After doing self board and being on the directors board at my non-profit stables, so getting an idea of annual maintenance, I no longer have starry eyed visions of my own property.
If I did keep horses at home I would want to do year round pasture board with run in shelters, and have a proper riding arena on the property. Outdoor but with good lights is fine. Also I would want to live very close to trails access.
Pasture board gets rid of barn chores and arena/trail access makes it easier to ride.
I have my retiree and young horse at home. I love it. I have small acreage, no pasture, so I have to hay and pick poop. The horses live in/out 24/7 with shed row stalls. Heated troughs. I designed everything to be easy. Right now, my ring is so wet and frozen, I cannot ride. This is an unusual year. I have to haul out to have my horses shod, which is not great, but I love my farrier. I do not own a tractor. I hope to get an ATV to drag next year. Until then, the truck fills in.I would do it over again. I do not miss the social aspects of the barn. I like being able to manage my horses the way that I want. Access to hay 24/7 in nets, no worry about water, because they both have troughs.
I used to have my second horse at home. However, I didn’t own a very large piece of property (1/3 acre) and consequently, there was no room for an arena. That sucked, it made it difficult for me to train him properly and my training goals fell by the wayside. I would search out arenas in my area and ride to them, but the footing was always second rate. Seriously, no place I ever rode at was as good as the place I’m boarding at now (with my 3rd horse). When the city rezoned me and I had to move my second guy, I didn’t miss cleaning the corral. I missed seeing him every day, day in and day out. When he was at home, it wasn’t hard caring for him, feeding was a breeze, keeping an eye on him was nice. He was an easy keeper. Never got sick, I think he was happier in that he could see me and activity in the house. Sometimes I’d spend time just hanging with him in the backyard.
Now I board and I love having several arenas to choose from, trails galore. I don’t have to clean his corral. (yay!) It’s close to home. I don’t care about the social aspect, because I’m with my horse first. If I ride with other people, fine, if not, fine. I find I have to structure my life to make sure I’m seeing and training him consistently and I think that’s a good thing. I’m dedicated to continuing my training goals with this horse, come hell or high water (it’s a regret I never did that with my last horse).
I would love to live where I keep my horse and have trails and a perfect arena dragged daily… but that will probably never happen, so I’m satisfied boarding. I’d have to be extremely well off (it’s California people… land here is ridiculous!) to do that… or I’d have to move somewhere more rural. That would be a problem too, because there are a lot of dressage trainers and training barns here in my area, so I do love that (although not boarding at one!) so the opportunities for instruction are pretty good. The place I’m boarding at is six minutes from home. That in of itself is perfect. Consistency is the heart of training and it allows me to spend plenty of time with the boy. I can trailer to lessons now (found a reasonably priced trailering person). I’m a happy camper. If the city rezoned me tomorrow to allow my horse in the backyard again, I wouldn’t bring him home with me.
Maybe I am still in the honeymoon phase, but I moved my horses home over 2 years ago and I NEVER want to board them again. While its a lot of work, I could never give up being able to have eyes on my horses multiple times a day, or being able to completely control their diets and day to day routine. My horses are way happier at home than being boarded.
I also think if I had to board them, a) I would only have 1 and b)I would ride less than I do now. I had to drive 30 minutes each way when I boarded which meant i got home at 8 every night. Now that I have a baby, I am able to sneak out back and ride while he naps, or get home and ride quickly after work before my husband gets home with him after work.
What makes it work for us is that we both pitch in for chores (for instance, I do PM and he does night check, I feed AM and he turns out), I have a few good boarders for the social aspect, and I have a sand arena with lights. I don’t think I would ride as much if I didn’t have the ring.
Do I think it saves us money? Probably. I was paying $750/m for crappy care. Our mortgage now is about what we would have been paying in our old house plus my board. We bought a house on land that appraised for $50k over what we paid, then built the rest adding equity to the property (small farms here are a hot market). Our boarders pay for farm improvements, and we get tax benefits of both being agricultural and running a small business.
The negatives? Mud. Frozen water when its ridiculously cold. Finding a farm sitter when my go to girl isn’t available.
I think your riding goals and your boarding options will always dictate how attractive the at-home set-up is to you.
I still dream of having a run-in and a paddock in the back yard for my retirees, but I no longer dream of having my working horses at home. It’s completely unreasonable to think that I can give them the care they get where they are boarded around my regular job and its erratic hours (lawyer). Even if I hired my own grooms, I can’t ride before work without lights and an indoor in the winter. I wouldn’t want to give up my training program either. My board/training is very expensive, but given the land values here, I don’t think I could do it cheaper on my own.
Maybe someday we’ll move to a less expensive area, and I’ll decide to do horses full time, but for now, they’ll stay boarded.
I agree with this. Similarly, I bought my property 4.5 yrs ago, it was just pasture with fencing. I added modular house/well/septic & shed for horses/me. It has saved me time & money (I did years of spreadsheets), since the mortgage is not too much different from my house in town. If I only had 1 horse instead of 2, though, boarding would be cheaper.
What it will be for you though, OP, is widely variable. Other posters are correct that it really does depend on how you enjoy spending your days, what your tolerance levels are, and how much money you want to spend. I think doing a self-care type board is a great idea if you haven’t done that before. I had experience with a pretty wide variety of horse management skills, but there’s still so much to learn!
I do live in the SE; we can get quite cold & occasional snow, even accumulation (had a solid foot one day last yr), but nothing that my beloved trough heaters & waiting a few days can’t get me through. I moved here to get away from winter, I definitely couldn’t have a farm up north, I’ve done that work when I was younger, no way (unless I had a gazillion dollars to build/buy all the extra equipment/buildings/insulation).
Property design really is critical as well. I run my place by myself and I’d advise anyone to plan for this because life cruelly taught me that you never know what will happen in the future, especially with health, and a partner you plan on may not always be there.
Grim truths aside, I didn’t build stalls on purpose. The horses have a very nice run-in with attached paddocks & pastures, half the run-in is “mine” for x-ties/vet/farrier. But I don’t have to clean stalls, a monkey can feed them without touching horses, opening gates, they just have to slide feed pans in & throw hay over the fence.
I have a job that requires a fair amount of travel, at least once a month, often more. Usually 2-3 days, but occasionally longer. I rely on wonderful neighbours (both have horses, one is a full-time trainer) & a rotation of horsey friends, who I can’t afford to pay, but help out in return. I am very lucky to have them, I know you can’t always pick your neighbours, but with horse-keeping, it really is crucial to consider adjacent property uses.
I didn’t build an arena, can’t afford it, but I bought good soils on hills so I can ride most days of the year in my top field and can hack out on trails through neighbouring properties. I’m not currently competing, but would have no problem training/schooling (eventing), I have built simple jumps and I prefer not to ride on perfectly flat surfaces so my horses learn better balance.
If riding is important to you, you have to MAKE it important. On a farm, there will ALWAYS be something broken or that needs doing. My rule is when I want to ride, ride first NO MATTER WHAT, as long as no one needs emergency vet care and nothing is actively flooding. Everything else can wait.
My place won’t win any home & garden awards, but the 2 horses are happy, healthy & safe. I am big about having my personal space & quiet, so I don’t miss the boarding scene. I’m self-sufficient enough as a rider that I don’t need to be in a regular lesson program, so it works for me & I have a truck & trailer. I’m reasonably handy with tools & my job keeps me strong, so I can tackle most projects.
But really think through what you want. I love it, I wouldn’t go back, and I’m especially grateful that I can retire my older super special guy and it doesn’t cost me anything extra and he’s there with me every single day. I don’t miss the driving and I know my horses so much better and I consider bush-hogging a zen activity. But I bought it on purpose to be a 30 year project, it’s not for everyone. It’s a lifestyle and you have to want it.
thank you for the responses. after reading them, I realize a lot depends on your experience with barns and work schedule. I have a flexible work schedule and work from home many days. I don’t mind mucking out stalls at all, actually find it relaxing and do it often at my barn. if my horse colics, I would get a call and have to be the one to load it and take it to the vet. I have to be there for all vet, farrier, and dentist appointments, change blankets, etc. already. And it’s a little under and hour away. So I’m already doing many of those things. If I could find a barn close by that did more things I would gladly pay more, but then maybe I wouldn’t be looking at to get our own place. But that’s not the case. It’s not a large property or large barn. It’s pretty “residential”. I also haven’t found the social aspect all that great. I find horse people to be extremely opinionated and it’s their way or you’re crazy for not doing it their way. I wouldn’t miss that. Lots to think about though. This was helpful thanks.
Not when you are the owner and the horses are on your property. I’ve never boarded a horse but I do know friends who do and the BO/BM took care of the night emergencies.
A few thoughts from someone who built their own farmette from scratch a few years ago… and is in the process of selling it and moving on to a larger farm in a more rural area.
First off… depending on the area, keeping horses at home won’t save you money. And be careful regarding what exactly you contemplate buying… farms are moneypits, and it’s VERY hard to get your money out.
I really dont don’t care about the social aspect of riding, and am not into serious regular competition, so home works for me. With that said, this year has been HORRIBLE in terms of weather in Virginia. We’ve invested boatloads in terms of drainage, drylots, and a little lungeing roundpen with good footing… and we have rideout. But it’s still been a challenge. The next place will have a lighted 20 x 60 dressage arena. Period. And a good dry lot/sacrifice area.
I do need, and value, great instruction. With the current farmette, I grossly miscalculated the ease of trailering out. Never again. We have a tricky driveway on a tricky road, that is busy at rush hour. With my life, that leaves me a narrow window for trailering our to lessons or arena time. The stars just haven’t EVER adequately aligned, and I have kept a young horse out in board elsewhere the entire time I have owned this farm.
Originally, I thought being in a suburban area would be a win, because kids would be close to friends and activities. It has not worked out that way. Fortunately for me, the whole family, husband included, is excited about leaving the suburbs and traffic for something more rural… so we are going for it. And our professional income for the family doesn’t mean staying here. It’s a big change though. We feel glad we had the experience already of building our own small farmette. We know what we are looking for, what a new barn, fencing, and a good arena will cost… and we are evaluating potential purchases accordingly. Top priorities other than location, are good draining land, established pasture, and ACCESS (meaning a decent driveway for horse trailers and hay delivery, and easy in and out for me going to shows or lessons by myself or with my daughter).
One last thought. We were crazy blessed with a wonderful barn builder, fence guy, and drainage/round pen base guy when it came to our current farmette. We are going into the next place with a list of awesome contractors to call… and an idea of the cash required to do these things from scratch. If you are going to spend on this stuff… pay to do it right the first time. We are selling our farmette years earlier than originally anticipated… one major thing that mAkes it marketable to the next suburban dreamer (who might have fewer horses than I do, and not want to trailer out all the time)… well, the quality and beauty of the barn and fencing we put in. It helped our property value in a competitive market, and allows us to get cash back out and move on to something that is a better fit for us. Something to think about… the investment required even in a small backyard farm is substantial. Always think about what would happen if you needed to sell and cash our quick.
No one is saying it is a ridiculous amount of work…BUT if you have competing horses and limited time…what free time you have that you could have spent doing other things is now spent on farm work. You absolutely have to value your time. Of course that isn’t money out your pocket but it is a cost. My billable rate for my paid profession is over $700 an hour. Even though I don’t mind mucking stalls and doing farm work, it would be far far more cost effective for me not to and to use my time more productively. I still do some farm work because I enjoy it. But I’m VERY aware that my time is valuable. I know what it costs in mortgage, electric, hay, grain etc to keep my horses. Boarding fees RARELY cover the real costs. You can keep your horses in a cheaper set up…but if you are competing at a higher level and need a ring, ring with lights, indoor…that starts adding up.
I always always always preferred doing self care on my competing horses. But once I had more than 1 and was competing at a higher level AND had a time intensive paying job…it got too hard to do and too much of my time that I should have spent riding (or really sleeping) was being spent mucking/doing chores. Yes I now own my own place, but I do have people that work for me—so I’m not doing self care anymore but am not boarding either. Most of all…I needed an indoor because of my job, location and the times I could ride. But everyone is different. I’m very glad to no longer be boarding…but it drives me nuts when people don’t put a value on their own time in determining what something is costing. You do have value!!!` You just don’t have to pay taxes/wages to yourself
I agree with BFNE. As a kid, we leased a barn and did self care. My brothers would often blow off chores, so at a pretty young age, I got used to it. My father always pitched in, anyway. I boarded as an younger adult because at the time, I travelled for work often. Now I don’t travel nearly as much. I can periodically log in from home to do my job, so that helps a lot. I’ve had mine home for 11 years now, and I don’t regret it.
My only issue is I have to trailer off to use the indoor in winter, unless I just board out in winter, and during competition season, I trailer out at least once a week for lessons, xc schools, shows, etc. And that can be time consuming.
I did not read through, so apologize if this has already been covered. I love, love having my horses at home. They blossom in health and temperament under the personal care of an owner. My only caution is that it is not social. I work at home and I keep my horses at home. If you have a workplace and/or family close by, the social isolation will not be a factor for you.
Very true. That said, I do some of my best thinking when mucking. I am only taking care of two horses, but I find if I am stuck on a work problem, physical work is cathartic and stimulates the brain. I find getting reliable help really tough. I have been trying to get a local farmer to pick up the manure, and I do not even get a text back.
Some great thoughts above. I love the one about imagining the worst weather possible. That would have been the winter what…4 years ago now?- when we got 110 inches of snow in a few weeks and 4 indoor rings collapsed within a 5 mile radius of my farm. I swear that during that going to the barn to do chores was uphill both ways!
It seems the choices are full board elsewhere or keep them home with you doing all the work (or maybe hiring someone for relief). I’ve described it before, but for 30 years I’ve done a co-op barn that has worked for me and for those who board with me. Admittedly, the co-op board situation isn’t for everyone and they tend to find that out rather quickly. But some have been with me for years, and we are all good friends.
I can go into all the details if you want, but at this point in my mid sixties with physical limitations, I’m able to keep my horses at home (#4) and have 7 boarders who share all the daily barn chores at a cost less than half of what any barn around here charges for a place with an indoor and turnout (about 35 acres total in paddocks). And we have a pretty nice barn, too. Don’t get me wrong, I have my duties too, and during those storms when the roads were impassable, I did all the chores, but this works for me and my friends who keep horses here.
Advantages to a solo place: If I want company I can find it. If I want to ride alone I can. I can travel and not worry about what’s happening at the barn because I know the system works. I don’t make nay money on it, but I don’t lose any either. Again, happy to share details upon request.
PamB, if you’ve got a little under $1m to spend, I know of a sweet little farm for sale with an indoor, an outdoor and great hacking adjacent, 30 mi from Boston~ :winkgrin:
Oh I agree. Some mindless work is good for thinking about other issues. Plus it’s nice to get a sense of accomplishing something when you finish because it is tangible. Clean fluffy stalls…or like this weekend I spent staining the kick boards in the indoor. It may get dirty again but for a moment it looks good! And finding good help is VERY hard everywhere. I’m all for easier legal immigration as we really have a shortage of people who want to do farm work…especially in the winter. Too many city and surbubanites raised kids.
This is excellent advice. I am in a similar position as you OP. I am considering getting my own small farm, with enough land for 4-6 horses, but that is a huge step from boarding a couple horses out.
As an interim step, I’m doing a dry lease and hiring someone part time to help.
BFNE is exactly right about asking yourself what you like and don’t like about boarding.
For me, the most important thing is having freedom to determine the type and amount of feed that my horses get. My horses’ turnout schedule is also important. I would like to have the flexibility to govern those things and not have them to be subject to what the barn owner/barn manager/or trainer determines is appropriate. What they decide to do is not always in the best interest of the individual horse, but typically what works for their routine. That is fine, but they should be honest about it. As in, “here is the routine that works at our farm” rather than “this is the routine that we think is appropriate for your horse”.
No barn is perfect but very few actually fulfill the terms of their boarding agreement. I’ve seen a lot of supposedly very nice farms, show barns even, cut back on hay when times are tough, not clean stalls and leave horses standing in dirty pee/poop soaked bedding, not clean stalls but sprinkle clean shavings on top, etc. I’ve also been at barns where I’ve been in full training, go on vacation for 2 weeks, and come back to find blood stains on my horse’s leg that were obvious from turnout, but nobody bothered to clean it up, halter on so tight that it made a dent in the horse’s face, etc. Totally unacceptable! And this from a place that goes to the A/AA shows regularly!!!
Another category of barns are the type with great people and nice amenities, but that have some shortcoming that one can’t get past. Things like, perhaps you want to board your horse out 24/7 but they only feed those horses 1x/day, or the barn only offers one type of feed for all the horses and its something very high in NSC. These aren’t necessarily inexpensive places either.
I save money by buying in bulk. I get skid loads of shavings and purchase hay by the ton.
I spend less than if I were to board out. however, for me it is more about flexibility and freedom to set up my own program than it is about saving time and money.
Lots of great points continue - and this one is very true, but it goes both ways. I got tired of the driving when boarding (I have to drive a lot for my job as well), driving to get trailer, passing house to take horse back, driving home again - those were hours of my life I wanted back. Even when boarding only 15 minutes away, it added up.
And after a tragic event, my time became even more priceless to me, there are no guarantees of “later.” So it has been a big gift to me to have all that time back, I don’t have to drive ANYWHERE on weekends if I don’t want to & when I come home from work, that’s it, I don’t have to go out again.
For me, I’d rather be on a bush hog in my own pasture than on a road. How much time your farm requires depends entirely on your setup.
Again, it’s an individual balancing act & it’s great to ask questions. Definitely not something you want to rush into.
I love having mine at home. I grew up with horses at home so felt comfortable with the horse care aspect. I like being able to provide a higher standard of care, of being able to bring them in/out whenever, put whatever blankets on, etc.
I work about 3/4 from home so having flexibility helps. I don’t have an arena, I trailer to one a few miles away, which is time consuming (VA Horse Mom, we must be in the same metro area, I feel your traffic pain), but saves in upkeep.
The downsides:
Having to be home morning/evening can tie up your work schedule or impinge upon your social life. Boarding you can always skip it if something comes up.
The maintenance you just have to allow time for (lots of time, but typically you can plan mowing/getting hay/painting stuff). But the “crisis” maintenance (the microburst that downed 20 trees in on my fence in under a minute, the plumbing disaster in below freezing weather, the week long power outage,etc.) can really hurt, especially if you aren’t handy. And of course typically these things happen when you really need to leave for work/vacation.
For me, not being able to afford some of the perks of nice facilities (arena, hot water in barn)
