent.
Wouldn’t the owner be the one doing that anyway?
