Saturday, September 5

Today I am grateful for:

Connecting with the woman who used to be at the same barn I am now, who helped me feed River every day when the hay was so bad two years ago.

I asked her if she liked the barn where her daughter's horse is now, and she said that it was really wonderful. I asked if she could give me a tour, and she said "sure", so today I went with her to have a look.

It was about the same distance as the barn I currently go to, which is nice. It's also right off the highway, and the barn I am at right now you have to drive on some gravel roads which are often in bad shape.

Everything is immaculate and well-thought out. The paddocks all slope in such a way that they have good drainage, and thus the horses aren't standing in mud when it's wet. There are only a few horses in each large paddock, so that they actually have some grass to eat, and not a lot of pressure to compete for the hay.

There are a ton of nice things about this place. Everything is graveled, paved, or grassy. I didn't see any bare dirt/mud patches. The buildings are beautiful, and actually have several box stalls (the barn I am currently at does not, so that if your horse might actually need medical treatment/recovery indoors, it is not available). They are willing to help you give meds to your horse so that if you need to treat them twice a day for a week or so, you aren't driving out there twice a day to do it. No extra charge. They will put your blanket on your horse, or take it off, no extra charge. They will give your horse whatever extra feed it needs that you provide, no extra charge.

I spoke with the owner, and told her about River and his breathing issues, and her response was "did you have a chance to look at the hay to see if it's good enough for him?" I almost cried, because this was what I keep getting into trouble with the owner of the current barn about; checking the hay quality because River either gets skinny on it, or he has a heaves episode, etc. She freaks out every time she thinks I am criticizing the hay or how she feeds them. Her response to almost any inquiry about hay or feeding is "if you don't like how I'm doing things, you can go somewhere else".

The deal at this other place is that the owners seem pretty wealthy, and they used to be show jumpers, and they built this place for themselves. Now they are retired from jumping, but they let a few people board there and use the facilities because it's nice to have horses around, they still want to live there, and by having boarders they can still call their place a business and get all the deductions.

That said, I don't think they really need the money, so they don't advertise and only take in boarders through word of mouth, and they don't push to have a lot of people there. From what I understand, most of the care of the animals and the property is done by the boarders, likely for reduced board in return.

So, the ONLY drawbacks I can see, are that it is about 25% more than the barn I am currently at, but I could maybe make that up by getting a regular cleaning gig, and the other consideration is that if I get one less vet bill every year that helps make up the difference. I would also not have to drive there every day when he needs meds etc., and all the extra trips I make to put his blanket on and off, etc.

There is no regular dressage coach. I would be allowed to find someone, if there is someone willing to come to this barn to teach, but it might be tough if I am the only person. That is a serious consideration.

There isn't anyone available to put training on your horse if you have any issues with him. Again, you'd have to find someone to come work with him, or take him to them.

It's almost too quiet. There are only a few boarder there, and none of the kids lessons and fun clinics and such that happen at my current barn. I do wonder if I would end up riding alone most of the time at this other place, and if I would really miss the sense of community among the riders that I currently have.

That said, it is so amazingly beautiful and well kept, and the complete lack of mud would be a real joy (at the current barn, any time it's wet it's a horrible experience to walk out to the corrals, and the horses end up knee deep in mud/shit). The owner seems to want to help you care for your horse, and seems willing to look for solutions to problems, not yell at you for bringing up concerns.

I will need to think about what I can do to find a dressage coach willing to go there, and so on.

For now, I'm not SURE I am ready to make the move, but it really is an appealing option.

Then I was able to have a quiet day at home, and didn't have to do any work. This is a rare thing.

I took the opportunity to call some of my family, and that was nice.