Barn Drama, is it rare or a common occurrence?

I am hoping you are correct Joe. When I am retired and living in a warmer climate, I would like to board my horses instead of purchasing land so I can enjoy my golden years not working like a dog.

I work at 3 different barns as a trainer, have been a boarder at 4 (sadly I don't have the means to accommodate a horse in my back yard), and have only had drama at one. The barn I board at now I also co-manage and everyone knows I have a zero tolerance to drama.

My barn is not a show barn but we have tons of drama. There are over 100 horses so lots of people and the winter is long and hard when you have to share the indoor. There are a few people who cause all of the problems. Especially those who think people who keep their horse in the barn [vs pasture board] have more rights to the arena, which is so not true.

I board and also work at the barn.

A LOT of drama. The BO went through a yucky divorce last year and after that everything spiraled downward. There is absolutely NO client relationship. It's way too personal. I'm at the barn to either work or see my horse, not hear about how much of a **** your ex-husband is. Some disagree, but I DON'T want a "friend" relationship with the BO. Especially when all it entails is drama. I do my very best to keep my nose out of it.

I'd quit if I didn't need the money.

To me, its just a number game. The more people you have at one place, the more opinions/personalities you have. Perfect recipe for drama. Smaller barns (in general, there are ALWAYS exceptions) seem to be closer on a relationship level. People respect and get to know one another more then in larger facilities.

In my personal experience it all comes down to the BO and if they will deal with situations and resolve problems. The more they turn a blind eye and do not solve problems the worse it is. A good BO will deal with things when they come up. I am now at a private barn all by myself and I love it that way. I don't have to see things that go against my morals and ethics and ideas of safety, which I have a hard time keeping my mouth closed when I do. I also don't have to worry about my tack disappearing, getting used, not put back or better yet my saddle being damaged by some inconsiderate people. Anyhow I'm sure there are great barns, but they need to be run properly so everyone can be happy and have a good boarding experience.

In all honesty, being an employee and a boarder of a pretty mild barn, I am pretty sure most of the drama I deal with is more between staff than actual boarders. I'm ridiculously anal about feed and the feed room. My coworkers don't sweep it nearly as much as I do, which leads to mice coming out more. And once in a while, someone will half-ass making up feed. I do it often enough to have the diets of 30 horses memorized and can look at a bucket and know its wrong. I leave passive aggressive notes about it. We just get annoyed with each other and they way we each do things.

Otherwise, we deal more with "suggestions" of the boarders that make our lives more difficult. One lady that has since left used to complain that we didn't give her horses enough bedding and they were having hock issues. This was for anything less than bedding up to their knees.

Or another lady, who is very nice most of the time, has little suggestions of how we could improve things. She has a lot of money...our BO does not have that because barns really don't make money. For example: New arena footing that's less dusty or a new watering system that attaches to an ATV..except we don't have an ATV, etc. She also asks that the arena is watered all the time because of the dust. It's winter, so the air is dry and her gelding drags his feet. ..then she gets annoyed that the footing is frozen..

Nothing really "dramatic," just things we sigh at.

I totally agree with this. I have been boarding for about a year, though leased my mare for two years prior and she was at the same barn. In that time, there has been some turnover of all staff (BM, instructors, and barn assistants), but the barn always manages to attract nice, caring people with good horse sense. There are people I've liked more or less than others, but ALL have treated my horse as if she was their own and provided impeccable care.

There are a couple of barn assistants and other boarders who can be a little chatty for my liking at times- after being in meetings at work all day long, I just want to go to the barn and NOT have to talk to anyone- but they all mean well, love horses, and are not gossipy.

The barn has 12 horses- 9 are owned by the therapy program and used for lessons, 3 are boarders. One boarder is a very nice middle aged woman, the other boarder is the sweetest, most responsible teenage girl you've ever met (and her nice family that usually tags along). There are also a couple of leasors around, families with kids and single women.

I always feel so bad for people when I hear about boarding drama, because I truly feel like I've had a great experience and have the utmost faith my horse is being taken care of well- couldn't ask for much more!

From my personal experience, my BO now doesn't put up with sh*t from anyone... of course, people will "gossip" is the horse world, everyone has something to say about something.... but all the boarders at our barn get along, if there is a problem, you confront eachother and resolve it. Done!

But.... that is a BIG change from previous show barns I have boarded at, seems like you get a lot of wealth involved, politics, and things blown out of porportion... I have had tack stolen, my horse being used to ride when I am not informed.... I don't think I will ever board at a big barn again, where my horse is now there are 4 boarders (including us) and that's vs. 24 + boarders... Now, I am not saying ALL barns are like this but just a few I have witnessed/boarded at! JMO!

Very little drama at my barn:) BO is wonderful and does everything in her power to honor the wishes of us boarders, in reason. No complaint!:)