# How far do you travel to get to your barn?



## karensc (Jul 5, 2015)

I'm just curious as to how far people travel on average to get to their horse(s). I've been thinking about buying a horse, and since I would have to board I have been researching barns and pricing to see what I can afford. So far it seems to me like it might be hard to find a place that would be near my home (there is one that location wise would be perfect, but would cost $1200/mo) and I'm trying to figure out how big of a deal that extra driving would be. Some places that I've been looking at are 35-50 miles away and drive time would be about 45-1hr drive. I also work a 9-5, so that could potentially be an extra 2hrs of driving if I go after work.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

About 1/2 acre. :rofl:
I used to drive 7 miles, one way.


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## MyBoySi (Dec 1, 2011)

I drive an hour and 15 minutes to my sisters house where my horses are. 

I try and go 3 times a week, usually less in the winter and more in the summer. 

It's a long drive but can't beat the free board.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## CrossCountry (May 18, 2013)

About 150 feet 

When we boarded we drove about 10 miles.


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## EdmontonHorseGal (Jun 2, 2013)

i'm lucky. i board 40 blocks away from home. less than 20 minutes by bicycle.

won't be staying that way though. barns inside city limits don't last and get torn down for neighbourhood expansion. it's just a matter of time before my barn commute gets a good bit longer.


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## sabowin (May 8, 2010)

I work halfway between my house and where I board, but I board with a friend. So on weeknights, it's 20 minutes to get to the barn, then 40 minutes to get home. On weekends, though, it's 40 minutes to get to the barn. It can get to be a drag being that far away, especially if we THEN trailer somewhere to go ride (occasionally, I ask her to load my horse and tack and meet her where we're going, but it has to be much more my direction for me to bother her with that, so I almost always drive there, then ride with her in the truck). With dilly-dallying and chit-chatting, a 2-hour trail ride we trailer to can easily take 8 hours or longer of me being gone from my house. It's worth it, both for the cheaper board and the camaraderie of boarding with a friend, but if I worked in the other direction, or if she ended up moving further away or something, I wouldn't be doing it. I'd much rather be between home and work, if possible, or within 15 minutes of home if not.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

We're pretty lucky. We found a very economical place to board our horses just 5-10 minutes from our house. It has a small indoor arena and our horses are paddock boarded (walk-in shelters, no stalls). 

Our lesson barn is 25 minutes away. It costs twice as much to board there, even though the facility is MUCH nicer. I just couldn't justify the extra $ and the extra driving time for the point we're at with horses now.


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## Incitatus32 (Jan 5, 2013)

About 2 miles. I can walk if I have to usually under 30min one way. Driving it takes me five. Then again I lucked out and my boss bought place just outside of suburbia. I used to board about 15 miles away and drove about 20min one way through the busier sections of town. 

Hopefully one day I'll be able to walk out my back door! :lol:


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

About 30 minutes for me.


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## Tihannah (Apr 7, 2015)

It's takes me about 40 min if I'm driving from house, which is only on the weekends. During the week, if I go straight from work its only about 15 min.

Wait...the place you found to board is $1200 a month???


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

I have about a 10 minute drive from home to my horse.

Don't forget that your round trip drive time also adds to your barn time. If your horse is 30 minutes away, that means you are looking at a 1 hour round trip drive in addition to the time you spend at the barn. So a 30 minute ride will take you at least 2 hours of time total: 30 minutes to get there, 15 minutes to catch/groom/tack, 30 minutes to ride, 15 minutes to untack/cooldown/put horse away, 30 minutes to drive home. And that's if you stick strictly to the times I just laid out!


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## CCBella (Jul 6, 2010)

10-15 minutes one way for me. I board on a private property and have two small and two large paddocks to move my little herd around. I could move to a nicer place with stables but it would be 30 to 45 mins one way.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

I can walk there in about eight minutes. Unfortunately it's all down hill so it is quite a bit longer to get back home. 

I would not keep a horse if I had to drive more than fifteen minutes to get to it, I don't think. I've found that I just can't make myself do anything elective regularly if I have to get into a car and go on a considerable drive to do it. I've tried, believe me.


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

50 feet from my back door to my barn. The furthest I ever had to drive when I boarded was 6 miles one way. Before I got my own place here, I rented a really old farmhouse with a barn and 50 acres in Fla. It was about 300 feet to the barn, and in the summer I'd be soaked with sweat by the time I got there.

So, I decided when I got my own place, I'd build my barn as close to my house as possible. County code is 20 feet, so my barn is 20 feet from the NE corner of my home. I love it.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Takes about 15 minutes to get to the barn I board at, but only because we have to go all the way around to enter from the opposite side we drive from because the dirt road is not friendly to little cars coming the other way. When I first bought my gelding and he was boarded at the barn I bought him from, it was literally two miles (about 5-8 minutes driving, depending on "traffic") from where I lived. 

Luckily, I work about five minutes from the barn I'm at now, so it's not a big deal to run out after work.

When I first started in horses and had my old gelding, it was 13 miles one way to the barn we were at.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Girl girly (Oct 21, 2012)

Form my house it takes 1 hour to get to the barn but only 5 min away form where I go to school.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

I'm fortunate in that there are lots of boarding stables in my area. I've always boarded no more than 15-20 minutes from home. I don't know how people do 45+ minute drives on a regular basis; I'd feel like I was spending my whole day in the car!


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

It takes me about 12 minutes to drive to my horses. If you can find one that a little ways away but on your way to and from work, that might make it a little easier. 1,200. a month sounds like a lot to me, maybe I'm spoiled. IDK.


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

Mine is about 45 minutes away and it makes it really hard on days with work or uni. I would love to have him closer.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## evilamc (Sep 22, 2011)

Before moving to Ohio I usually boarded about 20-35 minutes away. I couldn't go any further because of work so luckily found barns decently close. I could usually make it out 2-4x a week.

Now my barn is about 200ft maybe from the door in my bedroom  I get out of bed and walk right out my bedroom door to the barn! Its great. I swear the horses see me getting up sometimes or notice the light turn on because they start "watching" me lol


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## QHDragon (Mar 6, 2009)

10-ish minutes. I am very happy that I found a barn that is so close to me. Before I moved there I was doing about a 30-45 minute drive one way depending upon traffic. It was pretty stressful. On my tight schedule I would often find myself with an hour or less to actually do anything at the barn once I factored in drive time.


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## Whinnie (Aug 9, 2015)

I am 20 minutes away. A few years ago I leased a horse that was 30 minutes away. I would find it hard to be much more than 40 minutes away. A couple of boarders I know live much farther away, but work closer so they come after work. One boarder worked a 2nd shift so she would come before work and leave from the barn to her job. She lived 45 minutes away. 

Even with my drive being 40 minute round trip I generally spend about 1 hour working with/riding my horse so I am gone from between 2.5 and 3 hours. (OK, so some of the time is just enjoying the quiet of the farm and being the only one there in the middle of the day).

There are several ways to make it work if you have to drive a distance.


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## elle1959 (Sep 7, 2015)

10-12 minutes. It's quite nice to be able to see her whenever I want. This was unusual; most places are at least 30 minutes from my home, but I got on the waiting list here and got lucky. 

There is another place that's very close, but quite posh at $800.00 a month. Somehow, even if I did have that kind of money, I doubt I'd fit in very well there


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## karensc (Jul 5, 2015)

Tihannah said:


> It's takes me about 40 min if I'm driving from house, which is only on the weekends. During the week, if I go straight from work its only about 15 min.
> 
> Wait...the place you found to board is $1200 a month???


 
The closest barn to me is $1200 a month. I would never board there because that's too much for me... unless I was boarding myself too haha.


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## SarahStorms (Sep 8, 2014)

3.4 Miles 

I was so lucky to find this barn! Its make seeing her daily so easy.


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## Uze (Feb 23, 2013)

I'm really lucky in that the city I prefer to live in has NUMEROUS barns around it, like, everywhere. But my favorite place, and where I will board, is 2 minutes from my house. It's right out of my neighborhood and down the street  They are actually next door neighbors to ANOTHER barn but it is overcrowded and has too many small children so I don't like going there.

Then there is one about 10-15 minutes away, and another one the same distance. There's barns everywhere in Florida


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

10 miles away, takes around 18 minutes to get there due to traffic and whatnot

I love it!


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## 6gun Kid (Feb 26, 2013)

about 50 feet


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## CityslickerfrFla (Jan 11, 2016)

20 minutes


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## khorses23 (Jan 22, 2015)

most of you guys seem pretty lucky, your horses are so close to home - or at home! 

i have to drive about 45 minutes one way from home. from school, its only about 30 minutes, but i only have school twice a week and typically dont go to the barn one of those days. im at the barn a minimum of 5 days a week, but its usually 6 or 7, the only day i typically wouldnt go is thursdays. i also work there pretty much full time (everyday except tuesdays and thursdays). board is $500 which is average in my area, and actually really good for everything that is offered.


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## Rainaisabelle (Jan 2, 2015)

30 minutes each way  I don't mind the drive to much as my uni is about 5 minutes from my horse paddock so I have to go out that way anyway


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## cebee (Apr 4, 2010)

*http://www.horseforum.com/media/graphics/misc/basket.png*

About 15 min from home. I cant imagine driving an hour or more to ride-Im really fortunate. Then again, my girl is pasture boarded, so even coming from work this time of year, it would be too dark to ride. We have an indoor but I would still have to go get her from the pasture. If she were stalled, and there was an indoor to ride in, it would be much easier even when it gets dark. And that might ... maybe... justify a longer drive...


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## KestrelWeyr (May 5, 2015)

I board at a barn that's about 3 miles from where I work, so riding during the week is SUPER convenient. 

On the weekends, it makes it about a half hour drive each way, but it's really not so bad for me. Helps a lot that I LOVE the barn, though.


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## KestrelWeyr (May 5, 2015)

KestrelWeyr said:


> I board at a barn that's about 3 miles from where I work, so riding during the week is SUPER convenient.
> 
> On the weekends, it makes it about a half hour drive each way, but it's really not so bad for me. Helps a lot that I LOVE the barn, though.



If I were to move barns, the one I would go to is about 10 minutes from home. It'd add about 10-15 minutes to my commute to get there after work, but closer on weekends...


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