I spent most of this week either doing e-mail, or on the phone talking to different boarding barns. That's when I wasn't at work.
You know Denali....and I know you'll find this shocking, but she's not the most desired horse at the barn. I didn't want to lie to them, and maybe I made her sound worse than she is....but I don't want to get a phone call in a few weeks to "come pick her up."
One barn sounded so awesome. The woman SOUNDS amazing. Board is $300, but she has never done retirement board (meaning I live 90 minutes away without traffic.) She has a stallion, and a 10 year old. I'm worried Denali would break down the fence to get to the stallion. She's a hussy. Plus, Denali + Small Children = Bad news. Better Safe than Sorry. She was so nice I almost wanted to make the trip "just in case."
It's narrowed down to Barn C (on the map) 4 hours from Seattle. We are leaving tomorrow to get "almost" there and staying in a hotel. We have an appointment there at 10am on Friday. She has been doing retirement and rehab board for a long time. Cathy, (who wrote the Fugly Blog) told me she boarded some of her horses there and she was happy with the care. The weather pattern there is much drier and sunnier than where Denali currently lives. Supposedly 300 days of sunshine a year. It's in the Yakima Valley.
Cost: $200 a month, (Plus $1.00 a day to feed mash, $2.00 per blanket change, plus feed.) I figured around $250 a month. Denali has already been blanketed, so she'll need to keep it on (plus she'd drop weight like crazy.)
The other barn is a private facility Barn B. It is 65 miles from Seattle. I really like the lady that I talked to, and she has experience with Thoroughbreds. She sent me some photos and the set up looks great. The price is $225 a month. She mentioned that they get mud in the winter (which I'd guess since they are in the shadow of Mt. Rainer.)
I am skipping over the initial barn (Barn D on Map) I don't need crazy right now. I really hope that one of these barns work out. I know that I will have a hard time moving her that far. At least now I can go see her whenever I want to visit. I will need to plan the trip to either of these barns.
The trip is close to 500 miles and 9 hours of drive time. JOY!
4 comments:
I hope one of these barns work out for you.
I admire you for the decsion your making. It's definitely the right one.
Wow..at least you have a couple of VERY good options and it's not going to break the bank! Good for you!!!
I'll be wishing good thoughts for you guys as you check the places out. Listen to you gut, it hasn't steered you wrong yet. xoxo
I really hope you find the perfect barn for Denali. When I was looking for retirement board for AJ, I didn't notice much difference between regular board and retirement board. Have you found that to be the case also? Good luck and enjoy the trip!
I hope one of these barns works out. I understand how you feel about once you make a decision you have to act on it before you change your mind. I'm the exact same way. Good luck!!
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