I do not recommend doing business with this barn owner. On the surface the facility may appear…read moreacceptable and Louise may have been an accomplished English style equestrian, but my experience over several months showed significant concerns that prospective boarders should be aware of.
I boarded my horse here from September 2025 until March 8, 2026. I paid the $600 monthly full board on time each month and also paid the full month of March even though I removed my horse early.
Before describing my experience, it is important to note that horses have been a part of my life since childhood. My family owns an 11,000-acre ranch in the western United States and my former in-laws own a 7,000-acre ranch. I have spent years working around horses and livestock, breaking, riding, and training horses and working in ranch environments. Because of that background, I came to this barn with a well-established understanding of horse care, forage-based feeding, and livestock facility management.
Full board at this barn included services such as stall cleaning, unlimited hay, water, feed, grooming, exercise, and turnout/bring-in. Although these services were offered, I chose to handle most of my horse's daily care myself because I prefer to personally manage my horse. I made that clear from the beginning. I paid the full board rate primarily to have access to a stall and turnout rather than pasture board.
My biggest concern during my stay was forage. Horses rely primarily on hay for their diet, so it was very important to me that my horse always have consistent access to good quality hay.
I found communication with the owner disrespectful, dismissive, and often confrontational. My attempts to discuss my horse's care were repeatedly met with condescension and pressure to surrender control over my horse's feeding and management. I came in with an established, comprehensive and successful feeding and handling program for my horse and made clear that, although I was paying full board, I would continue to manage her grain, supplements, and much of her daily care myself. That boundary was repeatedly challenged. I was frequently told I did not know what I was talking about, pressured to let the owner take over my horse's feeding, and corrected or criticized while working with my own horse.
Per the owner's request, I also briefly helped the barn when they were short staffed and ended up doing substantial work including stripping stalls and scrubbing water buckets. Although I had been offered $15 per hour or board credit, I was later told the barn could not afford to pay those wages and I ultimately accepted only a partial board credit.
I observed periods where hay quality was poor and sometimes inconsistent in availability. At one point the owner herself commented that several horses in the barn were looking "ribby." After that point, my horse was repeatedly singled out regarding her body condition because I would not allow the owner to take over her feeding program. Other horses were subsequently given significantly increased grain mixed with corn oil to increase their weight, while I chose to address my horse's condition through forage and my own feeding program. This difference in approach became a continuing point of conflict.
During the same period that I was raising concerns about hay quality and dust, my horse developed a minor respiratory symptom. At the owner's insistence, I had a veterinarian come out to evaluate it, which resulted in a $575 bill. Out of caution and to maintain a cooperative relationship at the barn, my veterinarian and I proceeded with antibiotics even though I did not believe they were necessary. The lab results that arrived afterward showed bacterial counts too low to necessitate antibiotic treatment, confirming that the situation was not serious. The timing of the issue was one of the reasons I had been concerned about the hay and barn dust in the first place.
Finally, in my experience, management by Louise at this barn often reflected older horse care practices that did not align with current evidence-based guidance, including a more traditional deworming mindset rather than the surveillance based approach now recommended by organizations such as the AAEP.
I want to be fair and note that David, the barn's fulltime staff, was extremely hardworking, kind, friendly, and knowledgeable and was the bright spot in my experience, as were other boarders.
This review reflects my personal experience boarding here. I am leaving it because I would have wanted this information before boarding. I personally would not board here again.
