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With my current decision to move I didn't have to think that long to decide which barn I would move to if I could. The barn I'm moving to is one that I've been at before and as soon as I saw their response to COVID I started thinking about what moving might look like. That was back at the very beginning of April and while it still took me about three weeks to get to this point, I didn't shop around for other barns.

However, seeing Viva Carlos' post about barns and barn prices actually surprised me a bit as far as how similar our prices are in MN to those in CA. My budget is around $600 max per month and I've been paying between $375-$570 for the past few years. With lessons I was paying as high as $760 per month at one point. With that being said, we have multiple places over $1000 and at least a couple of places around $2000

For that my list of must haves is:

• No pasture - laminitis stuff with Katai and our pastures around here are SUPER rich. Plus, most barns won't deal with grazing muzzles unfortunately.
• Heated barn
• Trailer parking - because this IS happening sooner or later and I'd rather not need to move in order to park a trailer
• Daily supplement feeding - your girl seriously needs her magnesium
• Within budget
• Daily turnout of at least 8 hours
• Indoor arena
• Outdoor arena - no longer a nice to have since I need to get Katai acclimated to riding outside
• access to other outdoor riding space - even if it's a small trail around the pastures
• Good footing in the arenas
• No road riding to get to trails - it's just too easy for something to go wrong and my anxiety won't deal with it. If it's a quiet gravel road I'd consider but nothing fast and paved
• Ample barn hours
• Within a 40 minute drive
• Uses my favorite vet

Nice to haves:

• Access to some sort of lessons on site
• Great barn community, even better if I could show with a group of other riders
• Heated arena
• Have regular visits by someone that does body work, a saddle fitter, etc.
• Ability to use my tack locker
• Horses are led in and out - this wouldn't be optional except Katai is sensible and slowly walks in like a lady
• More than 8 hours of turnout
• Indoor wash stall, solarium, other nice grooming amenities

With that, let's get into the list! This is a random list of barns that I'm aware of and have considered. These are either primarily dressage or eventing for the most part although at least one or two of these have more western riders than english. 

Barn #1

• Pros: 
• Dressage focused barn
• On site trainer
• Nicely heated grooming space with easy access to a wash stall
• Fantastic footing
• Nicely priced
• Active, showing, dressage barn community
• Cons
• I wouldn't ever ride with this trainer again
• Only pasture turn out and no supplement feeding
• Outside of my ideal drive distance

Price: $500

Barn #2 (wait list barn)

• Pros:
• Onsite gold medalist dressage instructor
• Huge indoor arena with fantastic footing
• Fantastic barn community
• Tons of outdoor riding spaces including a pond
• Active, showing, dressage community
• Cons:
• Right at the top of my current budget for stall board
• I've been on the waitlist for over a year with no movement (both a pro and a con really since no one wants to leave)

Price: $610-$750

Barn #3

• Pros:
• Nice indoor footing
• Everything is under one roof and is well heated
• Great, active boarders, mainly dressage
• Lots of access to onsite trainers
• Cons:
• The outdoor arena footing is terrifying and is plagued with horse flies during the summer
• No trainer I'd want to work with
• It's in the process of changing hands barn manager wise
• No real outdoor riding spaces

Price: $600

Barn #4

It doesn't really show the facility, but how could I not post this arena picture

• Pros:
• Dressage focused facility with onsite trainer
• Fantastic footing
• Gorgeous facilities
• Active, showing, dressage community
• They even do stuff like yoga at the barn
• Top trainers in for clinics
• Cons:
• Out of my budget, clearly
• Requires full training
• Not sure we'd fit in

Price: $1200+ with full training

Barn #5

Yes, those are Moshy ears. This place also holds a summer
show series including the show that I took Moshy to a couple of years ago.

• Pros:
• Clearly this place is gorgeous
• Great footing
• The, or one of the, largest indoor arenas in our area
• I think this is the closest barn to our house at just over 20 minutes away
• Access to onsite dressage instruction
• Cons:
• Clearly out of my budget
• I'm not sure if I'd want to train with the resident dressage trainer
• Not much turnout, maybe half day?
• Not sure that we'd fit in

Price: $1200+ (a lot more) with full training. I'm not certain if they require full training or not. You also must purchase a very premium tack trunk so that they all match.

Barn #6 (Current Barn)

• Pros:
• Easy drive from home
• Major shopping center just across the road for easy errand runs
• Nicely heated barn and connected arena
• Wonderful barn community
• Tons of turnout with almost no stall time other than feeding time during the summer
• Indoor wash stall
• Huge park with horse trails just across the road
• Cons:
• Pasture turnout
• Deep and slippery arena footing
• Very busy small arena
• Not very peaceful since directly across the road is a shooting range
• Lack of communication during COVID stuff
• You have to cross a fast, busy road to get to the trails
• Barn hours of 10am-9pm mean that some days it's tough to get to the barn unless I plan carefully
• Can't use the indoor wash stall except for small things since it doesn't drain well
• Outdoor wash washstall doesn't have heated water

Price: $500-$570

Barn #7 (Where I'm moving)

• Pros:
• Three outdoor riding arenas with an outdoor dressage arena going in this year
• A sand gallop track that can be used for trail riding plus just lots of space to ride around the property
• Access to additional trails
• My favorite vet and massage person go here and they have a saddle fitter in regularly 
• Active barn community with lots of eventers and at least some dressage focused riders
• Access to onsite trainers
• Two indoor arenas, one small heated and a larger unheated
• Good footing. It was good when I was there before, recently they've began the process redoing all their footing and adding some fiber footing to all the arenas. It was in process when I toured but I'm guessing they will be finished with that process by the time I move in.
• Barn has been in business since 1977 with the same owners/managers so lots of stability
• Solarium and fancy grooming area
• I can use my own tack locker
• Cons:
• With ala carte boarding options I'd be over budget if I chose everything I wanted
• Very busy barn with lots of kids and group lessons
• The paddocks are small
• No indoor wash stall
• No dressage focused trainers on site

Price: $475-$710 

Barn #8

No real facility photos so here is the arena

• Pros:
• Dressage focused facility
• Great footing
• Large stalls
• Heated arena
• Onsite dressage instruction
• Fairly close to our house
• Cons: 
• Must be in full training
• Over my budget

Price: $935-$1,150

Barn #9

Yes, this is an actual picture of the facility and not something I pulled off Pintrest lol

• Pros:
• Clearly a gorgeous facility
• Dressage focused
• Multiple dressage instructors
• Premium horse care
• FANTASTIC footing. I've actually been told to attend a schooling show there just to experience their footing lol
• Massive indoor
• Clearly it's fully heated
• Onsite laundry
• They feed three times per day and do night checks for all their horses every night 
• They have packages that include up to a number of sessions (either trainer rides or lessons) that's flexible enough to be palatable to me.
• Who wouldn't want to board someplace like this, I mean seriously?
• Stalls are cleaned multiple times per day and are all 12x14
• Cons:
• Well, clearly it's out of my budget
• Not sure if I can think of any other cons

Price: all of it, everything and your soul. 

Just kidding, it's actually a fairly reasonable $1600-$2000 per month. For $1,600 per month (and let's face it that's still exceptionally expensive and around 3x what I'm paying now) you get up to 10 training sessions per month plus access to all the boarding amenities. For the premium $2000 per month package it includes full grooming (not sure I'd want that) but also has things like braiding for shows, body clipping, up to 20 training sessions per month (that's 5 times per week 0-0) and hand walking. If I were ever to aspire to board someplace over my budget it would be this barn. 

Just because, a few more pictures of that facility.

and then, to close out the post, a few more pictures of the facility I'm moving into.

On site cross country course

From their trail class schooling day

One of the outdoor arenas

The smallest outdoor arena

Dom Schramm teaches at this facility a few times a year. This was from one of the recent clinics.

25 Questions

Sometimes I have a tough time enjoying reading through this sort of question and answer post but I've actually really enjoyed reading everyone's answers to this one. Based on that I decided to go ahead and do this as well even though I'm REALLY late with it!

Hopefully more updates soon after I make some progress this weekend.

1. What is the first thing you do when you get to the barn?

Normally maintenance things that I don't want to try to remember after a ride. Usually I grab empty supplement baggies, get my tack all uncovered and make sure it's ready to go (put my reins back on my bridle if I lunged last etc.), grab some Tums peppermint to help head off any ulcer issues, and set up my grooming bag.

2. Is there a breed that you would never own?

Personally I'm not interested in owning a gaited horse.

3. Describe your last ride?

I went on a trail ride with a friend :)

4. Have any irrational riding fears?

All of them. I have high anxiety so it's normal for me to imagine the worst case scenario with anything and everything. I'd say worst would be getting trampled since Katai's groundwork is her weakness and, while we work on it ALOT, she's much more ridable than she is handleable from the ground.

5. Describe your favorite lesson horse?

Probably the small, white, Arabian mare (can't remember her name) that I rode when I was 9. I've only taken lessons on other horses very rarely.

6. Would you ever lease out your horse?

No, not sure who I'd get to lease her. I'm a bit of a control freak, and she's a tricky ride. She's too small for most adults and way too much horse for a kid. I'm happy when my trainers climb on her but she usually gives them grief so I'd worry about having someone lease her. 

Moshy climbed in by the garbage can and then couldn't turn around to get out

7. Mares: Yay or neigh?

Oh yeah. If I have my druthers I'd only ever own mares.

8. How many time per week do you get to see your horse?

I could be going more. My goal is to be back to 5 days a week by the end of June! This year 1-3 has been more typical.

9. Favorite thing to do on an “easy day” with your pony?

A good spa day including doing all of the maintenance stuff such as washing legs, trimming her bridle path, trimming feathers, pulling chestnuts, and trimming feet.

10. Conformational flaw that bothers you the most?

Hmmm, downhill is a big one for me as are necks that are put on wrong.

Adorable puppy loves her bear

11. Thing about your riding that you’re most self conscious about?

All of the things. If I had to pick I'd say that I can tend to a have a chair seat and my right toe sticks out more than my left.

12. Will you be participating in No Stirrup November?

No, I don't want to die ;)

13. What is your grooming routine?

Hmmm, I don't have a great routine really. Prior to riding I typically use some sort of curry. A flower shedder for shedding season, a rubber curry for summer and a jelly scrubber for her legs. Then I'll go over everything with a stiff brush paying special attention to her back, girth, and legs. 

After riding I'll use a curry if she's sweaty and otherwise just stiff brush and then finishing brush. On spa days I do more. I have been known to just brush the most critical parts with a stiff brush and during the winter when she's blanketed and shows up clean I do very little.

I always forget to brush her face.

Wanting this again!

14. Describe a day in the life of your horse?

Normally she gets breakfast supplements in her stall and then goes out around 7:30ish AM and gets a ton of hay in a paddock with four other mares. She comes in around 5:30ish PM and gets more hay and a handful of alfalfa pellets in her stall. If it's a weekday and a barn day for me I normally get there around 4:30 which interrupts her dinner. 

On those days I bring her in, groom, and either ride or lunge. Usually by the time I'm done the horses are in so I put her in her stall.

15. Favorite season for riding?

Definitely the fall. Winter is also nice as long as it isn't too cold since there aren't bugs and I handle the cold better than the heat.

16. If you could only have 1 ring: indoor or outdoor?

Definitely indoor here otherwise there would be at least 3-4 months where we couldn't ride much or at all.

17. What impresses you most about the opposite discipline (english vs. western)?

I'd say that a lot of western riders are more about the utility of the horse and are less fussed by little quirky things that english riders seem to spend a lot of time and worry over. 

18. You have unlimited funds to buy one entire tack set for your horse, what is he/she wearing?

I'd say I actually have it now. I've saved and work hard to have the tack that I have and while it's always fun to shop what I have now is gorgeous, fits, and is everything I've wanted.

More sparkly broadbands would always be nice though and I'd really like one with pearls.

19. How many blankets do you have? When do you blanket?

So many!! My current count is;

2 turnout sheets

2 liners (one light and one medium)

2 medium turnout blankets (one with a high neck and one with a detachable neck)

1 heavy turnout blanket with a high neck

2 quarter sheets

1 fly sheet

2 cotton sheets

1 fleece sheet

I do need to replace one of the turnout sheets since it's quite old and not as waterproof anymore plus has a few tears.

20. What is your horse’s favorite treat? Favorite place to be scratched?

Mac Muffins for sure. They're made by a local couple and are the very molassesy kind with oats and often some sort of candy in the middle. Her favorite place to be scratched is her udder but sometimes she'll threaten to kick me if I try. Mares...

21. Something about your barn that drives you crazy?

Hmmm, unfortunately at this barn that there seems to be more drama than what I've dealt with at barns in the past. Also, not having a heated barn or arena, the very tiny arena, and the fact that both outdoors are rocky.

Oops, that's a lot.

All of the things I need to bring with me to the
barn (well except the vest since it's ungodly hot out now.

22. Roached manes, pulled manes, or long flowing manes?

None? I'd say pulled except I don't pull and neatly trim Katai's mane instead.

23. Can you handle a buck or a rear better?

Probably a rear since that's Katai's move of choice.

24. I would never buy a horse who ___________________?

Was taller than 14.2 hands or who was really jumpy and spooky.

25. Favorite facial marking?

Big, wide blazes

Winter Favorites

Horze Quarter Sheet:

I haven't had much use for a quarter sheet recently but I've used this quite a bit in the past and really used it a lot this year. It's a nice simple quarter sheet and, of course, it's and adorable Rambo knock off and fits with my pony theme. I like that this quarter sheet is the type that I can put over my own lap (it was about -12* out this day) but it is tough to do much work in so I normally warm up at the walk and then remove it before I trot which sometimes makes for a spicy pony at the trot.

Dublin Boots:

These actually should have made it into my last review post about my most durable horse related items because I've had them for over 3 years now and they get a lot of abuse. I use these as my winter riding boots (as you can probably tell from my recent riding photos) and I also wear them to the barn most months out of the year and change into my riding boots as I'm getting tacked up. They are SOOO comfortable and since I bought one size too large I can wear winter socks and still not have them too tight.

Wahl Clippers:

I don't really use these that often but they've worked really well for me especially since they really aren't meant to be body clippers. Thankfully there isn't as much surface area since Katai is little and I haven't done a full body clip yet. I actually started using the new clipper blades this year so I got a good amount of use out of my last blades as well. I don't know that I would recommend using these for full body clips on a horse but they work very well for smaller body clip areas or for trimming bridle paths and legs.

Horseware Blanket Liners:

Yep, these things again. I'm not going to go into this too much since I just posted about them but they have been one of my favorite things this year. They just give me so much flexibility with blanketing and they seem to be comfortable to Katai.

Prestige Lucky Dressage Saddle:

Yeah, this isn't really seasonal but I've been using it since September(ish) and it's absolutely one of my favorite pieces of tack so I wanted to mention it. It fits both Katai and myself and puts me in a good position without forcing me there. The saddle fitter recently deemed that it was still a great fit and the leather quality is amazing especially for a saddle that was under $2000 new.

Longtime Favorites

I've been doing season specific favorites posts but I've got some stuff that I've had for a long time and used and abused that deserve a mention. So, this is sort of a longest running, high quality, necessities review.

Ovation Breeches

These may not be my favorite breeches I own but for the price and quality they'd be tough to beat. They still fit well after about 4 years of steady wear and washing. They literally look the same way they did when I bought them except the suede trim on the pockets is getting a little worn.

Weaver Leadrope

I've had this thing for at least 7 years and it's still going strong. It's the nicest lead rope I've ever handled and everyone who has seen it or used it, has commented on it as well. It's nice and heavy in your hand and feels solid plus it's soft rather than silky which is nice and, I think, less likely to leave rope burns for those moments when your horse has a high amount of sass.

It certainly doesn't look like this anymore but this is the one I have

Walsh Leather Halter

This halter has been Katai's for nearly the whole time I've had her so about 4 years now. It's been her turnout halter, dealt with her pony antics, and not always been well cared for by me. I do try to clean it on a regular basis but when you're a turnout halter that's just not going to keep you clean and in good condition for long. After a recent rough trailering experience the bottom ring got bent and has a small crack but I'm actually surprised that it didn't break completely especially since it's the thinner 3/4 inch leather and with all of the abuse it's already had.

First time trying it on a few years ago
(oh and that's the Walsh halter when it was pretty new still)

Saxon Turnout Sheet

This cute plaid sheet has been Katai's only turnout sheet for over three years now and it's been amazing! I've patched it a few times but it wasn't a high denier so I'm not surprised. Otherwise everything else has stood up really well. I think I only paid around $50 for it new so that's a pretty good return on investment :)

After lots of wear these still look amazing!

People on Horses Boots

I've also had these for nearly as long as I've had Katai. She wears these for about 99% of our rides which amounts to a crazy amount of wear over four years. I also wash these on a regular basis (hang dry) and they still look almost exactly like new. She doesn't interfere much so I'm not sure how they would hold up to that but still, I'm extremely impressed and plan to get a second pair at some point when these finally wear out.

State Line Tack Cotton Lunge Line

Not that this is specifically a wear item but I've had this for about 7 years as well, it's constantly getting dragged through footing and it also went through all of our trailering drama since I like the length of a lunge line when I'm dealing with a sassy pony. I even used it as a long line to work with a couple of young horses and it's still going strong! It's pretty stained from all of the footing but the snap works perfectly and there aren't any tears or wear marks. For under $8 that's tough to beat

This is the jacket I have only in Hunter Green

Joules Winter Jacket

I ADORE this jacket. This is my third winter with it now and it is not only the warmest, but the most comfortable and cutest jacket I've ever owned. It's even figure flattering while still warm and I wear it everywhere during the winter. It also looks just like new and has been through the wash several times but remains just as warm and just as cute as it was when I bought it. I also got it for 25% off at a black Friday sale so it was a good deal as well!

Fall Favorites

There may be a theme here...

Horze Saddle Pads:

Honestly I don’t know why I look at saddle pads from any other brand anymore! I ADORE European style dressage saddle pads and while Horze doesn’t have many that are quite as cute as some of the European pads, HKM pads for example, they do have more European styling plus most of them come in pony sizes. While Katai isn’t an itty bitty pony she is on the smaller range of what most adults ride and because of that even some of the suggestions for smaller pads just don’t work for her. I have 2-3 pads for her that are as small as I can find in "normal" dressage saddle pads and they are still just too big. One of them (around 20 spine x 22 drop which is REALLY small for most horse pads) even caused L to comment that it was no wonder she wasn’t listening to my leg since my pad was too big!

I have eight saddle pads from Horze, all in pony size, and they are wonderful! Even the ones on the larger end of the scale are close to 20 x 20 and the smaller ones just perfectly fit under my saddle. I can go pretty small for my saddle since it has a 17" seat and a 15" flap so I try to keep them as close to the size needed for my saddle as possible so that she doesn’t look like she’s wearing her mommy’s saddle pad.

My favorite is this one.

It is a little blingy but not too bad for a schooling pad and the brown works really well with Katai’s colors since then you’re only seeing two colors rather than three. It has this cool flag detailing along the spine and it fits perfectly under my saddle. Plus, I bought it when it was on sale for $22!! Pretty tough to beat that!

My second favorite is the one.

The color on this actually said Navy on the site and since Katai looks great in Navy I ordered it in that color. It actually turned out to be closer to black which I normally wouldn’t have ordered since I wasn’t sure if it would look ok on her. I actually don’t think it looks bad and it was a great experiment since I will likely end up showing her in a black pad rather than white based on her color.

Again this pad has some subtle detail but just on one side. It doesn’t have the fun little flag detailing but it is the PERFECT size for my saddle and I think I got this one for $21 on sale at Horze (plus another 20% off with a coupon I had as a frequent customer haha) which again is really tough to beat.

Sheepskin Pad:

Seeing the theme now?

I actually purchased this saddle pad on Amazon. I’m the queen of bargain hunting especially for things that I need but don’t want to pay full price for. Frankly spending over $200 on a mattes pad without even the option to shim it seemed silly so I went looking for a different option and found this pad. For $124 I got a nice, plush, sheepskin pad that has four shimable pockets plus it came with three sets of shims in different thicknesses! I also have Amazon prime so I got it with free shipping as well.

I didn’t know that I would need a shimable pad but since I was using the front shims for awhile I’m really, really pleased that I went ahead and bought this option rather than the cheaper $99 option in the same pad that didn’t have pockets. I really like this pad! It has nice plush sheepskin and the quality seems to be really good. The sheepskin isn’t as plush and soft as a Fleeceworks but it does seem to have more loft which is nice and it fits my saddle well. I think for a saddle that’s bigger than a 17" seat it may be a little short though since it fits my saddle perfectly!

Nifty Hair Remover Brush:

I had seen someone at the barn with one of these things and was amazed at how it magically seemed to remove hair from saddle pads, blankets, clothing etc. They had bought it from a tack store but once again I bargain hunted on Amazon and found this great, cheaper, no name version. It is truly amazing at removing hair and works better than anything else I’ve tried for this task.