# Raising Rates - Need Input from People who Board their Horse!



## Incitatus32

My barn was in a similar situation and we're all very close. The price of grain and hay went up and our BO had no option but to start charging a handling fee and upped the cost of the grain. I do believe we took the estimated cost of providing the grain and then divided it by the number of boarders to split up the cost evenly. The handling fee was like $5 and was more of a "if you have nothing else important to do come hold your horse" and excluded people like me who were working and couldn't make it. 

Another thing she did was start making people pay for supplements or buy their own or their own feed. She used to provide these with an extra charge but it was impossible. Our little system works and while each horse gets their own feed plan on her feed (unless you add in any extras) we all communally pay for the grain that's given to all of our horses. It works. I'd say approach a couple of the boarders and get a few opinions on what they would like or how you could add on money to keep going. Some may be resistant because of the extra cash but you'll find out who your true and good boarders are this way. 

Be professional but friendly! And good luck!


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## Aigoo

I think you could start new contract for your boarders. Set a new price by setting up the base price which include the standard grain of limited amount. If their horses needs more than the standard grain; they can either provide the grain themselves or you can provide it for extra costs.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians

CRK said:


> Hello,
> I have a question for those of you who board your horse. I have a small boarding facility and need to raise my rates as my rent on the farm increased a few months ago and I am losing money right now on boarding.
> 
> However, I don't like raising rates because my boarders are all good friends and it's just never fun to have to ask for more money. So here is my question for you - is there a way I can add some other value to what they get at the farm that doesn't cost me a lot. For example, an extra service or convienence? Almost everything is included now, hay, grain, all care, blanketing, holding for vet and farrier, etc - but any ideas for what else I could add in to make a price increase seem more justified?
> 
> Also, I know this is unusual, as most boarding farms charge a flat rate for all horses, regardless of how much they eat, but would it be more reasonable to just start charging for grain, as an example? This actually seems more fair to me because the owners of the fat ponies that eat nothing are paying the same right now as those who have thin TBs that are eating a ton and costing me the most.
> 
> I really appreciate your thoughts on this - wanted opinions from those of you "on the other side" of the boarding situation! Thanks!



How much did your rent increase? Your boarders are not your friends when it comes to paying for a service. Not that they aren't friends but in business you cannot have friends and survive. 

If you need to increase your board, then figure out how much extra it is, divide it by the number of horses boarded and multiply by 2. Hopefully that will cover your next rent or feed increase and you won't need to raise your rates more than once a year. It is not unreasonable to expect to break even or even make a little bit of profit when you're in business. Send out 30 days written notice that board will increase by $XX on XX date, so if you bill on the first enclose it with their bill for April and start your increase in May. They won't find all the 'extras' you're providing for them at other barns. Most barns charge to blanket, hold for vet & farrier, etc. You do not need to justify your increase, it's now costing you to provide the services you offer so you'll either have to increase your prices or go out of business eventually. 

For the feed, I would allow X amount of grain in the board bill, and if the bigger horses eat more than that, they will need to pay for more grain or buy grain for you to give them. Most barns wouldn't but if you want to, you can give the ponies a small break for not eating the full amount of grain. For instance, I would have roughly 3 bags of Strategy GX built into my board rate (900 lb horse fed at 1/2% of body weight = 4.5 lbs/day, so roughly 3 bags/month). If the ponies only eat hay or less than 1 lb of grain/day, so approx 1 50 lb bag of feed per month, then you could take off the other 2 bags that are allowed for. Personally, I wouldn't, they are just as much work as any other horse and your base board is your base board. If the big horses are eating 6 bags of Strategy then I would have the owners pick up 3 bags each month or charge them cost plus a little to cover gas and loading/unloading the extra feed.


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## franknbeans

I have my horse boarded with a friend. There are only 4 of us who board there, and we are all very close. Recently it was necessary to raise board by $25/mo, mainly because the cost of feed has increased. None of us had an issue with it. We all live in the real world and understand that EVERYTHING is increasing (except incomes, it seems) and none of us would expect her to pay for our horses. To sort out who gets what is a hassle and a half, IMO. I have never boarded at a place that charged for grain (even tho my guys only get a cup a day). I have been at a place that charged extra in the winter for hay, tho, and I thought that was a good idea.


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## egrogan

Aigoo said:


> I think you could start new contract for your boarders. Set a new price by setting up the base price which include the standard grain of limited amount. If their horses needs more than the standard grain; they can either provide the grain themselves or you can provide it for extra costs.


This is exactly what I was going to say- my barn recently switched all the lesson program horses and some of the boarders to a new grain. I wanted my mare to stay on the old grain, so since she is now the only one getting that kind, and it's more expensive, I buy it myself. Totally fine with me. I could have stayed with the "standard" grain that everyone else is getting for no charge, as that is part of the "base board."

In my opinion, I want anyone I am working with in a local, service-based context, to charge me what they need to make a living. I would be really upset to hear that my barn was losing money on boarding and not asking me to pay my fair share - so, if I were a boarder at your barn, and you explained how your costs had gone up, I would have no problem knowing my board was going up. I am also at a barn that includes all the "add-on" services you mentioned, and to me, those services provided at a barn that treats my horse as if she's their own is worth whatever price the BM needs to set to cover costs with some left over every month.


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## Saddlebag

If you continue to subsidize them you will continue to resent their presence, having fun at your expense. Business is business. Everyone get the same rate increase. You need to figure out exactly what feed is costing you, electricity, water. If you're on a well it costs electricity to run the pump. Have you factored in maintenance costs? Post a notice in the barn plus notify everyone in writing or email about the increase and give them 30 days notice to take affect. Mention that your costs have increased. You don't owe them an explanation of how or how much. Give yourself a good margin.


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## EdmontonHorseGal

i look at it this way - does your landlord (if you rent) give you a reason for increasing the rent? nope. so your horse's landlord doesn't need to either. 

if you are close knit with your boarders you can just say that prices on everything are going up and you have to adjust accordingly as well, to keep the barn running at the same level of service their horses are accustomed to.


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## KigerQueen

I board at a friends. $100 a month they feed MY hay and clean, turn out and blanket and feed supplements if I need them too (my ferrier fetches my horse and has my bf, his son, hold my mare so BO does not deal with that or vet). 
You can tell your friends/boarders you can no longer include feed (Including grain) and drop the board by half (or less than half, a slight price drop if at all should work) of what you were paying to feed each horse. That way it seems fair to the boarders and you are not losing money, or you can keep the same price and just stop including feed. You will save on feed and not have to charge them extra. You could charge extra for feed as well. Or you can offer a slightly cheaper self care board, that way all they are doing is renting the space and you are not including anything.


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## edf

I don't hav emuch experience with this- but my BO ended up having to ask boarders if they could pay a little more due to having to buy another truck of hay... ( costed her like another 1k) I don't know how that faired for her, but upon doing our lease ( which isn't a typical lease) I said I'll pay 50 bucks more for my horses share of the more hay that was needed. ( she owns the majority of th ehorses, so the 50 was fair- but I know she gave hay reguardless)

IMHO- I would just talk to the boarders honestly and tell them it costs you more, you are loosing money with the old rates and simply have to ask for more. I like the options other's mentioned to give the boarders options- like by your own food or something, but for me, if my BO said there is now new charge for something silly- i'd feel cheated.


The person taking care of the boarded horses deserves to earn some money. It's hard work and your social life revolves around the horse care, and you earn every penny for your work. I am sure these pals understand this.. Tho, I know it sucks to have to do it.

Think of it this way- ho wmuch money can you afford to loose keep those rates? then, what if you have to sell the place or can no longer board their horses? If someone else comes in, their care could be less, or they will jack the price up anyways, or both.

I think this is just a sucky part of owning a barn and boarding other people's horses. 


good luck!

good luck!


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## CRK

Thanks so much for all the input, I realize raising rates is just a mental thing for me, so I appreciate all your input and ideas!


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## nikelodeon79

My BO recently raised board. She said, "I'm going to have to raise board for everyone by $10 per month." I said "ok" and wrote the check when the time came. One thing I appreciated was that she gave a month's advance warning. My farrier did the same thing when he raised his rates.

I would start charging for grain if I were you. Someone said the "grain fee" should be split evenly by all, but if I owned a horse that wasn't grained I might resent that.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Skipsfirstspike

My board just went up $25/horse. It has been a bad winter, the horses free feed on round bales, and the consumption rate was up a fair bit from last winter. So the raising of board was reasonable, and the fees are on par with other facilities.
However, a few years back, there was a barn who hiked their fees $100/horse because they weren't able to make their mortgage fees. Boarders left in droves, the business went under.
As long as your rate increases are reasonable, and your care of the horses is good, people will generally roll with it. No need for any in depth explanation IMO.
Cheers


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## Saddlebag

One of the great problems with the fee schedule when boarding is not allowing for cost overrun ie charging an adequate amount in the first place. If this is done, then a minor increase may be absorbed or added on to the boarding costs. But all to often, due to crop failure, that whatever hay is available skyrockets in price and suddenly the BO finds him/herself in the position of having to make a substantial increase. If boarders opt to leave, that is their choice but they will likely find that the increases are everywhere.


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## paintedpastures

I understand the need for board increases if they are on par with the going rates in area:wink:.The coat of electricity,repairs,fed go up the BO has to compensate if they want to keep giving the same level of care & upkeep of facility. Some stables have more frequent increases of smaller increments ,some stables hold out trying to be affordable for their clients. Those that hold out find they can't keep it up & need to charge more,those increases you see may be more drastic:-( Either way as horse owners we have to go with flow. As long as stable hasn't declined in the care & upkeep of facility then I can understand & find the increase acceptable. What I do have problem with if their is a differences in the facility care or having safety concerns arise. What do you do to make/keep the BO accountable ??:-(


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## DuckDodgers

Price increases happen. If you're not at a minimum breaking even then there should be zero question about whether or not you should raise your prices. 

Personally, I like that lack of complication involved with "one price" full board. You pay $XXX/month and you get what the barn offers. However, I can see why paying for the feed you use may make more sense for some people. Cut out the cost of feed only and make that your flat rate for boarding. Calculate how much it would cost to feed one, two, three, etc scoops of feed per day, and inform each other of what their new cost would be based on the amount that they are currently eating. Depending on how many boarders you have I would try and avoid folks bringing in their own feed if you have one that works for most horses. You'd have to deal with having separate feed bins for each owner, making sure that the owners bring the proper amount of feed, what to do if they run out of feed and can't bring more, etc. 

One thing that I think really improves the flavor of a barn is having nice, cold drinking water. If you don't have some sort of water fountain, then having one show up around the time of the price hike may make everyone think about the extra money a little less in the oncoming heat :wink: You can get a water cooler and refillable jug for under $100. Keeping cokes or popsicles around over the summer is also a nice touch, but that can cause complaints sometimes. People are expected to replace them when they drink the last one and don't, someone brings friends to the barn and drinks all of them, etc. One barn where I used to board would keep a bar of saddle soap, a bucket of water, and some Passier Lederbalsam for people to use as needed. Depending on how often people use it then that could get expensive fast, but it was a nice touch. 

Barn costs are funny things- back in high school when we bought my horse (8 years ago) the board at my expensive dressage barn was $450 if I remember correctly. I went off to college, and last year I came back and started boarding at one of the "cheap" barns. Their current board? $450- the same as my expensive barn was back then. They are now charging $600. The price is immediately off putting, but they do have amenities such as a climate controlled tack room, better fence and stall maintenance, a vet on site most of the time, two arenas, better hay, access to tack cleaning supplies, washer and dryer access, amongst other things. Little by little, the costs add up.


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## verona1016

Fair or not, charging a flat fee for grain is how almost all barns in my area handle it. Most I asked about will not give a discount even if you don't feed any of their grain at all. By charging based on the amount consumed, the barn is more likely to lose money.

My BO is a bit nicer in the fee structure than many places- she officially has partial care (owner provides hay & grain) and full care (barn provides hay & grain) but will split the difference if you want to do partial care and use the barn's hay (which is what I do)

Essentially it ends up working out to $60/month for hay and $60/month for grain. Supplements are not included. They don't have any limits written in to the contract, but most horses get ~4 lbs or less grain per day. They buy the grain in bulk from a local mill, so it's probably safe to say they're paying significantly less than the per-bag price I see in the feed store. For my horse, $60/month covers his grain _and_ supplements (and IMO provides a better diet). I figure most people at my barn who do full care either haven't done the math or prefer the convenience factor of never having to worry about running out of grain.

But the point I'm trying to make is that it's common practice (IME) to charge enough for grain that the barn is making a profit off it in most cases (if buying at normal feed store prices it might be a very slight profit), and breaking even or losing a little bit on one or two horses who eat way more than average. If OP's barn is currently losing money on board I wouldn't be considering offering a break for those who use little/no grain.

The best advice I could give from the boarder's perspective is to raise the board enough so that you don't have to do it again for at least a year. Make sure your board fees are in line with other facilities in your area, and if they're not then start looking at ways you can save money (buying feed/shavings/etc in bulk if you're not already, for example)


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## starlinestables

Create a base price. 24 out of 30 horses eat less than 4lbs of grain. So anything over 4lbs is charged as extra. 5lbs of grain daily is an extra $10 a month.. etc.

Since majority of our horses are pasture boarded and eat less than 4 lbs and have good grazing or free choice hay, we only feed them once daily which saves in labor.

Switch to a cheaper grain. I found a local miller who has a 14% 8% fat grain for $12.50 a bag. Purina, Safechoice, Evergreen are all way more expensive. However, when I fed Purina, I told boarders to sign up on their website for the feed coupons with as many emails as they could and that I would honor their feed coupons when they brought them to me. One boarder saved $200 on board with her coupons and I saved $400 on feed that month including my own coupons. Thanks Purina! However, the concept could work on just about anything you may need. We still accept tractor supply coupons if we can use them. Have a boarder who is in the military? Take them with you to home depot and save 10% and take that amount of their board bill. 

Most barns use WAY to much shavings. They don't need fluffy beds unless they get sores or are in all day. Since our horses are turned out all day, each stall goes through like a bag - bag in a half a week so I only include 6 bags a month in boarding. If they want more or we need more due to bad weather than I charge $10 a bag extra to cover cost and labor.

We only clean stalls 6 days a week. On the 7th day, we leave them out so they don't have to stand in poo. Saved me $150 a month in labor and the extra turn out benefits the horses. Lets say they've spent 5 days in due to nasty weather, they may spend 3 days out when it dries up to make up the turn out time... weather permitting of course. We live in north Texas so this arrangement works really well for us. 

Some barns dump water buckets daily no matter if they are full or clean. If that's you, stop. Only fill up water buckets for what they actually drink or if they they have a few floaters get a fish net and clean them instead of dumping it all out. Same way with troughs. Don't fill up dirty troughs, let them drink it down and only dump the tiny bit left then clean. Ours are sprayed out before every refill and only scrubbed maybe twice a month. Saves water and labor costs.


There is more... but I can't think of it all. I needed to raise board by $50 when we put our indoor up which would've scared off several cherished boarders. When I implemented the changes, I only had to raise base board $20. High maintenance boarders a little more but in the end I think the biggest price hike was like $35 for one boarder.

These solutions may not work for you and your circumstances but if you think long and hard you can find cost cutting measures somewhere. Just make sure you include a 30 day notice with your reasoning, update your boarding agreement to be as specific as possible and be polite. Good luck!


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## CRK

Great suggestions, thank you!


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## evilamc

We just had to raise prices at my grooming shop, we put up signs at the beginning of the year, and raised them the first of March. Really didn't get any complaints from customers because we gave them plenty of notice, and they realize costs are increasing...and $3 really isn't that much more lol!

We had a pretty hard winter and my horse mainly eats off the round bale, I offered to pay a little more because I felt bad because he was going through it so fast but they said its fine. I provide my own grain and actually premake his feedings so I can put his supplements in myself...so they give me $25 off a month. I actually get kind of ripped off lol, I pay $425 a month for full care stall board...but don't use my stall EVER, premake his food for him so all they have to do is feed an AM container or PM container...All they have to do is make sure his water isn't frozen and the round bale isn't gone haha. They actually use the stall I pay for for one of their own horses now...Kinda ****ty, I said something about it because I felt I should get some money off but they just said if I need my stall ever they will put their horse out. 

Since some horses don't use your grain maybe cut them a small break, then the ones that are, charge them for it. Come up with a base price per pound they eat a month or something? Then divide the amount your rent went up by how many boarders you have and raise their rent that. You could also charge for trailer parking, if thats something you offer? They charge $50 a month at my barn, its not unreasonable...I wont pay it because I can just park my trailer at my work right across from my house though lol.


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