For the 25+ years that I have owned horses, they have always been ‘home’. That is to say, kept on the same property where I lived. Recently I moved Ferris, one of my geldings, to a boarding barn in preparation for a career change (from dressage to Hunter… he LOVES the jump!) and sale. The decision to sell him was incredibly challenging emotionally. I bred him, raised him and did his initial training. But I also came to realize that, though he can do the lower level dressage work, his heart is in the jump….something that I’m not in a good position to do. Moving him to a boarding barn gave me access to a friend and trainer who is helping re-schooling him as a Hunter in preparation of selling him.

The move from home care to a boarding barn means having another person provide daily care and handling, and was something that took me some time to get used to. Thankfully, Mandy, owner and manager at the barn, was very understanding with me, is great at communicating and has done a fantastic job with Ferris for the last few months. If you are considering a similar move, whether for a short endeavor or as a lifestyle change, here are some tips I picked up from my recent experience.

Change in lifestyle
As I’ve shared in a previous blog, my operation at home is anything but fancy. We have a run-in/lean-to for the horses and they choose when to be in and when to be out. Ferris was used to spending a good bit of energy moving around 24/7 and burning calories to stay warm. With his new living situation, Ferris is now in a stall (in a heated barn) from 4PM to 8AM with pasture turnout during the day. I was initially concerned about this change in activity level and energy needs, potentially leading to excessive weight. As I soon discovered, he quickly adjusted and settled into the barn lifestyle … adores his stall!

Hay transition
Hay/pasture makes up most of a horse’s diet, therefore any change in hay, whether it be a different cutting, supplier, or variety should be made gradually. When I moved Ferris to Mandy’s barn, I also sent along a few bales of his current hay so that she could slowly transition him to her hay. He moved from grass hay to grass hay, which helped. In his new barn, he also has consistent access to hay day and night to keep his system active.

Water System
You might not think it’s a big deal, but a new water system may be disruptive. For example, at home, we have an outdoor, group automatic drinker while in his stall, Ferris has an individual one. Thankfully, the sound of water being replenished is similar, though he did scare himself the first time he drank! Since water is such an important element of a horse’s health and wellbeing, it’s a good idea to monitor their drinking the first few days after making the move. You might also train your horse to drink before you move him.

Feed Transition
Because he was living mainly outdoors at home, I was feeding Ferris a product that is high in fat, designed for hard keepers. It was a really good fit with his lifestyle at home, however the house feed at his new barn is SafeChoice Original, a similar, but slightly different product; higher in fiber and protein, lower in fat. Though Mandy will accommodate a different feed, I wanted to simplify by having him on the house feed. As with his hay, I brought along  bags of his feed from home to transition him to the SafeChoice in his first 7-14 days. At first, he refused to touch his feed (our best guess is that it was the stress of all the changes) so we backed off transitioning him and let him eat his normal feed for the first week. After that, we were able to start the transition again and today, he’s 100% on SafeChoice Original.

Stress of the Move
As you can imagine, the change in environment, smells, sounds, pasture boundaries, routine, activity level and horses were all very stressful for Ferris. He did show his stress for the first few days, but by day 4 had settled into the new routine and environment well. With the stress of all the changes and an increase in work load, he did lose some body condition in the first month, which was addressed with adjustments to his feed and hay.

All Settled In
Today, Ferris is really loving his new job and lifestyle! He is being ridden 5 days a week, of which one day is over jumps. His weight is back to a healthy BCS of 6 and he is adding endurance and muscle each week. We did adjust his feed routine a bit by adding a ration balancer to help with amino acids needed to build his muscles while balancing the energy from grass turnout. He is becoming more consistent and happy in his work and I am able to rest easy knowing he is comfortable and well looked after. Very soon, I will put him up for sale so he can find success in a second career as a Hunter.

I can’t stress enough the importance of good communication between you and the barn owner/manager. If you are used to daily feeding and caring for your horses, letting go and allowing someone else to do that may be a challenge. For me, it was important to discuss my horse’s behavior, routine and regular handling up front so that Mandy and her team were able to give him an easy transition and provide a positive experience. She has also been very good about telling me what’s happening, and I work to keep her informed of what I’m observing with him so together we formulate a plan. I consider her a partner in his care, and one that I’ve come to deeply trust.

Article Attributed to Megan C. and Nutrena.