playing the field: equine service industry

As most of you know, Charlie is my first horse.

I've been obsessed with horses from a very young age, finally coerced my parents into letting me take lessons once I was around 10ish, began helping out at my lesson barn unofficially soon after that, then officially drew a paycheck the moment I was eligible for a workers permit under Maryland state law.

Since then, I've never looked back. I've been a paid employee at three farms, and have had trade agreements with another 2-3 over the years (generally: working shifts in exchange for free saddle time or lessons at an agreed upon rate).

pictures today of random buildings. this is one of the ruins at Fair Hill, recently fenced in presumably bc of deteriorating stability

This has granted me a LOT of varied experiences in the horse world when it comes to the care and management of horses. It helps that I generally tend to be curious and process-oriented, so I've always asked a lot of questions about the hows whats and whys of horse care.

Still tho, there are aspects of horse care and management that just aren't very visible to non-owners. Lots of things I never really had to think about, considering someone else always made the decisions while I carried out orders.

Leasing Isabel was my first chance to peer behind the curtain. With her, I learned more about managing a horse's changeable nutritional needs. Had to stay on top of her farrier schedule. Learned more about making decisions on small things like blanketing and body work.

meanwhile, here's maybe a more familiar backdrop: the ancient hay barn outside charlie's stable

Even so, there was still a whole 'nother world waiting for me to finally, as a fully fledged adult in my 30s, step into the role of OWNER.

Charlie, for his part, has been very thorough in his supervision of my education lol. He has made it his business to ensure I attain at least some small degree of hands-on experience with as many aspects of horse care as possible.

Little things like wraps and bandages. Wound care. Routine vaccinations. Lameness evals and nerve blocks. All things hoof management - routine or otherwise. Antibiotics. Colic treatment. Joint injections. Actual surgery. Ya know. The works haha.

My transition into DECISION MAKER was gentle enough, luckily, as Charlie's first boarding barn was very organized and hands-on when it came to routine care. For instance, they coordinated all the regular shots and vaccinations and maintained the farrier schedule. I could ask for changes as needed, or confirm preferences and what have you, but they kept records and ensured everything that needed to happen actually, ya know, happened.

oh snap, the barn is gone!! kinda bittersweet to see it go.... 

Charlie's barn now is ..... decidedly less centralized haha. There's nobody there keeping a record of when my horse's last fecal was done. Reminding me to put my horse on the list for the farrier. Or prodding me to schedule fall shots.

Which is fine, right? Like. At the end of the day, he's my horse and I accept full responsibility for the administration of his care. But ya know. I still feel kinda new to this and don't have a full grasp on everything yet. Which explains why Charlie was one of the last horses in the barn to get his fall shots this year haha (in my defense, there was one other straggler who got in on our appt too, so we weren't the actual last!).

In any case, last spring there was a list hanging on the board in the barn for horses to sign up for spring shots, so I just added Charlie. Never mind that it was with a vet we had never used before (this area is absolutely rich in high quality vets, throw a rock in any direction and you'll hit half a dozen reputable practices!). So for the fall shots, I scheduled the same practice. Easy peasy!

It got me thinking tho.

the amish did a super fast job of laying a new concrete pad and framing up the replacement barn

I did the math, and Charlie's seen vets from no fewer than four practices since he moved to this new barn (not counting the vets used by the last barn).

There's the vet who did his PPE, whom I've continued to use for joint injections.

Then another vet who is extremely popular at my barn and thus happens to be on the premises at least weekly, if not more often. That makes it super easy to hop on to someone's existing appt to split the farm call fee, for instance. So she's handled a lot of Charlie's little dents and dings, and has been my go-to for restocking medications.

Then another another vet who is also extremely popular at my barn haha, whom I called for Charlie's latest round of "What the ever loving fuck is wrong with his splint tho??"

And finally, this vet (also extremely popular at my barn lol, what can I say but that it's a big barn with a lot of opinions!), who has been handling Charlie's routine shots etc.

ain't it purdy?!? 

I can honestly say, after all the above, that if someone were to ask "Who is your vet?" I.... wouldn't really have an answer.

I'm not sure that's super normal in the horse world, or if it's more just kinda my own personal modus operandi.

For instance, I've had a similar approach with trainers. For most of my riding life through college, I rode in structured lesson programs. Trainers called the shots, that's just how it went. I loved my trainer in college and was 100% cool with my riding life following her direction.

Fast forward to the Isabel days tho, and things started shifting. There weren't any trainers at Isabel's barn, but I was still taking lessons at another h/j barn at the same time. When I decided to try pursuing lessons with Isabel, my first idea was to bring that h/j coach out to Isabel's farm. A couple barn mates were down too, but negotiations stalled and eventually fizzled.

Realistically, it made sense. That trainer had a bustling program at her own barn, and it wasn't super worth her while to take the time to travel. Esp not at the prices we were looking to pay.

ta da!! fresh new barn! really jazzes up the place, dontcha think?

From there tho, the gears in my head really started turning and (thanks in no small part to the inspiration derived from this blogging community, wherein riders like JenJ nonchalantly hauled out to weekly lessons like nbd) I ultimately decided to invest in my truck and trailer.

Thus began my fairly independent foray into fitting trainers into *my* riding program, vs the other way around. Over the years I've ridden with many different trainers, and eventually settled on a grouping that seems to work well for me.

Throughout this, tho, I never really felt like I was "cheating" on a trainer. Or like I was going behind anybody's back, or anything like that.

Rather, I've worked with the trainers who seem to mesh well with me and my horse. And aside from the standing weekly lesson with Trainer P, I generally just schedule each trainer when the circumstances are right.

it looks even better when it's full of hay haha

This arrangement isn't super unusual, I don't think. Tho it does mean that many decisions that might often go to a trainer for a final say (like which shows to attend, or when to move up) are instead made mostly at my own discretion.

If we're being honest, probably the only professionals in the equine services industry that I haven't jumped around with are farriers. Mostly bc I tend to see their relationship with the horses as a little bit unique: a good farrier theoretically has a longer term plan or direction for the horse's hooves. If the plan is working, I would rather not mess with it haha!

Plus maybe it's just me but some farriers seem to have.... a little more of an ego than the typical vet. So I feel like they're maybe less likely to come out for an unscheduled appt to reset a lost shoe if you're not already paying them on the regular.

Generally, tho, aside from farriers, I've kinda spread the love with the practitioners who care for Charlie. Like, I try to be friendly and organized, and I pay my bills in full on time. So... I can't really see any reason why any of these pros would be bothered by the knowledge that they're "not the only one" or whatever.

Still, tho, I'm curious about how common this actually is haha. Like maybe it's so easy to use so many different pros at my convenience bc Maryland has such a dense population of world class professionals? So maybe in a different area there would be less choice and therefore less likelihood to use so many different vets or trainers or saddle fitters or body workers, etc etc etc?

cha cha cha changes, yo!

Do you have a "One & Only" when it comes to your horse's vet work? Or do you play the field, using different vets for different purposes? Or maybe you were forced to have to look around a bit after needing to fire a vet? Or maybe you board at a farm that has a standard vet practice that everybody uses?

Do you feel like there are advantages / disadvantages to using always the same professionals for your horse's care, vs switching around a bit?

And same line of questioning for training too - do you ride primarily with one coach? Or with many? Has this depended on your boarding situation?

Do you see variety in instruction as being very different from variety in other aspects of care like vet work? As in, you'd ride with multiple trainers but only ever trust your vet work to the one practice? Or vice versa?

Would you consider yourself as being more "part of a program" vs more independent? Why? And what advantages / disadvantages do you see in your situation when it comes to optimizing the management and administration of your horse's care?

This relatively new horse owner is curious to hear your perspective!