Becky - my horses have been home since this spring (finally built our own
barn) but -
The barn I boarded at was a true self-care facility. I paid $100/mo (this
is in New Hampshire) and got a stall. The lady who owns the barn did AM
feeding and turnout 4 days a week - I did the other 3. (This did include
blanketing). One of the other boarders "put them to bed" at night, fed,
and set up breakfast for morning. I did my own stall (only one horse at
that point, bought my own feed, hay, shavings, and everything else.
The best part was seeing my horse every day, even if I couldn't ride. The
barn was nice; the stalls were 10X10, wide aisle. The tack room was too
small, though. And the *worst* part was splitting the hay - the other
tenant (who still has two horses and a pony there) could never afford to
pay for a large delivery, so we ended up getting 80-bale loads (for 4
horses and a pony, that doesn't last long) all winter. And I thought she
fed *way* too much hay, especially to her own horses. Lots of waste.
When you're paying for part of it, that can be maddening. Also, lots of
times they were in fairly early, because that was the only time she could
come & do it.
No hot showers, but it was only a block away from my house.
Another good thing - the owners never complained about feeding early when
I had a ride and had to pick Miss Kitty up at 5:30 am! :-)
Caroline and the Appy Band -
Miss Kitty, leopard supreme witch
Ruby, 29 yr old Grand Dame
and Dragon, 6 mo old colt
"We're Starfleet officers... weird is part of the job."
Capt. Janeway, U.S.S. Voyager
cmorse@worldnet.att.net