He's moving again (but kind of not really)

Dickie has been doing great at the new stable. The barn manager is fantastic. While they don't need to handle the horses much she does a great job with him. She has been great about getting him out of her space when cleaning stall or feeding without going overboard. He loves her and the other person who cleans stalls. I love the facilities. Having a round pen and big arena has made a huge difference. I have seen a big difference in his coordination and stamina. I love having a huge arena that lets us lunge straight lines. There are always poles and jumps out so we can walk over them. There is just enough chaos that he gets used to activity without overloading his brain.

My ONLY problem with the situation is that he isn't out with other horses and there isn't much grass in his paddock. When it comes to boarding with a nice big area it is next to impossible to get a big pasture too. If you do run into a place like that your horse often doesn't get turned out for the whole day. Well....... I was doing my usual random craigslist searching and lo and behold I see the barn manager is leasing out the pasture directly behind Dickie's pen. I can't believe I just ran into the ad searching for saddles. It is a few acres and there will be at most four horses. It's still full care!! I hand graze him in the pasture often. She would lead them in at night to a cute little barn. It isn't as fancy but there isn't a lot of places as fancy as his current digs. He doesn't need fancy, he needs pasture and other horses to play with. I know we wouldn't run into the problem of her turning them in late and bringing them in early. We have a few stalls at the main barn that require hand turnout. Those horses are always out early and in late. She really gets how important turnout is. Coming in at night won't kill him.

Even more awesome is the fact that I still get to use all the fancy parts of the main barn. It is even $100 cheaper a month. Doesn't sound like a ton but that adds up to $1,200 a year. That is half a vacation for my partner and I. Or it would cover show season next year. He gets to have an amazing turnout with other horses, I get to keep my dream arena/roundpen, I get to pay less money, and I won't have to feel guilty that he wasn't out playing with horses all day.

There are a few cons.

1) The fences need a little work. I would need to spend a day stringing hot wire. It has been started and she has everything she needs so we can work on it anytime. I am ok with that. If it helps my horse then I am not above a little work. I have also worked out a trade for lessons with my student so I plan on seeing if I can steal her for a day.

2) There are a few rocks in the pasture that I need to pick up. There's also a burn pile that the manager planned on getting rid of a long time ago but we have had a uncharacteristically dry summer. It hasn't had horse on it in while so it is just the usual pasture clean up you go through when getting set up for livestock again. The great thing is that I am not having to give 30 days notice because it's not a real move. I can just plan on going once we get done.

3) Another trick is that I will be trudging over to the arena in the dark and rain. I should be fine though. I lived in Alaska and anywhere you went was in the dark. I'll just get another headlamp. Bre and I rode all the time in the dark. I know it might be hard to motivate myself but he is a great motivator. I know he NEEDS me to get myself in gear so I will do it. I walked a similar distance when Bre was out on pasture. Plus looking at show clothes has motivated me to lose weight. Maybe this will help me fit into a smaller size.

4) The last issue is getting more horses over there. I am not going to move him over by himself. I think my friend will go with me but she has a few people leasing her horse so it depends on if they mind the walk. If my friend isn't up for the move the BM said she would move a lesson horse over there.

I think I have made up my mind. I am going to let her know what my schedule is so we can plan a pasture repair day. Below are pasture pictures:

This was taken from the end of the pasture closest to Dickie's current pen. If you go to the end of his current paddock, take a left, and walk 30 feet BAM here you are.

There are pretty oak trees to get out of the rain under. 

Isn't the barn cute? 

This is a shop that has a run in shed. I think the shed might be too small for multiple horses so I might as that we block it off. A little rain during the day doesn't hurt. There are trees.