I've always primarily had my horses at home. I like it that way but it's definitely hard work. Ours are pretty easy to take care of, especially in the summer. They don't require any extra maintenance most of the time (except for one I'm treating for white line right now) so it's usually less than a half hour's worth of work to go out feed/water the trough if necessary/check them over.

My biggest issue with having them at home is that, yes, it's harder to get away for vacations and things because it's sometimes hard finding someone who is trustworthy to take care of them while we're all gone. Where we used to live it wasn't an issue because our neighbors were good friends and horse owners also, so if we left it was no problem for them to walk next door and take care of our critters....because not only do we have horses to worry about, we've also got dogs and birds who need care too. I honestly worry more about the birds than the horses when we leave because they (one of them moreso than the other) are attached to me and wary of strangers, so while we're gone they are basically confined to their cages with just a few minutes of interaction each day from whoever comes to feed them. They are much more needy than the horses are, that's for sure.

Also, I have no arena where they are now (right down the road so not even technically "backyard" anymore) so I really have nowhere to ride. Therefore, the ones who "need" ridden the most are kept where I work. One is in training and one is just being boarded so that my mom has somewhere to ride her.

In this situation, the only reason I'm comfortable having my horses there is because I'm there so much that I can keep an eye on them myself, and I'm taking care of them a majority of the time anyway so they're getting the same type of care (basically) that they would get if they were at home. If I were not working there I probably would be a little more uncomfortable because, and this brings me to my next "boarding issue"...

consistency, or lack of it. At least for this particular barn. There is the BO/trainer who spends most of his time riding and not so much doing things around the barn. That is up to me and 3 other girls who work there on different days throughout the week. That is the part I hate because everyone does things differently, from stall cleaning to handling the horses. That is probably my *biggest* issue...I feel that my horses begin to get worse-behaved (still not horrible but they pick up habits I don't like and whatnot) the longer they're there. Because other people are handling my horses a few days a week when I'm not there, they let them get by with things that I wouldn't. The other horses at the barn are the same way, and I've noticed that in general they seem to be more flighty and have more of a "troublemaker" attitude, probably because they are only able to be outside a few hours a day and have a lot of pent up energy.

BUT it is nice at least knowing that when we're gone on vacation or something, life goes on for those horses just like any other time. They don't even know we're gone because they are still on the same routine as any other day. And it's nice having an arena to ride in during the winter (or when the weather's yucky in general) and having access to a trainer who can help me out when working with my own horses.

Eventually I plan to get a high-calibre show horse (whenever I can afford it) and probably selling a few of the ones I have now. If I do that, I would still like to keep my horse at home most of the time so long as I have the appropriate facilities, but I will most likely have somewhere lined up where I can go for a few months out of the year (probably during show season or something) so that I can have access to a trainer. If I go on vacation then I think it would also be cool to have somewhere I can board my horse just while I'm gone for a daily fee or something, but it would have to be a trusted place (probably the same place I would bring my horse for tune-ups if at all possible).

whew! Sorry for the book. Been a while since I wrote that much!