# My Long History of Boarding



## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

*Stable #8*
This place seemed great at first. Rescue/boarding barn. Lots of horses on the place. Group turnout with horses that got along. The stalls were OK, covered, waters, etc. I did self-care here as well.
Because it was such a large barn, we decided to store our hay in my mother's trailer. I didn't want anyone stealing our feed. Both mares got the slow feed boxes. 
The place did have two arenas and a round pen, nice wash rack, plenty of hitching rails. The problem was that you could almost never use the arena as there was always a horse(s) turned out in it.
The owner of the rescue/barn ended up being really sketchy (aren't they always?). We left after we came to the barn one day to find a huge pool of blood (not from our horses), the barn owner not speaking to us when we asked what happened. We had already gotten warnings from someone else about this place, and combined with all the other problems (including someone vandalizing our very expensive custom slow feed nets/boxes) we were out of there the same day. Amazing how that always seems to work out? I give the credit to God that He prepares a way before it is needed.

*Stable #9*
This lady we had met by chance at a yard sale. She showed us around her place after I told her where we currently boarded (she is the lady who warned us about stable 8). I told DH after leaving there that 'yeah, the place is nice, but I would be miserable boarding there'. After stable 8's fiasco, we were left without a choice.
This barn fed 5 times a day, full care only. We were not allowed to use our slow feed boxes. It was the most expensive barn I've ever been at, but they did have bedded stalls and full turnout attached to stalls. My horse had a big 100 gallon water set up as an auto water. I was really unhappy with it as it hardly ever got cleaned and looked like pond water.
The barn also had an extremely nice arena, round pen, wash rack, tack room, etc. No lights. We were not allowed at the barn after 8pm. Early mornings had to be pre-arranged (sucks for the desert, when are you supposed to ride in the summer to beat the heat?). The trails here sucked, although there were tons of them, they were very rocky and offered little to no cantering or even trotting ground.
The BO I did take a few dressage lessons from. She was very good at teaching more advanced students, but was far too condescending to beginners. Thus, my mother did not feel comfortable there, and my husband didn't ride at all the entire time we were there.
I had to go out of state again on another work project with DH. In the time I was gone, my mother's horse colicked twice (no history of colic). We believe this was due to the bulk of the diet being dry pellets, as the last barn also fed dry pellets (though we were self-care so it didn't apply to us) and that barn had a high incident rate of colic. Even with the vet stating that the pellets should be soaked, the BO refused. 
I came back to find my horse very depressed. She REALLY missed being worked and getting attention. So, all of this combined with the extremely high rate of boarding there that DH and I were just barely affording, I started looking for somewhere else.

*Stable 10*
My current stable (whew! glad this is almost over). This barn is self-care and only TWO MINUTES from the house! WOOHOO! It has no arena or round pen, but there is a little back area I can school in, and the trails are extremely nice and a half hour ride away. The stalls are large, and we are hopefully going to be getting a turn out built in the future. The barn is fully covered but open to the air. There is a very nice feed room and tack room, wash rack, and cross tie rings.
The stable owner is super nice and laid back. He wanted younger boarders, as he finds older people tend to be... difficult. His mother, who lives with him, is a packrat. She has a bunch of trash laying about and stuffed into the feed room. Occasionally, she comes out and rearranges her things (trash), and I usually wait a few days before putting it all back. Sometimes, she does things like demand I move my horses over to other stalls. I always check with BO to make sure I am still good. He always says to just ignore her, as she doesn't really have any say in the boarding/boarders. The first time I talked with her, I could tell there was something off about her but couldn't figure it out. Then she told me she had many head injuries before. Oh.
Other than that, this barn is great. I can come and go as I please whenever I please, but always try to get everything done before dark out of courtesy. I really enjoy the amount of galloping terrain and cool trails available nearby. And the mares have never looked better in the many years I have known them.

Whew, that took me an hour to write this! :eek_color:

I have to be off now for a bit. But now you have heard my journey.
:cowboy: :gallop:


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Wow. That's a lot of barns. When I got my horse I boarded her at the nearest place, an expensive barn with the one advantage of a gigantic, perfectly groomed arena. They fed dry alfalfa cubes, twice a day, my horse had a tiny paddock with a shelter and an auto waterer she broke within a week (they were always breaking). The tack room was so far away from the paddock I just kept everything in my car. They fed my grass hay if I bagged it into feedings for them (but still was paying for the alfalfa cubes they weren't feeding). The clientele was almost entirely elderly people who didn't ride or were happy to trot slowly around the arena under supervision. A sizable portion of the horses I never saw ridden at all. There was no trail access. I did not like the barn owner, and was unhappy there, but nothing as bad as your experiences! 

After two months I was able to fix up my neighbor's pasture and move my horse into it. It's not exactly perfect -- I keep some stuff in the hay/feed shed at the pasture, the actual tack room and grooming area is a long way away from the pasture, and my trailer which I use several times a week (because again, no trail access from here) is parked at another neighbor's, so I spend a lot of time trying to be efficient and not leave something somewhere that I will need elsewhere. Which does not always work. But at least I have complete control over my horse's care, I can walk down the road to do chores in the morning, my teacher is just around the corner -- I can ride my horse to her barn. It's a lot better than most people have.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

The one thing I have learned is that you can't have everything-sometimes not even when you own your own property! You have to learn what you are willing to work with and what you aren't.

For me, having a place for just me, the two mares, and my family is awesome. I can deal with no arena, trails a bit away, and a *******/packrat look to the place. Hey, if the front of the property looks not so grand, makes it less likely for people to go through the gates into the back and mess with my things and horses!

I was always happier with the self-care barns than full-care. My experiences are largely a reason why I don't converse or spend time with horse people, aside from HF. I enjoy certain horse people. But the large majority I have known personally tend to be extremely/overly opinionated, controlling, or just plain crazy. Thus the reason I keep so much to myself.

I didn't include complete details about every single barn (boy, that would take forever.) If anyone wants more details about a certain barn, just post the number and say so.
I didn't mention it because it is the norm out here, but most horses I see are very rarely ridden, if at all. Many of them are also confined to stalls 24/7 and never get let out, never groomed, etc. I think it's very sad.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

I agree, it's very sad how so many horses are treated at boarding stables. 
I'm on my 9th boarding situation with Amore and I've had her since 2002, but you might say 8 different places since one place I moved to twice. 
Halla has been to 4 barns.

Mostly they've been in different cities as we've moved around. Three times I moved to the area and had my horse at a place three months or less because it was a bad situation. 
I definitely understand about the control freak/crazy situations.

I also like self care, but prefer a sort of partial care so there is some flexibility with taking trips or going out of town for a day or two. Right now at the barn near the beach, the horses are "self care" but I pay two gals to clean stalls for me 6 days a week. I go every day to do the feeding because I am a control freak.  But worst case if I need to go out of town, someone can do it for me.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

I have moved several times as well, but not nearly as many times as you. Whew, I hate moving. I'll have to say that it's easier to move horses than it would be myself though. 

I decided that I wanted to get back into horses and found the boarding barn first. The first place I was at is when I first got my horse Bella, it was a beautiful place on 325 acres. 100 of those acres were fenced in pastures. 
The place had a nineteen stall barn with two wash racks, two tack rooms, restrooms, a room with lockers, an arena with lights, a round pen, and 200 acres of wooded trails to ride on. There was also a trainer there if you wanted to hire her for lessons or riding your horse. The B/O was pretty knowledgeable with feeding and the horses looked great. I pasture boarded and my mare was with 6 other mares in their own pasture of about 30 acres but three of them came in at night. Each pasture had a set of open air covered stalls for feeding only so everyone would get what they were supposed to have. They fed grass hay in the winter and either triple crown senior or legends show and pleasure. You could have something different if you wanted to buy your own. 
After a couple of years, I purchased 4 year old Laela and she was also pasture boarded. There was an awesome barn manager on the property but her and the B/O had a falling out and the manager got fired. After that, things got crazy. The B/O hired someone new and fired them, and someone new and fired them. Finally she started hiring young girls to do the work and managed the place herself. 
So one bright and sunny day as I'm sitting in the hospital waiting for my niece to get out of surgery from a pretty bad auto accident I get a phone call from the B/O to tell me that Laela ate a chlorine tablet. One of the girls threw the tablet into the dry water trough and Laela thought it was a treat. She went for it, the girl shooed her away and then turned her back. Laela came back and grabbed it and ate it!!! My guess is that the girl was in the middle of texting or something and not paying attention. Needless to say, there was a virtually no drama but big vet bills surrounding that episode. It took me a little bit to recover from that one. The thought of leaving briefly entered my mind but the horses were so happy there and I chalked it up to an accident that would probably never happen again. The next thing that happened was when the teens were feeding and they allowed the B/O's chihuahua dog into the feeding stalls and Laela stomped the poor thing and killed it. That was it. The horses got kicked out and I was finding a new place for them. As of now, that place has closed and the property is on the market.

The second place, I was at for a year. A 200 acre property that I had pretty much to myself. Sounds wonderful right? Well, everything was fine until Bella started loosing weight and a lot of it. After the vet coming out and doing countless tests on her I finally figured out that the property owners horse was running her off of her feed. There were a lot of live oaks on the property for shade so not a lot of grass. The horses were fed separately in different stalls but the guy who fed would just leave the gates open and leave. lol I talked to the owner several times about this problem and he just kept saying that she was skinny because she was old. The horse was 22 at the time. She was 22 when I got there and fat. She was 22 when I left and skinny. I just got tired of talking with no results, so I left.

The next place that I went to lasted for a month and a half. I'm not even going to go into details about this one except to say that these people were just flat out crazy and to many animals died in the time that I was there. I threw the horses in the trailer and ran. I paid the board on the first and was gone by the eighth. Didn't ask for any money back or nothing. That was the place where Laela injured her hock too. I don't think that the owners had anything to do with it, but who knows. 

Now I'm at the next place. I came across this place while standing in line at the feed store. I was desperate to get out of that last place and met the owner of where I'm at now. They are really nice people. It's not the best looking place but it's not horrible either. There were a few issues but as of date, those issues have been fixed. Mainly, it was the water situation. Woman would go to work and hubby who was supposed to water would forget. He's not a horse person, does not have any interest in them but will try to help out. The only problem is his forgetting the water. I'm there on most days and take care of my guys myself so I just fixed it to where the two days a week that I'm not there, the water won't be a concern. I also had a problem with the goats eating my alfalfa but that problem has been fixed as well. They have an arena, and we can ride on the rural roads. Also, I have a trailer to go to trails that are not far. 
I've been here for three years and we've worked through the issues. I'm glad that we were able to do that because I really like these people and they are great to have as friends.

I'm really hoping that I don't have to move anymore. The next place that I want my horses to be on is my own place. That is my goal and dream at the moment. To buy my own property where I can just go out the back door and see my guys.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I have/do board and am also a barn owner. I board when I have a horse in training, so everything has always been full care & training. I used to have several boarders here at my home but got tired of all the extra work and as they were sold off (I was helping the owner sell), I didn't advertise for replacements. Since I've been on both sides of the fence, I can see why some are so unhappy, and I try to stay out of my boarder's business unless it's a breaking of my rules or a dangerous situation that can cause damage to my property or to the boarder or their horse. 

When I'm boarding, I follow the BO's rules, no exception. Since my horses are in full training, I only ride when I'm taking a lesson and leave the rest up to the trainer. I furnish money and any needed supplies and supplements. For instance, Ducati is in full training and getting ready for the World Champs. He's got blankets, sheets, slinkies (multiple of each) and I furnish Lysine, DMG, Black as Knight, and 50 lb bags of Amplify as needed. Trainer feeds imported Alfalfa (from out of state because of blister beetles), grass hay and a 14% pellet. Plus I think he's sneaking in a couple of HIS favorite coat supplents, LOL! I understand dirty waterers being a pet peeve, they're one of mine too. My trainer doesn't clean waterers, so I clean my horses myself, when I see that it's looking yuk. I feel like if I wouldn't drink it, they shouldn't have to either. 

At home, I do it all. Feed, muck, turn out, blanket, unblanket etc. Doing it all at home for up to 40 horses has made me appreciate why a BO may say No to certain things or charge for doing them. It used to gripe me no end when the barn would charge for blanketing, after receiving 20 unhandled horses that I had to blanket and get into show condition, I got over that. I raised my board to cover it. Barn made me get Smart Paks, grrrrr because it IS more expensive. After having to mix and match for 40 horses? Yup, you want the horse on something, you can get Smart Paks if you want me to feed it. I don't charge extra for turn out, that just goes with the territory here. If you want your horse groomed daily, I do charge for that. Actually, since I'm down to 1 boarder, I don't really charge extra anymore. She's one of my foals, so she isn't a lot of extra work and not only am I not charging, I'm letting her owner use my blankets while she grows. If she ever leaves here, then they'll have to buy her some stuff but for now, I just do it. My board is pretty much all inclusive since I hate being nickle and dimed to death. I charge a flat rate for a stall, cleaning, bedding, feeding 2X/day, turnout and 24/7 access to grass or grass hay, when the horses are out. I also leave them out unless it's really cold or stormy. They come in 2X/day and get fed so that no one gets shorted. 

I've had good trainers/barns and bad ones. The main reason for me to pull a horse is for really substandard care or dangerous situations. 

I have pulled a horse because I spent an entire day with the trainer before taking my horse to him and going over what I wanted. The MAIN thing I told him? I wanted the horse trained Western Pleasure and he trained him hunt seat because HE wanted a horse to ride in a futurity (that I would pay for naturally). I yanked the horse, so not only didn't he have one to ride in the futurity, he didn't have him in training either. I will travel a long way for the right trainer (5 hours in this case) but I won't get out of bed for the wrong one. Oh and I did put the horse in the futurity and have another trainer show him, and then we started training on Western Pleasure. Went Champ first time he was shown, so the wrong trainer was a good trainer, just not right for us. And you wanna talk about a control freak? OMG. Read on. 

I am used to interacting with my horses and we actually like each other. This trainer didn't want me to bathe, groom, pick feet, ride (wait a minnit here, whose horse is it?) or do anything else with my horse, because he didn't want me to 'mess him up'. What am I payin' him for? I've never been in a barn who wasn't grateful for any help the owners gave, in fact, I had horses in training with one trainer and I did all her show clipping - $$$ off the bill, and would help her load in and out at shows. Not that guy, he wanted me to show up at the shows, watch and be thrilled when the horse won, provide money and supplies and go away a lot. Yeah, no. 

My current trainer is beyond awesome. Barn isn't fancy and he doesn't waste money on things that aren't utilitarian. No air conditioned barns/arenas/clubhouses here. Another one who is a judge and is teaching me the finer points of Ranch Versatility, is a lot more expensive and has a much fancier set up, both are excellent horsemen. The one who's coaching me has a bunch of world champs behind his name, so he can get the $$ he asks for, and I travel 2 hours to get to him. The other one is 5 mins from my house. Pros & cons to both situations. 

At the end of the day, I find as I get older, I'm looking forward to the day when I have sold most of my horses and only have a couple so I can afford to put them in full board and training and I can get out from under the daily work load. Not going to happen real soon, but it's a dream!


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

Horse people are crazy!!!


I went through a handful of places with Pistol when he was the only horse I had. Every place seems just right in the beginning and then the little thing always seem to pile up. I love having them at home but sometimes it really gets hard especially when the horses get older and need more attention.


I have decided not to add anything to my herd as I lose them over the years. I've been hanging in steadily at six for sometime now and will have six for a long while I think. The ages are 33, 23, 17, 11, 10, and 3....


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## PaisleysMom (Feb 22, 2017)

If you've read some of my previous posts, you will see I recently moved my horse and the huge dilemma it was to decide to move.

Well we are moving back.

Our big problem was on his first day of turn out he lost his mind and ended up lacerating his pastern with some minor tendon damage too. I blame myself and the barn management. They shouldn't have turned him out, and I should have said not to. But hindsight is 20/20 so there is nothing I can do to change it. Anyway, initially they were really great with helping me. This is a full care barn and I came from self-care. He is stall rested and they were great about doing his stall twice a day - until they stopped. Which is ok - I am paying for once a day. So I asked if we could try and form a little system here - if they can do it in the AM since I work, I can easily do it again PM. Then it's done twice a day and no one has to do a really bad stall (plus better for him for healing). That was apparently not possible. Then they got crappy with me about him going through a lot of shavings (well... yeah he's on stall rest and also a big boy), so they bedded his stall with an entire bale of old hay that the other horse's wouldn't eat. Okay... except that his injury is on his PASTERN and he is walking through little stickers of hay all day long- stabbing at the site. So now we have a new infection in the wound which is just super. They gave me crap when I asked them to remove it. And now we are having issues with them feeding what I ask. They bought all my grain (included in the price of board) and I have offered to continue preparing his feed (due to antibiotics and bute and then trying to wean bute down - my attempt to make feedings easier for them, literally just pour this pre-measured container into his bowl and done), and they have skipped him four times. He's on MEDS and they can't remember to even FEED him the food I've already prepared? Seriously? And they also refuse to fill two buckets of water for him. They complain that he drinks too much - so much more than the other horses. Well DUH - he's in his stall about 23 hours a day - so you will see he drinks a lot more from a bucket in the stall than the other horses in the pasture trough! After that argument I immediately called my former barn and asked to return and fortunately I can come back in a few weeks.

I'm ****ed I'm paying for full care and my horse is barely receiving any care at all. I have to come up twice a day just to check that he was fed and has water. I was out of town last weekend from Sat AM to Sun PM and I picked out his stall before I left Saturday morning and I'm positive it was never done again because he was standing in 6 inches of manure when I came back Sunday night and not a dry iota of shavings in the stall. 

At least at my former barn it is self-care and I have a lot more control over how he is cared for since I do it myself. I moved him to be at a smaller facility with a smaller herd and more turn out time but this is not worth it (especially since we have been stall rested this entire time). I am going back to a 57 horse farm with large herds but a group of great people who can help me out if I need it. And I know that if he has two water buckets in his stall they will get filled twice a day- no questions asked. No place is perfect, but the ones that at least have your horse's best interest in mind is where you need to be.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Gawd, I'm glad I have my horses at home! In the barn I had built to MY specifications! 

No turnout would be a deal-breaker for me, but you say it's the norm there, so not much you could do I guess.


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

I have boarded at a lot of places too, but since I've had horses for over 40 years, not too surprising! 

Won't bore y'all with the details, but have run into a lot of crazy BO here. 

The place I boarded in Ohio was the best. There was lots of trails a short walk past two houses, a huge arena, 50 stall barn, some individual and several group turnouts. Horses were grouped by sex and temperament. Separate pasture for foals and ponies too. Plus could accommodate up to 6 stallions with private paddocks off their stalls. Or if someone just wanted a private stall with paddock, like a high-dollar show horse. 

Never ran into any craziness there at all. Tried a few other places just to save money, but always came back there because of the trails and huge arena for reasonable rates. 

Here in the south, things have been different! Had my own place for a while. I loved it, hubby hated it. After taking care of my own horses, it was hard to return to boarding and boarding barns are very different in the south! . 

Have bounced around between boarding barns and private homes since I was divorced. Mostly I have been at self-care places, but a couple have been full care. The ones close by have less land, and the ones with more land are too far away. After a year of driving 30-60 minutes *each way*, I am usually ready to move. 

Twice boarding barns closed up, so I had to go. Once my horse was injured and the BO got really weird acting afterwards. 

Most recently, a barn I have boarded at twice before, has lost a lot of boarders and has turned into the biggest drama fest I have ever known. I thought I could deal with it, but couldn't take my elderly horse being brutalized by a mean pony so I left. The BO refused to move the pony to a different pasture. Had to keep my 27 yr old stalled 24/7 cause she wouldn't let me turn him out in the grass arena at night (while no-one was riding). I just couldn't deal with making my old guy suffer that way. I was paying a lot of money boarding three horses. Too much to be dealing with drama every day! 

Currently I rent a pasture as it is the closest thing to my own property I can find. The owner lets me do whatever I want with the property, but I do always talk to him about my plans first. He's never told me no :thumbsup:


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Oh my gosh! I am so sorry you had to go through so much craziness in order to find a decent barn!

As a barn manager, and a boarder I am appalled at some of the nonsense you had to deal with! I have only been to about 4 barns in 7years, so Ive been really lucky! So glad you found a place that you enjoy!

Is no turn out popular where you are located? Just curious


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

csimkunas6 said:


> Oh my gosh! I am so sorry you had to go through so much craziness in order to find a decent barn!
> 
> As a barn manager, and a boarder I am appalled at some of the nonsense you had to deal with! I have only been to about 4 barns in 7years, so Ive been really lucky! So glad you found a place that you enjoy!
> 
> Is no turn out popular where you are located? Just curious


There is an extreme lack of land here, as far as what the average person owns. So turnout is popular, just usually not available.

The mares have been managing in their individual stalls (15x30ft), and then getting let out everyday for 20-40 minutes while I do barn chores. That in addition to an average of four hours per week of moderate work, they are happy. They also have something to do all day though: their slow feed boxes. They graze on those all day, in place of pasture.


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## mkmurphy81 (May 8, 2015)

The first barn where I boarded was probably the worst I've ever heard of. Before anyone yells at me, I was probably 9 years old and really didn't know any better. My parents weren't horsey. This was around 1990ish

My horse lived at this barn before we bought her, and it was where my friends rode. Naturally, those were the only factors considered.

The property was probably around 40 acres, partially wooded, partially grass. There were around 30-35 horses there. All of the horses were out together 24/7. For water, there were 2 creeks and a natural spring. The horses were fed once or twice a day (I don't remember, and I'm not sure it was consistent). There was a small house just outside the fence. The BO rented the house out for free, provided the renter fed the horses. The renter didn't know a thing about horses. He went out, picked up a big stick, and banged on the metal roof of the barn. That was the signal for feeding time. The horses would run in and sort themselves into the stalls. There weren't enough stalls, so the paddocks attached to the stalls were also used, as in one horse closed in the paddock and another in the stall. The horses were never in the same place twice. Everyone got a coffee can of sweet feed and a flake of hay. After they had finished, everyone went back out. The stalls were _never_ cleaned. The barn was disgusting. Once, some of us kids decided to clean the stalls. With all of us working in one stall, we couldn't make a dent in the filth. There was no bedding, just old manure. 

Out in the pasture (I use the term loosely -- there was just one fence around the entire property) the horses fought regularly. Fortunately for me, my horse was a very dominant Morgan mare with hooves the size of salad plates. She always had plenty of food... unlike the others.

When we wanted to ride, there was no arena. We rode in the pasture with the loose horses. When we wanted to give the horses a water break, we rode right through all the loose horses gathered around the spring. We had no idea how dangerous that was. 

After a few years, we moved to a different city and boarded at a proper barn. What an eye-opening experience that was!


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> I have/do board and am also a barn owner. I board when I have a horse in training, so everything has always been full care & training. I used to have several boarders here at my home but got tired of all the extra work and as they were sold off (I was helping the owner sell), I didn't advertise for replacements. Since I've been on both sides of the fence, I can see why some are so unhappy, and I try to stay out of my boarder's business unless it's a breaking of my rules or a dangerous situation that can cause damage to my property or to the boarder or their horse.
> 
> When I'm boarding, I follow the BO's rules, no exception. Since my horses are in full training, I only ride when I'm taking a lesson and leave the rest up to the trainer. I furnish money and any needed supplies and supplements. For instance, Ducati is in full training and getting ready for the World Champs. He's got blankets, sheets, slinkies (multiple of each) and I furnish Lysine, DMG, Black as Knight, and 50 lb bags of Amplify as needed. Trainer feeds imported Alfalfa (from out of state because of blister beetles), grass hay and a 14% pellet. Plus I think he's sneaking in a couple of HIS favorite coat supplents, LOL! I understand dirty waterers being a pet peeve, they're one of mine too. My trainer doesn't clean waterers, so I clean my horses myself, when I see that it's looking yuk. I feel like if I wouldn't drink it, they shouldn't have to either.
> 
> ...


Completely O/T but I'm curious why you feed Black as Knight to a palomino?

I love the "I didn't like it until I had to do it". A lot of the time the boarders complaints, both valid and not, are really things if they understood why they wouldn't say a word!

I remember writing down blanket changes for a girl covering for me and looked at a list of 20 some odd horses "add this, change this, etc" and felt really badly for making her do so much on top of all the other stuff. Then realized "wait a minute I do this EVERY SINGLE DAY...TWICE". Didn't feel so badly then!

While a knowledgeable helpful boarder is invaluable not all are knowledgeable and there's that issue in the horse world where people think they know what they're doing and are clueless. Rather common unfortunately! A big problem I see is a barn owner that is relatively absent and completely clueless but at the same time micromanages everything. It's like you hired a GOOD manager, let them do their job!!


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## mmshiro (May 3, 2017)

Some of this is hard to read. I do wonder why some people choose to own horses if they have to make them live under such conditions. 

While I don't own a horse to board, I do take lessons at a small farm with a mixture of "native" horses (the barn owner's) and boarded ones. The barn owner also acts as instructor for students (like yours truly) and trail guide for adventurous tourists. She double-books her stalls, leading to 12 hours of turn-out in massive pastures for all the horses (I think it's 6 horses in, 8 horses out - two are on 24 hour turn-out). Horses get to eat the grass they are standing on, get free-choice hay (which smells fresh), and grain once a day. Three-walled shelters in all pastures. Stalls are cleaned out for every shift change - twice a day - so horses who come in see zero poop, zero urine, and fresh bedding. The whole environment is very relaxing. I know horses who came here for boarding and who used to be high-strung, but mellowed in a span of a few weeks. The trail system virtually right outside the door is immense, and it will take me some time to learn it. A few times already I had to rely on my horse to take me home, as I had no idea where I was.

I would put my horse there in a minute, but she has me ride two of her horses now, horses that she doesn't entrust to anyone else. One is a rather skittish (rescue) Hanoverian who needs someone with a bit of patience and who can give him confidence, but he prefers to go out with other horses (see the afore-mentioned confidence issue). After 6-7 months of regular work, we have been out on two one-hour solo rides, but he never quite gets as comfortable as with other horses. The other horse I just got the permission to ride is a 9-year old OTTB mare, a real sweetheart and go-getter, but requires someone who doesn't panic at speed and takes it very easy with the aides. Reasonably experienced riders love riding her, but one girl doesn't show up anymore, and one man mostly rides there as a tourist, very sporadically. Yay for me! 

I wouldn't take either of these horses even if she offered them to me for free, because I know there is no better place for them that I can offer, and there is no better care for them than she can offer.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Acadianartist said:


> Gawd, I'm glad I have my horses at home! In the barn I had built to MY specifications!
> 
> No turnout would be a deal-breaker for me, but you say it's the norm there, so not much you could do I guess.


With the stalls being so large, I don't think it's as big of a deal. The back of the property is entirely fenced, so I can and do let the horses out when I'm there every day. Typically they go out for only twenty minutes. I try to make them stay out for longer, but then they just stand there at the rope I put up to block the aisleway and stare at me until I let them in. LOL! I think that it would be different if there was actual grass out there, but there isn't. Just some weeds and bushes. Apparently that doesn't taste as good as the stuff they get in their stalls.

They've got a good amount of muscle tone, and stay that way as long as they are ridden twice a week. In fact, their muscle tone is better than other horses I have seen out on 24/7 pasture (here and other states, in pictures and in real life). I think that is due to the very rough ground we have and the amount of climbing up and down inclines combined with typically trotting and cantering those inclines (when it isn't covered in rock anyway).

They look better than they did at places I've had them where they got turnout every day into a decent sized arena. :shrug:


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Yogiwick said:


> Completely O/T but I'm curious why you feed Black as Knight to a palomino?


I'll have to take some pics to show you why. Bottom line, I've used other products and they didn't enhance the coat like the Black As Knight does. I discovered several years ago that the other formulations didn't work as well. My chestnut stallion was gorgeous when I stole some of the black horses BAK. So I bought him some Red Divinity (or whatever they called it, don't remember exactly now) and it wasn't as dramatic and didn't protect his coat from fading the the way the BAK does. So when we decided to put Ducati on something, he's out a lot and was pretty faded, I looked at Smart Pak and found they no longer carry the Cheval products. So I tried their version and didn't like it. Bought a bucket of BAK and his coat is AMAZING. We'll take him off for the show, about 10 days early, and put him back on when he comes home.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I've been on both sides. Even as I took in horses on my own place, I boarded one or two that I would take as I traveled for work.

I took in only people I knew very well, or who came very highly recommended. Only other people in the horse business.

And when I traveled with a horse or two, I always parked off by myself. Kept my gear in my trailer. And at one place hauled off-site to ride. I never converse with other boarders. Even if I know them in some other way. I'm there to ride and focus on that. If asked for advice or an opinion I refer them to a vet or trainer. If offered advice or opinion at best they get "Oh, my, what do you know?" and walk away. If they persist they get the "Why are you talking to me look?" That has never failed.

I am always at peace regardless of where my horses and I are.


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