Every summer my whole family goes up to Maine for the 4th of July week. We are lucky to have a small summer cottage that my grandparents build, and we’ve been going up to the lake since before I was born. This year I decided to try something new – I made arrangements to bring my horse on vacation with me. I always bring my dog but decided to try bringing my horse up from where we live in Massachusetts, partly because it was a easier than finding someone to take care of him while I was away (I’m at a co-op and would need to have someone clean my stall and cover my barn chores) and partly as there was an opportunity to ride in a clinic with Karen O’Connor, who was going to be in Maine teaching not too far from our cottage. I’ve always wanted to ride with Karen, and this was a fantastic chance to enjoy some R&R with my horse nearby and ride with an Olympic medalist who has been my idol for years!
It’s always intimidating to think about moving your horse, even if it is just for a week. I needed to find a barn that allowed short-term boarding, had space available, and had the facilities to allow us to keep riding and training. Several months before my vacation, I started by posting in a Maine Facebook group to see if anyone could recommend a barn. I received tons of responses and followed up with several, all of which sounded fantastic. I’d gotten multiple recommendations for a small farm fairly close to the cottage that was low key and would provide personal care for my horse, who is young and can be a handful at times. That seems the best fit, so after several discussions about our needs and the facilities, I emailed my vaccination records and proof of negative Coggins and told her when I would arrive!
Despite an ominous thunderstorm to start us off, the drive up to Maine went smoothly. I left early in the morning to avoid vacation traffic and arrived in good time to settle my horse Trin into his new digs. He was a little concerned about his new neighbors – he had never seen chickens or a donkey before, but quickly settled in and enjoy the beautiful view from his turn out. I brought several bales of my own hay so he wouldn’t need to completely adjust to the barn’s hay, and luckily they fed the same brand grain that I feed so I just left them my supplements and feed instructions, gave Trin a quick lunge to settle him a bit further, and headed to the cottage to unpack and visit with my family. I worked out a great routine where I visited Trin and rode early in the morning before it got hot, and then spent the rest of the day enjoying the lake and quality family time. The barn owner did a fantastic job of taking care of Trin and texted me several times to let me know how he was doing. I enjoyed some lovely hacks on the roads and trails around the barn, with gorgeous views and dirt roads perfect for trot sets and dirt road dressage. Vacation went by way too fast and before I knew it, I was packing for the clinic.
The Karen O’Connor clinic was absolutely fantastic! We both learned so much and got great experience at an adorable farm with wonderful cross country and stadium jumps. Trin was a superstar, especially XC day where we tackled exercises much harder than we’ve tried before, but we handled them easily and now I have more confidence about moving up this fall.
The ride home was long due to holiday traffic and hot weather, but we survived and Trin seemed happy to see his barn mates and get back to his normal routine. I was less happy to get back to a pile of dirty laundry, but glad to get back to work after a very fun week off. I’m hoping to bring Trin on vacation with me again next year – it was a wonderful experience and kept me from worrying about him while I was away. If you’ve ever brought your horse on vacation, let us know about your experience in the comments!
This is the list of questions I asked the boarding facilities as I was researching a place to board for the week:
1. Do you take short-term boarders? What are you rates per day/week?
2. Do you provide hay/grain, and if so, what type? Will you feed supplements? Do they need to be in SmartPaks or baggies?
3. What kind of bedding do you use, and what size are the stalls?
4. What is the turnout like – fencing, terrain, size, individual or group, and how would my horse fit in?
5. How long do you turn out for and when do you turn horses out in the AM/bring them in PM?
6. What time do you feed AM and PM?
7. Do you have strict barn hours – when am I allowed at the barn?
8. What facilities to you have for riding – rings, footing type, trails, fields, etc? Are they all available to ride in or are they restricted?
9. What’s the weather generally like? How are the bugs? Do I need to bring anything special? (the mosquitoes and ticks were exceptionally bad this year in Maine, so I brought a fly sheet and extra fly spray!)
10. Do you put on/take off sheets/boots if needed for turnout or overnight?
11. Are there people around during the day? This could be important if you don’t want to ride by yourself, or if your horse needs supervision while being turned out.
12. How busy/quiet is the barn? Is it mostly kids/adults? Are there any events going on at the barn or in the area while I would be there?
13. Is there someplace for me to park my trailer at the farm? Is there an extra charge for that?
14. Is there a trainer available to take lessons from?
15. Do you have pictures or video of the farm that I could look at?
Jen as a rider: Apparently I've been obsessed with horses since I was born, and I used to beg for pony rides on a regular basis. I started showing in 4-H, progressed to equitation and jumpers in high school and rode on the IHSA team in college where I also discovered the joys of eventing! After graduating I learned how to sit while working for a dressage trainer and now am a committed low-level eventer in the ever-elusive quest to put together three solid phases. Jen as a SmartPaker: As the Director of Web Merchandising, I get to work with a super talented bunch of designers, developers, buyers, and marketers to help you find just what you need (and a few things you didn't know you needed!) on our website. All about Intrinsic: Intrinsic, or "Trin," is a very sweet and snuggly dark bay 16.2 hand TB gelding born in 2013 who race trained but never raced. He loves hacking out with friends and is learning about dressage and eventing. He loves carrots but has no interest in apples, and makes very funny faces when he eats anything peppermint flavored!
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