All I'm saying is that I would like to find a place that is within reason to store my poor horse and he won't get hurt. I look around here and I am astonished by the conditions of horse places! Seriously, I drove by a place today that advertises itself as a breeder barn, with high quality and expensive horses, and pristine conditions, and what did I find?? A place that is MORE run-down than where I have Rusty now-which I honestly did not think was possible. The paddocks were small and waterlogged big time(!), there were more horses per paddock than I think should be allowed (the general rule I learned was 2 acres for the first horse than an acre per horse after that-ok, these paddocks were maybe 3 acres with 5-6 horses per paddock!), fencing that was falling down (and it was that chicken/no climb wire crap that doesn't work worth anything) and I think there may have been some barb-wire too (which is my BIGGEST horse pet-peeve-you NEVER use barb for horses!!). I didn't even bother going into this place because my drive by showed me that it was not worth my time. And guess what they charge for their pasture boarding (which includes 2 times daily hay). $180. Seriously? Why should I pay my husbands (lets face it, he works hard for it!) hard earned money on a soggy field that is over crowded and where my old man (Rusty) may still be impaled on a fence!! [Side note: about 3 months ago, Rusty did impale his face on something at the place I keep him now which resulted in a nice puncture wound (literally about 4 inches deep) that I then had to give him drugs for the next 2 weeks, twice daily.] And I realize the $180 really isn't that much in the horse world but it is too much for horrible conditions.
I've thought about this a lot and I really think that my snobbery comes from growing up on the east coast and especially learning to ride and take care of horses there. Seriously. I remember board at a nice barn was actually reasonable and the conditions were good-they used horse appropriate materials for fencing and made sure that the horses weren't dying every day. I did a google search of "horse barns in maryland" and about 15 popped up; the average board was about $300-400 but that was for full board that includes food, feeding suppliments and grain, turn out, grooming, blanketing, and some included farrier and vet shots too. Here, the nicest place I saw was $350 for twice a day hay feeding. That was it. Once place I looked at was 30 mins away, $375 for a small paddock with a run in and it was really mucky and muddy there too. She also fed hay twice daily. And most of these really nice east coast places include some type of arena (a lot of times an outdoor one!). So now you all can see where my snobbery originates from. And the sad thing is, where we live now really isn't all that different that where we're from in MD; the socio-economic status is about the same-it might be a little more poor here with a bigger drug problem but it really is basically the same. I guess the laid-back cali lifestyle proliferates throughout all spheres of life here-which I don't really find to be that great. In some respects I'd rather be an uptight east coaster than an ultra laid back californian if it means settling for sub-par horse living quarters. I'm digressing here.....
After the impalement incident (and I freaked out big time thinking "HOLY CRAP WHAT AM I GOING TO DO MY HORSE CAN'T LIVE LIKE THIS!!" I called one of my oldest friends (Meg Kep!!) who at the time was a barn manager in Jersey. And I straight out asked her, am I just a snob or what? And guess what she said-HECK NO!! She agreed that it was unsafe and unacceptable and we discussed what should be done. As many people who own some sort of animal understand, that pet get's into your heart and you connect with it on a different level. I've been riding my sweet horse for like 15 years. He is my adventure buddy! He will do almost anything for a treat or some type of food. We want our animals to be well looked after and cared for. This is not happening with out me having to go over there every day to make sure he hasn't died. I really don't think it's unreasonable to want to have safe fences where horses are-is it? Megs was appalled by the description of the place where I keep him; but happily the lady has been working on the fences and what not-I think she's tired of me complaining about it!
So what this really made me think was that maybe, one day, I should own and run my own barn. I know it can be expensive to start up and of course there is that whole demand thing (which totally blows and which is why people can charge a small ransom for such crappy accommodations, and even more for nice ones since there isn't anything else available and they know it!!) but I think I'd be good at it and that people would come because I would treat their horse like it was my horse and it would be well taken care of and I wouldn't charge an arm and a leg for them to keep it there too. Of course this is a wild fantasy and probably will never happen-unless it's what we decide to do in our retirement. But it's a nice thought for now. At least I can take solace in that one day we may own our own property and my horses will be well loved and taken care of because I will be the one doing every day. Don't worry-I prepared Matt for that reality before we got married so it wouldn't be a shocker for him when I start to demand it ;)
This is us through the years (high school, college, and last october)
