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| It’s that time of year again! |
I’ve had an idea for a blog hop for a while but wasn’t sure that it would gain any traction with how my poor, nearly abandoned blog is doing at this point. I did decide to go ahead and post this and if you don’t feel like responding to this via a post on your blog I’d still love to get a comment which things you problem solve and how.
Short of maybe Jen from Cob Jockey’s barn :) I don’t think that anywhere we board our horses is perfect. Either it’s a long way away, lacks an indoor or outdoor arena, doesn’t have the ideal turnout, or anything else. As I’ve been looking at options for where to go when this barn closes (obviously I’m already looking so that I don’t get caught without a place) I’ve been wondering how others problem solve for this.
One example is that I currently have a barn that isn’t heated. With that, I can’t keep anything that’s temperature sensitive at the barn including most first aid gunk. My problem solve for this was to get a grooming bag and bring it with me home, to work (since I’ve been going to the barn directly from work), and then to the barn. It certainly wasn’t the ideal set up but it did allow me to have those items at the barn with me without the risk of them freezing and becoming unusable.
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| This brand new alfalfa smells so good! |
I’m working on a solution to the problem of the rocky outdoor arenas at this barn since I’ll likely still be here through the summer and most, if not all, of the fall. My goal is to move someplace that has a heated barn/arena by the cold part of winter but who knows if that will happen since wait lists are fickle things. Some options for problem solving the rocky arenas are low profile hoof boots and/or Hoof Armor.
So, the questions I have are;
1. What are the things at your barn that aren’t ideal for you and your horse.
2. How do you problem solve for those items, what workable solutions have you found
3. At your current or past barn are there things that you haven’t been able to find a workable solution for? What deal breakers do you have for a boarding barn?
Hmm. my solution was to buy my own place but that's not helpful at all. My biggest issue is the lack of indoor and i have no solution for that. I can trailer to other places but won't tow if the roads are bad so it never really works out. In terms of the rocky outdoor- how rocky is it? Could you organize a work crew with rakes to rake the rocks into the edges? For the emp sensitive stuff you would probably be okay except in the coldest months. I think your solution of keeping it at home is the only one.
ReplyDeleteMy deal breakers are: lack of turn out, poor quality hay, poor footing.
I wish!! I may end up there at some point but there are certainly some negative parts of having your own place. Since we kept them at home from when I was 12-26 I'm pretty used to what those things are and not sure if I would want to go back to that or not. It is great to be able to make it what you want though!!
DeleteAlso, it is very very rocky and no one other than me seems to care since their horses are pretty much all shod or they don't realize that they're ouchy
DeleteOur previous barn had lots of little inconveniences, but we were always up for solving them. We built things like our feed bin, mounting block, jumps. We bought our own saddle racks when there weren't enough. We bought and installed our own automatic waterers. It was a lot of work, but in exchange my horses were always fed well and cared for, which was the most important thing for me.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had more freedom to do things like that. Unfortunately (and fortunately) the barn manager is very strict and runs a tight ship so doesn't allow any changes.
DeleteI think I need a blog post for this one. My situation is a bit challenging :) bes of luck finding the perfect new barn! :)
ReplyDeleteYes! I'd be really curious to learn more at some point :) Thank you!
DeleteHa! Mine is close enough to perfect that I really can't complain but there are definitely things I dislike about it. The lack of access to hacking out is a big one. The big field is nice but there are only so many laps you can do before it becomes more of an outdoor arena than true hacking. It's interesting because when I originally came to it, not knowing my trainer would follow, the footing wasn't great and that's usually a dealbreaker for me, but I was so desperate to get him closer to me I figured I'd take the risk. Fingers crossed for you, barn shopping is SO hard.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is so awesome that the one major thing you had was fixed and that footing is awesome. lack of trail riding is a big one and I LOVE that set up here even though there isn't much that's easy to get to. It's a decent length, feels safe, and has plenty of hills and varied terrain. Thank you :) It is so tough!
DeleteMy deal breakers for boarding barns are all always human behavior. If I think that the staff or managers are being neglectful or dangerous I am out. Otherwise I have pretty much adapted to every boarding situation ever. Now that I have my own place I have no one to blame but myself... and my lack of money. :) Right now I am dealing with a lack of good grass turnout by keeping the horses in a dry lot with slow feeder hay nets half the day. I also am in real need of a sheltered and flat area for the farrier and vet. We make do right now, but it is hard in bad weather. I don't have a barn, so that is on the to do list.-- but then there comes that pesky money thing again! No cross ties -- means everyone learns to stand ground tied. I do have a small pasture I call the "arena" that works fine for riding and one of the first things I got was a roundpen... which now I never use!
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%. I also feel like I"m pretty much able to adapt to anything. It's more that with spending that much money on a thing I really want it to be a place that I love where I feel like I can ride as much as possible. I'd take a flat, grassy, outdoor space over the rocky spaces I have now. Unfortunately most places here are pretty hilly and this barn is sort of on and around a valley and all of the nice grassy areas are fenced in for pasture.
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