I’ll agree to this. If riding a lot is your goal, horses at home may not be easier or cheaper.
It can be done and lots of people are able to maintain a full training schedule and maintain the farm, but most people who post about this claim to ride less than when they boarded.
Which is fine - if you’re good with that. I am. But if what you love about horses the most is riding, keeping them boarded might be better.
There’s something to that for sure.
TBH I dunno if having a horse property would have been pleasant for me if I lived in an area where climate / soil demanded a big investment in a “real”arena in order to ride. I imagine that adds quite a bit of cost. Thankfully here in FL it’s doable to ride on grass outside year round.
We don’t have much in the way of hills in this state. We say don’t buy in a bowl. We were lucky enough to view our property the morning after a historic flood event from a hurricane. Not so much as a puddle. We were already under contract so we’re more worried about seeing if the house was ok, but verifying that the land drained as well as I predicted was gratifying.
Roads are an important consideration. We were unwilling to have anything but black top. It did eliminate a lot of potential (cheaper/bigger properties). We were also determined to live close to a town with the necessities. Saves a lot of time being able to run up to the feed store, grocery store, parts store, building supply store, vet clinic etc in just a few minutes.
Familiarity with horse keeping in the location one hopes to set up horse keeping in is also likely a major advantage. I’ve been very pleased with my outcomes here at this property but I dare say that I would have likely been on the struggle bus if I had bought in an area / climate I was not familiar with.
Yep, that was what we had to do - moved on, planned things, covid hit, winter came … luckily nothing massively expensive and most of it will be repurposed, but I always prefer to do it once, do it right. Sadly life isn’t always so accommodating 
I’ve found the opposite - I ride more than when I DIY boarded, and I certainly spend way more time with the horses. Like I said before, I do make riding a priority - less time reading and on the internet 
and the farm doesn’t look perfect. And because I’m not chit chatting with other boarders I save tons of time too.
What I love so much about the farm is being able to spend as long as I want mucking around outside and if Mr F wants me he can just stick his head out the door. I always used to feel guilty being away from home for so long when I boarded.
We do refer a lot to The Black Hole of Farm Time though 
This is really good advice, and also let me just say I am impressed that you scrub your stall walls every week!
I work Mon-Fri so I tend to divide things into everyday chores (like keeping the horses fed, turned in/out, blanketed, and in clean stalls or dry lots depending on the season) and weekend chores (mowing, non-urgent repairs, improvement projects, tree trimming, etc). Sometimes if I have time weekend chores may get done during the week but I feel zero pressure to make that happen. My priorities during the week are everyday care and riding. The only thing I will prioritize during the week is dragging the arena to seal it before rain, because I find that makes a huge difference to how quickly it dries out. Everything else can wait for the weekend. Confession: my aisle is not swept right now and I’m okay with that.
I’m also in the weekday and weekend chore camp. Sweeping falls under the weekend list for me.
We’ve been on our farm for 12 years now, which is hard to believe. 90% of the time, I love it. I’ve been able to have multiple riding horses, and I’ve achieved a lot of my riding dreams from this farm. Part of that is because I now have no commute. I can walk out my door right when the weather looks good and there’s no driving…just get on and ride.
But that comes with a cost. One of the things Mr. eponacelt and I agreed on when we bought this farm was that I was not going to give up my riding time to do farm work. Riding comes first, and he would need to help with the farm chores. Owning property was his dream first, and mine second (his hobby requires several very large garages on the property.) He was cool with that and is still a full participant in helping make this place run. Sure, I do a lot of the day to day chores for all the animals, but he can and does help out, and he’s the chief handy man when things need to be fixed. This could be a real marriage killer for people, so its something to think about.
As others have said, having the farm has made travel complicated. Finding a good farm sitter is HARD. But that’s when having an efficient set up and well mannered horses is paramount. I’ve been able to keep some relatively stable help for years at a time by not being a problem client. Also, remember its not just travel. Both of us were laid up with surgeries last year that meant for a month all three of my horses needed to be boarded somewhere. We simply couldn’t have done it ourselves.
I do enjoy it, though, most of the time (not so much in January) and I know a hell of a lot more about my horses now than I ever would if I’d kept boarding.
I brought the horse(s) home before I had kids. So everything has been a full family effort.
I whole heartedly agree with eponacelt that you never really know your horse if you’re just visiting it. We knew our horses very intimately. The barn door is steps from our house. I even heard a cast horse late one night watching TV. That thump on the stall wall. If I had not heard that she would have been dead by morning. She was cast so tight we had to set up a rachet to the stall frame to pull her away off the wall enough to be able to flip her. We were praying for her to lie still while we worked or we were going to see her thrash herself. She knew us so well that she laid quiet trusting us.
My kids were tweens getting packed up for a week at the county fair for 4-H and my daughter walked past one horse - now it was July and it was hot anyway, mids 90’s. But she walked by the horse and said Mom he’s hot. Horse was burning up. Turned out he had purpura. Even the kids were that tuned in on horsemanship. So I was running twice a day between the fairgrounds (we camp there for the week) and back here to nurse that horse.
Need to know things - mow mow and keep mowing. And rotate fields. Reduces weed and keeps the better grass growing.
Don’t leave halters on. You need some war stories? Or use the breakable crowns.
Perimeter fence around barn so a loose horse can’t be a HUGE liability to you on the road. A neighbor lost a draft horse and the driver sued big time.
Drainage around barn. period! And easy access for farrier truck and vet.
Dry lot and run-in shelter saves alot of work - preferably shelter with area for a round bale saves big money and time.
Friend, you need a blower 
I blow out my aisleway daily!
I wasn’t going to add anything because this thread has been great, and everyone has covered pretty much everything, but @pony_grandma made a really good point that I want to reiterate.
I do night check. Every. Night. Whether I’m sick, or tired, or have had a few drinks 
. I, too, have heard things while sitting on the couch (horses fighting, the neighbor’s horses kicking a board down, horses running in the field). I can also see both of my large pastures, my paddock, and my barn with Nest cameras (DH regularly makes fun of me for stalking the horses). Yes, some barns do night check, but there is nothing like seeing (or hearing) your horse yourself and seeing how they’re feeling, and preventing disaster because you know them better than anyone else.
It’s a ton of work, but I echo everyone else in saying I wouldn’t change it for anything. Luckily, I don’t have issues finding time to ride because I’m a trainer so I ride my horse and client horses all day. 
Lol. I have a nice battery powered blower I do use it in the barn sometimes.
I will third the night check peace of mind. Also, I really enjoy running out after any weather event to check on horses. I can hear mine from inside the house as well. Usually I hear my younger horse talking to me about more snacks.
Renting is exactly how we learned that we loved living on a farm and keeping horses at home. I took a live-in barn manager position at a stable. Hubby and I lived in the house at the farm and I was able to keep my horse there too. We kept our fulltime jobs and did all the farm work on nights and weekends, in exchange for rent $.
It was a fantastic way to learn how much work it is, how to use the tools/tractor, the joys of a quiet evening looking out at horses grazing, etc etc. We got to use their equipment so we could discover that it was the lifestyle for us, without a major capital invesment up front.
As a renter, have a very, very clear contract about what / how you will maintain the property, what is considered wear and tear vs renter damage, what equipment the LO provides, and what improvements you can take with you when you leave.
There’s a million things we learned but here’s one that may not be on your radar: When living in the country, tree and brush management is a big undertaking. Plan for it, learn how to chainsaw safely, and have a plan for what to do with tree waste. (burn? mulch? etc). Just one tree falling a year is a really big task for 2 people to deal with. We had a major storm last year where dozens of trees came down, and we will be chainsawing trees pretty much for the rest of our earthly lives. We don’t mind-- we love our life here-- but you just have to know that country life involves lots of Big Projects, many of them not planned in advance. If you expect to hire outside contrtactors for all of it, you’ll be miserable (and broke).
I can’t imagine dealing with the workload, the Big Projects and the random curveballs that country life throws your way, without a partner who was equally committed and enamored of the lifestyle. If one partner is ambivalent or, worse, resents the lifestyle, it would be really stressful.
It has never occurred to me to scrub a stall wall ever…?
I have a blower, but daily doesn’t work. When I’m in the barn before/after work, horses are in their stalls and eating. So that’s not the time to blow the aisle; sometimes I will sweep but not always. It will wait until the weekend - the horses don’t mind.
My small pony enjoys backing up into the stall walls anytime he has to poop. If I don’t keep it somewhat clean then the flies have a field day with his mess. 
This too about being flexible with chores. I haven’t blown out my grooming area yet this week and that’s ok. I know when I have time this weekend the whole thing will get a full leafblow.
Agreed, lol
SO MUCH THIS! My life revolves around weather and forecasts.
I moved from downtown San Francisco to a 20 acre place. Built a barn and 5 acre pasture.
It was a nice transition and learning experience. I spent too much money on automatic waterers. And waaaay too much money on fencing. Lived on a gravel road surrounded by much larger pieces of property so could ride the woods and hills for hours (with permission from nice neighbors)
Then we bought this farm. 323 acres to begin with, more now. And brought in some choice livestock and of course horses. We have had up to 200 sheep and a few dozen cattle. Now have 19 horses and only 50 sheep and 10 cattle.
i’ve learned that no fence is permanent. No matter how well or how expensively you fence, you will need to work on it constantly and replace it eventually.
Shade in a pasture is important. Running water is also important. Flies are not controllable,
you gotta have a run in with big fans.
Horses can get along with all KINDS of other animals!!
I worked in a lot of different barns before we bought our property, so there wasn’t a lot about the work that surprised me.
I love having my horses at home and wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love being able to care for them exactly the way I want to (within financial limits) and it also allows me to keep them very frugally.
The biggest plus for me is that my old horses have been able to segue peacefully into retirement. If I had to board, I would only be able to keep one horse, and would be in a tough spot riding wise when that horse had to retire.
The biggest surprise was that I thought I’d ride every day with the horses outside my front door and nothing could be further from the truth. So lesson one is prioritize your riding. Set a schedule and stick to it. Sometimes, chores and maintenance are going to pre-empt your ridning, but start out with specific times carved out for it. There is ALWAYS something to be done - mucking, mowing, fence maintenance, harrowing, haying, grading.
The other surprise that gets many people is that they miss the social interaction of the barn and having friends to ride with and other horse people to chat with. It didn’t bother me as much the first 10 years or so as I had a great friend and horse neighbor. But I am at an age and stage of life where I really don’t like riding alone like I once did; and it’s tough to schedule riding dates.
The second lesson is what I jokingly call McGurk’s law: More acreage per horse = less work and less expense; more horses per acre = more work and more expense. Throw out whatever you’ve been told about horses/acre; find someone in your area who’s horse management you admire, ask them what works for them and why.
For instance: I have 10 acres of usable pasture. Usually, I have 2 horses and a small pony rotating through 3 paddocks. I have added a 4th horse temporarily. This means I can feed hay only 6 months per year, and the hay is mostly free choice round bales. I buy a few square bales to fill hay nets for the trailer and to throw in the stalls when the horses are up.
With rotating paddocks and harrowing the empty paddocks, I only need to pick manure in the paddocks a few months in winter.
I have run in stalls/sheds in two of the paddocks. They are matted and not routinely bedded; I muck once a week into the bucket of the tractor.
So buy the place with the most pasture available you can afford. Maintaining pasture is way cheaper than feeding hay year round or keeping horses in stalls, and horses with good pasture and forage are happier, healthier horses.
Things I wish I had done differently: I wish I had planned for a dry lot and/or a sacrifice area. We’ve made a dry lot using portable corral panels, which is unattractive, but works. If I had a do over, I’d make a sacrifice area around the barn that opened in the larger paddock.
Finally, have a farm/farmette ties you down. Traveling anywhere, even overnight, requires a farm sitter.
Most here don’t wash down the barn but once a year or so.
A fellow with a big power washer comes by and cleans it all, looks new and shiny for a while.
Now, a horse that licks the walls or goes to the bathroom on them, that probably needs cleaning more often.
We just power washed our cattle working shed and indoor arena walls and roping boxes, etc. and repainted it all. It had been some 7 years since that was cleaned.
Some times we don’t realize how dirty some place is getting, even with regular cleaning, until you do a deep cleaning.
When looking at horse properties, it is good to also consider what shape they are in and how much work it would be to keep them clean and nice looking.
One thing to consider about this is that it may not be the social aspect of riding that is missed, but the safety of having other people around while you are riding.
It seemed like the perfect opportunity to ride when my kids were at school, but if I came off there would literally be no one to find me for hours. That was a sobering thought. I found that I didn’t ride as much as I expected when I had the time because it seemed unnecessarily dangerous. (I have never been a great rider having started as an adult, and my horses were not schoolmasters, but even if they were I’m not sure it would have changed things for me.)
I boarded a horse here and there over the years and one of my boarders came off during a ride when she was here alone and described to me how she had to crawl back to the barn and then wait for her boyfriend to come help her get home. After that I didn’t really board again.
This is a real issue. I don’t honestly miss the social aspect, but I do go to my trainer’s farm once a week and get plenty of socialization then.
But safety is a thing. I’ve had some young/sketchy horses in the past 12 years, and some of them I would make my husband sit by the arena while I rode just because it gave me confidence. As those horses matured, even now, if I’m riding alone, I text when I get on and text when I get off. None of my neighbors can see my arena, and if my husband is at work, it could be the next day before anyone found me (he works 24 hour shifts).
All that said, its possible to have a plan and make it work, and we’ve done that.
on the find out what’s working in your area and why!
For example, in my area if I had 10 acres of useable pasture and 2 horses and a pony I’d never ride bc I’d have to mow 15 hours a week 8 months out of the year! I’m feeling tired just imagining it! Maybe if it was 10 acres of lawn grass bred to stay short it wouldn’t be so bad
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