Moving

Lately I've been considering moving Cherry to a new boarding facility. Board went up (again) at our current place, and it's hitting me harder than I thought it would. $15 a month doesn't sound like much, until you realize that you used that money to buy things like cat food and vitamins.

There's a few other things influencing me, too. The main one (besides the cost) is that aside from the field, there is nowhere to ride. The indoor is tiny, and quite frankly, the footing in it sucks. I don't use that or the outdoor arena much, so that leaves us with the field. It's a great place to ride, don't get me wrong, but it gets old real fast when it's the ONLY place to ride.

Another thing are the new fines for not cleaning your paddock. This really ticks me off, and I can't quite put my finger on why. Perhaps it's the idea that I'm being treated like a child. Yeah, I know paddocks need to be cleaned and all, but fining me for not having it done by X date? Um, that's not cool.

Which brings me to my next point, why the hell do I have to clean my own paddock anyway?! Board is on the high side here, and you really don't get too much for it. The hay is great, but that's about it. No trainer, no amazing facilities, no hot water, fences are so-so, etc. Other places have great hay too, I mean, the stuff is local so it's not exactly hard to come by. I don't mind cleaning my paddock, but I don't want to pay far out the ass to do so.

Basically, it comes down to the fact that I feel like I'm paying a lot of money for not much. Since I don't make a whole lot of money, what I do have is quite precious.

So why haven't I left already?!

Well, I do like the place, and I've been boarding there for a few years now. I've become friends with the family who owns it and I like them very much. I know my horse is looked after when I'm away, and know that I will be called immediately at any hour should something be wrong. The barn is relatively drama free, which is amazing for a boarding stable full of young women. I love that.

I'm also a bit of a weenie about moving. I hate doing it, no matter if it's myself or my animals. It just sucks and I try to avoid it. The hassle, the expense, the finding of a new routine and new places to put everything comes together to challenge my passive and root-growing nature.

I also hate moving boarding barns because of the Crazy. Sure, the new BO seems sane enough, but you really don't know until you've been there awhile. I've been lulled into a false sense of security before. Then, there's the almost worse scenario of the present (and soon to be previous) BO flipping the fuck out when you politely inform them of your decision to move. That too has also happened to me. And since I have a personal relationship with the BO, I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that our last few weeks at the barn will be peaceful and full of joy.

Tough choices sometimes, but in the end, what's best for Cherry always wins out over my desire to not provoke the Crazy or disrupt my routine. *sigh*