Noelle'sBlackBeauty
New User
Hello all! I am new to this forum and would like some advice from those who have their own barns/horse properties. I have had my horse (first horse ever) for almost 4 years now, he just turned 10 yrs old, a TWH gelding. I was as green as grass when I bought him and after borrowing my friend;s Clinton Anderson dvd I realized I broke all the rules of being a new horse owner bc I : bought the shiny new black young horse instead of the old not-so-pretty nag that would take care of me being a green rider. So, I learned to ride my 6 yr old spooky horse the hard way, took my falls, and almost 4 yrs later we have such a bond that I can ride him bitless and bareback (with a fleece pad for comfort) anywhere, anytime (nightime is my fave) wtc and gallop. I have been to 3 barns now, my first barn was an inexpensive open pasture with amazing trails but after 7 months my horse got severely ill eating the poor quality hay fed in round bales. He also got the s*** kicked out of him there bc not knowing any better I was told to just throw him out with the herd and he would learn his place. I would NEVER subject a horse to that ever again, I am thankful he did not get permanently maimed or hurt! My second barn was better but trails not so great, and he still had a pasture to run and graze in. I found out there was a barn down the street from my home after a while and decided to move my horse to this current barn. It is costing $500 a month, the most I've ever paid, because the trails are AMAZING. My horse has a stall and is turned out every day weather permitting, but his paddock is pretty small. He gets NO grass unless I take him out and graze him myself, even though the BO has grass paddocks, she does not allow boarders to use them. The place is kept very clean, the hay is very good quality, and my hirse has made a few buddies there. He spends a lot of time in his stall, fed twice a day, plus grain 2x's/day (my choice). Since live so close I see him daily and try to ride at least 4 x's a week, otherwise I will walk him on a lead rope and let himn graze for about an hour. We ride about 45min-to an hour, usually alone, sometimes with others. All of my barns have had drama but this one is the worst. I am past the point where I welcome unsolicted advice or constructive criticism about the perils of riding the way I do (bitless and bareback), and how spoiled my horse is and how I should not give so many treats. There are some crazy women at this barn, very touchy about their horses, and so much drama about the dumbest things...for example I go to the barn at night around 9pm almost every night (another positive about this barn, the BO lets us visit whenever we want, within reason 11p-12a is ok as long as we are quiet. I have caught a few of the horses colicking (both recovered just fine 
and the other night I noticed one of the mares who had a flysheet, boots, and mask on for about a week (all day/night), this mare was sweating profusely as it was 85degrees inside the barn even w the stall fans on she was drenched. I texted the owner, she gavve me permission to remove the fly sheet and asked me to take boots and mask off too. The next day she made a big deal out of it and got the old man who lives on the property and does all care for the horses, in trouble. She blamed him for not catching her horse overheating. I think she was feeling guilty and placing blame bc she never came out to check on her own horse herself. Anyway, she made a big deal about it and told me that next time I should follow "protocol" when there is an issue with someone elses horse (??) whatever that means. There are so many other things at that barn that are too crazy to mention here but I hope you get the gist. I know there is no perfect barn and altho this place is pretty nice I don't like that my horse is stuck in a small paddock all day until i come get him out on the trail either to ride and/or graze. My perfect barn has a pasture and not necessarily a stall or gorgeous trails...rideable trails are good enough for me. Turns out I may have an opportunity to rent a home with horse property this summer. I have had my eye on this place since my friends boarded their two horses there last year. The renter has since moved out and so the boarders had to move their horses out. I am so out of my mind with happiness that I may finally have a chance to have my horse at home with me that I can't even believe it! I have to give the owner an answer in the next month. I am currently renting a home now (not horse property) and can leave whenever I want, so no issues there. The new home is great, and there is a 2 stall with a storage stall that could be sued as 3rd stall (that's what the previous renter did). There is a limit of 3 horses but the previous renter had up to four at some points (her 2, plus my friends 2). There is 3 acres of pasture!!! All fenced in. There are nice trails right down the street that lead to a huge prairie path..not as pretty as my current ones but nice enough for me. The barn needs to be cleaned out really good and the owner (who lives out of state) has hired help to care for the pastures (Im assuming mowing them?) My friends would turn the horses out as much as possible weather permitting and the horses got hay too. If my husband and 2 sons decide to make the move there it would be mid July but I would not move my horse until I had at least one other horse there. I am pretty confident I willhave no problem getting two freinds to board their horse there. So, as you can tell, I have ZERO experience keeping horses at home. I am very familiar with the all the routines at my current barn and I muck his stall out at least once a day (bc I don't mind doing it and I'm at the barn so much). My question is what can I start doing to prepare the barn/pastures for horses? There have been no horses there since April 2014. The pasture is overgrown. There are some fence rails that need repair. How much work is involved with caring for horses at home? Any advice or words of wisdom is appreciated. How do I help my horse transition into this move and what can I do to make it as stress free as possible for him? H ehas one paddock buddy that he is pretty freindly with and I'm already sad thinking about separating them when we move :-( How do I make sure he will get along with potential boarders' horses? Aaaagggh! I'm freaking out. Don't even know where to start or what questions to ask really! HELP!
Thanks for listening anyway ;-)
and the other night I noticed one of the mares who had a flysheet, boots, and mask on for about a week (all day/night), this mare was sweating profusely as it was 85degrees inside the barn even w the stall fans on she was drenched. I texted the owner, she gavve me permission to remove the fly sheet and asked me to take boots and mask off too. The next day she made a big deal out of it and got the old man who lives on the property and does all care for the horses, in trouble. She blamed him for not catching her horse overheating. I think she was feeling guilty and placing blame bc she never came out to check on her own horse herself. Anyway, she made a big deal about it and told me that next time I should follow "protocol" when there is an issue with someone elses horse (??) whatever that means. There are so many other things at that barn that are too crazy to mention here but I hope you get the gist. I know there is no perfect barn and altho this place is pretty nice I don't like that my horse is stuck in a small paddock all day until i come get him out on the trail either to ride and/or graze. My perfect barn has a pasture and not necessarily a stall or gorgeous trails...rideable trails are good enough for me. Turns out I may have an opportunity to rent a home with horse property this summer. I have had my eye on this place since my friends boarded their two horses there last year. The renter has since moved out and so the boarders had to move their horses out. I am so out of my mind with happiness that I may finally have a chance to have my horse at home with me that I can't even believe it! I have to give the owner an answer in the next month. I am currently renting a home now (not horse property) and can leave whenever I want, so no issues there. The new home is great, and there is a 2 stall with a storage stall that could be sued as 3rd stall (that's what the previous renter did). There is a limit of 3 horses but the previous renter had up to four at some points (her 2, plus my friends 2). There is 3 acres of pasture!!! All fenced in. There are nice trails right down the street that lead to a huge prairie path..not as pretty as my current ones but nice enough for me. The barn needs to be cleaned out really good and the owner (who lives out of state) has hired help to care for the pastures (Im assuming mowing them?) My friends would turn the horses out as much as possible weather permitting and the horses got hay too. If my husband and 2 sons decide to make the move there it would be mid July but I would not move my horse until I had at least one other horse there. I am pretty confident I willhave no problem getting two freinds to board their horse there. So, as you can tell, I have ZERO experience keeping horses at home. I am very familiar with the all the routines at my current barn and I muck his stall out at least once a day (bc I don't mind doing it and I'm at the barn so much). My question is what can I start doing to prepare the barn/pastures for horses? There have been no horses there since April 2014. The pasture is overgrown. There are some fence rails that need repair. How much work is involved with caring for horses at home? Any advice or words of wisdom is appreciated. How do I help my horse transition into this move and what can I do to make it as stress free as possible for him? H ehas one paddock buddy that he is pretty freindly with and I'm already sad thinking about separating them when we move :-( How do I make sure he will get along with potential boarders' horses? Aaaagggh! I'm freaking out. Don't even know where to start or what questions to ask really! HELP!Thanks for listening anyway ;-)
