I've tried several barns in the three years I've had my horse. The first was 40 minutes away, not too expensive full care, with good pasture and a small outdoor, and was required I stay there by the rescue I got my gelding from so they could check in for the first 60 days. The second was closer, ~30 minutes away. cheap partial care, decent turnout and with a covered arena, medium outdoor, and a round pen, but that ended when the owner lost her marbles in a drunk fit and the cops had to come. Then my horse stayed briefly (as i tried to find a barn near me) with some buddies in an 8 acre field about 50 minutes away for free, minimal riding space (nowhere covered, which was a downer in the pacific NW) but lots of grazing and a natural environment. After a series of mysterious "off" behaviors my gelding finally coliced, and was taken to my 4H leaders barn to see her vet, who was out already, which he then stayed at when I was offered a job there. Full care for a good price, but no turnout and a small arena drove my young ottb crazy quickly. The standard of care there was incredible. But sadly, it only lasted a few months.
A "friend" (acquaintance) offered me work and self care at her barn, so I went to an expensive self care facility with trail access, mass turnout, three large arenas (one indoors with skylights) and *dun dun duuuunn* no work. I found a job elsewhere but the barn owner had issues with how I did things (berating me for how my horse is trained, for how and what I feed, for the vet I use, etc). She threatened me with leaving, saying I had to take lessons with her trainer and made me work for her and learn her way, but after other boarders saw some things I was doing (free lunging/free jumping, riding bridleless, etc) they relayed this to the barn owner and I was kicked out for dangerous behavior. I also was asked (by almost everyone) how each lesson was. When I would say things like "[trainer] and I didn't really click today" or "Not great. Not awful, but [horse] is not feeling it today" these were taken as badmouthing Trainer, and most of the boarders got angry with me or stopped talking to me. After getting kick out of that barn (which I was considering leaving, but because of the facilities was willing to work with some grouchy barn-mates) I found a family run, low key, no drama, non show barn about 15 minutes from my home. Minimal turnout space but my gelding was offered all day/every day turnout and the largest stall they had. Full care much cheaper than the place I was leaving!! ($350 full care here, $780 for board, feed, bedding, and supplies previously). I had to buy my own grain, but they offered hay, shavings, they cleaned stalls and paddocks, and had a covered arena and an outdoor arena.
UNFORTUNATELY, you get what you pay for. $350 a month (buying own grain and supplements) for full care is a massive bargain in my area. "Normal" is 1400/month for full care and a few training rides. The place has been great, they actually are "no drama." I didn't know such a thing existed! I've been able to jump my horse (which the last barn, nobody was allowed to jump unless they were in a lesson with Trainer, and nobody jumped over 2') around 2'6"-3', ride (and jump) tackless, train him all sorts of tricks like spanish walk, rearing, bow and lay down, smile, etc (also not allowed at previous barn) all while being left alone about what hay or grain I want him on, and how much. Nobody tells me my farrier sucks, nobody forcing me into anything. Its been so incredibly enjoyable..... but the care sucks.
The waters are filthy, unless you dump, scrub, and refill them yourself. (My geldings bucket, single, was black and crusted over the top when I arrived. I actually vomited when I went to dump it. I've since brought my own, and dump one each day on rotation, that I keep clean. The "shavings" are sawdust, emphasis on dust, and are given in such small quantities so they can scrape the stall clean each day instead of picking it clean. For health reasons (allergies and COPD) my gelding no longer gets their shavings. The arenas are very hard, lumpy, and poorly maintained. They were good for ~3 weeks at first, but have since not been drug, sprayed down, or leveled. My horse has some issues and needs hay in a net both so you can spray it down for respiratory reasons, and because he is very choke prone (the vet called him an enthusiastic snacker lolol) and the net helps slow him dramatically. The barn fails to put hay in his nets (i brought about 6) unless I am there, then they set it in front of the stall and I bag and hose it myself. Which, I do worry, because occasionally i'll go to grab his hay and see nothing, literally just the wood floor, in the hay room. After the evening feed time, when they feed at 5am the next day, I don't understand how the horses are getting proper rations. The barn owner swears up and down that she knows his hay needs to be netted and sprayed but it still fails to happen unless I do it myself. I know this because I tie my nets a certain way, and when I've seen how she does it, yet I come and the net in his stall is tied how I did it the night before, I know she wouldn't have recreated my tie... His grain is another issue. I keep a few days worth in a plastic container labeled with his name in front of his stall. They missed portions constantly, so I got two plastic Tupperware out, labeled with his name and AM or PM, then I take the grain out of its baggie, put it in the Tupperware, and that way that days serving is sitting out. They do feed it to him, granted the things get dropped on the floor and the lids blow away, or the goats run off with the container to lick it clean, but my gelding gets his allergy meds and supplements so that's what I deem important.
To lay out the basics, "full care" has become me doing my own waters, using my own buckets, partially cleaning my own stall (they leave piles because they don't feel like sifting bedding), buying and adding my own bedding (not sure why they cant grab a bag that i leave in front of the stall?), buying my own grain, idiot-proofing my grain, netting my own hay, and dealing with cat pee on all my things (added bonus, but not related to barn care...).
Today, I come out to find last nights hay net (that I set wet in a bucket in front of his stall for them to put inside at feeding time) in my horses stall, with a grain container IN IT. IN THE NET. ??? Crushed to bits of course because my guy wanted his ****ing grain, in a Tupperware or not. I worried if he ingested any plastic.... but his poos looked normal and his gut sounded fine. But how did they, a) go into his stall to give him breakfast hay and grain and not notice, b) not see it when they cleaned the stall later in the morning, and c) manage to do that in the first place
My question is this: Is it worth staying at a barn with such terrible quality of care just because I can ride how I want, and they charge what I can afford? I want to say no... I feel like my guy will get hurt by some dumb mistake sooner or later. They leave halters on in turnout too (common, I know, but the horses wear rope or nylon halters that are not breakaway, and I had to ditch my normal rope halter and buy one specifically for turnout once I found him halter-less and the rope halter hooked on the fence with the knots pulled tight enough to give enough slack for him to slip out. I was horrified and was not told he would be going out in his halter). His stall floor is wood, and is rotting away in parts, which only encourages him to dig at it out of curiosity. I'm too broke to buy stall mats, have no way to get them to the barn in my car, and have been told I would not be reimbursed nor would I be able to take them with when I go. As much as i want to leave, I can't find anywhere affordable that is less than 90 minutes away. Affordable being I can manage the monthly payments and not being picky about where I go or what facilities I have.
Sorry for the rant... :/ Any thoughts? Questions? Similar stories? Someone please tell me I'm not micro-managing and that the things that are happening are not normal/not good. I'm not crazy am I?
A "friend" (acquaintance) offered me work and self care at her barn, so I went to an expensive self care facility with trail access, mass turnout, three large arenas (one indoors with skylights) and *dun dun duuuunn* no work. I found a job elsewhere but the barn owner had issues with how I did things (berating me for how my horse is trained, for how and what I feed, for the vet I use, etc). She threatened me with leaving, saying I had to take lessons with her trainer and made me work for her and learn her way, but after other boarders saw some things I was doing (free lunging/free jumping, riding bridleless, etc) they relayed this to the barn owner and I was kicked out for dangerous behavior. I also was asked (by almost everyone) how each lesson was. When I would say things like "[trainer] and I didn't really click today" or "Not great. Not awful, but [horse] is not feeling it today" these were taken as badmouthing Trainer, and most of the boarders got angry with me or stopped talking to me. After getting kick out of that barn (which I was considering leaving, but because of the facilities was willing to work with some grouchy barn-mates) I found a family run, low key, no drama, non show barn about 15 minutes from my home. Minimal turnout space but my gelding was offered all day/every day turnout and the largest stall they had. Full care much cheaper than the place I was leaving!! ($350 full care here, $780 for board, feed, bedding, and supplies previously). I had to buy my own grain, but they offered hay, shavings, they cleaned stalls and paddocks, and had a covered arena and an outdoor arena.
UNFORTUNATELY, you get what you pay for. $350 a month (buying own grain and supplements) for full care is a massive bargain in my area. "Normal" is 1400/month for full care and a few training rides. The place has been great, they actually are "no drama." I didn't know such a thing existed! I've been able to jump my horse (which the last barn, nobody was allowed to jump unless they were in a lesson with Trainer, and nobody jumped over 2') around 2'6"-3', ride (and jump) tackless, train him all sorts of tricks like spanish walk, rearing, bow and lay down, smile, etc (also not allowed at previous barn) all while being left alone about what hay or grain I want him on, and how much. Nobody tells me my farrier sucks, nobody forcing me into anything. Its been so incredibly enjoyable..... but the care sucks.
The waters are filthy, unless you dump, scrub, and refill them yourself. (My geldings bucket, single, was black and crusted over the top when I arrived. I actually vomited when I went to dump it. I've since brought my own, and dump one each day on rotation, that I keep clean. The "shavings" are sawdust, emphasis on dust, and are given in such small quantities so they can scrape the stall clean each day instead of picking it clean. For health reasons (allergies and COPD) my gelding no longer gets their shavings. The arenas are very hard, lumpy, and poorly maintained. They were good for ~3 weeks at first, but have since not been drug, sprayed down, or leveled. My horse has some issues and needs hay in a net both so you can spray it down for respiratory reasons, and because he is very choke prone (the vet called him an enthusiastic snacker lolol) and the net helps slow him dramatically. The barn fails to put hay in his nets (i brought about 6) unless I am there, then they set it in front of the stall and I bag and hose it myself. Which, I do worry, because occasionally i'll go to grab his hay and see nothing, literally just the wood floor, in the hay room. After the evening feed time, when they feed at 5am the next day, I don't understand how the horses are getting proper rations. The barn owner swears up and down that she knows his hay needs to be netted and sprayed but it still fails to happen unless I do it myself. I know this because I tie my nets a certain way, and when I've seen how she does it, yet I come and the net in his stall is tied how I did it the night before, I know she wouldn't have recreated my tie... His grain is another issue. I keep a few days worth in a plastic container labeled with his name in front of his stall. They missed portions constantly, so I got two plastic Tupperware out, labeled with his name and AM or PM, then I take the grain out of its baggie, put it in the Tupperware, and that way that days serving is sitting out. They do feed it to him, granted the things get dropped on the floor and the lids blow away, or the goats run off with the container to lick it clean, but my gelding gets his allergy meds and supplements so that's what I deem important.
To lay out the basics, "full care" has become me doing my own waters, using my own buckets, partially cleaning my own stall (they leave piles because they don't feel like sifting bedding), buying and adding my own bedding (not sure why they cant grab a bag that i leave in front of the stall?), buying my own grain, idiot-proofing my grain, netting my own hay, and dealing with cat pee on all my things (added bonus, but not related to barn care...).
Today, I come out to find last nights hay net (that I set wet in a bucket in front of his stall for them to put inside at feeding time) in my horses stall, with a grain container IN IT. IN THE NET. ??? Crushed to bits of course because my guy wanted his ****ing grain, in a Tupperware or not. I worried if he ingested any plastic.... but his poos looked normal and his gut sounded fine. But how did they, a) go into his stall to give him breakfast hay and grain and not notice, b) not see it when they cleaned the stall later in the morning, and c) manage to do that in the first place
My question is this: Is it worth staying at a barn with such terrible quality of care just because I can ride how I want, and they charge what I can afford? I want to say no... I feel like my guy will get hurt by some dumb mistake sooner or later. They leave halters on in turnout too (common, I know, but the horses wear rope or nylon halters that are not breakaway, and I had to ditch my normal rope halter and buy one specifically for turnout once I found him halter-less and the rope halter hooked on the fence with the knots pulled tight enough to give enough slack for him to slip out. I was horrified and was not told he would be going out in his halter). His stall floor is wood, and is rotting away in parts, which only encourages him to dig at it out of curiosity. I'm too broke to buy stall mats, have no way to get them to the barn in my car, and have been told I would not be reimbursed nor would I be able to take them with when I go. As much as i want to leave, I can't find anywhere affordable that is less than 90 minutes away. Affordable being I can manage the monthly payments and not being picky about where I go or what facilities I have.
Sorry for the rant... :/ Any thoughts? Questions? Similar stories? Someone please tell me I'm not micro-managing and that the things that are happening are not normal/not good. I'm not crazy am I?