Best Boarding Barns…Where Are They?
Apr 12 2011
4/14 – I’m going to leave this one more day because a lot of you have answered other peoples’ questions and I want to make sure those answers get seen. Thanks for all of the great and helpful input about boarding barns! I have had a lot of inquiries lately from readers wanting to know how to find a great place to board their horse, so I think it’s about time for another one of these threads. Those of you who are local to an area are the best source of information. Where do you/have you boarded that you LOVED? Places where you felt confident that the barn management was truly watching your horse and taking the best possible care of your horse? Places that always have good hay and clean stalls and water in the buckets?
Please start your post with LOCATION so that if someone is looking for a particular area, they can skip through easily.
To update briefly on Saturday’s thread, both Golden Award and Watercraft are safe for sure! Thanks to those of you who stepped up willing to help.
190 comments to “Best Boarding Barns…Where Are They?”
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Murrieta CA 92562
Rod Jones has a small boarding facility at his place in Murrieta. It backs up to Murrieta creek with trail riding from the barn. It is low key, clean place with 24×24 stalls, pasture available and an unfenced arena area (tilled soil). I’ve been there almost 5 years now and would not consider moving my horses anywhere else. Rod doesn’t like whiners. You can email me at stonewallsaddles@yahoo.com and I’ll pass your info along to him.
I would consider “not liking whiners” to be a real PLUS when choosing a boarding barn!
EL CAJON, CA
I board my horse at Willow Glen Equestrian center and love it. It’s a fairly large ranch, but the owner and co-owner both live on property. They are veterans of the horse world and personally drive around feeding the horses twice daily at exact timing. The stalls and corrals are mucked daily, and the horses have automatic waterers.
There are multiple arenas, some for specific uses (there’s a dressage arena, and open jumping arena, cross country area, trail course area, lunging area, round pen, bull pen, large round pen for sorting cattle, and 3 all-around arenas), and it has access to a wonderful trail. You have the option of buying a large shed to keep your tack in, which is awesome. They also have cattle, which they replace often so they’re fresh, and trainers for many disciplines.
Probably the best thing about Willow Glen is the caring, attentive, friendly nature of the owners. My horse had a tummy ache, and they noticed immediately when she started showing symptoms. They pulled her food, haltered her to keep her standing, and called us immediately. Their knowledge is really admirable and I totally trust my horse in their hands.
Completely OT.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Fsan_francisco&id=8073871
SF Bay Area, CA
East Bay (Castro Valley)
Graceland Equestrian Center is a horse paradise (and rider paradise!). Stalls are so huge, most horses (even a Friesian!) will lay down to sleep. Tons of bedding per stall. Stalls cleaned 1-2x a day. Gorgeous high nutrient hay in generous portions. Also, a onsite vet! The barn owner loves loves horses and so do the boarders. Everyone looks out for the horses. The barn hands love horses too. One in particular is well loved by all the horses.
You can get a stall w a run or with out. Can turn out yourself or pay a small fee to have them do it. Same w graining and blanketing. Your choice. The fee is modest for the high quality of the place. The barns are gorgeous.
Also, our eventing trainer (James Alliston) is headed to Rolex! He offers full training or training rides, lessons individually. There is a A level hunter jumper trainer (Diane Yeager) as well. There are miles of on property trails including a gallop trail and for you eventers, a gorgeous cross country course. They have tow big rings, one is fully covered and has mirrors and the other is up in the open. Good footing. They have those fly spray misters installed in the barn for summer.
They offer pasture board as well. Also, have a breeding stallion now and quarters for broodmares! First baby was just born. Check the link if for nothing more than cute baby pics!!
http://www.gracelandequestriancenter.com/
Placerville, California
http://routsonranch.com/pages/index.html
Pasture boarding. The best part of this place is that it is safe, safe, safe. All of the pastures have been combed over carefully for any potential hazards, and there is new electric tape fencing. Only two horses are allowed per pasture lot, and the owner keeps a sharp eye on them to make sure that they get along and that both are in good weight and health. The horses are given high quality grass hay (smells wonderful!) and introduced slowly to grass so that the risk of founder is minimized. The farrier up there is excellent. It’s all so careful; I love it. It’s one of the few places I feel safe keeping my horses when I can’t see them every day.
There’s also a covered arena to ride in, a walk-trot-canter path around the property, and access to a cute little trail along the (now defunct) railroad. Within easy trailering distance are a lot of beautiful places, like Sly Park in Pollock Pines and such.
Huntersville/Davidson NC
You really can’t beat Davidson Equestrian Center! The facility is owned by a vet, and the barn manager is an awesome guy who knows horses and is a great general contractor! Plus they have a great BNT(eventer) there who is available for lessons or training without signing up for a “program!” The barn is well run, and well managed. They have a waiting list, because they offer exceptional care for very reasonable rates, esp. for the area they are located in! They have a wonderful farrier and vet, or you are welcome to use your own. And unlike a lot of barns with BNR or BNT you are also welcome to have your own trainer come in.
Best part is, even the high dollar “show horses” go for trail rides, and get outside the ring time. they all get 8-12 hours of turnout a day, and they are the happiest, most well adjusted horses I have seen at a show barn in a while! On Sundays all the barn gets together and they beg and borrow horses for a nicve relaxed trail ride, with wine and snacks afterwards! Really brings the barn together, and makes it a close knit group! Between the great people and the even better care, I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
Cincinnati, OH
I love my boarding barn! Wright Farms, It’s about 50 stalls and has both partial and self-care options. I’m not surprised if many Cincy horse people don’t know about it, it’s not at all advertised because there is rarely stall openings, and there is a waiting list to get in. I board in the partial care barn since it’s easier for my schedule, I don’t have to worry about being there to feed my horse twice a day. However, I do have to prepare his meals, so I feel good knowing he is going to get exactly what I set out for him to have the night before. They have a decent sized outdoor arena, as well as an indoor. There is also a large grass field for riding, and access to the Hamilton County Park District’s public horse trails (which are beautiful, we are so lucky to have a park district to keep up with repairs, fallen trees, and flooding on the trail). I really love this barn and I know my horse is happy too! There is almost always someone there so I feel good knowing that if there was an emergency or problem with my horse, someone is probably there to call me. Most everyone gets along really well, and there is a variety of horses, TWH, QH, TBs, warmbloods, ponies, arabians, as well as riders, dressage, eventing, hunters, gaited, western, trail riders, and there are quite a few retired horses that are content just living fat and happy here! Management lives on the property, and problems get fixed fairly quickly. It’s in a great location really close to many show facilities. The exterior looks a little worn, but it’s definitely one of those “diamond in the rough” places!
FYI, Fugs…more on the Leachman saga…
http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_42a36de4-0c28-5b35-9924-51b88bde6f92.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufh5NG_YkYs
Here is another lame duck.
Dover, FL (just east of Tampa)
Windswept Farm.
They have 20 acres and actually have grass! No sand turn out pits! Hot and cold wash racks, lighted arena, stalls mucked daily, automatic waterers that have plugs in the bottom so they are drained and scrubbed regularly, feed dropped twice per day, hay once per day, turn out all day or all night your choice, blanketing in the winter and fans in the summer. They will put on fly spray and fly masks that you provide. They email an invoice each month listing charges and even allow you to pay your board electronically. They have a hunter/jumper trainer there but you are welcome to have anyone else come in, no extra charge. They will feed pre-bagged supplements and your choice of feed. I chose a slightly pricey feed (Purina Ultium) and they just charge me the difference between my feed and theirs, works out to about $20 extra per month, which is totally worth it. Full board is $400/month, includes everything listed above. Partial board is everything listed above except you buy feed and hay and muck your own stall, they provide shavings. If you are going out of town you can pay them $3/day to muck your stall. Owners and owners daughter live on property, so there is always someone there and they call you or text you right away if there is a problem. They have a great vet and farrier but you are welcome to bring your own. Very welcoming and friendly barn, I would recommend it to anyone. My guy has been there for a year now and is doing great.
Any recommendations in Boise, ID, area? I see a lot of fellow PNW folks on the list. *waves at Portland friends*
Happenstance Stables in Midland, Ohio is a great boarding stable, so our boarders say! We are a natural horsemanship stable with lots of awesome stuff for the boarders including lots of pasture time, huge equine obstacle course, clinics throughout the year, etc. VERY friendly atmosphere and we take awesome care of the horses, which is first and foremost. Check us out http://www.happenstancestables.com
CENTRAL TEXAS
Ramaker Stables in Leander is absolutely wonderful. A great, multi-discipline barn with a very relaxed, no-drama atmosphere.
Rio Vista Farm in Del Valle is also super nice. For a hunter barn it’s pretty low-key and not snobbish. There are riders ranging from pleasure riders to A-circuit and everyone gets along quite nicely! They also have an awesome dressage trainer and host their own rated shows, so that adds an element of fun and variety!
Graymar Farm in Driftwood is another lovely multi-discipline place. The paddocks are large and shaded and don’t get very muddy after rain, they have a HUGE covered round pen and a grass riding area as well as arena.
All these places take very good care of their horses. I’ve never seen a horse go uncared for. Highly recommend.