# backyard boarders =]



## barnprincess (Dec 17, 2009)

Who here boards in a backyard barn ?

I DO ! I've got a gorgeous appt. on the side of the house where my horses' have been for almost a year . I lived a few blocks over then my fiancee and I finally decided to get our own place and the tenats just happened to be leaving so we grabbed it.

any way!

its 2.3 acres and a cement block 5 stall (was 6) barn. He opened 2 stalls into one to make a huge stall . Its been just my two horses and my BO's old horse whom he gave back to his old owners when he had no time for him. I recently brought a new boarder in shes moving in tomorrow.

My bos cool as heck. We can do pretty much what ever we want as long as no one is or can get hurt i guess u can put it haha. 

I rough board and take care of his goats , bunnies, chickens and ducks. I pay $175 for both my horses. they each have their own turnout. We have an entire acre to ride on and to turn out on supervised . i have my own jump course up thanks to my finacee building them for me hehe. 

i like it b/c its quiet, no traffic, no stuck up girls, no drama and best of all no sharing rings haha. 

so what do you have where you backyard barn and why do you like it =]




















the black and white was mine untill sept when i adopted him out. the little chestnut was my BOs horse










this is from the gate that allows you into the back. from the back of the barn back its an exsact acre =]









and the barn hehe


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## ShannonSevenfold (Oct 11, 2008)

I "backyard board".

I board at my boyfriend's house with his sister's mare. Our two horses have something like 3 acres of pasture (but that is ever-growing; we add new pasture all the time). This will probably extend to the entire field by summer. It's rough board; they have a large shelter with their water tank inside. Fed twice a day (by me. haha). I pay $75 a month for my boy to stay there, but I have to feed hay once a day and haul water down to fill the tank once a week. We ride in the hayfeild. =)

No pictures, though. =(


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## snoggle (Jun 13, 2009)

I did board our two at the neighbor's until we got our barn built. It started out fine, but turned into a huge mess. 

Neighbor and his wife weren't using drugs when we became friends with them and started riding with them. They'd had drug problems in the past, but had cleaned themselves up and seemed to be doing well. He was out of work, but they have nice pastures so we paid for horse shoes, feed, etc. for our two as well as his two in exchange for use of their barn and land. He would keep the water trough full and provide general care - he wasn't working and had the time. Casual agreement. We did pay him for farrier work. 

Problems began when they got back into drugs a few months into this casual agreement. I went down there on several occasions and found all 4 horses without water. Another neighbor said he could hear them banging on the water trough all night long! Neighbor and his wife would be wasted for days at a time and never check on the horses. Hubby and I started making sure we checked on them twice a day - we had to do all of the feeding, etc. Here's me working two jobs taking care of this unemployed idiot's horses in all of my free time!

Anyway, I'll save you all of the horrible details, but we couldn't get our girls out of there fast enough. We still go down there and check on his horses some (who are really skinny now). We've taken them round bales of hay and given them wormer. We avoid the neighbor's like the plague, but have managed to stay on decent terms when we do see them. 

Neighbor is currently in serious legal trouble, of course related to the drugs. We're hoping he'll try to sell the horses as he gets more desperate for money. We know of several decent horse owners who would buy them. If I had room I'd buy them myself. Cross your fingers we can get them out of there. 

I learned my lesson about "casual" boarding agreements with neighbors. Never again...


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## barnprincess (Dec 17, 2009)

^ wow im sorry for that situation . i had one similar before i moved here but no drugs were involved . the woman was just a mental case. haha. i don't really want to get into it.


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## stacieandtheboys (Jan 6, 2009)

Yeah our neighbor let us use 3 acres of his land. He said we were doing him a favor with the horses being on it...he didn't have to keep up with it. One day we get a nasty note on a napkin saying not to put our horses on his property anymore and if we did it would be $40 per month per horse. I was like 6 months ago we were doing you a fovor and now you are just getting greedy. had he asked nicely i probably would have been like ok but the way he did it ****ed me off lol. He doesn't even use the land or keep it up. He has so much crap and weeds growing over there it is coming into my yard. he is an old crotchety man anyway. It sounds awful but we are hoping when he passes that we can buy the 3 acres from his family lol. they have plenty more in the back


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

^^ thats why you get a contract. Althought it was rude he can do what ever he wants with the land. I dont think $40 per horse per month is greedy. My neighbors rent their pasture out for more then that. 

I keep my horses at a barn the BM rents from two older ladies (I think like 80 or so.) She charges me cost for everything, its $150 per horse, everything included that is normally in board. No ring though, but plenty of trails.


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## eventerdrew (Mar 13, 2009)

I do! 

My barn is an 8 stall barn. It was used to keep too many horses and so when we got it it had been sitting empty for a year so a lot of stuff was missing (stuff was stolen). We had to dig out 2 feet of poop out of each stall by hand. We have 3 stalls that are completely finished and one stall that is functional, but not finished (you have to keep a trustworthy horse in there and jerry-rig a latch). I absolutely love having my horses at home rather than boarding. I get to pick their feeding schedule, worming schedule, farrier, vet. everything! 

It's great. I love backyard boarding


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## qtrhrsecrazy (Aug 2, 2009)

I used to backyard board. It was totally self care which I prefer, and it was close to home. My kids had a nice big pasture to themselves with a good sturdy shelter. The price was wonderful compared to 'commercial boarding facilities'. Very affordable. The down side was the owner constantly helped herself to her boarders feed.

I have since moved away and am at a commercial facility. I've had to let go of all but one horse, as I can't afford right now to board more than one at commercial prices... broke my heart.


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

My rule: 

If something happens and I have to board at a more expensive barn, I only allow my self to have as many horses as I can afford full board for. Around here I can board for about $325 per horse, at a place I like, if I have to move. So I only have two horses. 

Self care is fun that you get to see your horses alot and not so fun when you want a vacation. Some place you can save money, others cost you about the same price, in my area. I found a nice facility, but its $200 to just rent a stall, and on top of food, bedding and all that driving and time, boarding comes out to be the same price.


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## Gillian (Aug 2, 2008)

I do. It's a private 4 stall barn, (soon to be five, and maybe six) right behind the BO's house. The entire property is fenced in and they have three pastures. The biggest one doubles as a riding field with jumps, trot poles, and a dressage ring. I really love it there, am the only boarder at this point, my horse gets loads of attention and care, and we couldn't be happier.


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## CecilliaB (Jan 21, 2010)

I am not sure if this counts....our barn is located in our military housing community a few blocks from our house. It's a small private co-op/self help barn. We provide all our own food and do all our own work, cleaning, feeding and blanketing including 1 day a month we get together for a meeting and work day where we mend fences, clean out hay barn, clear trails...what ever has to be done  

I really enjoy it. Boarding in CA was so boring...I love the work of owning a horse and the time just spent around them so this is ideal. We are a great community but some times it sucks cuz I am VP and my friend who is the President and I are the ones who have to get after people. We have had two people that neglect their horses and it just annoys the pee out of me.


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