STEP 3:

CONSIDER TRAVEL TIME

When considering a boarding facility’s location, pay attention to the roads you’ll need to take to get there. A trip that requires 20 minutes at off-peak times may take twice as long at rush hour if you’re traveling over major traffic arteries. When will you most likely be driving to the barn? Will you go straight from the office or head home first? Research the traffic you’ll most likely encounter in those locations and at those times. Also consider how far the boarding barn is from your riding buddies, the places where you regularly ride and your preferred show or event venues. You don’t want to feel isolated from the rest of your riding community.

With this in mind, you can likely rule out some options. Then, once you’ve zeroed in on a particular facility, do a few trial runs---driving from your usual starting points (home or office) to the barn during different times of day--to see firsthand how that location

will work for you.