If you’re like me, you might enjoy watching the HGTV show House Hunters or House Hunters International. In every episode someone, usually a couple, is on a quest to find their dream home. And it is so simple! It takes them less than an hour to find the perfect place. I’m finding that this isn’t necessarily the case when searching for a new stable, however.
At the beginning of the show the buyers meet to tell the realtor their must-haves such a rambling Victorian in an historic neighborhood with excellent schools. Or maybe they fancy an urban high rise with lots of amenities close to nightlife.
The buyers choose one home from three and it’s always a perfect fit for their lifestyle, regardless of if they’re looking in suburban Dallas or Tuscany, Italy! It’s nothing short of miraculous, as the sellers always accept the offer. The closing scene is the happy family in their new home.
Some of you know that I’ve been searching for a new stable and am on a horse house hunt. I wish I could be on a reality show where I meet with an experienced horse person at a cute coffee shop. I will tell the host of the show all the characteristics I’m looking for in a new barn, along with some of the things that might be deal breakers such as being located right next to a major freeway across from a Major League Baseball stadium.
The Quest for a New Riding Facility
All of this might seem really crazy because at this point I don’t even have a horse. However, I’m preparing for the future. And to do that, I have to locate a place to ride and find a good trainer who can help me continue to hone my skills.
Since I don’t have a show host to guide me through the process, I will now share my choices with you lovely readers. I hope you can share your perspectives with me.
1. Personally Recommended Hunter/Jumper Barn Close to Work
Option Numero Uno is six miles from my school in a horsey neighborhood where I used to board DC, and there are lots of small private farms that do layups for the horses from Santa Anita Racetrack. The area is the closest to Kentucky that you will find in Southern California.
I discovered this option two weeks ago when I bumped into a former colleague at a hamburger joint during my lunch. My friend retired about five years ago and so I asked how her family has been. Her daughter taught with us for a couple of years in the early 2000s until she started having babies. Prior to her maternity leave which turned into a resignation, the daughter had an ex-racehorse that she would show.
“Is she still riding?” I asked.
The answer was no, but the baby (who is now in middle school) is riding and leasing a horse nearby! My antennae went up and I asked the name of the trainer.
I got the number for the trainer and left a long-winded voice mail. Something amazing happened: she called me back within 24 hours!
And she sounded nice.
The trainer and I played phone tag all last week. This morning I decided to send a text that said, “Just curious, do you teach adult riders? Do you have lesson horses as I am horseless at this point? If so, I’d be interested in a lesson one day after work if your schedule permitted. I’d love to connect with you as you come highly recommended by my friend’s mom.”
She responded yes, and that they have several different types of horses for lessons and that she’s off to a horse show this week, but her assistant will be around. I texted back that I would be happy to lesson with either herself or the assistant. She said to pass along my possible days and times and she would forward them to her assistant! This is very promising!
There is one big drawback I foresee, even if the trainer and I click: I probably won’t want to make the commute there on weekends and during the summer. I drive 80 miles round trip Monday through Friday during the school year. The thought of doing that trip again on the weekend just makes me tired.
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Pros of Hunter/Jumper Barn Close to Work |
Cons of Hunter/Jumper Barn Close to Work |
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2. 10 Miles from Home in Pretty Neighborhood with Cowboy Events
Today I went for a Sunday drive and found another boarding/training facility about 10 miles from my house. It was located in a pretty foothill neighborhood and had a big arena with colorful jumps in front. That really drew me in!
There was some kind of Western event going on in an indoor arena–cattle sorting I think. I noticed a few small “pastures” which were really decent sized for SoCal standards (but don’t get visions of Kentucky fields-nothing green in them).
The drawback: One of the trainers I have mixed views on. This person was very friendly and a good communicator when I took a few lessons from her when she was at a different equestrian center about four years ago. The memory I can’t shake is that she injected the horse I was about to hop on to take a jumping lesson. I never returned for another lesson.
Maybe the injection wasn’t really a drug to calm the horse down and I jumped to conclusions at the time but wasn’t brave enough to just outright ask what the name of it was. Also, people can change over time. Or, I can bypass that person altogether and try out the dressage trainer. Or who knows–cattle sorting!
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Pros of Pretty Neighborhood with Cowboy Events |
Cons of Pretty Neighborhood with Cowboy Events |
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3. Close to Home with 24×24 Stalls and Miles of Trails
From a practicality standpoint, this is the option I would love to have work out. The five miles that I would drive to get there is all through suburban neighborhoods (no freeway!).
The facility is pretty good with several arenas and different types of stalls ranging from the traditional kind you would envision in the inside of a building such as in the colder climates, to the pipe corral stalls that have an overhang for shade. On the website it says they are adding in more turnout spaces. That’s a good sign.
Two years ago I took a lesson with a hunter trainer there. She seemed awesome, but I was puzzled when my follow up phone call and email were never returned. I reached out to her again a couple of weeks ago and have not heard back.
I called the equestrian center’s main number last week to ask some general questions about boarding. A few days later there was a voice mail from the barn manager. I called back that same day and left another voice mail. I haven’t heard back from them since. I’m still not sure what to think.
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Pros of Close to Home |
Cons of Close to Home |
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So, lovely readers, I’m eager to hear your perspectives. Please help me on this one. Two heads are better than one! Which one would you choose and why? Is there anything else I should be considering?
P.S. The gorgeous photo of my dream horse house is from iStockphoto.com.
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I'm Susan and this is my horse Knight. We have been a blogging team since 2015 and we're glad you're here. Tally ho!
I have just two pieces of advice:
1. try them all out – book a lesson at each of them and see what it’s like
2. keep looking
And here’s the explanation:
You’ll learn a huge amount from actually going and being a client, and be harsh! These people will be occupying a lot of your time (which is worth everything) and they will be taking lots of your money (which is also worth something) – they need to earn those things. You need to feel comfortable, your goals need to be accomplished, and above all, you need to enjoy it. You’ll find those things out when you go there. Talk to other people whilst you’re there: how long have they been there, where do they live/hang out, would it be possible to meet them somewhere for a coffee to chat? The attitude of the other owners is important, it’s a community that you’ll feel part of and, if you don’t fit in, it’ll be really hard (for more on this, see Wiola’s great post: http://aspireequestrian.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/help-i-bought-a-horse-what-now-natural-or-pampered-quick-or-classical-or-parelli/). As an event manager, I had a lot of training about how to conduct site visits (venue inspections as a potential customer) – the first thing I always do is go to the bathroom (it’s awful, but I always recommend at least one woman go on a site visit – the mens’ bathrooms aren’t as good of a barometer), to see what it’s like. Usually: bad bathroom = bad venue. As Wiola points out, the horse equivalent is, for me, the other people. It’s not great that it’s such a cliquey world, but it’s important to know that you can rely on other people if you have to (for example, if you have an accident at the barn and need help; if you can’t make it and need a friend to help out with your horse; even someone to go out on trails and chat with!).
And I say keep looking because… my gut tells me you’ve yet to find It. From reading your post, I actually think the one nearest your work is the one which would suit you best, and that’s probably not what you wanted to hear! You’re right to allude to the fact that you probably won’t find absolute nirvana, but I think you have to persevere until you get as close as possible. Take it from someone who’s been riding (and paying a lot!) somewhere for the sake of convenience – it isn’t worth it. I wasn’t achieving what I wanted to, the owner was someone I actively disliked (though my instructor was okay, but only okay and not amazing) and the horses definitely weren’t what I wanted. And it was all making me feel worse! Riding was supposed to be my fun time and whilst it hadn’t got to the point where it felt like a chore, it also wasn’t doing me many favours.
Keep meeting people – you may even meet someone on one of your barn tours who knows someone who knows someone whose friend’s partner’s brother owns the perfect place right near you which has been hiding all this time. I’ve stopped believing in impossible since I sold someone a box of chocolates and she invited me over to ride her horse (I’m still in shock about it, but I’m deliriously happy too) – just before I go out to the US, she and her husband are moving 150 miles away but she’s already asked me to go and visit (and find work?) her new place when I get back. I’ve known her three months. The world moves quickly these days, you just have to persevere and move with it.
I’m still rooting for you 🙂
Thank you for all the insights! That’s unbelievable about the chocolate-buying lady. How nice. There are still some really great people around! I like your point about checking them all out too. You shared so much I think I need to re-read your comment to fully glean all the horsey goodness!
No problem! Hope you’re getting on ok.
I guess it depends on your goals with future horse! To me, the hunter/jumper barn near your work would be the clean winner. I also already have a 30 mile commute to and from my barn no matter if I leave from work or home, so 10 more miles doesn’t seem that much worse to me.
Good point, Lauren. The only thing is, not all 30 or 40 mile commutes are equal. LA to Orange County traffic is unbearable during rush hour or on a Friday afternoon. Sadly, there’s no good public transportation either. I would gladly take a train to work or to a lesson! For supposedly being such a progressive state, California has a lot to learn from places like New York or Chicago when it comes to usable public transportation! I do see your point, however.
The other thought I had is if I rode in the afternoon I could stay late and wait out traffic. I just don’t think that would be a way to have a healthy, well-rounded lifestyle to do that every night after work. We’ll see what happens! 🙂
P.S. I am sorry to say that I have tried to follow your blog and I don’t know how. Yes, I’m that lame with technology. I think you’re on Blogger and I wasn’t sure how to subscribe (maybe through feedly?). Help. I do follow your Facebook Page. 🙂
From personal experience, I always choose close to home rather than close to work. Close to home means if you want to, you can pop into the house for a snack or to change into your barn clothes en route to the barn. It also means you are willing to go out there if the weather takes a sudden dramatic turn and if you have to go change a blanket. Or if you need a break from your household and just want to go muck stalls for 45 minutes (guilty). So, house proximity hands down! Whats funny is that the phone customer service jumped out at me right away (my blog post today is about that!). I think I would go with #3, even though I would be annoyed about the poor service, I also know that horse trainers aren’t always the best at juggling training and business (and send the trainer my blog post, ha!)
Good luck- looking forward to seeing what you choose!
Thanks, Corinna. I hadn’t thought about the weather making a turn for the worse (not a typical CA occurrence, but could happen). I love that you take a break from your house to clean a stall! Good insights!
If it were me, I think I would lean toward number 3, because I would want to have my horse close to my home. I think it would be discouraging to be so far away from the boarding facility during those free times. I would give the boarding facility that is 5 miles from you another chance. Perhaps you could go out and visit? I am not a horse rider, but if I owned a horse, I would want it to be near where I live.
I’m definitely kind of leaning toward #3 too. I agree that it would be so much nicer during a spare hour or two to be able to easily pop over to the barn (if it were only 5 miles away). Thanks for your perspective!
Hi Susan. If I were in your shoes i would lean toward the western barn. If they have “pastures” and the farm is that close to you and your call was returned promptly, sounds like a lot of what you’re looking for is there. You can always avoid the injector offender till you feel her out a little better. If you have an emergency its not too far to go. I ride english but have found the western crowds to be much more friendly and down to earth than english riders in general. Maybe take some lessons or a few trail rides and see how you feel about the place after a couple weeks.
Julie, thanks for stopping by! I like your viewpoint. I actually drove to the facility after work yesterday to see how bad the rush hour traffic is. It was not good, but there was also an accident. The good news about this place is that even though it’s 9 or 10 miles from my home, I don’t have to get on a freeway to drive home. I can take a bunch of back streets. I actually went through some lovely neighborhoods I never would have guessed existed! (I haven’t called them yet, but should. I didn’t stop and talk to anyone–which I really should have done. I had to get home as I had plans for later that night). 🙂
I’m on the metro commuting to work in DC as I type this, so I know the difficulty in selecting a barn that “works” given a long commute. I can only imagine that it’s even more complex in So Cal! For what it’s worth, what about telling trainer 1 your weekends and summer dilemma? It sounds like she has several younger students who may ride more on weekends and summers. Maybe you ride with her through the end of the school year and ask for a recommendation on a trainer closer to your home? That way, during the school-year, you could take a weekly lesson near school and eat dinner after so some of the traffic clears.
Let’s say that does work. You will still want a weekend & summers option too. It sounds like the verdant option 3 would be best once you are boarding, but maybe less so for lessons with the communication troubles. What about showing up and asking whether they allow outside trainers to teach there? I keep my mare at a boarding facility with no resident trainers. It isn’t ideal, but the care is significantly better than other local options that I decided I would just make do with clinics. I have a new trainer coming for a trial run next week.
You are SO RIGHT on the need for House Hunters for barns, horses, trainers, and maybe even farriers. I would watch! I vote Susan for Horse-Hunter-Host Extraordinaire 🙂
Aw, thanks. Wouldn’t that be such a fun job? Shall we co-host. East and West?
I wish I could take the train to work. There are no direct lines out here. There’s a rumor/urban legend that LA used to have a subway but Henry Ford had it ripped out. Maybe it’s true. Have fun with your potential trainer!
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