Take Heart Counseling & Equine Assisted Therapy
By Natalee Fryer
Barn Manager at Take Heart; Berks Count, PA
I knew my old barn. I knew who ran it, I knew the people who handled her, and I trusted them with everything. Leaving was one of the hardest decisions I’ve made as a horse owner and one of the most stressful. I always want what’s best for my girl, and it is so hard to find that perfect fit.
I do this for a living, and it was still hard. So if you’re struggling with it, you’re not doing anything wrong. We all worry about our horses and want what is best for them. It’s a big decision and it should feel like one.
Over the years I’ve heard versions of the same thing from horse owners again and again. I got to the barn and my horse’s water was dirty, so I cleaned it myself. My horse missed a dose of medication and I only found out later. My horse didn’t eat for weeks and nobody told me.
That’s not how it should be. You should be able to trust the barn you’re at and the people working in it. You should be able to drive away and not think about it.
So I’ve put together a guide, as a horse owner and as a barn manager, for how to find the right barn and what to look for along the way.
When we tour facilities, most of us look at the things we can see. An indoor arena. A wash stall with hot water. Heated tack rooms. Perfect footing. Those are genuinely nice but they’re amenities for us. They’re not what makes a horse healthy.
Horses need four things, consistently:
Friends. Horses are herd animals. Being turned out with other horses isn’t enrichment, it’s how they’re built. They sleep in shifts and keep watch for each other. They groom each other. They play with each other. One of the most common things I hear is I moved barns and my horse’s personality changed — and more often than not, what changed was who he lives with and how much of the day he spends alone. A horse by himself in a stall is missing something fundamental, and it shows up in his behavior long before anyone calls it a problem.
Freedom. A horse at liberty in a field walks for miles a day without anyone asking him to. That movement is what keeps the gut moving, the circulation working, and the joints comfortable. Standing still in a twelve-by-twelve box for hours isn’t neutral for a horse’s body. It’s a cost, and you pay it eventually.
Shelter. Run-ins in the fields, so horses can get out of the weather on their own terms instead of waiting for someone to decide for them.
Forage, essentially all the time. This is the one people underestimate most. Horses are designed to eat 24/7 — their digestive system expects something moving through it nearly constantly. Two or three flakes at feeding and nothing in between leaves long empty stretches, and horses who go hours without forage can get very sick.
If a facility has a beautiful arena and horses with nothing to eat from 8pm to 7am, the arena isn’t the thing to weigh most heavily.
Amenities announce themselves. Care doesn’t. Here’s what I look at:
The water. Is it clean right now, on a day nobody was expecting you? What do they do during the winter? Water is the easiest thing to let slide and the fastest tell about daily standards.
The horses themselves. Body condition across the whole herd, not just the good-looking one by the gate. Are coats decent? Feet reasonably maintained? Is anyone noticeably thin?
Whether anyone is eating. Walk out to the field. Is there forage in front of horses, or an empty field and a feeding schedule?
Fencing and footing in the turnout. Not the ring. The places horses actually spend their time.
How the staff move around horses. Hard to fake. Watch whether people are calm, whether horses move toward them or away from them, whether anyone is rushing.
How well the staff actually know the horses. This is the one I’d weigh most heavily, and there’s an easy way to test it. Point at a horse and ask about him. Does the person walking you around know his name, who he’s turned out with, whether he’s an easy keeper, what he’s like to catch? Someone who knows the herd as individuals will light up and tell you more than you asked for. Someone who doesn’t will answer you about the facility instead. Your horse is going to be one of those horses.
The horse world can be rough on people who don’t know something yet. You ask a question and you get an answer that makes you feel stupid for asking it. So people stop asking, and then they board somewhere for a year without ever finding out how their horse is actually fed and cared for.
That’s not fair, and it’s not on you. Everyone is always learning with horses. I’m still learning, and I’ve been at this my whole life. I also didn’t have a horse of my own until I was sixteen — for six years before that I showed up at the barn for horses that belonged to other people, mucking and feeding and learning and loving them anyway. Nobody starts out knowing this. Every horse is its own individual, and no two are the same.
So ask. And pay attention to how the answer feels:
A good barn answers directly, without getting defensive, and without making you feel like you shouldn’t have asked. If the answer is vague, or if asking made you uncomfortable, that’s information too. You’ll be asking questions for as long as your horse lives there. Find people you’re not afraid to ask.
The horses live outside, in a herd, with run-in shelter and forage around the clock. That’s the default, and it’s most of what I love about working here. Horses should get to live like horses.
Every horse comes into its own stall once a day to eat (twice if needed), then goes right back out. That’s not a break from turnout — it’s how we make sure every horse on this property can eat all their food in peace and is seen up close, by hand, every single day.
It’s also how we catch things. We learn each horse’s personality, so what you’ll hear around here sounds like “Hey, she didn’t eat her medication.” “He always drinks his water and he didn’t today.” “She looks a little off behind, let’s figure out why.” That’s the whole game. The small thing noticed on a Tuesday is the thing that doesn’t become a vet emergency on Friday.
Forage stays available around the clock, including for our metabolic horses. For them we restrict the type and the amount — hay rather than grass — but not the access. Long stretches with an empty stomach aren’t good for any horse, including the ones who need less.
Care is individualized. If a horse needs stall rest or a lay-up, we have that. Living out is the default because it’s what’s best for most horses, not because it’s the only thing we offer.
You’ll hear from me. If something looks off, you get a text, often with a photo. If your horse needs the vet or the farrier, I coordinate it and follow up. The goal is that you never have to wonder how your horse is doing when you’re not here.
I’m also a certified equine massage therapist, which has changed how I look at a horse every day — how he’s moving, where he’s holding tension, when a change in behavior is really a change in comfort. And between our staff there’s a lot of hands-on years here. We’ve dealt with the small stuff and the frightening stuff, and we know the difference between something that can wait until morning and something that needs a vet tonight. The more you’re around horses, the more they find ways to keep you on your toes.
And you don’t have to know everything. Want to sit in the field with your horse and not ride at all? Enjoy! New to this? We will guide you through whatever you want to know- we got you. Want a hand setting up for groundwork? Ask. Nobody here is going to make you feel small for not knowing something yet.
Read all the descriptions you want, including this one. Then go walk a property on a normal day and look at the water.
If you’d like to see how your horse would live here, reach out and we’ll set up a time to show you around. Come with the hard version of your questions. Ask to talk to our boarders. Most of our staff have been here for years, which isn’t common in this industry, and I think that tells you something on its own.
I said at the start that I moved my mare this year. This is where she lives now. She’s out with her friends, constant forage, and I get to put my hands on her every single day.
That’s the standard I want for every horse here. Yours included.
One note: we ask that visits be scheduled rather than dropped in on. Take Heart is a working barn and also a counseling practice, so scheduling lets us protect our clients’ privacy and give you our full attention instead of catching us mid-turnout. To learn more about our boarding program- click the button below.
