Nobody should be able to have this much fun barn-shopping. Especially someone who's going to be racking up 200k in law school debt and literally picked a less-then-glamorous apartment complex to live in so her horse could have a flashier bachelor pad rather than the other way around, as my parents kindly pointed out yesterday...Whoops! Who said horse-girls made financially prudent decisions? I can't help it though, I want to share my current search with you guys, with all the glorious details and pros/cons enumerated. Actually, I'm just super excited because I think I may have picked a winner, but nothing is truly decided until I can check these barns out in person, in Virginia, of course. Until then, allow me to introduce a virtual tour of 4 contenders that I'm juggling, in no particular order! Cue drumroll.

(#1) $420 for field board with 2-3 horses.

Pros:
-super-premium grain included
-blanketing, flymasks, fly spraying, deworming, holding for vet, etc. included
-huuuuuuge covered indoor with rubber/sand footing
-full dressage court
-regular clinicians
-trails!

Cons:
-all grazing but free-choice hay in winter: okay so their grass looks really lush and I'm sure they maintain it wonderfully, and I hear horses in Virginia get obese off the stuff, but as a Californian hearing "no hay," ever, scares me.
-they have jumps in the indoor at some points, judging from pics: okay, this might sound completely lame as a con, but having jumps in an area you're trying o "dressage" in, that are constantly getting in the way of your circles and shit, is RIDICULOUSLY annoying. I like jumping and dressage areas separated
-the outdoor arena is huuuuge also and lovely grass, but I see no jumps in pictures. I fear this may be used mainly for driving, and having only 1 main arena, regardless of how huge, irks the princess in me
-the arenas are almost too big--a girl gets disoriented trying to "dressage" in there when all there is is empty space. Walls are your friend!
-Not suuuuper into their clinicians, expect the dressage trainer, but obviously I could bring out any trainer I want
-oh, and FULL. If I got on a waitinglist I could probably get in, but I don't know, this is probably my lowest choice, even though it beautiful and the BO sounded super sweet.

Glam indoor

Huge but confusing outdoor

Pretty barn!

Nice trails :)

(#2) $425 field board with 2-3 horses

Pros:

-super-premium grain included

-blanketing, flymasks, fly spraying, smartpaks, deworming, holding for vet, etc. included
-year-round hay!
-lots of room to shuffle my horse around as-needed to find him the perfect pasture buddy and set-up
-reasonably roomy yet functional indoor arena for dressage that is beautiful
-can work off portions of board if desired
-trails!
-super-good vibe!

Cons:
-Outdoor jumping arena is a bit smaller that I tend to prefer
-footing is just sand
-no dressage court
-no regularly scheduled clinicians but, of course, I can bring in any trainers/clinicians

Overall, this was my old #1 choice because, though it may not have everything I want, I think Spartan would be really happy here. There's nothing really "wrong" with it, aside from just not being perfect, which makes it appeals to the utilitarian and minimalist me. Yes, this is the same place pictured in my last post :)

Swoon-worthy stalls

Really like this indoor, about that perfect size for dressage

Ahhh, babies looking so cute and happy

Looks big here but is a bit of a smaller outdoor

(#3) Stall for $600, or limited field spot for $ ??

This one is literally my dream barn to board at while I'm at UVA--it's literally perfect and has all the things I covet, drrooooolll. Except, it's almost exclusively stall-board with all-day turn-out. There are only 2 field board spots that are full--the entire facility is full, actually, and you have to pay to be on the waitlist. Sigh. I'm entertaining the possibility of boarding her during 2L and 3L, but it would be financially imprudent, really. So to dream on about snagging one of those 2 field board spots if they ever open up!

Pros:

-glorious indoor with rubber footing and sprinkler system

-glorious outdoor

-glorious cross-country course from BN to P with room to GALLOP and water complex <swoon>

-full dressage court

-baller clinicians, like everyone I ever wanted to ride with in Charlottesville

-trails!

-everythingisapro. I'm obsessed.

Cons:

-FULL

-2 MEASLY field board spots? Seriously??

-reminds me that I'm not rich. And a poor law student. And in debt.

Such rubber radiance.

Does this need words? Or an explanation?

It continues to amaze.

It's a scenic xc course, so precious.

MUST SCHOOL all the water complexes.

This. Whatever this is. Prettyiizz.

Okay so on a more realistic vein....here is

 (#4) $400 field board with 2-3 horses

So far, this is my mental winner, unless something changes when I go to tour in person.

Pros:
-super-premium grain
-blanketing, flymasks, vet/farrier holding, glucosamine, probios included
-hay year-round
-huuuuge outdoor arena with rubber/bluestone footing
-full-sized dressage court
-permanent jump-chute in roundpen (they are such a PITA to put up otherwise!)
-less glorious but still--XC course! BN-P
-relationship with great clinicians
-showaaaa and super clean/awesome bathroom
-a $50 discount for UVA students, so all this for $350--um, yeah, sign me up?

Cons:

-the indoor with mirrors looks a bit on the smaller size, but I don't have dimensions yet so don't quote me. When it starts to rain and snow and 462040502 try to cram themselves into 1 indoor, this kind of thing will start to matter. Haha. Also, indoor is only sand.

-less overall glory than previous barn

-kind of sketchy history I'm trying to piece together in an effort to avoid another crappily-run barn like the plague, but I think it might just have been sold to new owners by the old resident trainer/owner and they're trying to advertise it. Tune in later regarding this.

Such a great outdoor! 

 Useful jumps for training eventing babies

 Great ditches!

Baller downbank thingy

Kindof super cool.

So all things considered, I think option 4 is a great compromise between option 2 and option 3. Just seeing all those green fields to gallop in are ridiculously tempting and would be SO.GOOD for Spartan. And to have all those clinicians on-hand, like, omg, Will Coleman. And Kim Severson. Mimi Combs. Emily Besheare, Laine Ashker, not to mention fantastic dressage people. I will update as I get more information on all this, but I feel so thankful for this opportunity to combine the two most important things in my life right now: nerdy law pursuits and the ponehs.