at first I was not going to leave a review, hoping a new barn will get up and running. however, I think my experience counts.
I moved my horse from Sunland to Bonner Ranch, don't get me wrong the facilities are wonderful, stalls are HUGE! the trails are awesome. But what leaves for the negative review is the constant change that occurred.
when we arrived meet the barn manager, there were a few red flags during out initial walk through, with statements like, "Yeah, we just had seven horses leave last week, basically due to the boarding increases,' she talked negative about the folks who left, but that is all water under the bridge and I avoid drama.
It took a while to get across my little 850 lbs Arabian did not need four flakes a day, and ended up passing some over to the other horses or throwing it out, what a waste. He was showing signs of minor colic from too much food, which the barn manager poo-poo'd away.
BUT what really caused concern was the barn manager's dog has no training and ran my little multipoo to the ground, poor things was scared and could not get away. If she cannot control her dog, the dog should not be allowed to run around. And the barn manager considers herself an animal trainer.
Then the heat wave really hit. Arriving one night several of the horses had no water in their bins, mine was about 1/4 full, yearling next to him she had about an inch left in her water bucket. along with a few others. Some of the horses in the Mare barn were just as low. Texting the barn manager out of concern, at 7:20, she said she had a dinner date and will water when she returned. she stated she left at 6:15 and everything was fine, and they must have drank all the water. My next questions was, how much was in the bucket that indicates 'it was fine?" and for stalled horses standing in the sun, eating their dinner, could they have drank that much in less than an hour to empty the buckets. added bonus to her statement, they are going 'to install automatic waters as soon as the stalls are all rearranged'. Well me and another gal filled the buckets with the horses by our stalls and left the show horses for her. Several days later a few more horses left, and then three more by the end of the month.
there is more going on then just being a new start up barn. Couple nights later, it was a repeat experience.
I was at Bonner ranch for about two weeks, and left shortly after. The boarding contract was never completed, it had too many contradicting statements, and the final one had me laugh, this is not verbatim but it read something to the effect of 'we can enforce what is enforceable but the not unenforceable" so what in a contract can you enforce and how is that determined to what can't be enforced. I asked if an equine attorney wrote this, the barn manager stated she wrote it, and just as my grammar skills are out the window in this review, so was the grammar on the contract. I did not even know where to leave the contract, so it sat in my car, until requested. and since it was never requested and not knowing where to put it, guess it was not enforceable. Then one evening she requested if I knew an equine attorney, she had some questions. I had red lights and that was the end of this relationship.
Future boarders beware. Until there is new barn manager, who has real equine experience in managing a barn, understanding that over feeding is just as bad as underfeeding
Maybe my review is petty, but my horse is not, I really like this place physical amenities, just not sure what I was going to see when I arrived each night. I am now in a smaller family style boarding, with just as much access to amazing trails and half the board, upon which feed is included, and the stall is just as large. No issues with horses ever running out of water, there is a barn manager, morning help and afternoon.
I genuinely do wish Bonner Ranch the best of luck, it is hard to find good help, and it is just as hard to get a new venture off the ground to if you don't know much about the industry. In business a widget is just a widget, however the equine world is not your everyday widget. read more
