One of my boarders, who I released back into the wild, called me the other day. She told me she had moved her horse again. Now I sent her out of here because her horse was sound and ready to live his life again as planned. Now what? Her trainer, whom she liked, was only renting stalls at the barn I delivered her to, so the trainer moved and she followed. She liked this trainer because she was taking her time getting this horse going over fences again, and was patient with the horses attitude because of his previous injuries. Horses remember what caused them pain, and he would kick out when he thought it was going to hurt. He’s adjusted and given acupuncture regularly to maintain his alignment until his body gets stronger and takes over.

Okay, so how does trauma like this happen to this extent? Airplane transport from Europe to the U.S. I’ve know a lot of horses brought over from Europe with no signs of this kind of damage, but speaking to various vets, it’s quite common. We’re talking major problems from his head to tail, inside and out. The main problem being, the extent of the damage is not detected right away. The school of thought is let him rest and he’ll be fine. Not! When things are not in alignment and left that way it opens up a whole can of worms.

But that’s not what this post is about.

How do you decide what barn you want to board at? What is most important to you and your horse?

Here are some of the thoughts I’ve come across.

Price – what can you afford?

Location – is it convenient to your home or work,? Distance would also fall into that category along with traffic conditions. Is it near trails or show grounds. Can you park your trailer there? Do they trailer to shows or vet clinics if necessary?

Facilities – do they have what you need in the way of jumps, barrels, dressage ring. Bathrooms, wash stalls, turn out, round pen? How are the ground conditions? Do they have grazing pastures and what condition are they in? Are the watering troughs clean? Do you need a lighted arena or maybe an indoor or covered?

The care of your horse – how much care does your horse require? How much are you allowed to give? How much will they give and at what cost to you?

Feeding – Are the horses there well fed and healthy? Do they have vets that regularly come in and perform the necessary care and will they come in an emergency. Is there a barn farrier or do you have to have your own vet and farrier come? Will they hold the horse if necessary or do you have to be there?

Trainers/Instructors – are there trainers there to help with your specialty? Are they knowledgeable with kind attitudes?

Participation and social events – do they go to clinics, shows, trail rides, and do they have various social events or outings for their clients.

Friends – do you just go where your friends are going? Is that most important to you?

When we were moving to Florida we asked a friend, who had a house down here, “what should we look for?” He said “you have to decide what is most important to you. Things like hospitals, restaurants, schools, beaches, boating areas are not all in the same place, so you need to figure out what means more to you and buy near that area.” It’s the same with a barn. You have to decide what means most to you and go from there.

My friend has moved her horse further away from her home. She can not stop at the barn on her way to work or on the way home anymore. Her daughter now has her license so she doesn’t have to run her over to the barn for lessons, which makes it easier on her. But she followed her trainer. Keeping her horse safe is worth the trip. To come to me she traveled an hour. The barn I brought her to was ten minutes from her house. It’s a half hour from her house in one direction to work and a half hour from her house in the opposite direction to the barn.

What is most important to you? Perhaps it’s a combination of things. Something to think about. Nothing is cast in stone, you can always move again.