We are moving to Cambridge next spring with our two horses, and wondering where we should look at for boarding and training? We would love to find a barn with a friendly, active community of AA clients who like to potter around the low levels and dressage shows. A mix of abilities also fine but I have boarded places where no one wants to leave the arena and farms where everyone is showing at a high level, and neither have been the best fit for riding with friends. As well as a very positive trainer. An onsight cross country course and/or trail access would also be great. Ideally within an hour or so of Cambridge when the traffic is not standstill. I boarded at Apple Knoll over a decade ago while in Boston for the summer, and will definitely check in with them again about availability, but unsure about other barns to look at and Google canât tell us much about their communities.
Scarlet Hill in Groton would be my #1 pick.
Orchard Hill in Berlin and Waterâs Edge in Concord both are within driving distance but, be forewarned that driving almost anywhere during rush hour would double the commute.
Emphasizing this. I joke that my barn is âa Boston 45 mins away.â Aka 40 mins or less with no traffic, upwards of an hour fifteen during rush hour.
Agree with Beowolfâs suggestions above, and you mentioned Apple Knoll yourself.
North shore perspective. Check out Ledyard Farm/ Oakwood Stable. Same 40 minutes from Boston in Wenham (unless thereâs traffic), on the commuter rail and an easy bike ride from the train if you donât mind schlepping the bike. Itâs run by Ferial Johnson, about whom I canât say enough good things. Excellent ammy coach, terrific horse trainer and besides being the site of many competitions back in the day, it has hosted many clinics on the property so there are XC jumps at every level.
Nearby is Gathering Farm which was the old site of the eventing team in the Jack LeGoff days. I donât know who is teaching there now but itâs worth a look.
Both of these facilities have indoor and outdoor rings and hacking. Good people at each as clients and staff. Myopia Hunt is in the area. Either alone or in groups, thereâs good hacking at Bradley Palmer State Park and then there is seasonal beach access for riding. There are other stables around.
Added later: Thereâs Flying High Stable in Essex. Turnout isnât fantastic but the people are great (review from one of my boarders).
Lol and define ârush hourâ 
Thanks everyone! These are great suggestions and I will reach out to those trainers.
It has been a few years since Iâve been there, but Sugar Ridge in Dover might be a good fit. Huge indoor, great care, connects to trails. Carin Zuchero was running the barn and teaching there last I knew. Other instructors also at times. A fun group of boarders with a mix of ages and experience levels. Mostly dressage riders, often did group rides on weekends. Several boarders lived in Cambridge.
When I was in Cambridge from 2003/2005 I boarded at Little Brook Farm in Carlisle. You could ride to Great Brook and jump all the things there.
I recently left Cambridge, but lived there and boarded in the area for many years. I beg of you, consider where you are in Cambridge. Traffic within Cambridge is often the biggest time sink during rush hour if you are trying to cross the city. If you are on the west side, close to Route 2, going out that way will be easiest - consider places in Concord, Acton, Harvard, Bolton, Berlin, etc (Orchard Hill). If you are more towards Cambridgeport, getting on 90 is probably more reasonable - check out barns in Sherborn, Weston, surrounding areas (Course Brook is a big barn that fits your criteria.) South of the city (Apple Knoll) is tough because you need to cut across all of Cambridge and Boston, and it takes forever (I rode around Walpole for a while, and it regularly took over an hour and a half to go 40 miles). If youâre coming from East Cambridge, somewhere close to 93, you can go up that way (even the barns close to New Hampshire can be not too bad to get to if you are close to 93). Peak rush hour in Cambridge generally starts around 3 pm and starts to get better after 6 pm. Happy to answer any other questions about commuting from Cambridge!
Yes, generally after 6 pm itâs about an hour going up 93 the NH border.
Agreed on this and sometimes you can get there in an hour even before 6. I head from Charlestown to Amesbury (Nh line way up there) and have the most luck with Mondays being slightly under or around an hour even before 6 pm. It seems to be a more popular WFH day. Friday can also be a shorter barn commute day, except for during summer. Mid week I wait to leave work until at least 5.30, but usually closer to 6 or I could easily spend over 1.5 hours driving the 40 miles north.
We havenât yet found a house, as weâre planning to rent for a year or two before we buy again. Both of us do have the advantage of a very flexible schedule ⊠we could ride mid-mornings on weekdays for example. I know that wonât totally alleviate the traffic woes of Boston, but I hope it will help at least a little bit. I am definitely not a stranger to traffic where we currently live ⊠our barn can take 35-40 minutes at off peak times, 1:20 when itâs bad.
If youâre used to 40-1:20 and can get out midday, youâll definitely find something workable! There are many good barns. Good luck!
@afjordlife, when we got married, my DH and I both worked in downtown Boston. I commuted in from a barn apartment near where my horses were on the Northshore. He was living in Back Bay where I joined him. We ended up finding a house on the Northshore because he got tired of me getting home after 10 pm, tired and smelling of a barn. He got used to the barn smell when we kept horses on our property. Commuting to work was better for us than commuting to the barn. So beware! You just might not end up living in Cambridge;)
This. Having lived and boarded in both MA and Southern NH for years, and returning there again in August: itâs a puzzle. DM if you like for more barn info.
I live in downtown Boston and have ridden in Sherborn (Course Brook, gorgeous property), Concord (Arrowhead, gorgeous, full service H/J barn with a price that matches), Littleton (Newbury, similar to Arrowhead) and a now-closed H/J barn in Essex. Traffic has gotten so much worse than when I started doing these drives about 20 years ago, or at least less predictable. My biggest pain point getting to the North Shore was the 93/95 interchange, and honestly 95/128 coming back into my work in Newton gave me plenty of trouble around 11am.
If you are planning to ride most days of the week, I would strongly encourage you to consider living along a commuter rail line which may make the work commute slightly worse but it will make your barn commute infinitely better. Besides, youâre renting, so it is not a huge deal to change! There are cute village centers around most towns with commuter rail access so you can still walk to plenty of things if that is the appeal of Cambridge.
Agree with this! The Boston/Cambridge -> barn commute is soul sucking, and honestly my within-Boston T commute was only marginally better than my colleagues who took the commuter rail in (especially because we only went back to the office 3 days a week post-COVID). Living outside the city with a reasonable drive to the barn and an easy commute in is pretty ideal.
ETA @afjordlife feel free to PM me if youâd like my thoughts on local barns!
Ugh, the 95/128 is just the WORST and yep, that 93/95 always seems to be bad
If OP can go to the barn at off hours, that will help - but it takes forever to get from Cambridge to anywhere.
When I boarded Feronia in Ipswich, I regularly went to ride her early in the morning and then drove down Rt 1 to the Sullivan Square T stop, and took the T the rest of the way to work. I had flexible start time at my job, basically any time before 10:30, so that worked really well. I was going down Rt 1 after the height of morning rush hour. I also, through work, had a Zone 4 commuter rail pass at half off, and it worked on the subway and busses, too.
My horses have always been in the general vicinity of the 495/rt 2 juncture and I have worked in Boston since I graduated from college (in Boston) in 2011. I have tried living in Boston and commuting to the barn, living near the horses and commuting to work, and Iâve found the best fit has been living in Waltham which is sort of half way between both. On a regular day it would take me about 35-40 minutes to get into Boston (BMC area), and it takes me about the same to get to the barn on a weeknight if I leave home at 6pm. Coming home from the barn around 8:30/9 takes me 30 minutes.
All that said - if you can, find a location that feels like a good mid-point. If youâre going to be living in Cambridge, I agree with others that being on the west side/fresh pond area and commuting down rt 2 is probably going to be the least painful.
