# Bad Boarding Barn Owner?



## Msippimudbug (5 mo ago)

Hi, I am having issues with the new owner of the barn I board my horses at. He is not enforcing the terms/rules stated in the contract even at the cost of a horses health.
i.e.; In the contract it is stated that "horses must have hay/feed & clean drinking water, any feed other than hay will be provided in the stalls not in the pasture."
The issue here is that there is another boarder that keeps her horses up 24/7 with no hay, EVER. They do get fed twice a day but that is the only thing that they get. Boarder claims her horses are "prone to colic with hay", so he does not require her to give hay at all, nor do her horses get let out at all.

My question here is that, if we all signed the same contract & he does not enforce the terms/rules to everyone, does that breach the contract therefore voiding it?


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

If he has a medical excuse provided by her vet then that is between those two. Not your business. Even if he doesn't then it is still a decision he made because of her concerns. If they have food and water and are not being starved then not your business. Chances are she's feeding a complete feed. No forage necessary and if her horses are at a reasonable weight then she's feeding enough of it. None of that makes him a bad BO or her a bad owner. While I don't agree with no turn out she likely has her reasons and provides them with exercise.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Well, she might not have signed the same contract as you. You also may not know about any verbal agreement between the two. She very well may have explained this to him at time of signing her contract.

I would say that the agreement that you signed is between you and B/O and the agreement made between her and the B/O is between her and the B/O. One doesn't have anything to do with the other.


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## Msippimudbug (5 mo ago)

QtrBel said:


> If he has a medical excuse provided by her vet then that is between those two. Not your business. Even if he doesn't then it is still a decision he made because of her concerns. If they have food and water and are not being starved then not your business. Chances are she's feeding a complete feed. No forage necessary and if her horses are at a reasonable weight then she's feeding enough of it. None of that makes him a bad BO or her a bad owner.


As I do agree that "it is not my business", the horse is being neglected & losing weight. I guess I should add that I live in a small town so most people have mutual friends of one another & of coarse I do have mutual friends with the other boarder. With that being said I have multiple reports of her not feeding/cleaning stalls or letting her horses out to graze at her previous boarding facility. As far as feed, I am aware that you can substitute forage with a complete feed, which Nutrena Safe Choice is, to my knowledge not a complete feed.

The owner of the facility is not a horse person & has very little equine experience.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Even with all of these things said. Her contract has nothing to do with yours. If you wish to leave then there is no reason to not to just give a notice as long as your horses are being taken care of. Even if she is breaching her contract, that has nothing to do with your contract. The only thing that would breach your contract would be if either you or the B/O didn't do what the two of you agreed to.

That is the question that you wanted opinions on isn't it?


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## Msippimudbug (5 mo ago)

I fully plan on leaving, Just waiting on my barn to be delivered, so until then I must endure this for the sake of my COPD horse who needs a stall in this heat.

My main question was, IF (theoretically speaking) everyone signed the same contract/agreement ( which I am almost positive that he didn't go out of his way to make a whole other contract just for her, considering he wouldn't go out of his way to provide me with a COPY of our contract), & he didn't enforce ALL terms/rules in the contract to EVERYONE (without picking favorites). Is that a breach of contract, therefore voiding said contract? That is all I asking. I am well aware what is & is not "my business". Personally, I don't like to see horses being neglected & watching them get physically thinner.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

As a boarder, I would stay focused on my horse receiving the services I expect. Is she fed as expected, turned out as expected, with access to clean water? Beyond that, other people's horses are other people's horses.


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## Msippimudbug (5 mo ago)

egrogan said:


> As a boarder, I would stay focused on my horse receiving the services I expect. Is she fed as expected, turned out as expected, with access to clean water? Beyond that, other people's horses are other people's horses.


My horses are being taken care of just fine as this is "Self Care".  Still not easy watching a horse go downhill at the negligence of the owner (who never comes) & the barn owner who allows it to happen.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

No, someone else breaching their contract (if that is what is happening) has nothing to do with the contract that was agreed upon between you and the B/O pertaining to your horse/horses. unless it says in the contract that everyone is going to be treated exactly the same and guaranteed that everyone has the same contract. Heck, they might not even have a contract other than verbal. That is between them.

I agree that it would not be a desirable thing to watch someone's horses suffer but that has nothing to do with the contract you signed to keep your horses there.


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## My Salty Pony (Jan 1, 2022)

Sounds like you need to take this up with animal control or someone higher up, nobody on this talk forum can help you since they dont know the BO or the person that owns the horse, or just take this up with the barn owner and or the owner of the horse. I would have moved my horse yesterday if I didnt like what I was seeing. Theres always two sides to every story but this one sounds like theres 3 sides.


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## Msippimudbug (5 mo ago)

LoriF said:


> No, someone else breaching their contract (if that is what is happening) has nothing to do with the contract that was agreed upon between you and the B/O pertaining to your horse/horses. unless it says in the contract that everyone is going to be treated exactly the same and guaranteed that everyone has the same contract. Heck, they might not even have a contract other than verbal. That is between them.
> 
> I agree that it would not be a desirable thing to watch someone's horses suffer but that has nothing to do with the contract you signed to keep your horses there.


I suppose you are right. I guess you would have to know all of what as gone on that led to my concern for these horses. Boy has it been a ride, to say the least.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Msippimudbug said:


> I suppose you are right. I guess you would have to know all of what as gone on that led to my concern for these horses. Boy has it been a ride, to say the least.


I understand the concern but the question was about breach of contract. That is a no.


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## Msippimudbug (5 mo ago)

My Salty Pony said:


> Sounds like you need to take this up with animal control or someone higher up, nobody on this talk forum can help you since they dont know the BO or the person that owns the horse, or just take this up with the barn owner and or the owner of the horse. I would have moved my horse yesterday if I didnt like what I was seeing. Theres always two sides to every story but this one sounds like theres 3 sides.


There are a lot of sides lol. It's ridiculous. He came in thinking he was going to make a bunch of money doing this but has no experience in the horse world at all. The barn itself was built sometime in the 60's & the previous owners only helped degrade the property. The barn needs A LOT of TLC and it really isn't in the best area


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

1) Not your business what her boarding contract states. NONE.
2) if the horses are losing lbs and look to be in poor health call animal service and report them.
3) if it is as small of a town as you state, then it will probably get back to them that you called.Especially if you have complained to anyone that would be a mutual friend, or would gossip to one of her friends. 
4) get your barn done asap , move, then report.


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## Msippimudbug (5 mo ago)

stevenson said:


> 1) Not your business what her boarding contract states. NONE.
> 2) if the horses are losing lbs and look to be in poor health call animal service and report them.
> 3) if it is as small of a town as you state, then it will probably get back to them that you called.Especially if you have complained to anyone that would be a mutual friend, or would gossip to one of her friends.
> 4) get your barn done asap , move, then report.


Again, I am fully aware of what is & is not "my business", 
I am currently working on moving them, to be done with the entirety of it.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

Msippimudbug said:


> I am currently working on moving them, to be done with the entirety of it.


I am sure there are non owners who go out to just about every barn with their friends. You obviously do not care for the owner, do not care for the barn. Maybe you should find a different place until your property is finished.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

As others have advised move your horse then report. 

Safe Choice is a complete feed and any of those under that umbrella can be fed without forage. Even the original. How much she feeds determines whether they retain their weight. If they can't retain weight based on that amount of feed given then they need a supplement on top to provide more calories or some other forage replacer added in. In my experience some horses do better with much smaller amounts (3 lbs instead of 5 lbs) and fed more times a day (3 to 5). 

It's hard to watch an animal go down hill.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Msippimudbug said:


> The barn itself was built sometime in the 60's & the previous owners only helped degrade the property. The barn needs A LOT of TLC and it really isn't in the best area - lots of crime goes on around the area. He has good intentions, just no way of executing them.


...call to question why are _you _even boarding there in the first place? Just take your horse somewhere else and let go of whatever small town gossip and disapproval you are harboring and stay focused on your horse receiving the level of care that meets your standards. Life is too short, horses are supposed to be fun.


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## Milton'sMama (Jan 9, 2021)

QtrBel said:


> Safe Choice is a complete feed and any of those under that umbrella can be fed without forage


Is it? I don't see that anywhere online. I didn't think it was.


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## Milton'sMama (Jan 9, 2021)

I understand being upset about how the one girl feeds her horses and the consequences on the horses' health, but that's the thing about boarding. Different people have different ideas about how to keep horses. I wouldn't like seeing those horses cared for like that either. I have called animal control on a BO in the past when she was nearly starving an absentee boarder's horses. He found out what was happening to his horses and moved them immediately.

If the horses are truly being neglected, report it. If they look okay and are standing in decently clean stalls with feed and water, it's unlikely anything will get done. In that case, you just have to "stay in your lane" and look forward to having your own place.


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## Msippimudbug (5 mo ago)

stevenson said:


> I am sure there are non owners who go out to just about every barn with their friends. You obviously do not care for the owner, do not care for the barn. Maybe you should find a different place until your property is finished.


I’m sure they are 
This is still a business.
Again, small town. No where else to go in the area. Getting my barn done as fast as possible. As far as the barn itself goes, I have boarded here on and off for the last 20ish years, that not the issue. It’s the man causing the drama out of pure ignorance.


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## Msippimudbug (5 mo ago)

This is all in all not a great situation. I’m not sure the city’s animal control would do much since the BO has already screwed them too. 
I’m not sure any one of them would do anything to help.
It has been a bad deal from the beginning. Which is why I started building my own barn in the first place.


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## Msippimudbug (5 mo ago)

Milton'sMama said:


> Is it? I don't see that anywhere online. I didn't think it was.


I don’t think it is. SafeChoice Senior is a complete feed. But the Original SafeChoice is not. 

IF she was giving them the amount of feed they needed to maintain their weight, they wouldn’t be actively loosing weight. I can’t say how much she giving them since she is never here to feed her own horses and by the time I get here after work, the BO has already fed them. Yet, they’re still loosing weight? So clearly however much they’re getting is not reaching their calorie deficit to maintain the weight that they had.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

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