DH's Rosewood Farms Horse Boarding Facility Kalamazoo Michigan

Formerly Gaslight Farms, I thought DH's Rosewood Farms had promise. The facility looked nice, it was quiet, and, most importantly, I had an indoor arena for winter riding. 

Never before have I arrived at a barn and wanted to turn around again and leave. On the surface, everything looks nice and in working order, but the faults are glaring. 

The barn manager arrives at the barn at 8:30 or 9:00 every morning. The horses get their grain and are out by 10:00. They are given their first flake of hay maybe at 11:00. Horses are then brought in around 5:00 (although they are also brought in earlier), given their evening hay and grain, and then the manager leaves. No night check, nothing. The horses stand in their stalls 15+ hours with nothing in their stomachs until their morning grain at 9:00. 

The food situation, however, is the least of their problems. Many times, I have gone out their and found the water buckets in the stall and in the pastures BONE DRY. The manager has been told about this repeatedly, and still, the problem persists. She doesn't have another job. She's not a trainer, she doesn't give lessons, she's not holding down a 2nd job somewhere else. The boarding facility IS her business, so there is no excuse for those horses to get anything but the best of care. 

You can't talk to her about problems either, because the manager checks out and spends all her time on her phone instead of working. Stalls get done when she feels like doing them. If she wants to go off to a convention or festival, then she goes, leaving a notice that it's a feed only day, and the horses stay in, even if the day is beautiful. 

All the borders are well-aware of these problems. Many have already left. I, myself was only there for 5 months. Boarders who arrived after me left before I did, and others that had been on the property for years have gone as well. Other boarders are planning on leaving, and some have just given up on the manager and do the work themselves.

On more than one occasion, I have cleaned my own stall because the manager cleans stalls when she feels like it. 

When the current manager was in talks to take over the facility, the person she then worked with actually tried to warn people as to what she's like. 

This facility also does not ask for shot records or a coggins test, and, shortly after my arrival, the manager bought herself a horse at an auction, brought it straight to the facility, and the whole barn got sick. The manager takes no responsibility for her actions and is quick to blame everybody else. 

Avoid the mistake I made, and do not bring your horse here. The facility costs $350 a month, but, when you spend so much time taking care of your own horse, it's not worth it, and it's certainly not worth your horse's health and happiness.