The Facility Itself
You'll want to choose a boarding facility that has a riding arena for schooling your horse. Some facilities provide both outdoor and indoor riding arenas, which is a plus if you live in a cold climate where good footing is a concern during the winter months. If there is no indoor arena, does the outdoor arena have lights? This is important if you work and can't get to the barn until after dark. Find out how early in the morning or how late in the evening it is okay for boarders to come and use the facility.
Also, find out how many boarders the facility has or can take on. Are the barn aisles and riding areas big enough for the number of boarders, and are they often crowded? Are there riding trails nearby that boarders have permission to use?
Halters have been known to catch on other objects, which can cause potentially fatal injuries. It is safer to remove the halter when the horse is turned out or put up in her stall. All-leather halters, which will break under stress, are a good option. As an alternative, use a breakaway nylon halter with a leather headpiece that will break when stressed.
You will be expected to sign an agreement of some sort when you bring your horse to stay at the facility. Read the agreement closely and take note of anything that you are expected to supply or do. Also note when board payment is due and what happens if you are late with your payment. Some facilities will refuse to release a horse until overdue board payments are made. The signing is a good time to ask other questions that may come to mind, such as whether there is a limit on the number of riders allowed at one time in the arena.
Any place where you board your horse or take lessons will require you to sign a liability release. Although it covers standard things — that you are riding your horse on their property at your own risk or that you are taking lessons on one of the stable's horses at your own risk — you should nonetheless read a release carefully. Equine legal books often do not include contract forms because the authors realize that every situation is different. Therefore, stables are encouraged to tailor their release to their specific setup.
Before signing on the dotted line, you should spend some time hanging around the facility, meet some of the other boarders, and watch them work with their horses. Ask them whether they like boarding there and how long they've been there. Boarders come and go fairly regularly for all sorts of reasons, but if there is a huge turnover at a place, you might want to find out why.
It's hard to discern everything in a couple hours, but you should be able to sense any major problems or personality conflicts after a few visits. What you hope to find is a congenial group of horse enthusiasts who welcome a new horse and rider into their fold and who will be willing to share their knowledge and interest with you.
Another good way to find out whether the atmosphere and folks at a facility suit you is to take riding lessons there if instruction is offered. If you don't already ride, you should take riding lessons for at least six months prior to buying a horse to find out if you really like it. This helps prepare you with some of the skills you'll need to handle your horse more safely after you acquire her.
The expense of owning a horse is a huge consideration, and boarding costs are a big part of it. Expect the cost to vary widely from facility to facility. The closer you get to more populated areas, the more boarding will probably cost. A thirty-acre horse facility in a highly desirable real estate market with limited open land left means the facility probably cost a lot to construct, and the monthly board will reflect that.
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Services will cost you as well. Some facilities include riding lessons with board. Some offer such things as holding your horse for the farrier or vet, or blanketing against winter winds or summer sun. Some facilities offer deworming programs to keep all horses on the same schedule. Expect a higher cost for more amenities — such as a wash room for horses, a tack shop, a nice tack storage area with personal lockers, a heated lounge area, food to purchase, full bathrooms with a shower, maybe even a vet or farrier on the premises of larger facilities. There is a cost associated to the owner to provide these things, and in order for the facility to stay in business the cost must be passed along to the boarders.
If you are interested in learning about a particular type of riding, you might want to find a facility where the concentration is on that kind of riding so that you can really expand your knowledge in that one area. A barn concentrating on jumping will probably have a nice cross-country jump course, some good low-level training jumps in the arena, membership in the local hunt club, and some jumping clinics that you can participate in without having to leave the property. This type of arrangement is one of the big bonuses of boarding.
