What do you wish you knew before buying a horse property?

[danhelm441]

Real estate market being what it is, this is more of a hypothetical. But that said, DH and I are looking at renting a guest house on a horse property where we could theoretically bring my horse to live with us and learn some of the ins and outs of keeping horses at home.

A woman I once boarded with advised me that keeping horses at home wasn’t what it was cracked up to be, and she’d rather pay monthly board than deal with the hassle. I can certainly see that, but I also find it hard to let go of the dream of ever owning a farm (I think I drove our realtor crazy by mysteriously passing up any listing under 3 acres with the hope of someday converting it to a horse property). But now that we’ve decided to continue renting, I feel like it’s my chance to give the farm life a shot.

So for those of you who grew up in the city or suburbs, and learned to run a farm in adulthood, what is the learning curve like? What should we try to glean from our experience renting on a farm?

[stb]

I moved from the suburbs to my own farm six and a half years ago. Love, love, love living on my farm with my horses and I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world. Having said that, this lifestyle is 1) a LOT of work, 2) a LOT of money, 3) makes travel very difficult.

Fortunately for me I actually enjoy mucking stalls, and my morning barn chores are my favorite way to start the day. If you feel differently you may want to reconsider.

I spend a good bit of time on horse keeping - not only barn chores, but sourcing hay and feed, waiting on deliveries, farrier, and vet, mending fences, taking care of pastures, etc. There is literally always something to be done. Again, I actually enjoy this stuff, so this life works for me. Also, my husband is very handy and likes a project, so he keeps the farm in good repair.

Travel requires a farm sitter that has horse knowledge and can also take care of my dogs, so I need someone to stay in my house. Finding someone to trust with all of your animals and all of your things in your house is not an easy thing. Paying a farm sitter also adds a considerable amount of expense to any vacation.

The amount of money I spend on bug spray and bedding was a surprise to me.

I know I’ve given lots of negatives here, but I really love having my own place. If I had to sell this place tomorrow I would be forever grateful for the opportunity I have had. Having my own farm has been a lifelong dream, and the experience is just as good or better than I thought it would be.

[S1969]

Living on a farm of any kind is a lifestyle.

Owning a horse farm is not really about riding horses, or at least, it is arguable that more than half your “horse” time is spent doing property/barn maintenance than riding or caring for your horses - like grooming or hanging out with them, if that’s what you like to do.

Things like grooming the arena so that you can ride takes on a whole life of its own. You start watching the weather more carefully, shifting your work schedule around to catch those perfect moments where you have the time and the right weather to make things work.

Obviously the larger the property, the more maintenance, so <3 acres might be a really different experience. (I started with 7 and then bought up some of the surrounding property so I now have 20).

Renting a horse property is a great idea, although you will probably feel less of a desire to make improvements since you don’t own it. But it will give you an idea if you bring the horse there.

[Tarlo_Farm]

I think it’s less expensive to have horses at home, but then I’ve been doing it more than 40 years. And I would always want to live in the country, so the ownership of the property would be the same.
The work saves me from paying to go to a gym.
Travel is a whole 'nuther issue. A good farm-sitter is worth their weight in gold. And paying for that does, as @stb mentioned, add additional expense to any trip.
The item that first entered my mind when I saw your title, was: Are the neighbors good people?
Bad neighbors anywhere can make your life hell. Bad neighbors around horses can be dangerous.

[frugalannie]

Great comment about neighbors!

Before I got married, I did some house/farm sitting for people who went south for 6 months every winter. I cared for 10-15 horses with the help of one, shall we say, VERY mature gentleman who had worked there for over 50 years. It was a terrific education and really prepared me for first renting a barn, and then owning and operating our own place.

I would highly recommend visiting as many barns as you can and really studying work flow and equine health and happiness. In the long run you’ll be able to set your own place up to be a better experience for you and your horses.

[Knights_Mom]

To my mind the best way to do it is to buy something big enough to rent out - like if you need 2 stalls have 6 stalls. Rent out the others to a person willing to work to offset expenses and have them do the work instead of you. Trick is to find a good person. But say exchange rent or a portion of it for them to do the dirty work but they must keep your horse in a manner you want like enough hay or bedding.

[Texarkana]

I spent most of my childhood on a farm, so while the lifestyle wasn’t new to me, it’s definitely different when you’re the one funding the expenses!

I think the biggest thing to know when moving onto a farm is that the first year or two are EXPENSIVE. Even if you move onto a turnkey property, you will feel like you are hemorrhaging money because every project or problem you encounter will require some new item or tool that you don’t already have. The good news is that the spending levels off after a bit, and at that point it really does become cheaper on a month to month basis (probably not if you calculated total lifetime expenses, but you’re paying for a lifestyle).

A lot of your happiness is going to be dependent on your personality. If you love being around your horses and are flexible in how you enjoy them, you’re going to be a lot happier than if you have fixed expectations on what you want to do with your horses or what they “need.”

My biggest stressor with farm life is appointments. I have a day job off the farm and having horses at home just creates more situations where I have to take time off to meet the vet, be here for hay deliveries, etc. I don’t have a very flexible job, so it can be stressful fitting all of that into my schedule.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have it any other way!

[lenapesadie]

I will second the bleeding money experience. I’m still in that stage but the flow has slowed somewhat.

[QHEventer]

I have had horses at home off and on since I was a teenager, and there are pros and cons to both in my opinion. DH and I currently debated selling the farm, which is a topic that seems to come up around the same time each year - at the end of winter I don’t know where you’re located, but if you get real winters, taking care of horses is a LOT of work. Chores can easily take twice as long when hoses are frozen, the ground is icy, snow needs to be plowed, etc. I haven’t ridden since Thanksgiving (no indoor) and that compiled with extra chores tends to make me pretty grumpy!

But, as soon as spring comes along, I can’t imagine ever giving up the farm. My horses live the DREAM. They are out on several acres 24/7 and have deeply bedded stalls to come into to nap. They are fed high-quality free-choice hay. The care you’re able to give your horses at home just doesn’t even compare to what most boarding barns are able to offer.

Know that you will likely ride less than you do now. Unless you have an indoor, your riding schedule will be weather dependent. And even if the weather is good, you’ll have a list of chores that will sometimes push your riding to the back burner.

Traveling will be a challenge. I have a handful of trustworthy farm-sitters, but even then it can be hard to get away.

But, all that being said, having horses at home is a lifestyle I wish every equestrian was able to experience and you’ll get to know your horses better than you ever have before. I think you’re in a great position to experience this lifestyle without having to commit 100% by renting.

[clanter]

@danhelm441

by mysteriously passing up any listing under 3 acres

we are on 2.4 acres in the middle of the city, I grew up in rural area and really did not want to return.

Smaller scale that is supported by city services makes it easy for us to have three real horse, three miniature horses and the grand kids’ herd of six goats. We are zone for large animal and by city ordinance can have seven head of real horses on the property.

It is comforting at least to me to have a real fire hydrant on a eight in supply line setting in my front yard… I knew several farmers who lost everything to barn farms when I was growing up.

Since we are in the middle of the city is actually easier for vets to make farm calls as they are driving through the city to get the outer farms

Feed/hay/bedding… we have multiple sources that are very competitive. Service is very good.

As for horses wanting to be out 24/7/365 we have several who were out in pastures before we got them… it took a very short time for them to want to be in their stalls when the cold winter rains happened… and they do like to come in for the nights to lay in their clean stalls

Smaller size of operation means less equipment… no need for even a compact tractor as we bag all manure for the sanitation company pickup (twice a week… just a part of the overall city services …trash pickup cost $14.90 per month)

Need emergency services EMS/Fire or Police? response time is three to four minutes

Shopping for humans…a two billion dollar city shopping center is less than a mile away…even have ridden the horses there for Christmas shopping to get around through traffic.

[2DogsFarm]

@QHEventer

The care you’re able to give your horses at home just doesn’t even compare to what most boarding barns are able to offer.

THIS X1,000,000!
There is no substitute for having eyes on your horses instead of relying on a barnworker being savvy enough to notice something is NQR.

I boarded horses from 1989 to 2004, at several different barns. Ranging from the “show” barn where I kept my Hunter to a family-run 4H-geared place (where DH & I were the H/J & Dressage oddballs) & finally another smaller barn run by husband & wife (he turned out to be The Problem).

All the time I boarded, horses lived at least 1h away in the burbs. DH & I lived in a major Big City, commuting 4X a week to lesson or ride.
As a re-rider in my early 30s, I took up riding again at a barn in that city, so commute from work to ride was less than 1h.
I also worked there briefly as a Working Student in exchange for lessons, so I had some understanding of what horsekeeping entailed.

I moved to my 5ac farmette in 2004 (after DH died) & have never looked back.
I agree Winter can suck bigtime, but I’m in my 70s now & I manage Midwest Winters.
Slower, but still manageable.
I have had 3 sets of 2 geldings here until I added a mini I drive in 2016.
All 3 get along fine.

Farm is arranged for my convenience.
Horses are turned out 24/7/365 with access to stalls if they want. They rarely want.
Even now, when temps are starting to get into the 40s daytime, they spend more time Out than In. Evidenced by the small # of piles I pick from stalls.

I am fortunate to have great neighbors who are also my hayguys.
I let them store loaded wagons in my indoor over the Summer & in return get bargain-basement hay prices. I feed 1st cut orchard grass, occasionally some timothy or clover in the bales. My pastures are Meh, rarely anything approaching lush, but sufficient so hay consumption goes way down when there’s grass.
The son is now a friend (I call him my Faux Grandson) and has located an excellent source for bedding: 60# bags of fine shavings for $4/bag - that he hauls for both of us in my stock trailer. Last load of 40 bags was picked up in late November, I still have 12 bags left.

Farmsitter is part-owner of a nearby feedstore.
Before him, I had a series of young gals who left for one reason or another - school, moved, etc.
I have never had to cancel a vacation & have spent as long as 10 days - in China - away from the farm. Long weekends are no problem.
I take the mini to Fair for 4 days & The National Drive for as long as 5.

I worked 4DW when I moved here & was fortunate to find a job less than 15mi from the farm w/great bosses who understood my occasional need to call off or take a longer lunch to take care of something horse.
I’ve been retired since 2013.

My current Plan B is to attach a Tiny House to my indoor & never have to go outdoors in bad weather.

[Pico_Banana]

We bought a 7 acre property about a year and a half ago. About half of the property is for horses, the rest is not (per DH’s request ).

I have to say I LOVE it. Yes, it is a lot of work. Yes, I’m barely riding, but part of that is my horse’s health and part is no dedicated ring yet and right now my options are either mud or a too hard dry lot (gravel). But I absolutely love just the caretaking part of them. I don’t love the barn chores, but I love being able to be in charge of every single aspect of their care.

As QHEventer said above, I can provide much better care than even the really nice boarding barns we’ve been at. I can give my easy keeper hay in nets by weight. I can give my hard keeper free-choice hay. When my senior is having anxiety (just did this yesterday), I can hang out with her and check on her whenever I want.

I also love being able to manage turnout. I am lucky to have a lot of room for two horses … or at least what counts as a lot of room where I live. I can put them on the dry lot when it’s wet out. I can give them access to grass when I have it and build them up gradually to grass on my schedule, not what works for a boarding barn managing a bunch more horses.

Still being in the “fix it” phase of owning the property, I am definitely not saving money right now. We had to replace all of the fencing, install a lot of drainage to deal with all of the water we have, convert a pasture into a dry lot for something reasonable for wintertime use. And then there are the things we’ve done or are still doing because I want to improve the facility - install dutch doors to covert all stalls to in/outs, put in a retaining wall, putting in an outdoor riding ring.

Also, there are certain practices I have that are just expensive. For example, I bed deeply and I go through a lot of bedding. I like to feed high quality hay. I also don’t have a ton of time even though I am working mostly at home these days, so I try to have someone help me out with the chores so I’m spending more than $700/month on labor.

But at the end of the day, it makes me really happy to have them here and be able to fuss over them as much as I want to. To paraphrase Mastercard, that is priceless.

[NancyM]

About BUYING a horse property? Don’t fight the elements. If you want to keep horses at home, do it in an environment that is FRIENDLY to horses- in “horse country”… which means… Good natural drainage (gravel base), in a semi-arid area. If you have irrigation… even better- that way, you have some control of the amount of water that falls out of the sky. Keeping horses in a high rainfall, poor drainage area (a freakin’ swamp) makes things expensive for you, battling the elements. Horses thrive in dry cold conditions in winter, don’t be afraid of this sort of environment. Land is far cheaper away from civilization, if you can swing it, that can be workable.

We used to pay $1000 a month for bedding, and $1000 a month for manure bin pick up and dumpage… all for horses to have toilet paper, while living in stalls because the rain pounded down OFTEN, and even with full drainage in their attached paddocks, the water pooled DEEP, leaving horses huddled in their stalls, shivering in high humidity at +1C. Now, my horses live together, outdoors year round, they have a shelter that they don’t use (because we built this for them), but they prefer to bed down together under the trees. And it gets to -30C in winter here. I no longer spend much time cleaning paddocks… I still do some cleaning in my paddocks in summer, and manure is now considered to be something “valuable”, used on the farm- there isn’t a lot of it. And what there is doesn’t have any sawdust in it. I harrow the fields, spreads manure. If you want to keep horses at home, do it in “horse country”, not in a swamp. It’s better for your bank account, AND it’s better for the horses. In our area, putting horses in stalls is hard on horses- no place colder than standing in a stall. Cougars can also enter a barn, and just LOVE to find singular prey in an enclosed pen. Also, stall living is bad for feet, and impaction colic. Watering horses is easy here, heated auto waterer services the herd. Hay, we make our own, but those who buy hay pay less than in areas where hay is purchased from dealers or feed stores.
Happy real estate shopping.

[MadTrotter]

Amen to this. I strongly suggest keeping them in pasture as much as possible. I will never understand why people voluntarily stall horses if they don’t have a really compelling reason. Being out is better for their pulmonary systems, mental health, and owner wallet and time.

I hear the argument, “my horse LOVES his stall!” Well, you feed him grain there. Try graining him outside for a few weeks and then just bring him in to stand around for 8 hours in his stall, which is what he’s doing most of the time he’s in anyways, right?

[trubandloki]

@MadTrotter

I hear the argument, “my horse LOVES his stall!” Well, you feed him grain there. Try graining him outside for a few weeks and then just bring him in to stand around for 8 hours in his stall, which is what he’s doing most of the time he’s in anyways, right?

I have one that any time the weather does anything not perfect, runs for shelter. Not walks, literally runs as soon as the rain starts. It is hilarious to watch.

I think lots of people stall because the set-up that is available to them does not allow for 24/7 turn out that allows for everyone to be safe and comfortable. Not everyone can move to where the climate is just right, or afford more acres, or…

[MadTrotter]

I’m in the NE and the climate is rarely just right. But I only clip/blanket the two I’m seriously riding, and the others are shaggy and all are happy out in almost everything. Freezing rain, they stand in the run-ins, or “shit shacks” as I call them.

The thread was about, “what do you wish you had known?” And my answer is, know that horses that are fed well and have their natural seasonal coats will withstand severe weather, and prefer to be out 99% of the time. Prioritize your setup around that.

I moved out of the Bay Area because the tiny little 20x20’ sand pen is NOT what I consider good horsekeeping. So I didn’t do it there. I sacrificed a decade of keeping horses until I could give them turnout. I’m not selfish.

[trubandloki]

@MadTrotter

I’m in the NE and the climate is rarely just right. But I only clip/blanket the two I’m seriously riding, and the others are shaggy and all are happy out in almost everything. Freezing rain, they stand in the run-ins, or “shit shacks” as I call them.

The thread was about, “what do you wish you had known?” And my answer is, know that horses that are fed well and have their natural seasonal coats will withstand severe weather, and prefer to be out 99% of the time. Prioritize your setup around that.

I moved out of the Bay Area because the tiny little 20x20’ sand pen is NOT what I consider good horsekeeping. So I didn’t do it there. I sacrificed a decade of keeping horses until I could give them turnout. I’m not selfish.

Interesting point. So anyone who has horses in less than perfect (in the eyes of you) conditions is selfish?

Because to me making my horses stand in a ‘shit shack’ is just wrong. Even in the middle of winter I keep my run-ins clean of manure build up. I have some serious manure chiseling skills.

In my world there is a minimum standard of care that everyone should keep that involves proper feed, water and shelter. Beyond that I try not to judge if their pasture is smaller than mine, or they run in is not picked every day. There are lots of very different, but still right, ways to keep a horse.

[ABookworm]

I’ve had my 3 on my property for almost 3 years now. These are my big 3 takeaways.

1. Develop a great support network of other horse people and equine professionals. It is a huge relief to have others I can text or call when I need help or need to bounce an idea off someone.

2. Set a chore schedule. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do every chore every day. So pick the ones that need to be done daily (ex. cleaning stalls, dumping water buckets, picking feet…) and then the rest each get assigned a day of the week. So for example, Sunday and Wednesday are when I pick and drag the paddocks, Monday is when I bleach and scrub all the buckets, Tuesday is for fence maintenance, and Thursday is for scrubbing the stall walls.

3. Plan on 1-2 acres more than you think you need. I originally thought I would be fine on 2-3 acres with my three horses. It’s doable and I have fantastic looking paddocks but I will never do this small of a property again. I have to work far too hard to keep the paddocks nice and now that I see how they play on 24/7 turnout I want to give them even more space. We’re currently searching for 5+ acres for them.

[danhelm441]

About BUYING a horse property? Don’t fight the elements. If you want to keep horses at home, do it in an environment that is FRIENDLY to horses- in “horse country”… which means… Good natural drainage (gravel base), in a semi-arid area. If you have irrigation… even better- that way, you have some control of the amount of water that falls out of the sky. Keeping horses in a high rainfall, poor drainage area (a freakin’ swamp) makes things expensive for you, battling the elements. Horses thrive in dry cold conditions in winter, don’t be afraid of this sort of environment. Land is far cheaper away from civilization, if you can swing it, that can be workable.

This is what I find most concerning. I hate the idea of having a 3-acre mud pit from late fall through spring! That and accumulating junk, pests (rats/roaches), and becoming overwhelmed (with respect to time and to finances) to a point where everything falls into a state of disrepair.

I used to work at a boarding farm that I loved for the most part. I think all the horses there were very happy and well cared for. But the barn had a serious roach problem, the pastures were an absolute swamp through winter, and no matter how hard you tried to keep things tidy, it just always felt dirty and full of broken junk I want a nice farm where I feel like I can keep the upper hand on Mother Nature and the tendency things to fall to chaos.

[Texarkana]

@danhelm441

About BUYING a horse property? Don’t fight the elements. If you want to keep horses at home, do it in an environment that is FRIENDLY to horses- in “horse country”… which means… Good natural drainage (gravel base), in a semi-arid area. If you have irrigation… even better- that way, you have some control of the amount of water that falls out of the sky. Keeping horses in a high rainfall, poor drainage area (a freakin’ swamp) makes things expensive for you, battling the elements. Horses thrive in dry cold conditions in winter, don’t be afraid of this sort of environment. Land is far cheaper away from civilization, if you can swing it, that can be workable.

This is what I find most concerning. I hate the idea of having a 3-acre mud pit from late fall through spring! That and accumulating junk, pests (rats/roaches), and becoming overwhelmed (with respect to time and to finances) to a point where everything falls into a state of disrepair.

I used to work at a boarding farm that I loved for the most part. I think all the horses there were very happy and well cared for. But the barn had a serious roach problem, the pastures were an absolute swamp through winter, and no matter how hard you tried to keep things tidy, it just always felt dirty and full of broken junk I want a nice farm where I feel like I can keep the upper hand on Mother Nature and the tendency things to fall to chaos.

Methods for preventing a “3 acre mud pit” are going to vary location to location, but I think the best prevention is to avoid overstocking your property.

The adage of “one acre per horse” is not good grazing advice universally, but from a mud-preventing perspective, it generally works most places. I don’t mean that you will have no mud if you have one acre per horse, but usually that’s enough space per animal to prevent hoof traffic and manure buildup from destroying the integrity of the topsoil in the field except for the most heavily used areas (gate, where you throw hay, etc.). Even when the heavy use areas get muddy, there is usually dryer ground somewhere in the rest of the pasture (provided you haven’t fenced in a swamp to begin with).

YMMV.