Looking for private horse boarding in Boulder (Denver, Arvada: buying, school)

[Zabrina]

There are not any formal equestrian communities in Boulder, but there are plenty of smaller acreage properties with access to the wonderful open space network of trails. You don't say where your moving from, but expect horse property within Boulder County to be quite pricey. There are several strong horse-oriented associations in the area; the Boulder County Horseman's Association is multi-disciplinary, while the various disciplines all have their organizations too. Searching out their websites would be a good place to get a feel for the community.

Public Schools in area vary from average to quite good. If you're looking for small acreage you will probably end up to the north-east of the city proper, and a convenient choice for private education is the Alexander Dawson School.

[WealthWizard]

Shining Mountain Waldorf School is a good private school in North Boulder and there are many rural properties North of there that would suit your needs. We live about 15 minutes from Boulder on 4 acres and we love it. I know the area if you need any help finding something, I have lived here 36 years.

[beetpapp]

I know quite a few people who own or board horses just on the outskirts of the city of Boulder. I live on 9 acres just 6 miles east of the CU campus. Just north, south, and east of the city is mostly rural (until you reach the smaller towns) although like a previous poster said, some of the land is very expensive. But if you go just 1/2 hour or so outside the city, you may find more affordable property. This is a great part of the country for horses, as you can ride pretty much year round.

Though a caveat would be the encroachment of subdivision housing and Mcmansions into the rural parts. I keep seeing more and more beautiful pieces of untouched land in Boulder County get lost to the hand of developers. It's one of the saddest parts about living here. Sigh.

[cecil decil]

What about Wildflower Ranch off of Cherryvale. Is that a boarding facility or ? It looks lovely from the road, but I cannot find out if it is a private facility or open to the public.

[chilaili]

On a personal note, I wish I could find an equestrian centre that doesn't require you to have your own horse or lease one or be interested in competing. It seems that if you don't fill any of the above criteria they're not interested in taking you on as a pupil or someone who just wants to ride/exercise a horse once a week. I've ridden English since I was 6 years old and I can do Western too if required.

[DressageRider]

Originally Posted by chilaili

On a personal note, I wish I could find an equestrian centre that doesn't require you to have your own horse or lease one or be interested in competing. It seems that if you don't fill any of the above criteria they're not interested in taking you on as a pupil or someone who just wants to ride/exercise a horse once a week. I've ridden English since I was 6 years old and I can do Western too if required.

Chilaili -- I haven't had those problems at all! I've owned horses before but it is not in my budget now. I've ridden and taken lessons at Joder Ranch, Triple Creek, and Plane View Farm. At Joder and Triple Creek I was a once-a-week lesson rider. Have you tried any of these places?

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by DressageRider

Chilaili -- I haven't had those problems at all! I've owned horses before but it is not in my budget now. I've ridden and taken lessons at Joder Ranch, Triple Creek, and Plane View Farm. At Joder and Triple Creek I was a once-a-week lesson rider. Have you tried any of these places?

Yes I did try them and they wouldn't give me the time of day! Do you have a contact there I could call? PM me if you have any details that might be of some help. Thanks!

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by chilaili

Yes I did try them and they wouldn't give me the time of day! Do you have a contact there I could call? PM me if you have any details that might be of some help. Thanks!

I lived across the street from Plane View Farm for awhile 10 years ago, and it was an excellent place to board my horses when we needed to be away for a time. In fact, we kept our horses there even when we came back home because they were so well treated there. Unfortunately, Perry left and his GF has since passed away ... so I don't know if they're currently in operation, but the stable should still be there ... It overlooks a residential airstrip subdivision. But if they are, there were miles of open spaces around the area and low traffic density rural roads in the area, plus the old railroad track bed to ride on for many pleasant hours. Marty Marten's training facility wasn't too far away ... I even rode over for lessons there from Plane View Farm.

Boulder has an extensive network of "greenbelt" open spaces paid for by local taxes and open to your equestrian riding at no charge. Some of them are shared use with bicycle riders and hikers, and some of them are exclusively for equestrian and hiker use ... no bicycles, which I found preferable with the aggressive bicyclists in the area. For the most part, the hikers were always "horse" friendly and respected our space ... as we did theirs. In addition, there's places close by such as the White Mountain Ranch (South by Rocky Flats) or the Rabbit Mountain Open Space which are very extensive areas ... you'll not be able to ride all the trails in a year or two of riding them, and you'll have as varied a terrain as you could possibly want ... rocky trails, open meadows, streams, soft dirt trails through the trees, level areas, steep climbs ... anything you could possibly want for miles and miles. I've ridden the White Mountain Ranch area many times when I was completely alone ... the only other riders I saw were the people in my group, if any. It's surprising because it's so close to major population center areas.

Boulder used to have a lot of boarding stables and training facilities; however, due to population pressure on issues such as "noise" and "smell" and "insects", a lot of the operations have been closed down or severely restricted. Boulder started enforcing strict limits on the number of horses at various facilities, and some of them shut down because Boulder's limits were below the sales volume needed to pay overhead and mortgage costs for the owners.

There remain, however, a fair number of equine properties all around the perimeter of Boulder, and many of those property owners are happy to board a few outside horses. You'll be able to find them by driving through the neighborhoods and seeing the barns ... stop in and ask, or get a referral from one of the Boulder feed stores or tack shops.

As you get just outside Boulder, heading either to Longmont or Hygiene or Erie, you'll find a large number of boarding facilites. Some have indoor arenas ... I know that there's a newer huge facility just a little south of Plane View Farms (just a little south of Hwy 52 and Weld Cty Road 5) which was a morgan operation ... and had an indoor arena big enough for the driving classes as well as a full size dressage arena.

Boulder equine properties are at a premium price, but if you can afford it there, there's some really great properties. On the SouthEast end of Boulder (heading to Rocky Flats and just a little East), there's a lot of smaller, older, equine properties. Again, they will be pricey, but not as high as the properties closer into town ... 10 minutes away ... and, if anything, they're closer to major open space trail riding.

For my trail riding habit, however, Boulder is the center of some of the finest riding to be had on the Front Range of Colorado. There's lots of commercial facilities for all kinds of disciplines, too ... so you shouldn't be lacking for a trainer or group activity, if that's what you want. Many are listed in the phone book, so you can shop around and visit with the various trainers and barn operators to make your selection.

[FaithW]

I live in west longmont which is pretty horsey! There are few kind of horsey housing estates around the area, we looked at some when we were buying a house which seemed nice, you could keep your horse there and everyone on the estate seemed to have one too but property's were a bit on the smallish side for us.... Boulder Fairgrounds has things like 4h going on

[itwillhappen]

I am desperate to move my horse. I live in Denver so anything 30 minutes from downtown is acceptable. I ride dressage, so need an arena with good footing, would love in indoor if it's affordable. Would even consider a private residence and also willing to trade barn chores for partial board. Help!