Maybe you can explain this to me.

I haven't read all the other posts....it's easy,

MONEY and TIME

These people have money and no time, so they spend their money to save time...

Heck don't we all want more of both???

Its their business how they spend their money....good for them. I'd probably do it too if I could, saddled up enough in my lifetime that I don't think I'm going to forget.....I'd love more time to concentrate on riding...

The only people who get this at my barn are a few big name trainers who keep horses with us for training on a temporary basis and usually it is done by their own groom, not one of our regular grooms. My trainer sometimes warms my horse up for me and it is awesome to get on a horse that is ready to work. So I can definitely understand the appeal of that, especially if the horse can sometimes crush your very soul during warm-up the way mine can. While amazing, I always feel like a bit of a fraud having someone else warm him up, but I guess some people don't care about that. And some people adore their horses but if they have only one hour a day to devote to their horse they want to spend it riding, not tacking up and stretching, which makes sense too.

*sigh* I wish I could afford someone to do that (not warm up, but catch, groom and saddle for me). There are times I would ride, if she was already ready. I daydream about her being ready and all I had to do was climb up and we could go on a trail ride. I admit I would ride more, but between a full time job and having a boarding barn--- I'm tired!

Shoot..I could probably get BOs son to catch and tack ST everyday I came out to ride after work. He already offers to bring her in and tie her for me while Im putting boots and getting my stuff together half the time (because he's soo eager to just ride lol).

I just don't trust his knowledge and strength to saddle ST with a 45lb saddle and all the extra tack (breastcollar, back cinch, with strap, noseband and then bridle, tighten my girth enough, etc), lol. Not his fault, but he's the closest I'll ever get to a personal groom xD

I like tacking my horse though..only takes me five minutes to zoom around and get her walking out of the barn and on our way out to ride. Not worth it for a whole 5 minutes of work (as long as she isn't a mile away and/or utterly filthy.
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My husband has this "high end" service", provided by me! However, when we go to lessons, our instructor makes him do it himself, hehe.
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I don't understand it either. It is your horse and if you want to ride it you should have to tack him up and groom him. My cousin pays $1000 a month to board her leased horse and at her barn there is a two horses to one groom ratio and they will get your horse readyfor you to ride. She also pays an additional $400 so her hours can have four hours of turnout a week. Crazy.

If someone tacked my horse for me I would still end up rechecking everything so I might as well do it myself the first time. Besides - I enjoy grooming my horse and just spending time with them as much as riding.

But whatever works for each person - everyone has different goals when it comes to horses.

Oh I would love for someone to just clean my horses. My gelding is grey "white" and well, we have lots of mud! So I guess I should say my horse is the color and texture of mud! It would be so nice to have a clean, brushed down horse to start with. I certainly would ride more.

If my dad heard I was paying someone to warm up my horse he'd take it away from me. I bought him, pay for him and all his needs, but my dad is the old cowboy type where you lug around your heavy saddle, you brush the mud off your own horse, and if you're not smelling like the manure pit when you get home you've not done a good enough job. I've always had to do everything myself even when taking lessons on a lesson horse. If I want to ride I've got to ready the horse myself. I'm not saying it wouldn't be easier because training 4 horses a day and having to tack and untack them all is time consuming especially with the bloaters but I took on the work and bought my horse so why should I expect other people to do my grunt work.

Some of the training barns offer that here, they round pen the horse or pony, and if agreeable to the owner another boarder can ride it during lessons. This works with more than one boarder, and the kids learn how to ride using mutliple horses or ponies. They don't tack up the horse or pony though.