Moving On: Part 1

I live to the right of the "R" in GEORGIA. Nearly all horse farms have ceased to exist in the big yellow area, but some still remain on the edges of it. Otherwise, it's quite a long commute!

I got word this morning that the owners of the facility the BHB is currently at are closing the barn down and want everyone out ASAP. The property has been for sale for over 2 1/2 years, so I'm sure the owners are frustrated with the lack of sale and cost of maintaining the property. Amber is lucky to have a very nice barn in Aiken she's been working at recently, so she can move the Atlanta half of her business there easily. This leaves me in a tough spot since my job is in Atlanta and I'd like to keep the BHB where I can go ride several times a week. My apartment lease doesn't end until around Halloween either, which is essentially a show season away, so I'm not really looking to move at the moment.

Right now, Amber is trying to help me pick out somewhere to move to where we can continue to follow our dreams under another trainer's guidance. Unfortunately, the Atlanta area has turned a majority of the horse facilities into subdivisions, and those that are still horse properties tend to have limited or no turnout, but I want to go somewhere with turnout. Adding into that the fact that I can't afford to be at a high-end place and I'd really like to not drive more than an hour each way, and suddenly the list of eligible places is quite short. 

Picking out a place to board a horse in the Atlanta metro is chock-full of making trade-offs, so you really have to know what the most important things are to you--is it...?:

• Turnout (duration, size, individual or group)
• Quality of care (24/7 person onsite, reliability)
• Price per month (board and lessons/training)
• Riding arena (size, covered available, fields to hack in, trails)
• Instructors available
• Distance from where you live (or work)

Because unless you have a giant budget or are willing to live further out, you probably can only choose three of the above. I wish I could move to Aiken to stay with Amber, but I'm not sure I'd like a nearly 3 hour commute each time I needed to go into the office. I've definitely thought of moving out that area before so I could be closer to Belle Meade Hunt, but so far that remains a fleeting thought. The BHB really loves Amber though, so I would definitely move if it was even a possibility right now.

In order to save some money/ invest more in the BHB, I've thought about moving my retired horse up to my parent's farm now that my father is going to be retired and there constantly. I would need to invest in re-fencing a pasture to be safe for horses and providing some sort of shelter before he moved there, so it has some steep upfront costs. He would also need a companion, so I'd likely be taking in another older horse and adding vet/farrier bills. 

In the end, I feel that everything horse related always comes down to money... and I still sit waiting for that rich husband to come knocking at my door.