# Non-Profit Horse Boarding



## hoboellis (Nov 9, 2014)

Hi! I have a few questions regarding non-profits and boarding at these facilities. I've been leasing a horse at a non-profit for about 7 months and love everything about the facility. Recently I have decided to take the step into horse ownership and asked the owner if I could board there. She said yes, but in order to comply with their non-profit regulations all horses on property had to be available for the kids horse program. I am worried about this for several reasons: first, what if someone gets hurt on my horse? Wouldn't I now be taking on the liability since I could be sued for an injury caused by my horse? Next, what if my horse is injured during their program? Would they be responsible for the cost or is that something that I would have to cover even though it was directly caused by them? Also, I'm worried that any training I do with this horse could be undone by a child who doesn't know what they are doing. I was thinking that maybe I could suggest that my horse only be available for the lesson-program there and then he would only be used under the supervision of the trainer which I trust entirely. Does anyone know enough about non-profits to know if this would satisfy the requirement that he be available for the horse program? I find it strange that they would need my horse for their after-school kid program anyway; they have 10 horses on property and they hardly use half of them anyway. There would never be a situation when they would need all ten plus mine! Thanks for your help! I want to know if being in the lesson-program would satisfy the non-profit requirements so I could go to the owner with a plan and request.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

I have never heard of this , non profit horse boarding. I would not want the liability of letting kids ride my horse without me there and signed releases . 
I would not board a horse with that 'rule'. What happens if you go out and your horse is being ridden by someone , and and they are yanking on its head, etc etc. 
I think it is a bad ideal


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## Regula (Jan 23, 2012)

hoboellis said:


> I was thinking that maybe I could suggest that my horse only be available for the lesson-program there and then he would only be used under the supervision of the trainer


The way you put it, it sounds like normally the kids deal with the horses without direct supervision?? How old are these kids? That doesn't sound like a very good idea.

I would assume that what she means is that in order to preserve her non-profit status, she can't run a boarding facility with a stream of income from boarding. That sounds fair enough, but whether you do want your horse involved with the kids program is up to you, I probably wouldn't, especially if you cn't control who rides him.
As far as liability goes, I would hope that she carries insurance for her facility and program. On top of that, you could look into liability insurance on your horse for damages he causes (I have mine through my membership with Equine Canada).
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

This doesn't sound right to me. I board my mare at a barn that is a non-profit therapeutic riding program. But there is nothing about our 501(c)(3) status, mission, etc. that would REQUIRE any horse there to be used as the program. The Executive Director of the program has decided that she is not going to take in any more outside boarders to ensure enough room for program horses as the program expands, but that's a management decision, not a direct result of the program's non-profit status.

When I signed my boarding contract, I did chose to allow the program to use my mare in lessons (therapeutic and able-bodied) if they wanted, but the contract is very specific in that they would give me advance warning about when she'd be used, the type of riding she'd do, etc. They almost never use her except for one summer week when she's part of an advanced beginners camp, where she has the same rider working with her all week. I am fine with that and she enjoys being around kids and getting attention.

I would sit down with the Barn Manager and ask her to be more specific about this policy. Maybe she's confused, maybe she was trying to save you a long backstory about the program's policies, who knows. But I would not agree to any use of your horse you don't like- and unfortunately that may mean that as much as you like the barn, you may need to go elsewhere that is a better fit for you and your new horse.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Regula said:


> I would assume that what she means is that in order to preserve her non-profit status, she can't run a boarding facility with a stream of income from boarding. _Posted via Mobile Device_


Being a non-profit does not mean that you can't have income or can't make a "profit." Generally money made above and beyond operating expenses is invested back into the work of the organization.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

I'm with egrogan. Something doesn't sound right with this. I also used to board at a place with a therapeutic riding non-profit. The boarding business and the therapeutic non-profit were separate legal/financial entities, even though they were run by the same people. 

Furthermore, it's pretty negligent to accept any random horse for boarding that is then required to be used for therapeutic purposes. It takes a certain kind of horse to be suitable for therapeutic riding, and beginner lessons in general, so if they're requiring all horses boarded there to be part of their program (which is only because they write in into their contract- it has nothing to do with having non-profit status) they need to 'interview' or trial all horses coming in to guarantee that they're suitable.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

I've never heard of anything like this... It's definitely not something I'd sign up with.

To answer your questions, those would pretty much all depend on what's in the contract you'd inevitably sign.

Why not purchase your horse and move to a different boarding facility?


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