# Barn rules?



## Shosadlbrd (Nov 3, 2013)

Spiritandjuniper4711 said:


> Just wondering, what are some of the rules you have around your barn. Some examples are: the water bucket isn't clean enough if you wouldn't drink out of it. And, the stall should be clean enough that you would walk on it barefoot. I'm making a "barn rules" sighn. Any suggestions for rules would be greatly appreciated


One of my rules would be NO BARE FEET OR SANDALS IN BARN AREA. :wink:


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## bkylem (Sep 21, 2013)

Take pride in your stall as it reflects on us all.


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## littlebird (Jan 22, 2014)

At my old barn I believe we had a 'no throwing rocks' rule on the rules sheet tacked up in the tack shed.


The other rules were pretty run of the mill and forgettable, such as: keep gates closed.


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

No smoking in or around barn.
No hand feeding treats.


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## equinesnfelines (Feb 1, 2014)

if it is not your horse--DO NOT TOUCH--without permission.


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

equinesnfelines said:


> if it is not your horse--DO NOT TOUCH--without permission.


Same applies to another person's stuff! If you don't own it, then don't mess with it! Clean up after your horse, pick up and put away your belongings, ride with a helmet, hours of operation, rules regarding dogs, any of those that may apply to you. I'd suggest looking up rules that other stables have and basing your list on some of their rules.


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## Spiritandjuniper4711 (Apr 12, 2014)

Ok I think I have all of my "serous" rules. What about some funny rules. For example one I think I'm going to put on the sighn is what happens in the barn, stays in the barn. Thankyou for all of the rules


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## ForeverSunRider (Jun 27, 2013)

At our barn it's just my sister's horse and my horse and it's on our property so there aren't any rules aside from, "Don't be an idiot." 

A few months ago we had a friend boarding their horse at our barn and the rules were basic for them. They were a free board as long as they kept with the terms of the agreement which were as follows.

- Lock all gates (which they violated)
- Feed horses at night (which they violated)
- Pay for your own feed (they were good on this one...mostly)
- Clean your own stall (they were...fair on this one)
- Pay your own vet bills (which they violated)
- Don't touch horses that aren't yours without asking (this one they listened to)
- Use common sense (this one, if you don't count the other rules applying, they were good at lol)

We have the Michigan Equine Law posted on the gate to our pasture and a big sign that says, "RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK" posted on the entrance to the barn itself.

Oh, and their horse is no longer at our barn for hopefully obvious reasons. My mother told them they needed to find another place to keep their horse because their lack of attention was endangering our personal animals. Suffice to say there was a reason they had a free board :wink: and the animal has since been sold.


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## ALegUp (Sep 26, 2013)

My BO has one hard and fast rule: No Drama.


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## nrchacowhorse (Jun 13, 2014)

No boots, no entree.
Clean your own mess
No yelling


just a few of mine.


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## Spiritandjuniper4711 (Apr 12, 2014)

ALegUp said:


> My BO has one hard and fast rule: No Drama.



I wish! Gonna put that - but like anyone is gonna listen.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

1) No smoking
2) Pens/stalls must be cleaned at least twice a week for outside pens, and daily for box stalls
3) water troughs must be kept clean of algae and mosquito larvae , as Needed. 
4) Helmets required for riding
5) If its not yours do not touch it. Regardless if its a horse or tack of any kind.
6) Children must be supervised at all times.
7) No riding etc after dark or before __ a.m.
8) No trick riding, riding without proper equipment.. list what you consider proper
9) You must share : tack rooms, wash racks, arenas , round pens etc etc.
10) not Tying in the Barn aisleway.
11) Horses are not to be tied and left unattended for any length of time. dont tie your horse 
up to wash rack and leave for 30 min or an hour. same for in a stall or pen. etc.
12) If you break it, you fix it or pay for it. 
13) you must be present for farrier or vets. ( really important) 
14) No riding in the barn aisle , riding only allowed in the arena's etc.
15) set a time .. open from 7 am to 8 pm ... whatever you are comfortable with .
16) No partys .
17) are you going to allow the boarders to bring out friends and family to ride ?


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## Spiritandjuniper4711 (Apr 12, 2014)

stevenson said:


> 1) No smoking
> 2) Pens/stalls must be cleaned at least twice a week for outside pens, and daily for box stalls
> 3) water troughs must be kept clean of algae and mosquito larvae , as Needed.
> 4) Helmets required for riding
> ...



Wow I didnt realize how many good ones I missed.:shock:


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

lol... its just things I learned after having an obnoxious border.
One I forgot is... Vehicles only allowed in the parking area. No exceptions (except maybe for a Vet) 
She drove over irrigation lines. parked on an area that had not been pack ed down from repairing the main water line. DUH..


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## Roux (Aug 23, 2013)

No horsing around!!! Har Har Har... Sorry I couldn't resit!


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## KsKatt (Jun 2, 2014)

When I boarded one of the rules was to never leave the halter on your horse(s). He also posted copies of an article (from a newspaper) that showed a horse hanging from where it's halter was caught on a piece of farm machinery, in every barn. The horse in the pic was dead, it had broken it's neck struggling. That pic left a mark in my heart. We all understand that our horses were not exposed to anything that size, it was simply the fact that accidents happen.
I've owned my own place for over 30 years. None of my horses ever wears a halter unless it is supervised. I get chills if I see a horse in a pasture wearing a halter.


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## Ale (May 8, 2013)

It seems that I have it pretty easy at the barn I board Dixie at, since Tracy is my best friend. We have very simple rules.

- Clean your own stall and take pride in it! 
- You ride, you help clean. (This applies to the neighborhood girls that come over and get to ride with us every weekend.) 
- Put tack and supplies away before and after riding. 
- You break it, you buy it.
- Clean water buckets every week or when they are dirty, as in you would not want to drink out of them. 
- Roll up the hose when you are done with it. 
- Do not leave garbage, cigarette butts, etc laying around. 

Our rules are pretty laid back and simple. We are all there to ride, enjoy ourselves and help one another. Drama is certainly not allowed and rarely ever happens, because we are all pretty laid back. If there is a problem, we voice it and get it handled before an ant hill turns into a mountain.


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

With some of these rules, you need to consider how much you want to get involved with someone's riding... Like requiring a helmet. I dunno, that's a bit of a turnoff for me.


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## Incitatus32 (Jan 5, 2013)

^Agreed. Some rules actually make me avoid the barn (ie. EVERY adult rider MUST wear a helmet, etc, etc). 

I have it lax! We basically have these rules: 
-make sure all horses in the field are safe and healthy, if one's not.... BRING IT UP TO THE BARN, or come and get someone
-Don't touch others stuff without permission and if you do then make sure to put it back
-Use COMMON SENSE

Some funny ones are: 
Tidy up after you giddy up (clean up the barn aisle) 
-No drama
-Want something special for your horse? Then go buy it yourself! 
-Check ALL water tanks/buckets during your stay and BEFORE you leave (people who don't follow this get yelled/screamed at by me AND my boss) :lol: 
-You get hurt that's your fault, your kid gets hurt, that's your fault, in fact if you come to us crying about how a horse hurt you then maybe you shouldn't be hanging out in a barn! ;-) 

Those are really all the rules I can think of haha.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

the problem with being lax is, some people take advantage of everything. Using tack ,messing with other peoples horses, thinking they are a trainer , running the horse around the pens,corrals, throwing extra hay without permission- dont touch my hay . using other peoples supplements, meds, messing with my dogs, bringing out dogs which starts a dog fight and who knows if thier animals have been vaccinated. chasing other horses in a pasture or arena thinking its fun to 'herd' them. grrrr... telling me how to run my property go buy your own plus you lied about having a job..


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

Zexious said:


> With some of these rules, you need to consider how much you want to get involved with someone's riding... Like requiring a helmet. I dunno, that's a bit of a turnoff for me.


True, but you need to consider all of them! Decide for yourself before the need arises. Some folks have liability insurance that may require helmets.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

^Maybe... Admittedly, I don't really know enough about liability insurance that a barn would have to make an educated comment. 
My /guess/ would be that that isn't really common... I've never ridden at a barn that has required a helmet. (Granted, that's limited to only a couple of states)

EDIT--Especially since that's not really in line with a law that the rider accepts all responsibility of what happens to them while on a horse.


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## nikelodeon79 (Mar 3, 2008)

If you opened it, close it.
If you turned it on, turn it off.
If you dirtied it, clean it.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## angelbkm212 (Aug 27, 2013)

before we moved to a larger property (60 acres and a big shed which is easily converted to a stable for bad weather or injury etc, so our horses are turned out 24/7 now) we had a block in town with a house, 4 horse stalls and 2 tack/storage rooms in a stable, 3 day yards, a hosing bay and a sand roll, and across the road we had 1/2 acre block to turn the horses our during the day. My grandparents owned the place, and i swear grandma has OCD with how clean everything had to be. Yards or stables (the horses would only go in the stables overnight in winter, otherwise they stayed in the day yards overnight) had to be cleaned first thing in the morning, we couldn't turn the horses out and pick up the poo later, it had to be straight away, bathtubs (wate troughs) srubbed every second day, and topped up the day between if needed, laneway in the stables and feed/tack room had to be swept out at least once daily in the evening, but grandma liked it better when it was swept in the morning too haha, hoses had to be rolled up, all gear kept spotless and VERY neatly organised, and so on, half the time we spent there was cleaning


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## Spiritandjuniper4711 (Apr 12, 2014)

Thanks for all of the rules! About the helmet/ riding requirements 
I think I'm just going to put something like : 
Your Riding apparel should not allow you to flash people when you are trotting

Helmets are not required, but strongly reccomended

I dunno... Do they sound stupid?


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## MinervaELS (Mar 4, 2014)

littlebird said:


> At my old barn I believe we had a 'no throwing rocks' rule on the rules sheet tacked up in the tack shed.


There are lots of rocks where I board and people seem to think they make great improvised tools against naughty horses, so I can see that one. My trainer has a horse that has had rocks lobbed at his lazy backside so many times in the round pen that he automatically speeds up or behaves when he sees someone stoop down. :lol:


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

A fellow's horse was about to pick up something it shouldn't have so he lobbed a chunk of clay at it. His aim was lousy, the horse turned it's head and the clay hit it hard just below the eye. This caused the lens to pop out of the horse's eye, creating great pain. The vet came post haste but the damage was permanent.


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## Canterklutz (Jul 20, 2012)

Spiritandjuniper4711 said:


> Helmets are not required, but strongly reccomended


Some insurance plans won't cover riders who don't ride with a helmet. And yes insurance reps will question you as to whether your facility requires helmets for riding before they issue you coverage.


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## BadWolf (Oct 12, 2012)

Always leave the barn better than you found it.

That would cover things like picking up random pieces of hay string or trash even if it wasn't yours, getting stray items into the lost-and-found, etc.


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