Finding The Right Boarding Facility
Finding the right boarding facility is like shopping for shoes.
Trying to find a place to board your horse is like trying to find a pair of shoes that fits just right. You have to go see the facility, just like you need to try the shoe on. You can order the shoes online in your size, but if you haven’t tried them on, you risk them not fitting quite right. No matter what the size on the box says, different brands and styles can vary widely. The same goes for a boarding facility. What the boarding facility has and/or advertises may look great on their website, but spending some time at a potential facility will allow you to see things that you might have otherwise overlooked like the types of riders, arena quality, feeding routines, temperaments of horses, general atmosphere, etc. Just like no one wants to walk around in shoes that rub your heels raw, no one wants to board at a facility that causes constant frustration. Invest some time upfront and consider some of these things before making the leap to a new boarding facility to prevent a bad fit.
Purpose
Would you buy a pair of flip flops to go out and run a marathon? Of course not! Shoes are made for different purposes like for working out, style, leisure... most boarding facilities are no different. Different boarding facilities can serve different purposes. What may seem like a wonderful place for someone that is a trail rider may terribly lack the needs for someone that is a reiner or jumper. What is your purpose for riding? Does the boarding facility fit that purpose? Maybe the facility offers excellent care and looks beautiful, but will it meet your riding needs? Can you imagine a dressage horse being ridden while other horses are practicing barrels? I’m sure it does happen, but I know a lot of dressage horses and riders that would lose their minds.
Type of Care
If the shoe doesn’t fit … don’t force it! I have boarded in many states and at many different types of facilities: dressage, jumpers, Morgans, Tennessee Walkers, pleasure … you name it. They all offered different types of care. I am a regimented type of person. I like consistency and so have most of my horses. Some of the facilities fed grain once a day, some fed three times a day. Some of the places left horses turned out (weather permitting) for days, even if they were stall boarded. Other facilities only turned horses out for a few hours a day. If you have a horse that does best with a lot of turnout time, then keeping that horse at a boarding facility that has limited turnout is not going to work. If you have a horse that gets stressed if he is outside for too long, then a 24-hour turnout might not work. You know that saying, “Happy wife, happy life?” Well, I think “Happy horse, happy owner” is also a good saying. If a boarding facility cannot accommodate your horse (and sometimes they shouldn’t) you need to find a place that has the type of care that works for the horse. There is no reason to try to fit a square peg in a round hole.
Atmosphere
Are you going to go to a shoe store that sells Jimmy Choo, Gucci, or Louis Vuitton and shop for a nice pair of running shoes? Of course not! If you have a horse that is high strung, it needs to be in a facility that has experience with higher energy horses. If you are at a boarding facility where all of the horses are really chill and easy going, but you have an OTTB (off the track thoroughbred) that is higher strung, it can be easy to stand out. You don’t want your horse getting labeled as “crazy.” It can ruin your confidence if you consistently hear about how hyper your horse is acting. When I taught elementary school, we were told that you do not treat kids as if they are “bad.” Children will live up to those expectations. I truly feel it is the same with horses. If they are treated as if they are “crazy,” they will live up to those expectations. Things that those hotter horses do may be misread, especially by people that don’t understand hot horses.
Conclusion
Finding the right boarding facility for you and your horse can be tricky, but extremely important. Make sure you fully understand your expectations and whether a potential boarding facility is capable of meeting those needs before you commit. Investing some additional time prior to moving to a new boarding facility to get a feel for their purpose, turnout and feeding routines, and atmosphere will save you from frustrations down the road. Changing facilities too often can cause stress on both you and your horse and dramatically delay you from reaching your riding goals.